Last Year Was Complicated

When Brett woke up the next morning alone in Tyler's bed for a moment she wondered if he had snuck out in hopes that she would see herself out, that seemed like a thing he would do. Her mind was quickly changed when she realized that she really was alone, Oz, Cash and Marshall were all missing from the bedroom. So she got up and made her way into the bathroom, brushing her teeth and rooting around in the drawers at the sink for things she knew she had left here; deodorant, bobby pins, both of which she found in a bottom drawer and she smiled to herself.

When she was gone making herself somewhat presentable Brett headed out of the bedroom and she stood at the top of the stairs for a moment to try to hear whether Tyler was actually downstairs or not but she couldn't hear anything. So she made her way down the stairs and she happened to be walking into the kitchen when Tyler was coming inside from the backyard with Oz in one arm, the both of them soaked to the bone.

Brett's brow lifted as their eyes met and Tyler's cheeks flushed as he told her, "Your dog just tried to commit suicide."

"What?" She couldn't help it; a little giggle escaped her lips at the sight of him as he pushed his wet hair from his face and grabbed the tea towel hanging from the stove to dry Oz as much as he could.

He explained to her, "I took the dogs outside, and honestly she walked right into the pool. Didn't stop at the edge, just walked right over it."

"And you jumped in after her?" Brett asked him in amusement.

"Well, yeah." He told her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

His brow raised when she giggled again and Brett told him, "She can swim dude."

Tyler's cheeks pinked up again and he defended himself with, "Well I didn't know that! She just walked over the edge of the pool and I panicked!"

"I appreciate the big grand saving my dog gesture, really. It's just kind of funny." Brett told him with a laugh, and after a moment of sulking Tyler couldn't help but laugh as well. When he really thought of it; him jumping in his pool in November to save a dog who could probably swim better than he can was a little funny.

So he bent down to the floor to look at Oz and he asked her, "Did you do that on purpose?"

She barked.

So he said, "How rude."

He straightened up and Oz took off with a bark making Brett and Tyler both laugh again. Their eyes met and Brett assured him, "Really, the gesture was sweet."

Tyler got that mischevious look on his face that made Brett back up very slowly, and when she decided to make a break for it happened to be exactly when he did so she didn't get very far before his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her tightly into his soaking wet clothing.

She let out a yelp, and then a laugh before Tyler finally set her down and she looked over at him and said, "At least they're your clothes."

He grinned, "Of course. I'd never ruin yours."

He had, on multiple occasions, for the record.

She rolled her eyes and lead the way upstairs and into his closet where Brett pulled on a new t-shirt and sweat pants that she had to tie tightly and roll so that they fit her at least enough that they wouldn't fall down or she wouldn't fall to her death-tripping on the impossibly long legs of them. Tyler took their wet clothes and when they got downstairs again he went to the laundry room and Brett plopped herself down on one of the chairs at the peninsula in the kitchen and grabbed her phone from the counter where it had been left all night.

She wasn't surprised to find that Gia had blown up her cell phone with over ten text messages and six voicemails. Brett opened the texts first, they all seemed to say the same thing with different words.

Where are you?

Seriously, you're not home and the neighbors said the power was out until like eight this morning.

WHERE ARE YOU?

Are you dead or something? Like answer my texts for fuck.

I'm going to assume that you're being hacked up into little pieces as we speak, I get custody of the dog right?

This isn't funny.

Brett didn't bother reading the other seven messages she simply sent Gia a text back.

I'm alive, not hacked into tiny pieces. Will be home shortly, stayed at a friends.

She knew that Gia would know just what 'friend' she had stayed with but she didn't care to have an argument about it via text message.

"Hey Brett, come here a second." She set her phone down and hopped off of her chair before making her way to the laundry room where Tyler had called out to her from. When she approached him he said, "I found your dog."

She stepped into the spot beside him and laughed upon finding Oz to be fast asleep on top of a pile of laundry on the floor by the dryer. She had clearly dug around to make an indent in the clothes to make it more comfortable for herself.

Tyler told her with a grin, "Don't worry, I documented this moment for you."

Brett smiled and told him, "You'd think she was really comfortable here or something."

Tyler laughed and informed her, "Well, you do so it would only make sense that she takes after you."

"What?" Brett asked him, brow cocked.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I know this sounds super cheesy but without you around this house is just a house. It never feels like home unless you're here."

For a moment she smiled at his words, and then her smile faded and she sighed and told him, "I should probably get home."

He nodded slowly but then he told her, "Stay, just for the day."

"Ty..."

"I can do this right this time, I know I can just give me the chance." He told her, his voice soft and gentle and so unlike every other time.

Still, she wasn't so sure about it, "I don't think it's such a good idea."

But Tyler was nothing if not persistent, "Just stay the day. I promise you that if after today you still want to leave I'll let you, but just stay the day Brett."

She knew she should have collected her things, gotten in her car and gone home. That would have been the smartest, precautious thing to do. That should have been what she did.

But instead, she looked up at him and said, "One day."

He smiled and nodded, "And then you can leave if you want, but I hope you'll stay."

So Brett made her way back into the kitchen, she put the kettle on to boil some water and then she grabbed her phone from the counter to text Gia to let her know there was a change in plans and that she would be home later that day. She knew what Gia would have to say about that and that she would get an earful later but this had been what Brett had wanted months ago.

She knew she shouldn't want this anymore, after everything, but Brett had spent so long being so in love with him that she wondered if she would ever be willing to give him up. She wanted to believe things could be different between them now, and she was willing to give him the chance to show that but she also wasn't going into this with blind optimism; she knew the likeliness of this crashing and burning was high but she was a sucker for punishment and she wanted to try again.

The kettle whistling made her put her phone down and head toward the stove. She stopped to grab two mugs from the cupboard as well as a tea bag, and she smiled at the sight of her three small boxes of different tea bags still sitting in the cupboard where she had left them. She wasn't so naive that she thought he kept things there because he wanted her to come back, Brett knew that Tyler had left her things were they were mostly because he was probably too lazy to go around the house and pack things up or he hadn't even noticed certain things. But the sight still made her smile every time she found something she had left behind exactly where it was meant to be.

She had just finished making two mugs of tea when Tyler walked back into the kitchen, and his brow raised as she turned and handed him one. He followed her out of the back patio doors and watched her sit down on the edge of the pool, rolling the legs of her sweatpants up and sticking her feet in the water. He watched her for a moment in amusement because most people he knew wouldn't be caught dead with their feet in a pool in November and yet here was Brett, kicking her feet gently back and forth in the pool while she drank her tea.

So Tyler joined her but he sat cross-legged instead of dipping his feet into the water. He placed his mug on the concrete next to him and then he reached his hand into the water and splashed Brett. She let out a laugh and nudged her shoulder into his before she looked down at her feet in the water. Curiously he asked her, "What are you thinking about?"

"That massive house party you threw when you first bought this place." Brett told him with a grin, and Tyler laughed.

"I actually don't think I remember much about that night." Tyler admitted and when Brett let out a laugh at him his cheeks flushed and he defended himself by saying, "It was a long time ago and I remember what's important."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Brett asked him with a raised eyebrow, she kept her body facing the pool but she turned her head to look at him with a look of amusement on her face.

He grinned and said, "Like what you looked like in those little shorts you were wearing."

"Wrong, I was wearing a dress." Brett told him, laughing when he rolled his eyes at her.

He bumped his shoulder into hers before he told her, "I know. I just remember how good things were... between us. Before all this other crap started. I honestly don't remember the last time I was that happy."

Brett surprised him by reaching out and grabbing his hand in hers, and then she told him, "Me too."

"I meant what I said; about working on this." Tyler promised her once again.

Brett nodded her head and she told him softly, "I hope so."

Tyler nodded his head and he stared out at the pool before them, watching the water move each time Brett kicked her feet. After a minute or two of silence he asked her, "How do you feel about date nights?"

She couldn't resist joking, "I don't know, it's been a while since I've been on one that didn't end in my boyfriend eye fucking our waitress all night."

Tyler rolled his eyes but smiled and he told her, "Well I'm taking you on one tomorrow night and I promise that the only person that I will be eye fucking will be you."

Brett let out a near snort and she said, "So romantic."

"I'm all about the romance baby." Tyler told her with a grin as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his side.

Hours later Brett found herself pushing a cart through aisle's at the grocery store while Tyler walked slightly ahead of her and grabbed things off of the shelf to toss into the cart. As they turned the corner to the next aisle and he looked up and down the shelves Brett mused, "I cannot believe you seriously go grocery shopping without a list."

Tyler grinned at her, "I forget half of what I wanted anyway, so why bother? I just walk the aisles and grab things as I see them."

"Has anyone told you that you need Jesus in your life?" Brett asked him, brow cocked.

Tyler let out a laugh and he reminded her, "Yeah, you, the day we met."

Brett couldn't help but laugh at the memory. She could distinctly remember that night. It had been Kelly and Antoine who had introduced her to Tyler, though Kelly had told her the year later that their intent had actually been to set her up with another one of his teammates but it seemed that Tyler and Brett had different plans. Brett didn't remember much about that night but the one thing she did remember was how when Tyler admitted to her that he wasn't a big fan of mac n' cheese she had told him that he needed Jesus in his life.

"Grapefruit or orange juice?" Tyler asked Brett, holding up one carton of each.

She shrugged, "It's your house."

"Yeah but you like grapefruit juice more than orange juice and I don't really care." Tyler told her, and Brett's eyebrow raised. His cheeks flushed and he shrugged his shoulders and explained, "So maybe I'm hoping you'll spent a little more time at my place now. I've missed having you around."

"Just buy the orange juice you know you'll drink you little dork." Brett told him.

She rolled her eyes when he put both cartons in the cart and stated, "Both it is."

He wrapped an arm around her; forearm resting against her chest as he pulled her back into him and he kissed her temple. She squirmed to get away from him but he held onto her tightly and nipped gently at the skin on the back of her jaw. Brett finally gave up and rested her palms against his forearm and she turned her head just enough to kiss his cheek before she told him, "You are real lucky you're cute."

"Oh yeah?" Tyler asked her, brow raised and when she nodded her head he lifted her up off of the ground causing her to let out a squeal and he told her, "You're crazy."

"For hanging out with you? Absolutely." Brett said and she laughed when he pouted. She told him, "We're in a grocery store, put me down you weirdo."

"Take it back or I won't put you down." Tyler told her, grinning when she rolled her eyes.

She sighed dramatically and then told him, "Fine. I'm sorry. I take it back."

"Take what back?" Tyler asked her with a smirk.

Brett reached out and pinched his bicep hard causing him to put her down immediately. She grinned at him and told him, "For absolutely nothing."

"You just wait until we get home. First thing you're doing is going right into the pool."