Tyed

chapter forty four

Tyler slides sheepishly back into the passenger seat, as though nothing was going on. He slowly opens the door, waiting for his mother to step back. Her mouth is a thin line as she does so, and behind her Tyler can see Saxon standing in the doorway. He hopes Trey's here, so he can talk to him instead of his mother. He hopes Trey isn't here so Trey doesn't have to see his mother yell at Tyler about this.

When Tyler steps out, his mother is indeed glaring at him, but her gaze moves up and over the car as Tyler hears a car door slam. Something passes over her, and she tries her best not to show it. Tyler sees that something has changed in her gaze when she sees Colby. He just doesn't know what.

Tyler knows she doesn't know shit about cars, and neither does he, but he sees Saxon's eyebrows are raised slightly- quite an expression for Saxon to show- and guesses that the car is some show of wealth, although not the obvious sports car that Tyler would've picked up on.

"Hi, mum," Tyler says, his voice quieter than he'd like it to be. His mum doesn't have as much authority over him as she probably should, but the weight of her judgement is heavy nonetheless. "How's it going."

He doesn't say it like a question, and more a simple acknowledgement that she is here and he is being polite to her. She looks at Colby for a second too long, and says, "I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm... Fine." Suspicious. She seems out of it more than anything. Tyler narrows his brows at her, but recognises how quickly this situation could turn into questioning him (and likely will anyway), so he holds his tongue, keeping the power of that question- what the fuck is up with her- close to his chest. "Why don't you come inside. And your friend as well, if you'd like to."

Tyler looks at Colby and sees only a slight confusion- as though he's picked up on Carol's recognition, but doesn't recognise her himself. Which is encouraging, Tyler supposes. Tyler's mum turns and makes her way towards the house, and Tyler lingers back long enough for Colby to come to his side. Tyler's still conscious of Saxon watching them, and doesn't do anything overtly romantic with Colby, nor does he speak, except to say, "I'm sorry," just loud enough for Colby to hear him.

"Well, here we go," is all Colby says in response.

Saxon follows Tyler's mother into the house, and Tyler shudders entering the door. It's not the house he spent all of his high school years in- it's nicer, bigger even though it has fewer bedrooms, intended for a couple alone and no children. There's a spare room that Trey stays in sometimes, and at first when they moved here Tyler wondered if maybe Trey would live with them- because while he couldn't live entirely on his own, he'd be fine living with his mother. But then Tyler realised that she was getting to do things she should've been able to do fifteen years ago now, without having to look after children at such a young age, and of course she wouldn't want Trey around- as much as Trey was loved, Tyler would've done the same thing in her place. If he didn't get to be a child, he couldn't imagine how his mother felt.

Hence why he couldn't understand why she was going to help his father.

Tyler follows them down the hallway, Colby behind him, and as he does he passes the spare room, its door cracked open. He sees a bare mattress on the floor, one he knows isn't new, but it reminds him that someone is probably going to stay here soon. Someone who he's being told to see. Someone evil. Someone who fucked his whole family up by starting it. Someone who Tyler needs to keep the truth about from Colby.

"Saxon," Tyler asks quietly, "can I actually talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course," Saxon says, somehow incapable of sounding like he feels any kind of emotion about those words at all. Saxon heads towards the kitchen at the end of the hall, while Carol peels off into the living room. Tyler turns and gives Colby a small smile of apology before leaving him alone with his mother, which he regrets pretty immensely, too.