Promises to Keep

"what you wanna do baby? where you wanna go? I'll take you to the moon baby, i'll take you to the floor. I'll treat you like a real lady, no matter where you go; just give me some time, baby, 'cause you know..."
- Five More Hours
Deorro & Chris Brown [a good song to play while reading the first part of this chapter :D]

The music was playing loudly as the party goers danced, laughed and had a good time. It was 1 in the morning, and Tayla's birthday party was in full swing. Despite being hesitant about wanting a party, she was happy Tyler had planned it for her. She was enjoying partying with her new found Dallas friends; it was a great way to turn 27.

"Having fun?" Tyler asked, lifting Tayla off her feat and placing a kiss on her lips, which she immediately returned with passion. What started off as an innocent kiss turned into a hot make out session, not that Tyler minded.

"I know how I could be having more fun" Tayla breathed, taking Tyler by the hand and leading him upstairs. She shut her bedroom door behind her, and barely had enough time to turn around before Tyler attacked her with kisses once more.

"I love you, Tay. So much" Tyler breathed, pulling off his shirt, heading in for another kiss.

"I love you too" Tayla breathed out in between kisses. "You're the best thing to have happened to me" she added, pulling him towards the bed. It didn't take long before they found themselves in bed, out of breath.

"Damn, I love you" Tyler said again, surprised by the sudden show of affection. The music could be heard thumping from downstairs; thankfully it was loud, nobody was the wiser that the pair had disappeared.

"I love you too" Tayla slurred, pulling on her clothes. She put on her shorts, and bathing suit top; a trip to the hot tub was the next item on her agenda.

"You're drunk" Tyler answered, after they both had gotten dressed.

"No, you're drunk" Tayla argued back, laughing. "And I think I need another drink" she added, kissing Tyler's cheek. "Thank you, Ty" she whispered, sending shivers down Tyler's spine. "Meet me back here in two hours for round two" she added with a wink, before disappearing from the room and heading down the stairs.

"Someone just got laid" Katie commented, as she saw saunter up to her and one of the Stars players girlfriends, Jenn.

"You know it" Tayla replied, not even denying it. "Sure took him by surprise" she snickered, and the girls all shared a laugh.

"Glad you let us throw you a party now?" Katie asked, and Tayla nodded, a wide smile.

"I am- really grateful. You guys are the best" Tayla pulled Katie in for a hug. "Where's Jamie? I already thanked you and Ty, I need to thank him" she said, and hurried off. But before she got too far, she came back. "But not the same way I just thanked Tyler" she assured Katie, who roared with laughter.

"Oh my god, you're so drunk... I love it! Go thank him" she brushed Tayla off. Tayla nodded, hurriedly walking around the party to find Jamie. She wanted to get into the hot tub, but in her drunk mind, felt it necessary to find Jamie and thank him for helping plan the party before she did so.

After what felt like hours, Tayla gave up searching inside and made her way back outside, this time through the front door. She eyed around, and only saw many abandoned cars, parked for the night.

She took the moment of silence in and enjoyed the beautiful summer night and the sky, before being spooked by the appearance of a man.

"Long time no see" the man spoke, and Tayla felt her heart almost stop.

"Jason?" she asked, her eyes squinting to see if she was really seeing things correctly. He approached her, and came out of the shadows, revealing to Tayla that she was not seeing things. In front of her, stood her ex-boyfriend, Jason. The one who left her with only so much as a note; the one who broke her heart, leading her to move to Dallas. The outcome of his leaving was favorable for Tayla, though of course, she did not see it that way at the time.

"You look good" Jason commented, now becoming increasingly nervous. Tayla stood in place, clearly drunk, but as beautiful as ever.

"Thanks..." Tayla trailed off, very much confused. "Why are you here?" she then asked, it coming out a little more aggressively than intended.

"I heard you're dating Tyler now" Jason began, unsure of how he was going to break this to her. In all reality it was Tyler he wanted to hurt, not Tayla; there was no bad blood between them in his mind, though he knew her feelings would not be the same.

"And that is your business why?" Tayla scoffed, wishing Tyler was beside her right now. She began to feel nervous and her stomach began to feel off; she felt nauseated.

"I just wanted you to have some closure" Jason told her softly. "About our breakup"

"You came to clarify why you just up and left with only so much as a note? Thank you, but I'd rather not have to relive that again" Tayla snapped angrily.

"That's not the truth" Jason tried to reason, but Tayla wasn't having any of it.

"Explain the note then, huh? Explain me trying to call you, and text you, and you not responding? Explain all the hurt, anger, and confusion I felt after?" she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And now, you came ALL the way to Dallas, to Tyler's house, to give me closure?" she was livid.

"Tayla, please, calm-"

"You cannot tell me to calm down" Tayla spat, though her voice was not growing any louder. She knew even if she was to start screaming at Jason in the driveway, nobody would be the wiser. Everyone was drunk, having a good time, enjoying the loud music. "I want you to leave"

"I just need you to hear me out!" Jason practically screamed, making Tayla jump. "Please" he added, a lot softer this time. Not being able to speak, Jason took this as an opportunity to plead his case to her.

"I still love you, Tayla" Jason began, his voice beginning to quiver. I never hurt you- you were my world. I never would want to hurt you. And I certainly never would just up and leave without a trace, and only a note" he took a pause, before continuing. "I tried to call, text, e-mail, Facebook, whatever the way- I tried it all to contact you. I'd either get nothing back, was blocked, or just a simple message telling me to Fuck off"

"I never blocked you from anything" Tayla couldn't help but interrupt. "And I certainly would not have answered "Fuck you" to your messages; I wanted.. no, I needed answers" she scoffed, now becoming confused. Why was he coming by, lying and trying to start shit?

"That's why I'm here" Jason continued, wondering if she was even going to believe him. "I know you're with Tyler now, but I just needed to tell you this; you deserve to know the man you're dating"

"I know Tyler" Tayla defended weakly. "I've known him my entire life. What could you possibly have to say that I wouldn't know?" she asked, feeling increasingly sober.

"I just thought you should know the reason- the REAL reason why we broke up" Jason told her. "It was Tyler" he dropped the bombshell.

"Beg your pardon?" Tayla asked, her heart racing. There was something about the way Jason was speaking that made her feel like he was telling the truth. But how? How was Tyler responsible for their breakup; and more importantly, why?

"He's the one who broke us up"

"Yeah fucking right" Tayla rolled her eyes. "Get the fuck out of here before-"

"Do you remember the day before?" Jason hurriedly asked, interrupting Tayla before she threatened to call the police on him. "How I inexplicably was going on the road for work?"

"Yeah..." Tayla trailed off, remembering the day so vividly it still hurt to think about. Jason had been told he was travelling for work, and had made an incredible date night to make up for the next few days he wasn't going to be home; that would be pretty inconsistent for someone planning on just upping and leaving.

"He got me out of the city. He got my number changed in your phone, to a number only one digit different than my actual phone number. He blocked my actual number, so anytime I tried to contact you, you obviously wouldn't answer. He got someone to move all my shit out, and sent me a message breaking up with me, and telling me where I could find my stuff" Jason told his story, feeling increasingly guilty. He felt bad for dumping this on Tayla, but he certainly didn't feel bad for Tyler; he didn't deserve someone like Tayla.

"He actually broke us up?" Tayla asked softly; and Jason knew he had her.

"Tay? Tay!" their attention was diverted at the sound of her name.

"Not just us" Jason told her. He had learned of Tyler's activities with all of Tayla's boyfriends, after a chance run in with another one of her exes.

Tayla's heart practically shattered; was this true? Did Tyler meddle in her love life? Is that why all of her relationships always seemed to fail? It seemed far fetched; was Jason just jealous? Was he trying to come in between her and Tyler?

"Tay!" Tyler shouted worriedly, running towards her. His heart practically broke when he saw Jason, and Tayla's devastated facial expression. "I've been looking for you everywhere" he trailed off, looking like he had seen a ghost.

"Is it true?" Tayla asked him, and Tyler felt his world begin to fall apart. "Did you break us up?" Knowing he had no other choice, he nodded, putting his head down, ashamed. He felt an intense amount of sadness radiate through him, and he began to tear up.

"But I-"

"You actually did? You actually broke Jason and I up?" Tayla asked, outraged. She began to feel hot tears fall down her face. Tyler was also crying; he feared this day ever since he had broken up Tayla and her first boyfriend.

"Tayla, please-" Tyler tried to reason, but Tayla wanted to hear nothing of it.

"This is un-fucking-believable" Tayla scoffed, feeling rage intensify inside her. "The one person! You were the ONE person Ty that I've always trusted. That I thought always had my best interest in mind, that I thought would never do anything- especially to this degree, to hurt me" she fumed.

"It's only because I love you, Tay" Tyler tried to cut in, still crying. "I love you more than anything else in this world" he told her, but Tayla was too drunk and mad to take any of his words in.

"Fuck you, Tyler" Tayla spat, brushing past him. "Fuck you!" she shouted, wiping the tears away to try and walk through the party to her room. She brushed past everyone, seemingly undetected, before running into Jamie.

"Tayla, Tyler's been looking for you" Jamie told her, his face becoming concerned when he saw the look on her face. "Oh my god, are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Nothing will ever be okay again" Tayla spoke softly. "Tell Tyler we're done for me, yeah?" she asked him, trying to brush by him, but Jamie caught up with her, very confused.

"Woah, woah, woah" Jamie stopped her, closing her bedroom door behind her. "Tell me what's going on" he stated calmly, but it was clear Tayla was in no mood to talk.

"Jamie, you're wonderful, Katie is a lucky gal, but please leave me the fuck alone" she pleaded, opening her bedroom door to rush him out. "Oh, and thanks for the party" she grumbled, feeling her stomach churn.

Jamie sighed, wondering what the hell Tyler did, before nodding.

"Alright, I'll leave. But for the record- I'm not dumping Tyler for you- it'll shatter him, you're his world" Jamie told her- but she didn't hear it. She felt her world become woozy, so she slammed and locked the bedroom door behind her, and rushed to the bathroom, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

Gripping the bowl, she began to sob uncontrollably, holding her head in her hands. She laid down, sobbing on the floor, before she closed her eyes, willing this to be a crazy, fucked up dream.