Last Year Was Complicated

Coffee, when I get home?

Brett rolled her eyes as she read Tyler’s text message again. She knew now, that he knew that she knew about the girl in his kitchen. It was painfully obvious, by his rather pathetic text message that she figured had taken him days to draft, and it had been sitting, read, in her phone for over a day. She clicked on the little trash can symbol to delete their entire conversation history, before she tossed her phone into the passenger seat of her car and then she pulled out of her parking space at the new condo.

She had a list of things she needed to pick up, most of which was for the new dog she would be bringing home early next week, and she had half the mind to put those things off but she needed something, anything to get her mind off of Tyler. So off she went.

She arrived at the pet store fifteen minutes later, pulling into an empty space next to Kelly’s SUV. Brett got out of her car, grabbed her purse and phone and met Kelly around the back of her Mazda. As they walked to the doors of the store Kelly asked her, “Are you excited? I’m excited and I’m not even getting the dog.”

Brett laughed, nodded her head, and said, “I’m excited. She still doesn’t have a name.”

Kelly shrugged, “You have time.”

“True, true.” Brett stated, following her inside the store. As they made their way to the dog and puppy section Brett asked Kelly, “So… how come you don’t have a dog? If you love them so much.”

“Because Antoine has a fucking cat.” Kelly mumbled in annoyance and Brett laughed loudly when she added, “But mark my words, once that evil thing dies we are getting a dog.”

“I would expect nothing less from you.” Brett told her honestly. They stopped in front of a large section of dog beds, and Brett couldn’t help but grab a round polar bear paw looking one and she told Kelly, “This one is for the living room. Gia bought her a housewarming gift, it’s an actual bed, nicer than mine, for my room.”

So Brett showed Kelly the picture of the dog bed that looked almost like a couch, with a low headboard that wrapped around the back and sides and a plush sleeping area and she couldn’t help but laugh and state, “Gia would buy that for a dog.”

Brett nodded as she tossed the bed into the cart and she said, “She was so excited when it came in too. So proud of herself. I mean… I’m kind of jealous, this dog is gonna live better than I do.”

“That’s how my dog's life would be. Better than Antoine’s for sure.” Kelly joked, telling Brett, “He’s really excited for dinner tonight, by the way. I think he misses you being around.”

“I’m around.” Brett stated as they approached the toy and leash section.

Brett grabbed a collar that looked like it should fit, it was powder blue with a matching leash, and Kelly told her, “I know, but with his schedule, he hasn’t been able to see much of you. You know how he is; all big brother mode when it comes to you.”

“Yeah, I know, and I love him for it.” Brett said with a dramatic sigh. She grabbed a few chew toys, and couldn’t resist grabbing a stuffed squeaker toy puppy, telling Kelly, “It’s so cute, a puppy for the puppy.”

“You’re so weird.” Kelly told her.

Brett nodded her head, “Truth.”

As they made their way to the check-out section with their cart full of things Kelly asked her, “So what’s next?”

“I have to pick up a parcel from my parents, and grab some groceries and then I might go home and nap.” Brett told her, pulling things out of the cart and onto the conveyor belt in front of her. Brett covered her mouth as she yawned before she went back to unloading the cart and she nodded her head, stating, "Yup, definitely going home to have a nap."

The rest of Brett's day had gone exactly as planned; she had picked up the parcel from her parents, which happened to be a bunch of extra dog stuff she probably didn't need but appreciated nonetheless, grabbed her groceries for the week and went home and had a long nap. So long in fact that when Gia knocked on her door to wake her up Brett was already late for dinner at Antoine and Kelly's.

So she jumped out of bed, and threw on the most put together outfit she could given what little time she had, and headed out the door without so much as a conversation with Gia, just a simple 'bye, see you later'.

At a red light, Brett grabbed a few clips from her bag and tied her hair back into a somewhat neat looking contraption, knowing her headband wouldn't do unappreciated by the male of the house she was having dinner at. She smiled as she pulled into the driveway, grabbed her bag and headed to the front door, knocking quickly before she walked inside.

Kelly came around the corner from the kitchen, dishrag in hand, and smiled over at her, before she rolled her eyes, "Your headband sucks."

Antoine stepped out behind Kelly, and grinned at Brett, telling her, "I think it's awesome."

Brett stuck her tongue out at Kelly before she slipped out of her shoes and left her bag on the floor beside them and then she headed toward the kitchen herself. Once she sat down on one of the barstools at the kitchen peninsula Brett apologized, "Sorry I'm late. That 'little' nap turned into like a five hour long affair. I literally just woke up like twenty minutes ago."

Antoine laughed and told her, "If it helps, you still look nice for getting ready in like three minutes."

"Did my hair in the car." Brett told him with a proud smile on her face that made all three of them laugh.

Kelly assured her, "I lost track of time anyway, so it's a good thing you slept in because dinner isn't quite ready yet."

Brett faked surprise, "What? OCD Kelly didn't start dinner at exactly six o'clock?"

She rolled her eyes as Antoine laughed and she told her, "It literally almost killed me to have to start it at six thirteen."

Brett let out a laugh and stated, "It would."

"It's a numbers thing!" Kelly retorted back with, crossing her arms over her chest for good measure.

Antoine grinned and told Brett, "She can't use numbers not ending with a zero or a five on the microwave. It can't be two minutes and thirty-two seconds, it's gotta be either two minutes and thirty seconds or two minutes and thirty-five seconds."

Kelly rolled her eyes, and Brett told him, "I would so fuck with that all the time."

"I do. I purposely put some ridiculous numbers on there just to drive her crazy." Antoine told Brett and Kelly pouted when they both laughed.

"You guys are mean to me." She stated, and Antoine leaned over and kissed her cheek before he took the seat beside Brett.

While Kelly went back to finishing up their dinner Antoine turned to Brett and asked her, "So, are you excited to bring your fur baby home next week?"

Brett nodded and told him, "I took Kelly shopping with me today for stuff for the pup. I hear it's nice for them to come home to everything they need."

Antoine nodded, "It would probably be helpful."

There was a long silence before Kelly finally broke it to ask what Antoine had been trying to since Brett walked in the door, "Have you heard from Tyler?"

"No... yes. No." Brett said, and she chuckled when they both raised their eyebrows at her. She explained, "He text me, I deleted it and never responded. So yes I've heard from him, but also, no."

Kelly nodded her head slowly and asked, "What did he say?"

Brett quoted the message, "'Coffee, when I get home?'"

Antoine could have laughed if it wasn't so pathetic, he settled for shaking his head in both amusement and disappointment. Kelly, on the other hand, turned to Brett with a look of surprise on her face and she asked, "Seriously? Like... this is not a joke? That was actually his big speech?"

Brett, "Yup. So I deleted it. He can come up with something better than that if he really wants to talk things out with me. If that took him days to figure out and send, I have no interest in talking to him right now."

"Good for you."

- - -

When Brett arrived home from dinner with Kelly and Antoine to find Gia sitting at the table waiting for her she knew something was up and she raised her eyebrow. That eyebrow raised even higher when Gia told her, "I'm sorry, he wouldn't take no for an answer."

So Brett kicked out of her shoes and left her bag on the kitchen counter before she made her way down the hall and to her bedroom. She pushed the door open to find Tyler sitting at the foot of her bed, staring at his cell phone in his hand. He looked up when he heard the door open, and their eyes met and he smiled gently, "Hey."

She rolled her eyes, and leaned against the doorframe as she asked him, "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't answer my text, so I thought I'd stop by and... see what you were up to." Brett wondered if really he had meant see who she was up to, and if this was his way of saying he cared, not much, but just slightly about the thought that she might have moved on. She shook that thought out of her head just as fast as it came in, who was she trying to fool? Other than herself, that was.

"You should go." Brett told him, and his eyebrow raised in surprise.

"I wanted to talk about things Brett, try to fix things between us." She rolled her eyes and he continued to talk to her, "I know that things have been shitty between us for a long time but... I want to at least try to fix that. You don't have to give me the time of day, I know that and I definitely don't deserve it, but I'm asking you for five minutes."

"Fine, five minutes. Start talking." She told him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Will you please sit? You're making me nervous standing like that." His cheeks flushed when he told her that and Brett couldn't help it; a smile stretched over her features. Tyler was grateful for that, a smile was something. So she sat down next to him, and he told her, "I'm sorry."

"What for?" She asked him, she was trying to be calm and stoic but her voice gave away how upset she was.

He looked over at her, directly into her eyes, and told her with as much sincerity as she was sure she had ever heard come out of his mouth, "For what happened that night. It should never have come to that... God Brett, I'm so sorry. I never, in a million years, meant to hurt you like that."

"I know." She told him softly, nodding her head to back up her statement.

Tyler's eyebrow raised, "You do?"

She looked up at him, her soft eyes matching his, and she told him, "Of course I do. You're not that kind of guy. You can be a son of a bitch sometimes... most of the time, but you're not that guy."

"I'm just... really sorry. I know I should have said it before but I didn't know how. I didn't know how to apologize for that, because I was so, so mad at myself for doing it." Tyler told her, and Brett could tell he was being genuine. Most of the time she couldn't read him, she couldn't tell for the life of her what he was thinking or how he was feeling, but now, it was so blatantly obvious to her. It was exactly what she had told him; he might have been the world's biggest asshole to her on frequent occasions, but Tyler wasn't that much of an asshole. He had a line, one that he had crossed with her for the first time, and it was obvious he felt bad for it.

"I'm sorry too." Brett told him.

Tyler looked over at her in surprise as he asked her, "What for? You didn't do anything."

She shrugged, "I did. I push back just as much as you do, maybe even more sometimes. We were both at fault that night, and we both have things we need to apologize for. But, for the record, I'm glad you didn't try to apologize right after... I think we both needed some space after that."

He nodded his head, "Me too."

Brett was surprised when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulled her into his side and kissed the top of her head. She allowed herself to lean into his touch, resting her forehead against the side of his neck as he held her tightly to him.

"I really am sorry. I just... want to go back to the way things were before. When things were easier between us, when we didn't fight and argue all the time. I want to fix things." Tyler told her, his voice was soft and gentle, and he was rubbing her forearm gently with his thumb and that was when it hit Brett.

This was what I wanted him to say to me. Not what he would say if he didn't already know that.

Brett pulled away from him and she asked him, "What do you want from me? Out of this?"

His brow lifted, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what do you want? Do you want me, and us, and our relationship like it was before all of this started? Do you want it to be like it was when we both loved each other the same amount? Because you can't even look me in the eye and tell me that you love me, you haven't been able to do that for years and I've just been waiting, and waiting for it and it never comes. So say it now, prove to me that I'm wrong." Brett told him in annoyance.

She waited, and Tyler stared at her, but nothing came out of his mouth.

So she got up from her bed and approached the door, holding it open as she told him, "God you almost had me. For a minute I was so ready to just accept your half-assed apology and let you off the hook for being a shitty fucking person to me for as long as you have been, again... so really, congratulations, you're really good at faking it."

"Brett-" He started.

She interrupted him, "Go home, this conversation is done."