Break In My Heart

Chapter 17.5: Tyler's Version (bonus chapter)

It was only after a few minutes of complete stillness and silence that was I finally able to retake control over my body. I forced myself onto my feet and went to gather my clothes that had been discarded onto the floor. My knees shook with every step and my hands weren't cooperating with me, causing my shirt to fall out of my grasp multiple times. However, after a few attempts, I was able to redress myself before I settled back onto the bed.

My heart was still hammering in my chest, but this time out of fear rather than the excitement that had run through me mere minutes ago.

I should've locked the damn door. I made a comment on it and still didn't lock it. How stupid could I be? Now it was all my fault. Addi was outed, Kyra could damn sure out me, and everything could fall apart all because I didn't–

My incessant thoughts were cut off when the bedroom door slowly opened. My breath caught in my throat as I mentally prepared myself for venomous words and hostile eyes, but I relaxed when I saw it was only Addi. "Hey," he greeted as if nothing was wrong, though his words were nothing more than a whisper. He closed the door behind him and ensured to lock it this time, though I doubted there would be anything lock-worthy going on now. I was too terrified.

"Hey," I repeated, hating how foreign my voice sounded even to myself.

He offered me a small smile before he walked over and effortlessly planted himself on my lap so we were chest to chest and his legs were wrapped around my waist. I couldn't hide the shock that moved through me, especially because he was being so bold despite what had just occurred. And no matter how casual he tried to play it off, I knew his conversation with Kyra hadn't gone well. Nevertheless, I placed one hand on his lower back to offer support while I used the other to cup his cheek. I wanted to ingrain the feeling of his body against mine before it inevitably came to an end after tonight.

"I'm sorry, Addi," I softly said. "I messed things up between you and Kyra."

Addi's eyebrows knit together in confusion as if I'd spoken another language. "Tyler, you didn't mess anything up. No one forced me to kiss you or to climb on you or do anything else that I did. So, all the blame falls on me."

I looked at him for a second, trying to see if his eyes would betray his true emotions, but I saw nothing. Just my sad reflection staring right back at me. I dropped my hand from his face as I looked down with a sigh, dreading the words that were about to come out of my mouth. "If you want to break this off, I understand. I don't want to make things complicated."

"No," he said as he instantly brought my hand back up to his face, causing me to look at him with confusion. Why wasn't he taking this way out? Why continue this after what just happened? "But Kyra–"

"– and I are done," Addi firmly said. "We're done. That decision was made and I've moved on. Look, I know things are a bit complicated right now, especially with our standing, but I really wanna see where this goes. Maybe we'll be boyfriends one day, maybe we'll get married and have like a million children. Maybe we'll stay like this. I don't care. I just want to keep going...I mean if you want to. What just happened didn't just affect me, you're a part of it too."

A pained look flashed across his face at the last part, causing my heart to flutter at how much he seemed to care about me. He gently took my cheeks in the palms of his hands and ran his thumbs across my jaw just the way I liked it. "How are you? I know it was sudden, I didn't even expect her to come, I swear."

How was I? I didn't even know. So many emotions were fighting within me for dominance that I couldn't fully describe how I was feeling. But if Addison was openly communicating his feelings, I could too. "I don't know. I think my mind is still trying to process it. I mainly feel guilty. I know you said that you two were separated before we got together or whatever, but the look on her face makes me feel bad for even liking you while you and she were together," I admitted.