Price Check On Monogamy

At some point the night before, Tandem must have grabbed a blanket, because I woke up tangled in one.

I also woke up to breakfast in bed-- pancakes, eggs, sausage.

I had almost forgotten how much I loved Tandem's cooking... not that I was really hungry. What I really wanted was to talk to Tandem, and he was no where to be found.

And that was another problem; how was I supposed to talk to him about last night? How was I supposed to even ease into the topic?

"Tandem?" I felt like I was shouting, but I guess it couldn't have been more than a stage whisper. The house felt... dirty is the only word that comes to mind, after last night. And it scared me, the fact that there was something dark beneath the beauty of the house.

It seemed like some sort of deathly foreshadowing for Tandem.

"Tandem?"

"Tiger? What are you doing out of bed?" I jumped and turned fast; Tandem was right behind me. He was smiling. "How did you like breakfast?"

"I... I didn't really get to finish it," I stuttered out. I had to bite my tongue hard to keep from blurting out questions-- but they were questions that honestly needed answers. Biting my lip for a second, I sighed and crossed my arms nervously. "Tandem--"

"Tiger, I know I owe you some explanations," Tandem said fast, interrupting me, which pissed me off. There was something very, very familiar about this-- and if it went anything like past experiences, I was going to lose it. Right before I could open my mouth, however, Tandem grabbed my hand and lead me back into the room. He sat me down on the bed and moved the tray breakfast had been on to the side of the bed before he sat down next to me.

Grabbing my hands and looking me directly in the eyes, Tandem took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Ask."

Like the idiot I am, all the questions I had had to fight back before were suddenly gone. Dropped dead from shock, apparently. "What?"

Tandem laughed brightly, but the nervousness was still right beneath the surface. "Whatever you wanted to ask, Tiger. Just ask. I know... I know I owe you some explanations. Just go for it, because I don't know where I'm supposed to start here."

Well... well... I leaned forward and hugged his hard. "Thank you, Tandem," I whispered.

I could feel him laughing before I heard him actually laugh. "Shoot."

"Well... um... what's going on?" I left the silent with your dad out of the question. I knew he knew.

Tandem took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I knew this was gonna come up eventually. Probably should have prepared better for it, anyway. Tiger... well, after what happened last night, there's really not much else to say." Tandem spoke slowly, like he was choosing each individual word carefully. He stopped there, though; before I could ask him to go on, he rushed out, "He does this with every girl that I bring to this house. Every single one. I knew he came on to every girl, and i knew that he hurt every one. I knew he was hurting them, the way he used to hurt my mother, years ago, back when I was a kid. I knew, I just, I just never thought that it mattered because none of them even told me that he did anything. They thought it was a game, I think. If it ever actually bothered them, they never said anything about it. I... I just... he can't control himself. This is how he's always been. He used to cheat on my mom constantly. He's... he's a bad person, Tiger. I promise, you'll never have to see him again." He hugged me tight, and, finally, remembered to breath.

I believed him. I really did. And I wanted to comfort him, because I could tell that it hurt him to have to admit it. But... I had no clue what to say.

So, instead, I just asked another question.

"Why did you punch him?"

Tandem sighed, but it seemed... relieved. Like he was expecting me to try and comfort him, too, and he didn't want that. Or maybe I was just trying to convince myself that I wasn't being insensitive. Either way.

"I just... I lost it. I don't really know how to explain it, you know? It felt right. God knows I've wanted to do that for years."

I twisted around in his arms and pulled out to face him-- meet him, eye to eye. "Why didn't you do it before?"

Tandem looked away for a second, like he was trying to think of what to say, but his eyes were back on mine soon enough. There was a sort of openness in them that I'd never seen from him before; an openness that wasn't there before he shifted his eyes. Like... a controlled version of the pained, blind trust that I'd seen last night. It... well, it scared me.

I could get used to be afraid like this.

"I've never brought anyone back here for anything other than sex," he said slowly. When I didn't whack him, he pushed forward, "And, well, I figured that if they'd like to go straight from me to my father and it didn't bother them... why should it bother me? Why bother interfering? I didn't care about those girls. They didn't care about me. Why fight him over them? You... you didn't want that. You didn't want that from me, you didn't want that from him. You were... terrified." Tandem shut his eyes tight and shook his head, his hair bouncing slightly. "You looked so scared. I couldn't.... I couldn't let him... I couldn't let him do it."

"Thanks, Tandem..." I said quietly, leaning back into him and laying my head on his shoulder. "It means... well, it means a lot to me."

Tandem hugged me tight before letting go slowly. Pulling me away from him, he smiled. "Alright, then. Ready for a redo?"