Promises to Keep

"Tay" Cassidy greeted Tayla with a sad expression. Tayla looked like a wreck; Cassidy felt for her. She took her phone out and sent a quick text to Tyler, letting him know she had made it safely from Dallas.

"Hey Cass" Tayla greeted with no emotion. She felt drained from the last few days and from the flight. All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and sleep away the next few days. "Thanks for coming to get me" she added, unsure why she had even called. In all reality, Cassidy served as a constant reminder of Tyler; but in some way, she couldn't bring herself to cut him out of her life.

"Anytime" Cassidy replied awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "How long are you staying for?" she then asked, as they walked back to her car. All she knew was when Tayla was coming home, and when to pick her up. As far as she knew, Tayla still had a job to return to come September in Dallas.

"I'm not sure yet" Tayla confessed. "I have to be back in Dallas for September- probably earlier, because I'll have to find an apartment" she told Cassidy, and Cassidy felt her heart break for her brother.

"I'm sorry, Tay" Cassidy whispered, making the familiar and long drive back to Tayla's house. "I wish I knew what to say. Or I wish I could slap my brother" she added and tried to make light of the situation.

"I don't really think there's anything you can say" Tayla responded, laughing despite herself. "This is so fucked up. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to do. I never thought I would be in this position" she rambled on, now just allowing the tears to fall down her face. There wasn't any point in holding them in any longer.

"I don't think it's anything anybody could have imagined" Cassidy told Tayla. "I hate to ask this but..." she trailed off, debating on whether or not she even wanted to ask.

"I don't think I can ever forgive him" Tayla knew what she was going to ask her. She saw Cassidy's eyes go wide, so she elaborated. "I mean, I love him- don't get me wrong. Not having him in my life is not something I had ever planned for, or ever wanted" she told Cassidy. "But he's lied to me about this since high school; is this the only thing he's kept from me?" it was more of a rhetorical question, but one to which she wanted and needed to know the answer.

"I can't answer that" Cassidy eventually replied with a frown. "But all I can answer is this: I know he loves you. And I know he can be a total idiot sometimes, doesn't always think things through, and makes mistakes. But what is for sure? And what'll always be for sure? He loves you with every fibre in him. You are the world to him. And he thinks his life is over now because you left. I'm not even being dramatic, he said that. I mean, he's being dramatic but you know" Cassidy laughed, but turned to Tayla.

"It's obviously your choice, but just know that" Cassidy told her, and turned her attention solely to the road.

The rest of the drive was in silence. Both women were absorbed in their own thoughts. Cassidy wondered what Tayla would do, and how her brother was making out since her departure. Tayla, on the other hand, had thoughts consumed on her future, more specifically, her future with Tyler.

Pulling into her driveway, she all but almost groaned aloud when she saw her sister's car parked in the driveway.

"As if this week could get any worse" she mumbled to herself, earning a sympathetic glance from Cassidy.

"Sorry, I didn't realize she was going to be here" Cassidy apologized, and Tayla sighed.

"It's okay. Thanks for picking me up" she replied, getting out of the car, not looking forward to explaining to not only her parents but to her sister too.

********************************

Tyler sat down on his couch, the TV streaming Netflix in the background. There were bottles of beer scattered all over the floor. He was devastated over the events from the last couple of days. Tayla was gone. She packed up her shit, and left him. He couldn't say he blamed her; what he did was a terrible thing to do.

Cassidy 4:00 p.m.

She's here safely. Just wanted you to know.

He sighed heavily, wishing that she was beside him, and not currently in a different country. He knew he had fucked up, and he had no idea how he was going to fix it.

"Tyler? You home?" he heard Jamie's voice ring out.

"Where else would I be?" Tyler shouted back, throwing another beer bottle across the room, not even flinching when it hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Dude..." Jamie trailed off, walking into the room.

"Oh my god, Ty" Katie entered the room after Jamie, and took in the scene in front of her. Tyler looked absolutely miserable. Ever since the night of Tayla's birthday party and the situation with Jason, things seemed to go from bad to worse for him. She had left; dumping Tyler and heading back home for an undetermined amount of time. She wasn't sure if she was going to come back; she didn't have the nerve to ask.

"How are you making out?" Katie asked, eyeing Jamie with worry.

"We're worried about you, dude" Jamie added, before having the chance for him to answer the question.

"I lost the best thing ever" Tyler told them honestly. "How would you be?"

"I don't think you've lost her" Katie tried to reason, but Tyler was having none of it.

"She said she didn't think she could ever forgive me. I mean, I don't think I would forgive me" he told them with a sigh. "I don't know, I just brought this on myself"

"I know you did. I get how guilty you feel, but-"

"There's really no buts" Tyler all but snapped, cutting Jamie off. "I fucked up. That's all there is to it. Now I have to live with that" he sighed, cracking open another beer. "And she's gone" he repeated again.

"You can't just sit here all day and drink" Jamie told him, and Katie nodded.

"If you really love her, you need to win her back" Katie told Tyler. He raised his head, arching an eyebrow.

"Win her back? How?" Tyler asked, confused. "She moved back home. she's not coming back; how can I win her back if she's not even here?"

"Maybe you just need to prove to her how much you love her, and how much she means to you" Katie told him, trying to instill some confidence in him. Did she believe Tayla would forgive Tyler? Not necessarily; but it didn't hurt to try, right?