Realize That It's Gone

Chapter Seventeen

Warnings: Angst

Word Count: 2331

Author's Note: I just wanted to take a quick moment to say thank you to everyone who left comments on the last chapter because your reactions were absolutely priceless and I had a great time reading all of them :) and even if you didn't comment, thank you for taking the time to read! Anyway, with that being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

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You slammed the front door behind you and leaned against it, immediately burying your face in your hands. Now that you were home, safe behind a closed door, you let out all the sobs that you had so carefully been keeping in. Tears were freely streaming down your face, soaking the sleeves of Tyler's sweatshirt.

Tyler's stupid sweatshirt.

You tugged the sweatshirt off your body - nearly pulling your t-shirt off with it - and tossed it into a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Chucking it at the ground loosened the knot in your stomach a little, just from allowing yourself to release a little tension. Now that the sweatshirt was off, you stomped up the stairs and let Georgie out of the laundry room. He immediately went sprinting past your feet and down the stairs.

Your brain was so muddled with thoughts that you couldn't quite work out which emotion you were feeling. All you knew was that crying was the only thing making you feel a little calmer right now, so that's what you were going to continue to do. Besides, you were home alone so it's not like you were going to bother anyone.

You decided to get in bed and stay there until you finished crying. Nothing was going to be able to get you out of bed. Not even when you inevitably heard Tyler's car start up as he finally left your house. Not Georgie knocking something over downstairs. Nothing. You were going to stay here until your tears were dried and you finally felt like you could get a clear thought through your head.

You were still in bed an hour later, although your tears had stopped long before that. As it turned out, wrapping yourself up in blankets - even despite the hot weather - was a good way to calm yourself down. Your thoughts were slowly beginning to work themselves out.

With a small grunt, you threw the blankets off of your body and decided to see what damage Georgie had caused downstairs. He had been surprisingly quiet, which you figured was more likely a bad sign than a good one. Still, you found yourself hoping you wouldn't have to spend the next twenty minutes cleaning up some mess.

To your surprise, Georgie was curled up on the sweatshirt that you had tossed aside, fast asleep. He didn't even stir when you arrived at the bottom of the stairs. Your shoulders instantly relaxed. At least that was one thing that you didn't have to worry about.

The rain had picked up again while you were in your room. It was harder tonight, coming at the house sideways and soaking most of the deck. Sitting on the deck and enjoying the sound was out of the question, unless you wanted to end up soaked straight through your clothes. Instead, you decided to grab yourself some fruit and sit in the den where you could hear the rain pattering against the skylight.

Your mind wandered as you carefully sliced up strawberries. Tyler was in love with you. It was true, and you could repeat it to yourself as many times as you wanted. Even if there was still a whole mess for you to sort through, the thought of Tyler returning your feelings was enough to make your heart skip a beat.

He loved you. He loved you. He loved you.

The joy only lasted so long before you began to think of Josh. You had gotten his hopes up about the prospect of a relationship, only to realize that you were still in love with his best friend the entire time. That wasn't so bad - some bad judgement on your part, sure - but it could be easily explained. People were unaware of their true feelings all the time, and that's exactly what had happened to you.