The Submissive Assassin (BxB)

Chapter 54 - I'll Be Fine

"You haven't been to school in so long," Tyler chuckled, glancing to the passenger side with a small smile.

Jules leaned against the window, tilting his head to the side as he reached inside his bag for a lighter. "I'm busy, you know that." After a few minutes, he pulled a joint from his front pockets and shortly after, burned the end of his joint and inhaled a few gushes of air. Soon enough, he put the lighter to the side, rolled down the window and exhaled a few clouds of smoke.

Tyler shrugged her shoulders. "I know you're busy, but you won't be able to do anything in your life if you don't graduate."

After a snort, Jules added, "If I don't die first."

Her smile instantly fell, slamming her palm against his shoulder. "You're not going to die."

"Being in that lifestyle never ends well."

"That's not true," she shook her head, glancing towards him and noticing that his expression had saddened. She exhaled a short sigh, "We can make it not be true."

"I'm already in it," he whispered, sending his fingers through his burgundy hair. He realized that was not helping with her worry and instead decided to lean towards her, placing his palm on her shoulder comfortably. "Relax Ty, I'll be fine, I'm not going to." Their gaze connected for a moment before Jules finally glanced at the road and realized they weren't going the direction Tyler had mentioned. His brows furrowed as he pointed behind. "Isn't the restaurant down that road?"

"I forgot my wallet; I was just heading back really quick."

Jules rolled his eyes. "I could've paid if you asked."

She nudged him. "You know I'm an independent woman, I don't need your help," she snorted, swiftly stealing the joint from his grasp.

He stared at his now empty hands and couldn't help but snort. "I paid for everything during our relationship." He only chuckled harder when he saw her eyes widening while she took a large inhale of his joint. "This would be no different."

"It would be different."

"And why would it be different?"

She glanced in his direction, squinting her eyes for a second as she examined the way his confused stare intensified when she studied his gaze. "We aren't dating."

"Right..." Jules furrowed his brows, reaching for the joint and watching as she gently placed it in his grasp.

Her eyes squinted even more. "Why d'you say it like that?"

"No reason," he shrugged his shoulders, staring out of the window as he exhaled a long series of thick fumes.

Tyler shook her head, nudging him a bit harder. "No, tell me why."

She hadn't expected a deep sigh from him, his shadow appearing a bit more somber than it did a second ago. It was only after he exhaled another hit that he finally answered. "I just..." he shrugged his shoulders, his lips attempting to move but he wasn't sure of which series of words would be the best to explain how he felt. Eventually, he sent a few fingers through his hair and decided to be as raw as he could. "Let's just say I regret what I did to you and wish I could go back in time..." There was a short pause before she heard, "because I would definitely do anything to keep you."

The silence consumed them, weighing them down with the overbearing tension. Tyler's eyes were stuck on the gravelly road as she reached the parking lot of the old couple's barely surviving restaurant. She knew what was seconds from happening the moment they reached her apartment, but for a second, she debated whether to turn back. Jules had never mentioned this to her before, and she was confused as to why he would say that now. His recurring reaction was to undermine her pain, dismiss it or even argue that he had done nothing wrong. Never had he ever admitted this guilt or the fact that he had made a mistake.