Unraveling

“Shut up, Avery!” Tyler hushed as we stumbled back into my house.

I giggled, covering my mouth with my hand. He wrapped an arm around my waist,
opening my door for me. I led the way into the warm house, locking the door behind us. The
steady hum of my grandmother’s breathing machines continued upstairs.

My fingers curled around Tyler’s wrist, pulling him over to the couch. I fell onto it and
dragged my player on top of me. Tyler slipped his hands underneath me, pressing our
chests together as he kissed gently along the base of my neck.

“This was so much fun,” I grinned.

“Mmm,” He moaned into the side of my neck before biting down. I inhaled sharply, my
lips parting.

Tyler sucked roughly on my skin, his tongue teasing me. My fingers gripped his hair
tightly as my heartbeat quickened.

My head was swimming in my drunken state, and his lips were doing wonders to
increase my high. I felt as if my heart would explode at the rate it was pumping, endorphins
racing through my veins. I never wanted this evening to end.

He moved his lips back to my mouth, giving me a long, heated kiss.

Tyler pulled back all too soon. He gave me a smug smirk as his eyes roamed over my
face. I took the free time to try to regain my breathing. With every inhale, our chests pushed
against each other. My fingers were still tangled between his locks.

“Why’d you stop?” I frowned.

“You’re getting too loud, Princess.” He leaned down, kissing the corner of my mouth.
His lips lingered there as he continued, “I think it’s time I go before your grandmother wakes
up.”

“No!”

He kissed me once more, but it was quick and unsatisfying. My lips yearned for another
heated make-out like he had been giving me all evening.

Tyler stood up, his eyes wandering down my body. His lips curled into a smirk, but he
remained silent, grabbing his jacket from on the floor.

“I’m not about to get caught again.” He shrugged the jacket on, grabbing his keys from
in the pocket. “But I’ll visit you soon.”

I groaned, tilting my head back in annoyance. “You always leave. Why do you always
have to leave?”

“It’s my thing.”

I stood up reluctantly, straightening my skirt. It had ridden up while we fooled around, but
despite my hazy mind, I knew I didn’t want it that high. I walked Tyler to the door, holding it
opened while he grabbed his helmet.

“Goodnight, Princess.” He gave me a quick kiss, squeezing my ass discreetly.

I pushed on his chest, shaking my head no, “If you can’t stay, you don’t get to do
anything to me."

He rolled his eyes, “I do want I want.”

“Whatever,” I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him close, “Goodnight,
Superman.”

He left without another word.

~*~

The next morning was hell.

My head pounded as if a thousand hammers were nailing it roughly. The light hurt my
eyes, the coldness of my room stung painfully, and my uterus felt as if it would explode. I
curled into the fetal position underneath my covers, trying to alleviate the pain of a hangover
and cramps.

I had no idea what time it was, but it must’ve been late in the afternoon.

I could hear my grandmother downstairs moving about. The sounds seemed
thunderous in my ears. All I wanted was silence, darkness, and a few pills of Advil.

A few minutes later, I forced myself out of bed. I kept the lights off, and shut the blinds to
darken the room as best I could. Every step I took was another round of the hammers
against my skull. My brain throbbed in the pain of the hangover.

I changed slowly out of the trampy clothes I had fallen asleep in and into a pair of
pajamas. The act was rough, but I pushed through, knowing I’d have to hide my hangover in
a few minutes.

I headed down the stairs slowly

“Good morning!” My grandmother smiled from the kitchen. She held her cup of coffee
between her hands, watching the sink as she refilled the water pitcher. “Or, I guess I should
say good afternoon instead.”

“What time is it?” I asked quietly, slumping into a chair at the kitchen table. My head fell
onto the wooden top.

“It’s almost one. You’ve been out for a while.” She smirked. “Coffee?”

I didn’t shake my head for fear of the pain it would bring. “No thanks. Can you get me
some water, though?”

She nodded, “Are you feeling OK, Avery?”

“Not really.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Cramps.”

It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the entire truth. She set the glass of water next to my face,
returning to her previous position by the sink.

I lifted my head enough to gulp down the glass. The coolness felt nice as it smoothly fell
down my throat into my stomach. I hadn’t realized how parched I was until then.

My eyes moved over to my grandmother who watched me with a peculiar face. She
pursed her lips before taking a sip of her coffee.

“Are you sure it’s just cramps? You’re not usually this bad.”

I shrugged, “I don’t know, Grandma. All I know is my uterus wants to kill me.”

“Go take some Advil.”

“Ok.”

Hesitantly, I stood up and made my way toward the bathroom where the bottle of pills
was. I grabbed two before returning to the kitchen. My grandmother handed me another
glass of water, which I used to swallow them.

“Have you made any plans today?” She asked a few minutes later.

“No. I was just going to stay in.”

She nodded. “No work?”

“No, that’s tomorrow.”

“Oh.”

I stood up slowly, giving her a soft smile. “I think I’m going to go read a book or
something and try to ignore these cramps.”

She rolled her eyes, “Yeah, sure. ‘Read a book’.”

“You’re right… I’m probably going to go back to sleep.”

“I don’t understand how you can sleep for so long.” She shook her head, “You’re going
to lose your entire day to it.”

“It’s my day, and that’s how I want to spend it.”

“If you say so…”

I stood up, making my way toward the stairway. I had just rested my foot on the first step
when my grandmother called my name again.

“Avery?”

“Yeah?”

She appeared in the doorway by the steps. “You remember Sylvia, from the knitting club
at the church? You’ve met her before.”

“The name sounds familiar.” I thought for a moment, but decided against it. My head
hurt too much to think properly. “What about her?”

“I forgot to tell you yesterday, but she and I are going out for dinner tonight at Carrabba’s
around six.”

“Oh, have fun.”

“You’re going too.”

I frowned slightly, “I am?”

“Yes. She’s bringing her grandson, Peter as well. He’s a year younger than you, but she
thought it’d be nice for Peter to meet someone around his age.” She explained, “He’s
moving in with his father, and Sylvia doesn’t want him to feel uncomfortable.”

“That sounds fine, Grandma.”

She smiled, “Good. We’re going to dress up a little bit. You don’t have to wear a formal
dress, but please nothing trashy.”

I was slightly offended by her choice of words, but I understood her reasoning behind
them. If she had seen me last night…

“I got you.” I said, my fingers gripping the banister, “But I still am tired. Wake me up by
four if I’m still not up so I can get ready.”

“I will.” She said, “Thank you, Avery. I know it’s weird to do this since you don’t know him,
but remember he’s got it rougher.”

“I won’t make it awkward.”

She gave me another smile before letting me return to my bedroom to sleep off the rest
of my hangover.

But as I entered my room, I was greeted with a surprise.

Tyler rested on my bed atop the mess of sheets. My eyes widened in surprise as I
closed the door behind me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked softly.

He grinned, patting the empty space next to him on the bed. I noticed how Tyler was
adorned in his superhero costume. The mask covered his eyes from me, much to my
dislike. “Just checking up and seeing how you’re doing.”

I made a face, sitting on the bed next to him, “If you really are curious, I feel like my brain
is exploding.”

“Did you drink water?”

I nodded.

“Lay down.” He motioned. I did as instructed, moving so that he could slide an arm
underneath and pull me to him, “You had a lot to drink last night.”

“Why aren’t you dying inside?” I asked as I curled my body into him.

He chuckled, “Because unlike you, I can hold my liquor. That, and I didn’t try to empty the
place of every alcoholic beverage in stock.”

“I didn’t drink that much…”

“Ask your head that.”

I grimaced, smacking his chest. It had no effect on him because of the armor, but the
message was sent regardless.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“No.”
I lifted my head to give him a look.

He smirked teasingly. “Anything for you, Princess.”

“That’s what I thought.” I muttered. My fingers slid up his chest to play with the edge of
his mask, “But how did you get into my house last night?”

He chuckled, “The same way I normally do.”

“How did my Grandma not notice you?”

“I went in through your room first, but you weren’t there.” He explained, his fingers
drumming on my stomach, “So I slipped in through the back door. Your Grandma was
talking to you then. I waited until she left. Simple as that.”

“What if you had gotten caught?”

“She would’ve seen my face, but she wouldn’t have made any connections. I doubt she
would’ve thought that I was the same boy who’d been in your room a few months ago.”

I giggled, “You’re probably right.”

“I’m always right.”

I rolled my eyes before closing them.

Lying in his arms, it felt nice. The throbbing in my head hadn’t ceased, but it had dulled
to a tolerable level. The Advil had silenced the cramps. Tyler’s body warmed mine. I loved
the feeling of him pressed against me. He was my drug. I felt as if I could never get enough
from him.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked.

“I’m comparing you to drugs.”

“I’m bad for you?” He smirked, giving me a playful squeeze.

“After letting me drink that much liquor last night, I’m beginning to think so.”

He chuckled, “You’re the one who continued to push for more, and I couldn’t say no to a
pretty girl.”

“Kiss up.”

“You caught me.”

I giggled before we fell into a moment of silence.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Our future.”

I raised my head, curious. “What about it?”

“I have a proposition for you.”

I waited silently for more.

“When you graduate…” He trailed off, seeming nervous to finish his sentence. I held
back a smirk, not sure if I’d like the rest of it.

Tyler took a moment to compose himself before speaking again.

“When you graduate, how would you feel about moving in with me?”

I raised an eyebrow. “You want to live with me?”

“Avery, you’re something special.” He said, “I really like you. And after what happened a
few months ago, I don’t like not being with you.”

I bit my lip, looking at my darken window, “You left me for seven months…”

“I didn’t leave you.” He whispered, “I just didn’t… let you see me for seven months.”

I waited for him to continue.

“It’s not like I didn’t keep an eye on you,” He explained, “I did. But I thought it’d be better if
I sort of… disappeared for a little. You’d eventually forget about me, and so would the town. I
didn’t need Bentley to have any more of a reason to go after you.”

“So you ‘disappeared’?” I asked, incredulously.

He nodded, “Yeah. It worked.”

“Then why are you wearing your costume?”

“First off, it’s not a costume.” He gave me an irritated look, “It’s my armor. Don’t you
watch the news anymore?”

“Not really…” I shrugged guiltlessly.

“The Man with the Green Slash has returned.” He grinned proudly at me. “I’ve become
more subtle, but the media’s catching back on.”

“Does that bug you?” I asked. “That the media follows your every move?”

“It would if they knew who I was underneath.”

“And they don’t.”

“If they ever found out, you’d be in trouble.” He said, “That’s partly why I dropped out of
school.”

“I presumed as much.” I smirked, sitting up right. Tyler continued to lie on the bed while I
sat cross-legged next to him. He rested his hand on my thigh, running it up and down
smoothly.

“But back to the point, I want you to live with me at least over the summer.” He stated, “I
want to be able to keep a better eye on you, and if we live in the same house… it would be
better.”

“Aren’t you worried that if someone finds out who you are, they’ll come after me?”

He opened his mouth to retort back, but fell silent.

He must not have thought of that.

“I….”

I smirked, “We’ll take precautions.”

“‘We’ll’?” He grinned hopefully.

“Take off your mask.”

Tyler was hesitant to do so, but he pulled it off regardless. He tossed it onto my lap,
running his free hand through his hair. I noticed that he wore his new necklace underneath.

The bright green bead was hard to miss against the black.

“I think we need to think about this before we rush into it.” I said softly, running my hand
up his chest slowly.

“So, no?” He asked sadly.

“I didn’t say no.”

“You implied it.”

I sighed, “Tyler, moving in with someone is a big thing. We’re not even officially a couple
yet. You left me for seven months. I…” I shook my head softly.

“So you want us to go out?” He asked eagerly, “I can solve that right now. Avery, will you
be my gir—”

“No.” I clamped a hand over his lips, “If you’re going to ask me out, you damn well better
make it romantic.”

He rolled his eyes, smirking underneath my lips.

“The point I’m trying to make, though,” I continued, “is that we need to think about this
before we do anything drastic. You have a completely different life when this mask is on. I’m
not opposed, I’m being smart.”

He pulled my hand away slowly, “You’re so confusing.”

“Let me sleep on it.” I leaned down, kissing him softly, “We’ll make the decision another
day.”

He nodded softly. “Just so you know, I’ve been looking at apartments locally.”

“Really?”

My heart fluttered at the thought that he was taking this so seriously.

He nodded.

“That’s sweet.” I smiled, “But I’m still sleeping on it. We need to look together if we’re
going to pick one out. I don’t trust you to find a good one.”

“Understandable.”

I grinned, lying down next to him. My eyes closed softly on their own as sleep tugged at
the edges of my consciousness. With Tyler’s warm body against mine, I felt as if I could stay
in this place forever.

If we moved in together… this would be a daily act. My heart skipped a beat at the
thought of waking up to this every day.

“You need to leave soon.” I whispered regrettably.

“Why?”

“I’m about to fall asleep and my grandmother’s going to wake me up in two hours.” I
mumbled. “We have a dinner to go to.”

He groaned, giving me a squeeze, “I see how it is. Kick me out as soon as you’ve had
your fill of me. Whatever.”

“That’s not how it is at all!” I giggled.

“That’s exactly how it is! But, if I must go… I think I need to have something to remember
you by…” His hand slipped down my lower back, tugging at my shorts. I opened my eyes,
giving him a look as his fingers pulled the fabric away from my skin.

He hooked two fingers around the edge of my panties, tugging.

“You’re hysterical.” I said dryly.

“You know you like it.”

“Whatever, Superman.”

He released my panties, sitting up. “Goodbye, Aves. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye.” I smiled.

“Please do think about my request.”

He’d be a fool to think that it wouldn’t be on my mind 24/7.