Flux and Flow

There was absolutely no way. No way in hell would Tyler be here, in Surrey. Olivia couldn't run, she'd already asked him why he was there. She should've just turned off the lights and walked upstairs and gone to bed.

It was as if everything she had worked for had come crashing down in front of her. All the time she had spent building herself back up and learning to be vulnerable again was crumbling and it was all because of the man standing on the other side of her door.

Tyler had destroyed her. He had broken whatever had been left of her heart and left her. Olivia didn't know what to do?

Did she let him in a hear him out? Did she keep the door closed in his face and walk away? A million thoughts raced through her head at the situation. All she knew was that she wished Dan was with her. Or that she was far away from here and with Dan.

"Why are you here, Tyler?" Olivia asked softly, her hand on the doorknob. She was halfway between opening the door and keeping it locked. She didn't know what to do.

"Can you just let me in, please?" Tyler sighed, continuing to knock on the door.

"Not until you tell me why you're here," Olivia replied sternly. She was in no position to have him walk all over her.

Olivia wished Dan had been there with her. She knew that Dan would've opened the door, stepped into Tyler's face and told him to beat it. Dan wasn't a very confrontational person, but Olivia knew that this would be an exception.

"I just want to talk," Tyler replied.

"We've talked," Olivia replied. "We had a divorce full of talking. I'm done talking to you."

"Can you please open the door, Liv?" Tyler begged, banging on the door.

"No!" Olivia replied. "Please, leave. I'm leaving here to go and see my boyfriend soon, so you need to go."

"You have a boyfriend here?" Tyler asked, he sounded hurt and that infuriated Olivia.

Olivia swung the door open, the doorknob hitting the wall as it opened. She stared at the man she once called her husband and glared at him.

"I love that you seem upset at the fact that I have a boyfriend now," Olivia scoffed. "When you were screwing around while we were still married. What did you think I was going to do? Sit around and cry over you for the rest of my life?"

"I'm done with you, Tyler." Olivia continued, holding up her hand when he went to speak again. "I have nothing left to say that you. I don't know how you found out I was here and I don't care to. I just want you to leave. For good because I want to move on with my life."

Olivia was surprised with herself and how forceful she was being. She couldn't help but think about how happy and proud Dan would be with her. He was always telling her to stand up for herself and to take control, to not let people walk all over her. She wanted to call him right now and tell him what she had done for herself.

"I'm sorry for everything that happened between us," Tyler mumbled, looking at Olivia. He was giving her a look that he always used to give her, the look that made her crumble on several occasions. Not this time.

"No, you aren't." Olivia replied, shaking her head. "If you were sorry you wouldn't have waited as long as you did. Our divorce went through a few weeks ago and you hadn't spoken a word to me before then. You don't care about me, Tyler. The only reason you care now is because you have nothing and I have everything you wanted."

Olivia was surprising herself over and over again with her reactions to Tyler. Months ago she was still "in love" with him and probably would've forgiven him. It's funny how someone can change your life, like Dan had changed her's and he made her see what was wrong in her marriage.

"If I never see you again then I will die happy," Olivia replied. "Whether I die tomorrow or I die when I'm 95 years old I will be happy knowing that we, not just me, we made the right decision in divorcing. We were awful together, Tyler. I don't want what we had any longer. I don't want to be reminded of it."

"What's his name?" Tyler asked after a long moment of silence.

"His name is Dan," Olivia smiled, thinking of him again. "And he's everything I've ever wanted. There's nothing I don't know about him. He supports me and pushes me to do my best, which is exactly what I need. I love him."

Tyler nodded, but didn't say anything and he looked hurt. He reached for her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. He nodded once more uttering a "goodbye" and it was all over. He walked away. Olivia let out a large breath. That was it. That was the 'closure' that everyone talks about.

Olivia watched as Tyler walked down the street and off into the darkness. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew that she didn't really care. She knew he'd be safe, he wasn't a dumb guy. He did dumb things, but he was perfectly capable of looking after himself.

Olivia closed her door and locked it again. She shuffled towards the couch and grabbed her phone off of the coffee table, bringing up the text conversation between her and Dan and typing out a new message.

....

It was closing in on five in the morning in Boston, Massachusetts where the You Me At Six bus was shuttling through. The entire bus was fast asleep. The only sounds were the sounds of tossing and turning, air conditioning and the lull of the bus itself.

Dan was in and out of sleep the whole night. He just wasn't having a good night. He didn't know if he was just homesick or just having one of those nights. He was woken out of his shaky slumber by the light of his cell phone beside his face. He let out a groan and looked at it.

It wasn't unusual for him to get texts early in the morning. He was five hours ahead of the U.K where the band was on the east coast of the U.S.A. He squinted at the light of the text and read.

"Vee," He mumbled, reading her name. He smiled softly and tiredly at her name and read her text.

Good news. I'll be seeing you in New York in two days. I've decided to come out earlier and meet you in NYC instead of meeting you in Chicago in a few weeks! I hope that's okay! I'll give you a call tomorrow! Travel safe! I love you.

Dan was ecstatic. He muttered a triumphant, "yes!" upon reading the message. He had been missing Olivia so much and couldn't wait to see her.

Just as he settled back into bed in hopes of sleeping a little longer, Dan couldn't help but let his mind wander. There was a set plan that she would come on tour when the band got to Chicago. She had been invited for the whole tour, but Olivia had said she wasn't ready for that yet. Dan had gone with it and said that if she ever changed her mind she was more than welcome to come at any time.

What in the world had happened to make Olivia come out on tour so soon?