Promises to Keep

"Sarah" Tayla greeted unhappily. She hadn't seen her sister in over two years, not that she was at all sad about that. Her sister was not anything like her; she was spiteful, took advantage of people, and only thought of one person; herself.

"Tay, how are you!? It's been forever" she smiled, pulling Tayla in for an unwanted hug. She accepted it unwilling, before turning to her parents who smiled half heartedly. Her sister didn't seem to know why she was there, but her parents sure did.

"How are you feeling?" her mom asked, taking her suitcase inside. They all went into the living room, where they sat down, eyeing Tayla with worry. "Are you okay?" she then added when Tayla remained silent. Tayla's dad began to watch TV, vaguely listening to the conversation happening in the background.

"I'm as okay as I can be I guess" Tayla shrugged, not really wanting to get into details. But with her sister, she knew she wouldn't be able to get out of it.

"Why, another boyfriend dump you?" Sarah teased, and Tayla narrowed her eyes, trying her hardest not to let her sisters stupid comments get to her.

"Sarah!" Tayla's mom hissed. "Well honey, if you want to talk about it anymore, know we're here for you" she promised, eyeing Sarah with a look that told her to 'play nice'.
Tayla nodded, just wanting to get away from her family right after arriving. She wasn't sure why she thought coming back home was a good idea; but now, it felt like she had no home; Tyler was her home, and now he was gone.

"Thanks mom. The flight was long, so I'm going to lay down" Tayla told her mom, excusing herself from the room. She went upstairs to her old bedroom, surprised to see it had been kept basically the same as when she had moved out all those years ago.

There were pictures of her and her friends on the walls, posters of the bands she use to love, and of course, on the dresser, her favourite picture of her and Tyler. They looked like two awkward teenagers, but they both looked so happy.

"So. Another boyfriend dumped you eh?" Sarah was at the door, and Tayla almost jumped.

"No" Tayla murmured, putting down the picture. Sarah looked from Tayla, to the picture, and from the look on her face, she could put two and two together.

"You and Tyler have a fight?" She asked, seemingly caring.

"Something like that" Tayla mumbled, taking a seat on the bed. "Why do you care?" she asked, wondering why Sarah was still lingering in the room.

"Well, I'm single now, so I was wondering... what's Tyler's status?"

"I beg your pardon?" Tayla asked, very surprised.

"Yeah, I mean- he's hot as fuck, let's face it. And he's totally out of your league-"

"Get the fuck out of her. Now." Tayla growled, realizing now being here was a mistake.

"What the fuck, Tay? What's up with you?" Sarah asked, surprised by her sister's sudden outburst.

"Tyler's not single, thank you very much, because he's in a relationship." Tayla pushed her sister out
of the room. "With me" and with that, she slammed the door in her sister's face. She turned around, placing her back to the door and sliding down. She felt like she lost her ability to breath, and was gasping for air.

"There's no way in hell you were dating Tyler!" her sister shouted in a laughing voice. Tayla got up from the floor and whipped open the door again.

"And why is that?" Tayla asked angrily. "Hmm? Why is it so hard to believe?"

"Well, I-" Sarah stuttered, unsure as to why Tayla had developed such an attitude.

"That's right, because you don't have a goddamn reason. You've always put me down, or dismissed me, but guess what? I'm not taking your shit anymore Sarah. You know what? I'm not even sad we haven't spoken it two years. You've never been nice to me, so fuck you, and stay the hell away from me." She re-slammed the door, and let out a heavy sigh.

She already missed Tyler. She already wished she could just go back to where she considered to be home. She wished she could go back to the way things were before she found out about Tyler's heinous past.

Getting up off the floor, she collapsed on her bed, debating her next move. If staying at home wasn't an option, where could she go? Feeling exhausted, she felt her eyes close, and sleep overtake her.

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

Tyler paced around his bedroom, trying to find the best plan to win his girlfriend back. Katie was right; he needed to show Tayla that he wasn't willing to go down without a fight; he was determined to prove to her that there was nobody better suited for her than he was. Nobody cared about her like he did. Despite doing a shitty thing, he still loved and cared about her; nothing in the world was going to change that fact.

He had to figure out the best way to prove it; but how? He knew he had to go to find her, wherever she was going to end up. He knew she firstly would be going to her parents house. But, after a text from Cassidy, he had a feeling she wouldn't be staying there very long; her sister was home as well.

There was nothing but bad blood between Tayla and her sister; everybody and their mother knew it. Cassidy had texted him and told and he immediately felt bad. Tyler knew she wouldn't be able to stay under the same roof as her sister, so where would she end up?

He thought long and hard; would she consider coming back to Dallas? Would she keep her job? Would she be back? So many thoughts swirled through Tyler's head but one thing became clear; staying in Dallas was going to do him no good. He had to go back home; and sooner rather than later.