Tyed

chapter twenty eight

trigger warning for the flashback in this one. I've been careful and vague so far to avoid it being triggering but this one is more blatant. Not too bad but I felt it worth mentioning

Tyler doesn't know what it means to be in trouble yet, and he supposes it might be too much to ask to find out now. He's pretty confident his limits will be respected- they have been respected well so far- and, as he discovered during that event just then, he trusts Colby. Probably shouldn't have jerked off without permission, but he accepts that there are consequences for it.

It's mid-afternoon, but Colby asks Tyler if he's hungry and it's difficult to say no. An early dinner won't do any harm. They ended up choosing the same place in the food court, an Italian place that Tyler's familiar with from less fancy shopping centres, and while they're waiting, Colby excuses himself to go outside and smoke.

"My best friend- her uncle died a few weeks ago from lung cancer," Tyler says.

Colby sighs. "I know. I'm working on it. I'm down to one or two a week, which you've got to admit is pretty good."

Tyler shrugs. Colby was smoking the night they met, so it's not like Tyler didn't know. It's just, he supposes, that he cares about Colby's health. Colby's fifteen years older than him, so he's almost certainly going to die first as it is, it's just that-

Tyler stops himself when he realises he's being insane, imagining a future together. He's known this guy for barely a week, he must remind himself.

Colby leaves, and Tyler stands alone as he waits, flushed red and unsure what to think. He stares solidly at the ground and wonders how he's suddenly gotten it into his head that this is gonna last years. Someday Colby's gonna discover that Tyler's a fucking freak and realise he isn't worth it anyway. Imagine having those in-laws. Colby couldn't possibly want the real Tyler, no matter what he says. He doesn't know what he's saying. So why does Tyler feel so attached so quickly? Is Tyler making the same kind of dumb mistake he sees people around him making so often, deciding it's love before it's barely even more than acquaintances?

"May I speak with you for a moment?"

Tyler hears it, but doesn't think it could possibly be directed to him until there's a gentle touch on his shoulder. He jumps out of his skin, because his thoughts were knee-deep in the future with Colby and he's not prepared to speak to anyone, let alone a stranger right now. He's been caught at a rare vulnerable moment. He's quick to harden up once he realises the situation, but she's seen his vulnerability underneath the mask.

"I'm sorry to bother you." The woman speaking is not short, although she's shorter than Tyler is. She has long, slender arms and hands, and Tyler's eyes are immediately drawn to them, because she wears long, silk gloves like a debutante. It's the middle of summer, and Tyler's only wearing a jacket because he's indoors and the air conditioner is blasting in here. Gloves would be weird enough, but she looks like she forgot to take them off after the ball with Prince Charming. Other than that, she looks relatively normal, if posh; a set of expensive sunglasses hide her eyes, and her shiny brown hair is pulled into a bun that's probably meant to look casual and simple without being anything of the sort. She's wearing a white lacy top and jean shorts that tell the same story as her hair, upper-class casual. What reason could she possibly have to associate with Tyler? Shit, is his fly down, or does he have cum on his face? Colby would've told him if he did, right?

"Is something wrong?" Tyler asks, slightly worried, but managing to cover it up with a smile when he remembers he's supposed to be chill. "Can I help you with something?"

"Nothing's wrong," she says in a completely indecipherable way. She slides her sunglasses up onto her hair; her eyes are a dark brown, and Tyler wonders if she's supposed to be familiar. He hasn't slept with her, has he? It's hard to tell her age, but he'd guess she's older than him by a few years, although she's probably not older than Colby. "What's your name?"