Last Year Was Complicated

Brett was angry with Gia, but mostly she was angry with herself.

When the power had gone out in their whole building and their landlord had sent out a building-wide memo that it wouldn't be back on until early morning if not later Brett had tried to call Gia but it had gone straight to voicemail. Which, given the fact that her charger was plugged into the wall by the fridge, wasn't surprising to her.

Kelly was out of town, and Antoine was out with the guys, she knew that.

She thought about calling Jamie, but she figured he already had plans, because, hello, it was a Friday night and Brett was the only loser home alone.

So she packed a very small bag, clothes, and her bathroom things, and braved the dark condo all the way outside to her car with Oz, who seemed to be content to follow along side her, the bells on her collar jingling as they went. She lifted her up into the car and waited until Oz climbed over the console and into the passenger seat before Brett tossed her bag onto the floor at the passenger seat and got into the car herself, immediately locking the doors.

Turning the key in the engine Brett looked over at Oz, who was curled up in a ball on the seat looking up at her and she smiled. She reached over and gave her a pet, which was when she got up and climbed back over the console to curl up in Brett's lap. For a moment Brett thought about just sleeping in the car until the power went back on, but that seemed like a worse bet than where she had been planning on heading too.

So she backed out of her space and drove the whole way to Tyler's with Oz curled up on her lap. She parked on the street and looked over at the house, all the lights were on but that wasn't unusual even if he wasn't home, but his car was in the driveway so she thought maybe he was home.

Pulling her phone from her lap she sent him a text.

Are you home?

A minute later she got a response.

Yes, why?

She sighed. She really wasn't sure if she had wanted him to be home or not, still, she answered him anyway.

The power went out in my building, and Gia's not home, and I'm a chicken shit who's only protection is a fucking pug.

She was sure, if they were in the same room, he would be laughing at her text.

Door's unlocked.

So she took a deep breath and pulled her car off of the street and into his driveway before she grabbed her bag and got out. Setting Oz on the ground they headed up the driveway and to the front door and Tyler opened it before they even got within two feet. He had a grin on his face as he asked, "You were parked on the street when you sent that text, weren't you?"

Her cheeks flushed and she admitted, "Maybe. You know how I feel about power outages."

He nodded his head and stepped aside letting them both in before he asked her, "Who's dog?"

"My dog." She informed him as she slipped out of her shoes and then she picked Oz up and unhooked her leash and she told Tyler, "This is Oz, and she doesn't like men."

"Hold up... Oz?" He asked her and when she nodded he asked, "Like The Wizard of Oz?"

"That's the one." Brett told him, and she laughed when Oz growled at him when he went to pet her.

As he pulled his hand back slowly Tyler asked her with a quirked eyebrow, "Wasn't The Wizard a dude?"

"Who says there couldn't be a female wizard? Stop living in the 50's you sexist jackass." Brett told him with a small smile on her face to let him know that she was, in fact, joking.

Tyler let out a laugh and he locked the door before he asked her, "You hungry? I was just about to attempt to make something."

She rolled his eyes and stated, "You mean order in."

He shrugged and said, "Yeah, probably."

"I'll cook, it's the least I can do." Brett told him and she rolled her eyes, smile present on her face when he grinned over at her and lead her into the kitchen. Tyler watched her in amusement as she pulled a dog bed out of her bag, she had clearly folded and stuffed it in there any way she could, and she placed it on the island counter before she put Oz in it and she turned to him and told him, "She might run away, we haven't quite learned the whole chilling out and staying put and that's the only thing that works."

He let out a laugh and pulled up a chair next to the dog, and slowly he placed his hand out on the island counter top right in front of her bed and waited patiently, watching her curiously as Brett moved around the kitchen looking for something to make them.

Tyler glanced at her and he asked, "So what made you want a dog?"

Brett shrugged and she smiled when she found a can of tomato soup, that would do. She took it to the stove and then rooted through his fridge for butter and cheese slices which was when she told him, "Gia's always gone, and I get lonely in the condo."

Oz let out a growl, her eyes trained carefully on Tyler when he moved his hand a little too close for her comfort. Tyler sighed and said to Brett as she giggled, "She will love me by the end of the night."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Brett mused as she started cooking.

"Will she stay in her bed if I get up? Or am I supposed to be on official jumper duty?" Tyler asked Brett curiously, eyeing Oz with a similar curious wary that she was looking at him with.

"She'll be fine. She'd sleep up there all night if we left her." Brett told him, so Tyler got up from his chair and made his way over to her.

He stood next to her and let out a laugh as his eyes fell on what she was making, and he asked her, "Grilled cheese and tomato soup? You're really going all out huh?"

"I try." Brett told him, and then she sighed sadly and admitted to him, "My mom always made me this when I was sad... well that or mac n' cheese casserole."

Curiously Tyler asked her, "So what are you sad about this time?"

It had occurred to her that she had never really talked to Tyler about her family. So she told him, "My mom's sick."

"What?" He sounded surprised, and Brett tried not to let that bother her. That was until he said, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"You never seemed to care to know anything that was going on in my life." Brett stated, her voice too neutral for him to sense whether she was angry or not.

She supposed it wasn't fair of her to be upset with him because she could have offered up the information on her own, and she would have had she known he really wanted to know. But Tyler, at least the version she had gotten to know over the last few years, had never cared to know much about Brett's life at all.

He sighed, and pushed a hand through his hair before he surprised her by saying, "Yeah, I deserved that one."

"Yeah."

For a minute or two, he watched her stir the soup, and Tyler grabbed the spatula to flip one of the sandwiches on the fry pan before he asked her, "So what's going on? What do you mean when you say she's sick?"

"Breast cancer."

When she said this Tyler put the spatula in his hand down and he wrapped both of his arms around Brett's shoulders, pulling her back into his chest. He gave her a squeeze before he simply went back to holding her to him and Brett, to his surprise, didn't pull away, instead, she leaned into him and rested her hands on his forearms, which were currently across the front of her chest.

Despite everything they had gone through, and the kind of boyfriend he had proven himself to be, Tyler was a person with feelings, and he knew that if it were his mom he would be a wreck. So he told Brett, "If you need anything..."

She nodded her head and leaned into his touch for a moment before she pulled away to go back to tending to their dinner. A little part of her wondered, briefly, if maybe she should have told him sooner, maybe he would have tried harder to be a better person to her but then again that wasn't fair to do to someone either.

So she cleared her throat and filled two bowls with soup and two sandwiches on Tyler's plate, one on hers before they sat down at the counter peninsula to eat in silence.

To Brett's surprise, Tyler cleaned up their mess, even doing the dishes and then he proposed, "Movie night?"

She gathered her bag, and Oz, and followed him upstairs and into the media room where she instantly took a seat with Oz in her lap and both Cash and Marshall came over to see what was up with the fuss over the new pup was. She wasn't surprised when Oz took to them warmly, she seemed like a pretty friendly little dog, with the exception of men, of course, she seemed to not like them very much.

Tyler dropped into the spot beside her and he skillfully rested his arm across the back of the couch behind Brett, his hand brushing gently against her shoulder as he flicked through Netflix trying to find something for them to watch.

Curiously she asked him, "Do you have practice tomorrow?"

He shook his head, "Off day, finally."

"Oh you poor, overworked, millionaire." Brett joked and he pouted, literally, at her.

He looked down at Oz and told her, "Your mom's rude."

To both Tyler and Brett's surprise, Oz didn't growl at him at all. So Tyler decided to try his luck and hold his hand out, and Oz stretched enough that she didn't have to move from Brett's lap to sniff his hand. She pushed her wet snout against the side of his hand, sniffing and licking his skin, and then she jumped back and barked at him, watching him on high alert.

Tyler and Brett laughed, and then Tyler joked, "She's just as weird as you."

"Hey, that's mean." Brett stated, rolling her eyes when he laughed at her again.

Tyler settled on Oz The Great and Powerful and when Brett shot him an amused look he explained, "I thought it was only right, being that it is her first sleepover here... plus I know you like James Franco for some reason."

"Okay first, James Franco is a babe, and second, this movie sucked." Brett informed him.

"I'll be the judge of that." Tyler stated, getting comfortable in his chair as the movie started.

"Mhmm."

Hours later, when the credits rolled, Brett sat waiting patiently for Tyler's much-awaited review of the movie. Eventually, he had to look over at her and admit, "Yeah, okay, it sucked."

"Told you so." She couldn't quite get it all out because a yawn seemed to have other plans for her.

When she covered her mouth Tyler announced, "I guess it's time for bed."

Brett nodded slowly, and she checked her phone quickly to see if there was any update on the power situation at her own place, but there was nothing. So she got up and followed Tyler out of the media room with three dogs hot on their heels.

He turned to her, slowly to a stop, his cheeks flushed and he said, "Sorry... I forgot... uh... you can sleep in the guest room if you want. But you don't have to, I wouldn't mind the company actually."

She let out a small laugh and took the lead further down the hall to his bedroom. She took the liberty of grabbing a t-shirt from his closet and heading into the bathroom to change, a smile making its way onto her face upon seeing her toothbrush still next to his in the cup by the sink.

There was a quiet knock, followed by a, "If you're done in there I need to brush my teeth."

She laughed and opened the door to let him in, and they stood side by side brushing their teeth in silence. Brett left the bathroom first, crawling into the side of the bed that had always been reserved for her; furthest from the door.

When Tyler came out of the bathroom and saw Oz's curly tail sticking out from behind the bed frame on Brett's side he turned to Brett in amusement and asked, "Let me guess she sleeps in the bed?"

She shook her head, "Nope."

Okay, sometimes she did.

So he got into bed and turned the lights off, but before he could say a word to Brett he heard Oz whining on the floor next to his side of the bed. So he sighed and reached down, scooping her up with one hand and putting her on the bed as he stated, "She sleeps in the bed."

"Sometimes." Brett admitted with a laugh.

Tyler shook his head in amusement, smile on his face as Oz sniffed his head, and then she licked his ear before she curled up between them and Tyler announced, staring at the ceiling in the dark with a grin on his face, "I told you she would love me by the end of the night."