Life of Luxury

This was incredibly awkward, I was sitting in the front seat of Haley’s Crossroad and listening quietly to her mother tell her what she was going to when we got to this event, and I mean like telling Haley not to say or do certain things. It took everything in me not to tell this lady to shut the fuck up, I looked towards Haley, she had a hard look on her face as she looked at the road, her knuckles were white from how hard she was gripping the steering wheel.

‘…I see why she avoids her now…’ I thought as Haley just looked down and I watched her bite her lip, we were stopped at a red light. I watched her hand got to the shifter in-between our seats. I placed my hand on top of hers and gave her a sad look, she gave me a small smile and I squeezed her hand.

“Go, Haley!” her mom barked and Haley jumped and I looked forward to see that the light was green.

Haley muttered an apology and I felt the car move forward. After driving for another twenty minutes, we got to where ever we were going. I heard the two doors in the back and saw her parents get out, we stayed in. The doors closed and I looked at Haley, she took a deep breath and covered her face with her hands.

“You all right?” I asked and she just looked at me, “Can you get through this?”

“I have to,” she said and I shook my head.

“You don’t have to do anything, Hales! Fuckin’ took everything in me now to tell your mom to fuck off on the way down here,” I said and Haley sighed and nodded her head.

“Thanks for being here,” she said and I nodded my head and leaned over and gave her a hug.

“Come on, you can show off your trophy boyfriend,” I teased and she giggled.

“Boy that’s a friend, then yes,” she said and I smirked and shrugged my shoulders, “Let’s get this over with.”

We walked out of the car and onto the grass from what looked to be a park; I saw a bunch of picnic tables set up and many people and kids hanging around. I sighed and looked towards Haley; she was wearing a pair of pink shorts with a black ‘Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey’ tank top and a pair of black sandals. I bit my lip and looked her up and down, her tattoo sleeve was visible and colorful, one of the many things that her mother bitched about on the ride over, she clearly didn’t like mine or Haley’s tattoos. She had her hair down and curled with a pair of aviators resting on top of her head. I was happy that she helped me pick out what to wear to this, I would have totally overdressed. I was just in a pair of black mesh shorts, a white V-neck shirt, a pair of black converses, and a backwards Rangers hat on my head.

“You know,” I looked towards her, she turned her head towards me, I smirked and grabbed her hands, “You could pass me off as your boy-“

“You’re just a friend, Tyler,” she said and I sighed and pouted, “Don’t pout,” she giggled and I felt her arms around my waist, “I’m still happy you’re here.”

“Hey, I’m only here to see a possibly cat fight,” I said and she scoffed and playfully pushed me.

“Sad thing is, you probably will see one,” she said and I smirked and wrapped my arm around her shoulders and I felt her arm around my waist and we walked towards the people.

“It’s gunna be all right,” I muttered because I could feel her shaking against my side and I felt bad that she just really didn’t want to be here.

“Just promise you won’t tell anyone to fuck off, all right?” she said and I looked at her and nodded my head, “Promise me.”

“I promise,” I said and squeezed her shoulder.

“Here goes nothing,” she breathed as we came closer to her family.

“Not too late to turn back.”

-Haley-
‘…Please kill me, just kill me, I can’t take this anymore…’ I thought as I leaned my elbows onto the table and held my head up, rubbing my temples. For the last hour I listened to my Aunts and Uncles ‘nicely’ mention how they didn’t appreciate my lack of participation in the family reunion, ‘…I didn’t fuckin’ know that I was going to be going!...’ I thought as I felt Tyler’s hand on my back.

“Surely you could have brought something- Hell, you could have bought something, since you don’t need to worry about money, Haley,” my Aunt Rosa said and I jumped up from my seat and turned around from the table and stomped off.

“You know what-’Surely you could have brought something’, go fuck yourself!” I growled mostly to myself and wishing I had the balls to tell that to her face, all of their faces.

“Whoa there, I thought we weren’t going to tell anyone to go fuck themselves,” I heard Tyler chuckle as he came up from behind me, “Where are we going?”

“Away from them!” I growled and I felt Tyler slip his arm around my shoulder again and I sighed and leaned into him.

“They’re going a little intense on ya, eh?” he asked and I looked at him and rolled my eyes.

“This is just the beginning,” I said and he just looked at me. We walked over towards the little park that we were able to see from the picnic tables. I took a seat on the swing and sighed, I watched Tyler go behind me and I giggled when he started to push me on the swing, “What are you doing?”

“Underdog,” he said and I laughed and felt him pull me back and then run forward, bending down and running out from underneath me as I started to swing back and forth.

I laughed and then started to make myself go higher. I made myself stop though when I heard my name being yelled, Tyler came up next to me and had his hand on the swing chain and we watched as two girls ran over, “Watch out for those two.”

“Why?” Tyler asked and I sighed.

“They’re very- They very manipulative,” I explained and he nodded his head and sat on the swing next to me, he had his back to the girls and just looked at me.

“Haley! When did you get here?!” my cousin, Alison said next to her sister, Gabby.

“About an hour ago,” I said and they looked at me and then smiled brightly towards Tyler, ‘…And it begins…’

“Who’s this?” Ali asked and Gabby nodded her head.

“This is Tyler, my-“

“I’m her boyfriend,” he said quickly and I snapped my head towards him, he just had a big goofy smile on his face, “Nice to meet you.”

“Haley! You lucky bitch, he’s gorgeous!” Ali yelled and I knew that smile on her face was fake and she was really glaring daggers at me.

“When are you gunna send some of your luck my way?” Gabby whine and I just shrugged my shoulders.

“Haley!” I heard and looked to see another cousin, a year younger than me, Ethan, “Aunt Rosa wants you to go out and get more food, we don’t think we have enough.”

‘…I’m sure that’s what she wants…’ I thought and then stood up, ‘…I saw so much fuckin’ food over there…’ I sighed and looked towards Tyler, “She say what kind?”

“No,” he said and I nodded my head.

‘…Of course she didn’t…’ I growled and then looked towards Tyler, “Come on,” I said and he nodded his head and started to walk with me towards the family again, “What kind of food?” I asked blankly as I saw Aunt Rosa.

“I don’t know, whatever you want,” she said and I felt Tyler’s fingers lace with mine, and I wish that he hadn’t because I was getting so annoyed that I was crushing his hand.

“Hamburgers? Hotdogs? Steaks-“

“Steaks are good,” my Uncle Joe piped up and I looked at him and sighed.

‘…I was just joking about the steaks- Dammit Haley, you should fuckin’ know better by now!...’ I thought as I just nodded my head and started to head towards my car.

“You’re crushin’ my hand, Hales,” Tyler chuckled and I quickly let his hand go.

“Sorry,” I breathed as I walked towards the drivers’ side door and got in while Tyler got into the passengers’ side. I turned my car on and then backed up and pulled myself onto the path to leave the park. I was on the road now, heading towards the closest grocery store.

“Hales,” I heard Tyler, “Pull over.”

“What?” I asked and looked at him.

“Pull over,” he repeated and I sighed and pulled into the breakdown lane.

“Why-“ I watched as Tyler got out of the car, walked around the front of my car and opened my door, “Tyler?” he leaned over me, unbuckled me and pulled me out of the car, “What are you-“ I was surprised when Tyler wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me into a hug. I sighed and wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face into his shoulder, ‘…Fuck he smells so good…’

“Feel better?” Tyler asked as he pulled back, his hands still on my shoulder. I nodded my head and he smiled, “Good, now get on the other side.”

“What?” I asked and Tyler pushed me along and got into the drivers’ seat, “What are you doing?” I asked as I got into the passengers’ seat.

“We are fuckin’ not going back there just for you to get criticized by your fucked up jealous family,” he growled and then pulled out onto the road again.

“And do you plan on telling me where we’re going?” I asked and he looked at me.

“To have fun!”