Save Your Heart

“Hey, you!” Derek called out near the beginning of the dock. I looked over to my shoulder to see him jogging towards me. “What are you doing out here?”

I needed some space from all of the people, so I decided to sit on the edge of the dock of the lake house where Natalie and Brooks’s wedding reception was being held. It was a beautiful night. There were a million stars lighting up the sky along with the full, bright moon. My toes brushed over the cool water as my feet dangled off the edge of the dock. My painful shoes were sitting next to me.

As Derek approached me, he took off his jacket and put it around my shoulder. “Aren’t you cold?”

I shrugged. “Not really, but thank you.” I pulled his suit jacket closer to me. He took off his shoes and socks before sitting beside me, also swinging his feet back and forth. His feet went all the way in the water, since he was so much taller than me. “Anything exciting going on in there?”

“Oh you know, there’s elephants walking around, clowns juggling, flame throwers. The usual wedding stuff.” He replied making me giggle. He was staring out into the water, swinging his feet back and forth. For a while, the only sound being made was Derek’s feet swooshing the water. It was nice to sit in silence with the company of Derek. There was no pressure of having to say something. We were just enjoying each other’s company. “I kind of told Lexi about us.”

“Oh?” Whenever the topic of Lexi came up, it made me nervous. I knew she wanted him. I never understood how I could compete with her. She was so much more attractive than I ever could be. She was probably willing to do a lot of things that I wasn’t. I thought of her as a threat to me, to my relationship with Derek.

“She asked me to come back to her place.” He was soft-spoken. His gaze stayed on the water.

“Oh.” There was disappointment in my voice. I looked down at my feet rippling the water beneath them. My stomach started to feel ill. I had a feeling this moment would come, the moment I would lose him to her again.

“I told her I had infinite plans with another girl.”

I lifted my head and looked at Derek; he has a smirk on his face, he was till staring out into the water.“Yeah. I didn’t tell her it was you. I didn’t want anything to happen.”

I put my hand on top of his and linked my pointer finger with his. “Thank you.”

“She probably knows it’s you though. It’s always been you.”

I scooted closer to him so our shoulders were touching. He took his hand away from mine and rested it around my shoulders. My head rested on his shoulder. I felt him kiss the top of my head. I never wanted to leave this spot.

“Rylin!” Natalie’s voice from the lake house made us turn in her direction. “You might want to come in here.”

“Oh boy.” I moaned as Derek and I put our shoes on and stood up. We jogged up to the lake house together. When we stepped in the door, we immediately heard a voice I thought I wouldn’t have to hear again.

“Baby! There you are.” I spotted Tyler in the middle of the dance floor with a beer in hand. He was wearing some jeans and a dress shirt that wasn’t tucked in. He looked like a mess. The wobbly walk told me that he wasn’t exactly sober.

I walked up to him and pulled him to the side, away from the crowd.“What are you doing here?”

“Today’s the wedding, I was...uh...invited. Wasn’t I?” He took a sip of his beer. I watched as some missed his mouth and trickled down his chin. I looked behind Tyler, Derek was a few feet away from us, watching carefully.

“Well yeah, as my guest.” I grabbed a hold of his collar and dragged him outside the front door away from everyone. “You’re not my guest anymore.” I spoke to him as calmly as possible in hopes it would end this peacefully and he would be leaving soon.

“What do you mean I’m not your guest anymore?” He yelled before taking another swig of his beer. “I’m your boyfriend.”

“You think you’re my boyfriend after what happened the other night?” My voice was still relaxed and quiet.

“Oh baby, that was just a fight. It won’t happen again.” He put his free hand on my waist. I pushed it off immediately. “What’s your problem?” His hand found my waist again.

“Tyler, you hit me!” It was hard to keep my temper to a minimum. I slapped his hand away again.“That wasn’t just a fight.” In the back of Tyler, I could see Derek slowly making his way towards the front door. I guess I wasn’t very good at keeping my composure.

Tyler brushed his hand on my cheek. I jerked my head away. “C’mon baby, it won’t happen again. I promise. I love you.”

“Tyler, leave.” I snapped back.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” He stopped trying to act nice. His voice raised.

“If you would leave, then I wouldn’t have to tell you what to do anymore.”

Tyler smashed his beer bottle against the wall. I jumped at the loud noise. I became nervous. Glass shattered everywhere. “After all I’ve done for you, you’re breaking up with me?!”

I didn’t know what to say. I was afraid that if I said anything else he didn’t like, he would be shattering more than a beer bottle. I took a step away from him, but he only came closer. The strong smell of beer that came from him intoxicated me. I didn’t know what else to do but keep moving away.

Derek slowly opened the front door and stepped outside so he wouldn’t cause a commotion. He approached Tyler. “Could you please leave, man? This is a private party.”

Tyler spun around fast almost falling over. “Who the fuck do you think you are telling me what to do?!”

“I’m just telling you how it is, man. If you could just go home, I think they would appreciate it.” Derek’s voice was quiet and kind. I raised one eyebrow at him. I couldn’t be that nice to Tyler.

“If you would excuse me, I’m having a conversation with my girlfriend.” Tyler yelled.

Derek chuckled and shook his head. “She’s...uh...not your girlfriend.”

Tyler took a step closer to Derek trying to get in his face. He was unsuccessful seeing he was a few inches shorter than Derek. “What did you say?”

“She’s not your girlfriend.” Derek replied with a smirk. He seemed unfazed of Tyler aggressiveness. He walked around Tyler and over to me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and drew me closer to his side. I glanced up at him, he was looking at me smiling. I mouthed ‘I love you’ to him before looking back at Tyler. His face was red and angry as he watched us.

“You’re with him?!” He yelled in a jealous rage. I just smiled back at Tyler without a word. “You whore.” His words were slurred. He couldn’t keep his balance, he kept toppling over and walking in circles. It was almost humorous.

Normally those words would hurt me, but this time, that didn’t even concern me. I knew they weren’t true. Tyler didn’t matter to me anymore, so therefore his words didn’t either. I kept the smile on my face as I stared back at him. I noticed Derek’s hand give my hips a light squeeze as a way to let me know he was there. Tyler looked from Derek to me, then back again twice.

“You can have her. She doesn’t put out anyway.” Tyler waved his hand at us and began to walk away from us. Derek’s arm let go of me. Before I could stop him, I saw him grab Tyler by the sleeve and Derek’s other hand, which was now in a fist, swing right into Tyler’s cheek. I gasped as Tyler went down on the ground.

“What the fuck!” Tyler yelled holding his cheek and rolling around on the ground.

I glanced over at Derek; his face was no longer calm and happy, but mad. He was shaking his fist and pacing back and forth. I went over to him and put his hand in mine, it was bright red. “Sweetie, are you okay?” I asked him softly. I could hear him breathing heavily. He nodded in return. When I glanced over at Tyler, he was still on the ground, looking at his hand which was covered in blood. He must have gotten cut when he fell on the ground. I started to go over to see if he was okay, but Derek tugged on my dress. “What?”

“He doesn’t deserve anything from you.”