Until You (A Theo James Fanfic)

Chapter 4

Aaliyah~

Two days later

I walk in the door and I am immediately bombarded by a tiny body. "Mommy! You're home!" I laugh and pick her up, throwing her in the air. This is the best part of my day, coming home to see that smile on Riley's face.

"How was your day?" She smiles, eyes aglow.

"Well, I went to Ms. Lavon's class and .. uh... Tyler, that's his name, he was there! He was so nice to me!" My smile fades and I put Riley down. "Mommy? Are you okay? What's wrong?" I can't smile anymore. I try to, but it's a shaky one that fails to stay on my face any longer.

"He's just an old friend." A white fury burns through me. "You stay here with Lola, tell her I'll pay her extra, okay? Where is she?" She nods and points up the stairs.

"Lola is in the bathroom." I nod and kiss her forehead.

"I'll be back." I get in my car and drive to the school. I told him. I really did. And now my knuckles are white as I grip onto the steering wheel, and I don't know what I'm going to do once I get there, but I have to do something.

I park in the red zone and turn my car off. All I care about is getting in there and making sure he knows that he will not come near her. Not after years of being without him. He will not tear my family apart again. He will not tear me apart again.

I push the doors open and storm into Claire's room. "Where is he?" She turns around startled, and I see Tyler standing next to her, an arrogant tone to his voice, the same cockiness on his face as it was that night on my doorstep.

"Aaliyah? I knew you'd change your mind." Claire looks around confused as Tyler's eyes become darker, more dangerous. I almost turn around and walk out, but I know that I can't.

"I didn't change my mind, and I'm never going to." Claire pipes in with her usual high pitched, grating voice.

"What is she talking about, Ty?" His face is pale as he turns to her. Oh, how I would love to see him recover from that. I laugh escapes from my lips and her head snaps in my direction.

"Nothing. She's a lunatic." And before I can even think, I have a fistful of his collar. Anger takes over my whole body, and I'm consumed with blinding rage.

"I told you to stay away from my daughter, I told you to not talk to her. And what did you do? You talked to her." I turn to Claire,"I'm sorry, but I will be transferring Riley." I start walking towards the door, thinking about what I had said and I flip around at the last second,"I'm actually not sorry. Not at all." Before either of them can say anything, I walk out and see my car being towed. I run up to the man in the truck and angrily bang on his car door.

"Hey! Hey, stop!" He shakes his head and gives me an annoyed glare, then pulls his eyes away from me.

"You parked in the wrong spot. Just following the law." I grit my teeth and sit down, leaning on the tree trunk. I close my eyes, throwing my head back.

For a moment I think I'll be okay. And then I can't stand it anymore. I scream into my hand. A sob racks my body. I keep my hands to my face and feel the wet tears falling from my eyes. And then a sudden thought rushes through my mind. I stare down at the number on my hand.

I can't.

Although I keep telling myself that I shouldn't call him, I pull my phone out. My fingers shake as I dial the number.

"Hello?" His deep voice breaks through my phone and I take a deep breath, trying to contain my crying. I sniffle and begin to speak.

"I don't know if there's something more important you need to do. But I just need a ride home, and I don't have anyone else to call. I'm at the school and I-," I laugh and shake my head. I'm so stupid,"actually, this was dumb. Don't worry about it." Before he has the chance to argue, I quickly hang up.

I stand up and wipe underneath my eyes, catching the fallen tears. I start walking down the sidewalk and food my arms, the cold breeze causing a chill to run down my spine.

As I continue to quickly walk as fast as I can, a hand falls onto my shoulder, flipping me around. My eyes are met by Tyler's.

"Aaliyah, what was that?" I back away, and his arm falls down to his side.

"I thought I made myself clear. Leave me alone." I sniffle and he comes closer to me, grabbing my arms and pulling me into him.

"Tyler. Stop it." I struggle to get away from his strong grip. His hood gets stronger and stronger until it hurts,"T-Tyler. Stop. Please stop." I look into his eyes fast enough to see the rage leave his gaze. I squeeze my eyes shut.

"Aaliyah, we can still be together. Claire has never meant anything to me. Just let me show you-" suddenly his burning hot touch is gone and I open my eyes, only to see Theo standing in front of Tyler, holding him by the arm.

"She said stop." A sigh escapes my lips as Tyler looks upon him with a star-struck state. Theo rushes over to me and gently clasps my hand, leading me to a sleek, black car.

Suddenly, flashes blind me and I hold my hand up to my face. Theo hops into his seat and quickly drives away.

The silence surrounding the car finally gets to me,"You didn't have to do that, you know." I can see him glance at me from my peripheral vision, but I don't look at him.

I expect him to completely agree with me. To be annoyed that he wasted his time on me, and that he could've been doing something productive, but all he does is smile and say,

"I know."