Chapter Fifteen

                                    

                                          
Warnings: Angst
                          
Word Count: 1982
                          
Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this one! :)
                          
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You woke up before Tyler the next morning. He had flipped onto his stomach sometime during the middle of the night so his face was now pressed up into the pillow, smushing his cheek up. One of his arms was outstretched, so that his fingers were just barely brushing against your forearm. You took a moment to admire him resting until a pang of sadness shot through your chest. Although you two had slept in the same bed the night before, you knew that the issues between you two were far from resolved.
                          
	You quietly got out of bed and crept towards the door, not wanting to wake Tyler. Your plan was to make a nice breakfast for the two of you as a sort of peace offering and then the two of you could talk things out while you ate. After spending some time thinking about the entire situation yesterday, you finally felt like your head was clearer and you could say the things you needed to say, as well as apologize for the expectations you had placed on him.
                          
	You turned the radio on to a low volume before you started to gather ingredients to make some french toast for you and Tyler. The familiar feeling of loneliness was beginning to creep in, but you reminded yourself that Tyler was only upstairs asleep, not out at meetings for the millionth time that week. He had gone to bed at a reasonable time last night, so it wouldn't be long before he joined you downstairs. If you were lucky, he might even be up before you finished cooking.
                          
	Tyler did eventually wake up and come downstairs, right as you were cooking the last few pieces of french toast. His hair was still a ruffled mess from sleeping, but he had taken the time to throw on a t-shirt over his sweatpants. It was loose enough that you could just see his chest tattoo peeking out above the collar. He rubbed at his eyes as he shuffled over and took a seat in one of the stools.
                          
	"Good morning."
                          
	"Morning," he mumbled. His voice was still hoarse from sleep.
                          
	"How did you sleep?"
                          
	"No nightmares."
                          
	"That's good."
                          
	Tyler nodded slowly.
                          
	"Um, so I was thinking that we could talk through everything that happened yesterday while we eat breakfast," you said, nervously pushing the piece of french toast around the pan. "There's a lot of things that I need to say."
                          
	"Me too."
                          
	A chill ran down your spine, nearly making you shiver. Your mind was already preparing you for the worst.
                          
	"You can start serving yourself. I'll join you at the table in a second."
                          
	Tyler stood up and grabbed two plates from the cabinet, leaving one to the side for you. He piled his plate up with french toast and fruit, grabbed a Red Bull from the fridge, and walked off to the dining room. You cooked the rest of the french toast as quickly as you could, eager to have a conversation with him so that you could soothe some of your anxieties. Or at least, that's what you hoped would happen.
                          
	The only thing Tyler had done by the time you joined him at the table was popped open his Red Bull and taken a couple sips. You had tried on multiple occasions to get him to stop drinking energy drinks with breakfast, but he was insistent that it was no different than having coffee. It was a losing battle.
                          
	"Where do you want to start?" Tyler asked. You barely even had time to pick up your fork.
                          
	"Um, well, I guess I want to start by apologizing for the things that I said yesterday. You were right, I was being selfish and I shouldn't have implied that you don't care about me, because I know that you do. It had just been a long day and I was frustrated and I said a lot of things that I didn't mean."