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Twenty Nine

Tyson.

It was the name I kept repeating in my head over and over again until it hurt until it felt like bursting out of my head. I wasn't in a state of shock anymore, but I couldn't swear that my chest wasn't hurting anymore–that if it was because he lied to me or changed his identity and pretended to be someone. I wasn't sure if I was angry or hurt.

Tyson.

Not Rogue Slade. Rogue Slade was someone else. Rogue Slade was a lie. Tyson was deceit.

Who had I been with? It was what scared me to ask. Who kissed me first? Rogue or Tyson? If Rogue had episodes, could it mean he had stolen a kiss from me? I didn't remember if I had seen a scar or not, which made it worse.

"What are you doing here?" I asked the moment I felt her behind me, keeping a distance between us as I stayed on the ground, my forehead pressed against the railing. I came back from a world where the person I liked had shattered it and I thought I couldn't be in my flat. I would feel suffocated. I was already suffocated. This rooftop was the only place I thought would let me breathe, but Veronica being here with me added more to my stress.

I didn't want her to be here. I wanted her to be here, just so she could tell me what I needed to know.

"I came to see how you're doing," she replied as she sat beside me, then opened her mouth and more words came out. "I can see you pretending to look fine. You don't have to be. You've been told the guy you like has changed his entire face and identity and has been lying to you along with everyone else. It's not something anyone can just forget and be okay with."

I didn't look at her when I said, "How could he have done that? Is he insane?" I still could not wrap it around my head that someone would be able to do that for a person they loved. I loved Lauren from the deepest part of my heart, but neither one of us would be able to do what Rogue did for his friend.

"It's not easy for him, Beth. He has to wake up every day for the past fourteen years with a face that wasn't his, sit through dinners and parties with his friends and family that didn't know he was alive."

"His family doesn't know?" My shock and eagerness to know more compelled Veronica to share more.

"It was a decision he thought was for the best. How do you think his family would react if they knew he was going to do this? It was better for everyone to think he's dead."

Veronica licked her dry lips and forced herself to continue as she gazed at nothing. "The three of us grew up together. Our parents were best friends. When Rogue's parents died in a car accident at eleven, he was left in the care of his uncle. His uncle was a horrible and greedy man. He made so many attempts on his life so he could inherit what Rogue's parents left for him. The last time he attempted on his life was when they went out on his father's yacht and he pushed him into the water."

I gasped. My breath hitched. A lump in my throat moved up and my muscles tightened. Veronica's voice was a little shaky as she continued.

"Rogue was in the water for three hours before he was rescued. Tyson had a feeling something was wrong so we took his father's boat out there without anyone knowing. We found his uncle first, and Tyson almost killed him before he told us what had happened. When we found Rogue, he was dehydrated and sick. We took him to the hospital and told our parents what happened. Tyson's parents took him in and his uncle disappeared."

"The three of us did everything together. Rogue was different from us. He was calm and cool-headed, but Tyson and I..." she laughed with affection in her voice. "We were troublemakers. We were crazy. We fought with everyone and caused so much trouble that we even spent a night in jail once."