It was nearly dark by the time Tyler pulled into the parking lot next to my dorm. The campus lights had flickered on one by one sending the shadows scuttling into the bushes and dark corners of buildings. But in my experience, it was always the concentrated shadows where the biggest fears hid.

It was from one of these dark places that Chris emerged, an equally forbidding shadow on his face when he saw me step out of the car. I closed the door a bit harder than I intended in my annoyance.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to keep my tone neutral. There had been a handful of texts from him over the last few days I had responded minimally to, enough that he wouldn't latch on too tightly with renewed hope, and precisely so he wouldn't show up unannounced again.

"I thought I'd surprise you," said Chris. "You seemed off the last few days and you hadn't answered at all today so I—" He stopped at the sound of a second car door shutting and I watched his eyes track Tyler's progress around the front of the car.

I could see him sizing him up, the way he used to size up opponents on the soccer field in high school. He took in Tyler's stance, the way he angled his head, the distance in between us when he stopped next to me; far enough away that we weren't intimately involved but close enough to assume we knew each other. Chris studied the mud on our shoes, the burrs that clung stubbornly to our pants, the rust flakes that flecked our hands and nails.

"This the friend?" asked Chris, gesturing with a sharp thrust of his head even though it was clear he was talking about Tyler.

"Chris, Tyler. Tyler, Chris," I said, waving my hand carelessly between the two before stuffing it deeply back into my jacket pocket. My palms had begun to sweat.

Words, apprehension, and anger bubbled in my throat, but I didn't voice them yet, aware that I was treading on egg shells.

"Nice to meet you," said Tyler. His voice was even and polite, but he was reading the energy of the conversation same as me.

"Tyler is a friend from class," I said, before Chris could say anything. I felt rather than saw Tyler's gaze slide over to me.

Chris took a step towards me, towards us, so that he was fully illuminated by the pool of light cast by the wrought iron lamppost. He was wearing my favorite sweatshirt again and he had gotten his hair cut since that last time I had seen him, but his face was no longer lifted in the eager smile. Instead, the light threw the tension in his jaw and the cords in his neck into relief.

"The one who helps you with homework?" Chris asked, once more looking at my muddy boots and tousled hair.

"Everyone needs someone to suffer through philosophy with," answered Tyler, shrugging.

"I didn't know philosophy required the entire day," Chris replied. His right hand curled into a fist by his side, the tendons in his forearm mirroring those in his neck. I didn't like the glint the lamppost was lending to his eyes.

"It can take a lot of time to really understand it, if you know what I mean," said Tyler with an edge to his voice.

I stepped forward and shifted my weight to my left leg so that I blocked Tyler from Chris's view. A chilly breeze cut through my light jacket, but I refused to shiver.

"What do you want, Chris?" I said exasperatedly.

He turned his focus on me and though his gaze softened, the lines of his body didn't release any of his anger. "I told you, I wanted to stop by and see you, but I didn't realize you were so busy," he said, his voice curling around the implication.

"Me not answering your text was the indication that I was busy," I retorted. "You don't get to just show up at my school whenever you want to check up on me."

I was acutely aware that Tyler still stood behind me, and the embarrassment of him watching this scene only fueled my anger. Flashbacks from the night we first broke up over the summer scattered some of my thoughts, but I shoved them away, determined to stay in the present.

"I was just worried about you," Chris said, trying to flip it on me. Just like old times, I thought. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. After last time, I thought you might need someone to talk to again."

"Then ask me," I said. "But you don't get to decide when and where we talk."

"Did you ever consider that maybe I needed someone to talk to?" asked Chris scathingly. Call Charlotte then, I thought. "You're not the only one who lost someone, Dash," he added.

It took everything in me not to scream.

"Don't you dare bring Danny into this," I said, through clenched teeth.

"Why not? It's the only way to get your attention," he fired back. "Everything is always about him now, anyway."

For once, Chris, you're actually right. It made me both sad and angry to think that. Had everything become about Danny? About remembering him, getting over him, losing him, loving him? Where did Danny's life end and mine begin?

"I think you'd better go, Chris," I said quietly.

Chris glared at me, shook his head once in disgust, and brushed past me. His boots thudded heavily on the concrete stairs that led down the hill to the parking lot, and I heard rather than saw him rip angrily into his car. A second later his tires shrieked against the asphalt as he peeled out of the spot and disappeared down the street. The smell of burned rubber wafted on the wind.

I breathed it in deeply, feeling it open fissures in my throat, my lungs; it was the smell of retribution yet to come.

Tyler broke the silence. "I'm sorry I didn't leave," he said. "I didn't realize you knew him at first, I didn't mean to intrude on a personal conversation."

I released my breath, still glaring after the spot in the distance where his car had vanished. "Don't worry about it," I said.

"So he was your—"

"Ex-boyfriend," I answered. "Who has a hard time understanding the concept of a break-up."

"I see," said Tyler.

"I'm sorry that you got involved," I added. "He was a good friend of Danny's too and I think it's finally starting to sink in for him."

Confusion flicked across Tyler's features. "How long ago did the accident—"

"April, two months before graduation," I said. "Chris never went to the hospital or memorial service, and he was at the funeral for all of five minutes. I think he preferred to be in denial. Still, it doesn't excuse his behavior."

Strangely enough, it was the fact that Chris hadn't gone to the hospital to see Danny before they ended life-support that made me angrier than his cheating. For all his talk about being as close as brothers, he had abandoned Danny in his last minutes of life.

"Well if you ever need help..." said Tyler.

"Chris is someone I can handle on my own," I said, determinedly. I didn't need anyone else becoming entangled in the leftover snares of Chris and mine's relationship; least of all Tyler. The memory of his face when he talked about his girlfriend came unbidden to my mind mixing unpleasantly with the memory I was struggling to drown of Chris cursing me for cheating. I felt cold all over. That was something I hoped Tyler would never have to know about.

"It's probably best if you don't get involved," I added, though I tried to say it gently.

"Okay," said Tyler simply, but it was hard to read his face in the shadows.

"Thanks for today, I needed it."

"Anytime," he said. "I wish it could've ended on a better note for you."

I shrugged. "Things happen."

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck and gave me a half-smile. "I know this may not be the best time to ask, and it doesn't have to be a date—well, would you like to go to dinner with me on Friday?"

It was funny, the happiness and surprise such a simple question could evoke in me. The way he stumbled over the words just a bit, as though his tongue had forgotten how to form them, and the hope that was hung so carefully on the question mark at the end. It felt normal; like a reminder that the world still turned under my feet and little things like friendships and dates and dinners still happened.

I grinned and nodded awkwardly, loose pieces of hair finally escaping my ponytail and falling into my face. I tucked them behind my ear. "I'd like that."

______________________________________________________________

I had forgotten what it was like not to have my thoughts consumed and my life dictated by memories on an endless loop. I had forgotten what it had been like before. Tyler reminded me.

He didn't know Danny, he barely knew anything about the crash, and he knew all he needed to know about Chris. Instead we talked and we listened.

Tyler would text me periodically throughout the week, sometimes to ask me how my day was going and other times just to send a funny meme or cat video. I smiled, laughed, and talked more than I had in months. By comparison, Chris's texts felt suffocating. The weight on my chest I was constantly carrying felt nearly gone, chipped away bit by bit, and I found myself anxiously awaiting the arrival of Friday.

Amber and I continued to grind along in hostile silence. If nothing else we seemed to share the same mentality: ignore me and I'll ignore you. The line that divided our room was practically visible where her territory ended and mine began. The only neutral space was in front of the door. It suited me just fine.

Friday night, however, she shocked me and spoke real, intelligible words as I was touching up my hair and make-up in the mirror that hung over my desk.

"Where are you going?" she asked, looking at me over the Cosmopolitan magazine she was reading on her bed.

The words were flavored with the implication that I had no life so it was with cool indifference that I replied, "Out."

I tucked a wayward curl back into my hair and realized I would have to re-dye my hair soon. I pulled on knee-high black boots over my black skinny jeans and straightened the lacy-blue tunic I had found in one of the shops downtown.

"Where?" asked Amber again. The magazine was still open, but it had gone from blocking her face to resting on her crossed legs.

I wondered where the sudden interest was coming from, though it was probably because she was planning on trying out some of the "101 Sex Moves to Blow His Mind," featured on the front page of her magazine.

"To dinner," I said, tacking the words onto my previous response.

I used my pinky nail to swipe away a smudge of lipstick from my bottom lip and took one last cursory glance at myself in the mirror. Not half bad, I thought. Tyler had certainly seen me look worse.

"Like a date?" continued Amber. Her eyebrows arched in perfectly plucked disbelief.

"Like a date," I said, annoyed.

Was it a date though?  He had asked me out to dinner which implied a date, but he had also said it didn't have to be a date if I didn't want it to be. Did I want it to be? I still didn't know Tyler that well, but that's what dates were for, weren't they?

What about Danny, whispered the voice in my head. He would want you to be happy, I told myself firmly. But half of my heart still twisted painfully as I thought about our kiss at the zoo, and I could feel the familiar constricting combination of panic and sadness creeping up my throat as I thought about our last conversation while we were trapped in the wrecked car as both of us lay dying.

No, I mentally yelled at myself. Push it away. If I allowed myself to think about it, to be dragged back into that memory, I wouldn't be able to go out tonight.

I grabbed my black leather jacket from the back of my chair and pulled it on, tucking my room-key, wallet and phone into the pockets.

"Bye," I said over my shoulder and heading out the door.

_______________________________________________________
I know, not a super exciting chapter. Although Tyler and Chris have finally crossed paths 0.0

This chapter actually had to be split in half because it was much too long, so the second half (which is actually written for once) will be posted on Friday. I'd love to know what you guys think of this first half though! Do you think anything will come of their first meeting? Any and all feedback is much appreciated. And as always, thank you so much for taking the time to read :)