Last Year Was Complicated

Tyler had never been so happy to see Brett in his life when he arrived home after a long road trip to find her sitting on the couch in his living room with Marshall and Cash hanging out on the floor at her feet. He was so happy that when he walked further into the house and she got up off of the couch he wrapped his arms around her tightly and lifted her right off of the floor, spinning her around as she let out a laugh.

When he set her down Brett asked him, “What was that for?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “I missed you that’s all.”

She smiled gently, and when he dropped onto the couch with a loud sigh Brett sat down beside him, and tucked herself into his side as he flipped through the channels on the TV to find something for them to watch. His palm rested flat against her back, and his thumb rubbed against her back as Brett asked him, “Do you have any plans for lunch?”

He shifted so that he could rest his head on top of hers, which was resting against his shoulder, and he told her, “Not that I know of.”

“Gia and Alex want to do lunch and I so don’t want to be a third wheel.” Brett told him with a smile.

“Oh so I’m your savior?” He asked with a wide grin.

Brett rolled her eyes and told him, “Double date, savior… same thing.”

Tyler chuckled and nodded his head, “Yeah, lunch with them sounds good.”

Brett pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through social media as Tyler put his feet up on the coffee table across from them, and before she knew it the sounds of his shallow breathing filled her ears. She turned to glance at him, and upon finding him asleep Brett smiled gently and settled back into his side, continuing to scroll through Twitter. She text Gia to let her know that they were in for lunch later that day and she set an alarm to wake them up twenty minutes before they had to leave for lunch before she set her phone on the cushion next to her and allowed herself to fall asleep as well.

Brett was the first one up an hour and a half later when her alarm went off, she got up, pulling Tyler’s heavy arm off of her chest, and shut the alarm off before she turned to him to find he hadn’t even stirred. She smiled gently as she leaned against him and tapped his chest, he mumbled something incoherent but didn’t wake up, so Brett leaned up and pressed her lips against his gently.

This time he did wake up, and he wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, pulling her against him as he kissed her back, and then when he allowed her to pull away he smiled at her and told her, “That’s my second favorite way to be woken up you know.”

Brett rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless as she tried to pry herself from his tight grasp, she reminded him, “We have to get ready, we’re meeting Gia and Alex soon.”

Tyler huffed, “Do we have to? I’m so comfy.”

Brett rolled her eyes and ducked out of his arms, getting up before she held her hands out to him. He tried, unsuccessfully, to pull her back down to the couch, and eventually he let out a dramatic sigh and stood up. He disappeared upstairs to change into something more lunch time appropriate while Brett slipped into the bathroom off the kitchen to secure her hair out of her face with a couple bobby pins behind her ear before she left the bathroom to find Tyler waiting by the door in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

On their way out of the door Brett grabbed her jacket and slipped it on as she followed Tyler out to his car. She got into the passenger side, relinquishing driving control for a change. He drove while she controlled the music station, switching every time she got bored of one and Tyler pretended that it drove him crazy even when it didn’t because Brett would let out a giggle and then change the station right away just to bug him.

They arrived before Gia and Alex for a change, so they took a corner booth, sitting beside each other, and Tyler rested his arm on the back of the booth, his palm pressed against Brett’s shoulder as she shrugged out of her jacket. He couldn’t help but reach out and pull a bobby pin out of her hair, causing one side of her extra blonde hair to fall in her face. Brett turned to him and narrowed her eyes, holding her hand out for her missing bobby pin, and Tyler laughed as she immediately pinned her hair back when he gave her pin back to her.

Once she was done and her hair was back to where she wanted Tyler leaned over and surprised her by kissing her quickly, that was when Gia and Alex arrived, and Gia announced, “Alright, PDA is not allowed at this table.”

Brett rolled her eyes and Tyler chuckled, but it was Brett who spoke first, “Please, at least when I want to get laid I go to his house I don’t have him come over when my roommate is home.”

Tyler’s cheeks flushed and Gia simply grinned at Brett, “Don’t hate.”

Twenty minutes later, with their food ordered and the first round of drinks brought out Gia joked to Brett, “Aw, look our boyfriends are bonding over douchey athletes.”

Tyler and Alex both turned away from the TV that was playing sports highlights, their conversation halted, and Alex rolled her eyes, stating, “You don’t even know the difference between Brady and literally any other football player in the NFL.”

Gia shrugged, “I don’t watch football, why would I care that there are other people in the NFL other than Brady and Romo?”

“Uh, because you make yourself sound stupid?” Alex joked.

Brett grinned and asked, “Sound? No, she is stupid.”

Tyler stifled his laughter, Alex let out a loud laugh and Gia narrowed her eyes at Brett and her grinning face. Gia stated, “For your information, I’m pretty sure I graduated high school with a better GPA than you.”

“That was also like five years ago, you can’t keep using that.” Brett argued, making Gia roll her eyes.

Tyler let out a laugh when Alex asked him, “Do you see what I have to deal with on a near daily basis? It’s like Tom and Jerry all the time.”

“I call being Jerry!” Brett announced.

Gia narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, asking, “Why?”

“Because that right there is Tom to a T.” Brett stated, motioning to Gia’s grumpy face. She then added with a grin, “Plus I’m cute and lovable.”

“Ya right.” Gia muttered.

“Am too.” Brett countered back with.

Tyler looked at Alex and said, “I see what you mean.”

As they were heading out of the restaurant, parting ways with Gia and Alex in the parking lot, Tyler wrapped his arm around Brett's shoulders and he pulled her into his side as they walked. She tucked one arm behind them, wrapping it around his back, and Tyler looked over at her as he asked, "That was fun, why don't we do that kind of stuff more often?"

"What? Double dates?" Brett asked him with an amused smile.

"Yeah. We never do that kind of stuff. We should." He told her and Brett nodded her head slowly as she looked down at her feet as they walked.

We don't do that kind of stuff because then you would have to admit that the last three years we've been in an actual relationship.

Of course she didn't say that, no she simply got into the passenger side of his vehicle as he got behind the wheel, and she buckled her seat belt before he pulled out of the parking lot. Brett chuckled when he hit the gas with a heavy foot and she bounced against the back of her seat, Tyler grinned over at her as he came to a stop at the exit of the parking lot. He pulled into traffic and leaned back in his seat, getting comfortable as he drove home at a near snails pace.

Brett glanced over at Tyler as he drove, and he was aware of her looking at him but he kept his eyes on the road. She studied him, looking at his profile, taking in his hair, which was a little longer than he usually kept it and the strands were wavy. He looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days, and she reached out and ran her hand over his scruff, asking him, "What's this?"

"Trying something new. You like it?" He asked her, glancing over at her as he came to a stop at a red light behind three other vehicles.

Brett shrugged, "Right now yes, if you leave it any longer no."

Tyler let out a laugh, "Ah, come on, you're not a fan of beards?"

"Not on you." Brett told him with a small smile.

Tyler grinned as he joked, "Hmm... I think I'll keep growing it."

Brett rolled her eyes and patted his cheek, telling him, "Then get used to not getting any, because you're not coming anywhere near me if that get's out of control."

He shrugged his shoulders and smirked, "Not like I get very much now anyway."

Narrowing her eyes at him Brett stated, "I can't believe you just said that."

He grinned over at her, "I like making you mad, you're cute when you're mad."

He pulled into the driveway of his house and Brett unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car, running inside ahead of him. When she reached the foyer of the home Tyler wrapped his arms around her middle from behind and lifted her up off of the ground as she let out a scream. The dogs came running over to see what the fuss was about, before they became disinterested and headed back to the living room.

When he set her down, placing a gentle kiss to her neck, Brett pulled her shoes off and dropped them onto the little mat in front of the coat closet. She turned in his arms to face him, and leaned up to kiss him quickly before dropping onto the heels of her feet again. Tyler leaned down and kissed her again, holding her tightly against him as she wiggled and tried to get free and he smiled against her lips.

Finally, when his grip loosened just enough Brett pulled out of his grasp and stuck her tongue out at him before she took off up the stairs and into the media room, dropping onto the couch as Tyler walked in the room. He raised his eyebrow as he sat down beside her, and asked her, "What are we doing in here?"

Brett shrugged her shoulders, "I thought you might be more comfortable in here, you know, since you did spend most of lunch talking about football and baseball."

When she giggled at the look he shot her he asked her, "Oh, you think that's funny huh?"

Brett nodded, "I do."

Tyler wrapped his arms around her, crossing both forearms over her chest as he pulled her back into his chest and he nipped at the exposed skin of her neck and shoulder. Brett laughed, and then squealed when he pressed his teeth into her skin a little harder, not painfully so but just enough that she was aware of what he was doing.

She nudged his stomach with one of her elbows, and he let out a grunt before he told her, "Watch it, every time you hit me or elbow me or use any kind of force on me that's one bite."

"Oh I'm so scared." Brett told him with a grin.

Just for show she elbowed him gently again and he narrowed his eyes, "Alright."

She watched as he leaned down, pressing his teeth against the top of her shoulder as he pushed the neckline of her shirt over to one side. Brett told him, "You keep doing this and..."

She paused when his lips gently pressed against the base of her neck, and she wasn't sure if she was imagining the sensation of his tongue darting out to touch her skin. He pulled away from her and he asked her with a smirk, "And what?"

Brett narrowed her eyes at him and said, "I hate you."

"No you don't." Tyler told her with a confident smirk.

"Not even a little bit." Brett muttered before she leaned over, closing the distance between them and pressing her lips against his.

As Tyler's tongue dragged over her bottom lip Brett turned and without breaking the kiss she pushed him back against the back of the couch and Tyler wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, pulling her onto his lap. With one leg on either side of him comfortably Brett smiled gently against his lips as his hands slid from her back and down over her butt, gripping her jean clad skin tightly, making her let out a yelp against his mouth.

When Brett woke up the next morning she wasn't surprised to find Tyler asleep beside her in his bed. She always woke up before him. The little bit of light peaking through the curtains on the other side of the room told her it was at least morning, so she carefully pulled herself out of Tyler's grasp, nearly giggling when she put a pillow where her body was and he didn't even notice.

She slipped into one of his t-shirts and pulled a pair of underwear up over her hips before she tip toed out of the bedroom and downstairs. The clock on the stove told her it was eight ten in the morning, so she boiled a pot of water on the stove, found a case of tea bags she was sure she had left in his cupboard at some point, and pulled a mug down from the cupboard.

When the water was boiled and her tea was made she took her mug out into the backyard, where she sat on the concrete with her legs in the pool water. She drank her tea in complete silence, Cash came over and dropped onto the concrete beside her and she gave behind his ears a good scratch with her free hand.

She was so comfortable here and it made her wonder what the hell she was doing.

Sure, she had always been comfortable here, with Tyler. How could she not be when they had been together, albeit on and off, for three years? That alone was pretty much a guarantee that she was going to be comfortable. When they were on most of her days and nights were spent here, she couldn't remember the last time Tyler had been to her apartment, but why wouldn't it be like that when he had this big house with no roommates as opposed to she and Gia's shared small apartment?

She knew she was probably stupid to think this time would be any different, but she had to at least try, because what if this was the one time that things did change?

When her mug was empty Brett got up, and she dried her legs off with the hand towel from the kitchen, throwing it into the hamper in the guest bathroom next to the kitchen when she was done. She put her mug in the dishwasher, put her tea bags back in their proper cups and the now empty pot back where it belonged. She made a mental note to tell Tyler to buy a damn kettle.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned around to find Jason standing in the kitchen a few feet away from her. He looked as startled as she did.

His cheeks flushed and he scratched the back of his neck as he chuckled and said, "Sorry, I didn't know you'd be here."

You mean you didn't know we were back together.

Were they even back together? Brett wasn't sure. They were acting back together, they were doing together like things but with Tyler she just never knew.

Still, she didn't say that, Jason was Tyler's teammate and he didn't need to know anything or be involved in their drama. Instead she said, "You just scared me is all, you were really quiet coming in."

He nodded his head, "Yeah, sorry. I'm supposed to pick him up for practice."

Brett laughed and told him, "He's still in bed."

As if on cue there were heavy footsteps on the stairs, and Tyler came barrelling into the kitchen. He snaked an arm passed Brett to open the fridge, and he pulled the carton of milk out, taking a long drink straight from the carton before he put it back. He grabbed a handful of protein bars and then he placed a quick kiss on Brett's cheek and he told her, "I forgot we had practice today. Hang around here for the day, I'll be home around one. Just lock up if you do leave?"

She nodded and he kissed her lips quickly before he disappeared out of her sight and when she heard the door close Brett let out a small sigh.

Things were just going to go back to normal, whatever that was, and clearly they were just going to fall back into the way things used to be without even talking about anything.