Price Check On Monogamy

"Tiger--"

"Leave me alone."

That's how the entire ride back to the mansion went. He would try to talk, and I would shut him down. There wasn't any screaming, amazingly, but there was almost no talking.

Because he couldn't stand the smell of the beer-- and, honestly, neither could I-- Tandem rolled down the windows. Because of the constant air flow, however, I was shivering after about five seconds.

"Are you cold?" He asked quietly. Still stubborn as ever, I refused to answer, opting instead to stare out the window. "Tiger, if you're cold, you can have my--"

"-- jacket?" I finished for him, turning to look at him. His face was on fire; he didn't have his jacket anymore. Some blonde bar bitch did.

And that killed all other attempts at conversation until we were finally back at the house, where I was out of the car and on my way back up to the front door before he had even took the key out of the ignition.

"Tiger, don't touch the door!" I stopped and closed my eyes, counting to three in my head. It was his house. That was the only reason why I was bothering to listen to him. It was his house.

Tandem jogged up behind me and pulled out his key. Unlocking the door, he nudged it open for me. "The alarm system on this house is literally as good as it gets," Tandem said quietly. "My dad's CEO of a security company. We have live-in guards instead of live-in maids."

"Thanks," I said drily, brushing by him and up into the house. I didn't want to fix anything with him tonight. I wanted to shower, I wanted to sleep.

And I wanted to get the hell out of California as fast as possible.

- - -

"I know I'm overreacting. See, the problem with that is, I just don't give a shit."

"Tiger..." I could hear it in her voice, that sigh that told me that Lexy was about to compare my relationship to her's and Jason's. Again.

It was getting old. Or maybe I was just getting bitchy because Tawny had blown off the call again to argue with Adam on another line. Or maybe I was just getting bitchy because I was bitchy, dammit.

"Old habits die hard," Lexy said finally. "And he's back in his old habitat. He needs some time to adjust, maybe?"

I sighed and leaned back against the bathroom door. "You're right... I'm just... I'm terrified." Well, that felt good to admit, at least.

"Tiger, you know that he's not better than you in any way, right?"

I flinched as soon as she said exactly what I'd been thinking. "I know, Lexy, I know."

"Liar. You don't know. And you still don't believe it. Tiger, I need to go, but I want you to think about that, alright? Just think about it. He's not too good for you, Tiger. When people think of the two of you, it's not, 'Wow, Tandem would actually date her?' it's, 'Wow, Tiger's actually dating Tandem?' Night, Tiggy." Click.

I sighed and flipped my phone shut. The bathroom was still foggy from the scorching hot shower I'd taken, and I was still unable to walk out into the huge hallway. The huge empty hallway. When we'd first picked rooms that afternoon, Tandem had shown me to my room, then retired to his-- on the other side of the second floor.

Walking over to the mirror, I smudged all the steam off and stared at myself, long and hard. Who the hell was Lexy kidding? More to the point, who the hell was I kidding? I wasn't good enough for Tandem. It was a sad truth of life, one that I should probably just own up to, already. I wasn't pretty enough. I wasn't tall enough. I wasn't docile enough, and I wasn't... normal enough.

Tracing my fingers through the steam that was left on the huge mirror, I spelt out slowly,

"I am a raven among doves."

Overdramatic bitch that I am, I grabbed my things and walked out without looking back. I was so busy not looking back, in fact, that I walked straight into someone.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry--" I looked up, face probably a lovely shade of tomato red, at Mr. Blake. "I wasn't paying attention, I'm so sorry, sir--"

"Tiger, wasn't it?"

I shut up instantly the second he said my name. "Huh?"

Tandem's father rolled his eyes and chuckled. The sound... well, there wasn't any humour in it, that was for damn sure, but I wasn't completely sure whether he was chuckling at me or at the situation. "You're name, dear. You're name's Tiger, is it not?"

Smooth, Tiger. Very smooth. Very good first-- err, second-- impression. "Oh, yeah, that's me. I'm Tiger Sparks, sir."

Mr. Blake looked me up and down fast, making me want to turn around and walk right back into the bathroom. He was still in a suit; it was probably around midnight, and the man was still wearing his suit. Meanwhile, I was in an oversized button-down shirt, and my hair was wet. Again.

At least this time I didn't look like a drowned rat. Just a rat after swimming.

"You don't need to call me 'sir', Tiger," Mr. Blake said easily. "Please, call me Ben."

Ben. Something was wrong. The situation, it was all wrong. I was on the top floor of the house; there was no way in hell his bedroom was up here. In fact, I'm pretty sure his bedroom was right next to Tandem's bedroom, on the opposite end of the second floor. What the hell was he doing up on the third floor?

And there was no way I was going to call him Ben.

Over reacting. Over reacting. It's fine. He feels bad for being an asshole earlier when you met him.

That wasn't the vibe that I was getting, but whatever. I had already proven that California had apparently whacked me to hell and back.

"So you're Tandem's friend?" The emphasis on 'friend' was obvious, and it threw me off quite a bit. Why did he care what I was to Tandem?

"Yeah, we're just friends," I smiled up at him, willing the conversation to be over. "Umm, I'm really sorry, sir, but--"

The shift was too fast for me to actually notice it happen, but suddenly, all the politeness in his disposition was gone. Tandem's dad gripped my shoulder hard and leaned down to look me level in the eye. "I told you, dear," he whispered, squeezing my shoulder with the emphasis, "to call me Ben."

"You're-- you're hurting my shoulder...." I winced as he gripped it even harder.

Mr. Blake grinned, and the light it put in his eyes was... disgusting. That's the only word for it. "All of Tandem's friends like a little pain."

"Get-- get away from me b-before--"

Mr. Blake laughed, a harsh, biting sound. "Before what?" He taunted. "You call Tandem? My son doesn't care about anyone but himself. Now, quiet down, sweet..."

"GET AWAY FROM HER."

Mr. Blake straightened, still holding my shoulder in an iron-tight grip. Shaking, I turned slowly to look at my saviour: Tandem, pissed as shit and walking down the hall with a swagger that made me want to cry.

Save me.

"Tandem, calm down--"

"Take your filthy hands off of her." Tandem grabbed my other shoulder and yanked me away from his father. Turning to look at me, his entire disposition changed... and there was my Tandem, eyes soft and endless, saving me from yet another psycho. "Are you okay?" He whispered.

I couldn't do anything but nod.

"Good." Letting go of me and turned back to face his father, that same fire was back. "Never touch her again. Never look at her again. Never think of her again."

Mr. Blake laughed, that same, harsh, biting sound. "Tandem, calm down. She's just a friend, remember?"

"You sick fuck--"

"Watch your mouth, young man," Mr. Blake snapped. "If nothing else, remember who funds you. Remember the reason why you can even afford to bring your tramps back to this beautiful house in beautiful California."

Well, that hurt. For some reason, it really struck that this had happened before... how many times had Tandem been stuck in this situation?

Why hadn't he told me about his father?

And he just stood there. He looked frozen, and if I wasn't such a coward, I would have tried to help him.

And I didn't notice that he'd clenched his fists until he'd cracked his dad straight in the face.

Mr. Blake landed flat on his ass, staring up in utter shock at his son. "Tandem!" He yelped, hand against his face.

"Stay away from her, and for the love of God, stay away from me."

Tandem grabbed my hand and tugged me down the hall, but when he tried to get down the stairs, he tripped; he was shaking so badly that he couldn't walk straight.

"Tandem, calm down," I whispered, sitting him down on the stairs. "You need to calm down, you're still shaking."

"I..." Tandem ran his hands through his hair and locked his fingers behind his neck. He never raised his eyes from the ground. "I... I've never hit my... father before..."

That wasn't Tandem. This wasn't Tandem. Where was the haughty, playful, smug asshole I'd grown to care so much about?

"Tandem?" I asked quietly, kneeling down in front of him. "Tandem, what are you talking about?"

"I... don't..." Tandem squeezed his eyes shut and scrubbed his hands across his face, fast. "Fucking... what... I can't..."

"Tandem!" I grabbed his hands when I realized that he was scratching his face, not just rubbing his hands over it. "Tandem, listen to me!" I pulled his hands down hard and ducked down to force him to meet my eyes-- but his were shut tight. "Tandem, love, look at me? Please?"

Tandem shook his head violently. "No!"

Sighing and letting go of his hands slowly, I put my hands on either side of his face. "Thank you for saving me, Tandem."

Tandem shook his head again, just as violently. "No!"

"Tandem, thank you for coming for me..."

"No!"

I chewed on my lip quietly, thinking. Kissing his head softly, I whispered, "You're my hero, Tandem."

His eyes opened slowly, but it didn't look like he could actually see me for a few seconds. He was crying, his eyes bloodshot.

And for the first time in my entire life, I wanted to describe a boy as beautiful.

"I'm so sorry," he said quietly. He reached up, hand still shaking, and brushed my cheek. "I'm... I'm sorry..." And, suddenly, his arms were around my neck and he was hugging me tight. It felt good, to have someone hold me like that.

It felt right, for that someone to be Tandem.

He stood slowly, tugging me up with him. "Don't let me sleep alone, Tiger," he said quietly, eyes big and pleading. "Please come with me."

Don't ruin this. "Tandem..."

"Tiger, please," and now he was just straight up begging. "Please, please just come with me. I don't want to have to sleep alone. Nothing will happen, I promise, just please don't let me go to bed alone tonight."

"Tandem..." But it was too late. I was already walking through the hall with him, already going through the door, already in a room filling with... nothing. There wasn't a thing in Tandem's room, aside from a bed and a dresser. The walls were white, the bed had white sheets, the one window had white curtains. It was a million times smaller than the room I'd been in; it looked like a guest room, in fact, and just as unused.

I wouldn't want to sleep in there alone, either.

Tandem crawled into the bed, still tugging me along with him. There wasn't anything playful about him; he wasn't slowly turning back into his playful, smug self. No, instead, he refused to lay down until I was laying down first, and he wrapped his arms around my waist and snuggled into my back, his nose in my hair.

"Thank you, Tiger..." he whispered.

I didn't know how to respond and, as it turned out, I didn't have to; his breathing was slow and steady soon enough. I fell asleep to his breathing, and the only thing I could think of the entire time was that, in my entire life, I'd never felt closer to another human being than I did to Tandem right then.