Save Your Heart

“Ugh, I have to go grocery shopping. “I moaned. It was one our lazy days; we were lying sluggishly on the couch.

Derek started to get up from the couch. “Alright, let’s go.”

“I don’t wanna.” I whined.

He leaned over me, placed a light kiss on my nose, and pulled me up from the couch. “You’ll be fine. C’mon.” He grabbed my wallet and dragged me out the door. I proceeded to whine about how much I hated grocery shopping all the way to the store. He just smiled and nodded at me. It were moments likes these I didn’t understand why he stuck around.

“What do you need?” He asked as we walked into the store. I pulled out a list from my back pocket and handed it to him. “You made a list?” He laughed.

“Yes, I made a list.” I replied. “I don’t want to forget anything! No making fun, meanie.”

He shook his head and laughed again. “Alright. I’ll go get all of the produce and dairy, you can go get everything else.”

“Are you sure?” I gave him a quizzical look.

“Yes. I’m sure. Why?” He started to walk in the opposite direction I was going near the produce.

“Well, you don’t have to help, you know.”

He walked back over to me and kissed me. “I want to.” He left a kiss on my cheek before walking near the produce again. “We’ll meet back here.” He flashed me a smile and jogged away before I could say anything else.

I made my way around the store, cursing every time I couldn’t find something on the list fast enough. Grocery shopping was probably my most hated household chore. If I left it up to Natalie, we would starve.

I was deciding which chips to get when I saw him. I couldn’t help but gawk at him. My body started to perspire and my heart beat quickened. He looked exactly like he did 3 years ago. His blonde hair was short and shaggy. He caught my gaze, his blue eyes were almost burning into me. I looked over at the chips immediately, hoping he didn’t notice that I was staring at him. I was nervous. I quickly picked up a random bag of chips, threw them in my cart, and picked up my pace as I walked over to the next aisle. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough. He grabbed onto my shoulder. It startled me even though I knew it was coming.

“Hey! Calm down, it’s only me.” He said in a tranquilizing, but sinister voice. I turned to face him; he was wearing that same damn smile he always put on when he was trying to charm someone. I tried not to look at him. “How are you?” He push my chin so I would look at him, but I flinched away.

“I’m kind of in a hurry...” I told him. I commenced to inch away from him slowly.

He noticed and took a hold of my arm. I gasped. He pulled me close to him. His breathe in my ear sent chills down my spine. “Don’t leave. I miss you, Rys.” He whispered coldly in my ear.

I tried to pull away. “Tyler, I have to go.” I kept my voice low so I wouldn’t cause a scene, especially with him. That only made him hold my arm even more securely. “Please.” I hissed beneath my breath.

“Come on, Rys, I only want to talk to you.” He replied with a smile.

I stopped trying to resist his pull. “Fine. What would you like to talk about?”

He finally let go of my arm and stroked it up and down lightly. Chills went through my arm. “Why don’t you come back to my place and we can catch up?”

I took a step back from him. “I’m busy.”

“You can’t be that busy.” He moved closer to me, so close our bodies were touching. I felt crowded. I wasn’t claustrophobic at all, but when Tyler was around me, I was. I felt my ability to breathe getting harder the closer he moved towards me. I wasn’t able to speak, all I did was try to inch away from him when I thought he wasn’t going to notice.

“Hey, baby.” Thankfully I heard Derek’s voice next to me. He placed the items he got into the shopping cart and stood next to me. Just his presence lifted a weight off of my shoulders. I quickly clutched his hand. “Is everything okay?”

Tyler took a step closer to Derek in attempts to act tough. “Everything’s fine. Who are you?” He pushed his chest out. I shot him a look of revulsion.

Derek must have sensed his aggressiveness; he let go of my hand and put his arm around my waist and pulled me into him. “I’m Derek, Rylin’s boyfriend. Who are you?” A side of Derek came out that I have never seen before; he became vigorous and confrontational. Although it intimidated me, it also turned me on to him.

“I’m Tyler, an old friend of hers.” He shot me a sly smile. I shook my head at him in disgust.

“From what I can see, she’s no friend of yours. You stay away from her.” Derek hissed at him. He turned around and grabbed our shopping cart, with me still by his side. I looked behind me as we left the aisle, Tyler was fuming as he watched us walk away.

The car ride back was silent. I made a comment about the weather in hopes to start a conversation, but Derek didn’t bother to answer to me. He kept his eyes on the road all the way back to my apartment. He practically threw the bags of groceries onto the counter when we arrived. I watched him as he paced my apartment. “Who is he?” He snapped at me.

“He’s just someone I went to high school with.” I replied trying not to make a big deal out of the situation. Tyler wasn’t my favorite person to talk about. I never talked about him. I began putting the groceries away.

“He didn’t seem like some random guy from high school, Rylin.” His voice was bitter. He sat on one of the bar stools in front of the counter and played around with his keys. I noticed he always did that when he was nervous or upset. However, this was the first time I had seen him upset.

“He is.” I said softly. I was hoping he would drop the subject soon.

“Don’t lie to me!” He retorted. His face looked angry and annoyed.

I closed the refrigerator door with a bang. “I don’t want to talk about it! Just let it go.”

I ran into my room and shut the door so Derek wouldn’t see me cry. For the first time in 3 months, I was angry at him. I was angry at him for yelling at me. I was angry at him for nagging me about a situation I clearly did not want to talk about. Most of all, I was angry at Tyler. I was still mad at him for what he did. I never forgave him. I put it in the back of mind and went about my life. I did everything I could to get my mind off of him. This strategy had been working until today, until I saw him. Then everything came rushing back. When Derek kept badgering me about the subject, it only made me feel worse. I haven’t cried this hard in months.