Burgers & Beavertails

"Ellis." His name left my mouth before my brain caught up, and my stomach hardened. What the heck was Ellis doing here?

"Hey, Nat." Ellis gave a bro chin nod. "Sawyer."

My gaze darted between the two of them. Ty's expression was stoic, unreadable. Ellis stared down at the ground. I shivered, and not from the cold outside.

At least there'd be no fisticuffs this time. I hoped. Will and Ellis got in a fight at the hockey game anyway. But I never knew how Ty would react to Ellis. The tenseness in my stomach built, and I rocked on my feet.

We stood there, silent on the Sawyers' porch. My face, neck, and ears went impossibly hot. I clutched my purse to my front with a death grip. WhatdoIsaywhatdoIsaywhatdoIsay-

"There's burgers!" I blurted out. It was the first thing that popped into my head, and lord knows I didn't understand the concept of having a filter. And thus, the ramble began. I sucked in air. "Your dad was grilling burgers and hot dogs and maybe corn too. I thought it was weird that you guys are having a barbecue at the beginning of March while there's still snow, but I guess that's how you roll in the Sawyer house. I mean, it's not weird. I don't want to offend Jen. Or you guys. But there's burgers and hot dogs and corn and marshmallows. Or there might not be marshmallows left because Theo said he would get more, and I don't know if he ever did, so there's that."

Ellis nodded. "I'll grab a burger."

I blinked at him. At both of them. Uncanny how alike the two of them looked. They stood there with their arms folded across their chests.

The silence returned. My heartbeat picked up along with my pulse. I bit down on my bottom lip.

Ty finally spoke up, tone deep. "What were you two doing at the coffee shop?" His arms were still crossed and closed off.

Right. That. I twisted the pink keychain attached to my purse. I forgot that Will saw Ellis and I meet at the coffee shop and then awkwardly decided to mention it while Ty was there, who must have made assumptions about what we were doing there. The wrong assumptions. I shook my head.

"I-" "She-" we said simultaneously.

"Go ahead," Ellis offered, waving a hand at me.

Gee, thanks. So nice of you to let me explain. I gave him a tight smile.

My hands moved without my brain's approval, all fluttery and flappy. "I messaged Ellis to meet for coffee. I wanted to know if he knew why your family wanted me to break up with you. And I wanted to apologize for, erm, kissing him." I winced. "Uh, sorry again, Ellis."

"Apology already accepted." Ellis lifted a hand up loosely in a 'who cares' gesture. "For the record, I don't know why Gramps did that. Did you find out?"

The back of my neck prickled as I remembered the scene we made in front of everyone when I found out the truth. I opened my mouth, but Ty beat me to it.

"Talk to dad about it." There was a harsh edge to Ty's words. "We're leaving."

"Tyler! Where are you?" Nate yelled from inside the house. "Leave him alone and..." Jen went on, but she didn't yell as loud as Nate, so I didn't catch it all.

Ty frowned. "Speak of the devil," he muttered.

Nate burst out the front door with Jen on his heels. The front porch was getting crowded. Nate let out a heavy sigh, mouth downturned.

Nate dragged a hand across his mouth. "Look, I'm sorry, Tyler." He waved a hand. "Don't go. Stay a while."

Ty stiffened, muscles rigid. "You're not sorry at all, Dad. I don't want an empty apology. I want you to think about what I said." He paused with a pinched, tension-filled expression. "Really think about it. And I don't want you to pressure Theo and Marie into hockey and law or whatever life you want to live through us like you did to me. And to Ellis." He tacked on Ellis begrudgingly.

Nate stared at Ty, gobsmacked.

Ty briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Once you've thought on that and made actual changes, then we can talk. Until then, I'll know you aren't sorry. You haven't earned any forgiveness."

I blinked at him. Snap, crackle, pop, Ty. Kudos to Ty for standing up to Nate. It was so hard standing up to Mom, and I'd practiced what I wanted to say a million times- Ty just went for it.

Ty grabbed my hand and led me towards Mia's car, movements smooth and sure. He opened the passenger side door for me, and I climbed in.

Ellis jogged after us, ignoring whatever Nate was saying to him. He flexed his fingers repeatedly, and his eyes went feverish and over-bright as he came up to Ty. "Hey, can we talk?"

Ty stared down at his empty palms. "No. I-" He shook his head as he choked on his words. "I can't today."

"Okay. Just so you know, I want to talk to you." Ellis rubbed the back of his neck. "Whenever."

Ty jerked his head in response and climbed into the driver's seat next to me. I watched Ellis' retreating back, his muscles jumping under the skin.

We both took a second, an unsettling ache in my chest. I pinched my lips with tented hands while shaking my head.

"Well, that was a lot." Sheesh. I leaned back against the worn seat. I weaved my hands into my hair and pulled to try and anchor my emotions.

"Yeah." The word came from Ty in a flat, emotionless tone. If I thought this was a lot to process, I couldn't imagine what Ty was going through.

I crossed and uncrossed my legs, shifting in my seat. "Where do you wanna go?"

Ty's gaze went unfocused, posture relaxing. He cocked his head to the side while he remembered something. "There's this place I used to go to think back in high school?"

I gave him a curt nod. "Let's go."

He gave me a slight smile and turned on the car.

We drove for fifteen minutes and decompressed from all that heaviness. Chill music played on the radio. Houses and trees zoomed by outside the window.

My eyes softened when I looked at Ty. Ty still couldn't talk to Ellis about what happened with Micah. And me kissing Ellis likely contributed to Ty not wanting to talk to him. Reopened old wounds that haden't healed yet. Everything was so fresh with Nate, too; I could understand not wanting to forgive him. I mean, I couldn't talk. I couldn't forgive Dad, and I removed Mom from my life. Whatever Ty wanted to do about his family, I'd support.

We reached a lookout point just as the sun set in the sky. The red, orange, and yellow blended together into a gorgeous sunset.

I twisted to face him and wiggled my brows. "So, did you bring dates here to make out all the time back in high school?"

Ty chuckled. "Nope."

I snorted, holding back laughs. "Well, I don't think they got the memo." I pointed at the car a bit away, whose windows were getting steamy, and it'd likely start rocking soon.

Ty shook his head, chuckles turning into full-blown laughter. "Nah, I came here to talk."

He leaned back and interlocked his fingers behind his head, highlighting those arm muscles I spent way too long ogling. Who could blame me when I had such a hot specimen of a guy next to me?

"I have so much to tell you about." My face softened, all the tension seeping out. "I don't have to tell you now, though, if today's been too much." I drummed my feet against the floor of the car. "Or if you want to make out, that's always an option. I mean, we are at a lookout point."

"I told Theo and Marie I'd take them for Beavertails, and they're a bit of a drive away, so I should go pick them up before it gets too dark." Ty checked the time on his phone. "We can stay here for, I dunno, half an hour?"

"That works for me." We couldn't get to everything now, but we had time to figure everything out.

"You know, you should come with us for Beavertails." Ty paused. "If you want. If you have to get back to Summit, no problem."

My heart felt full. I pressed my fingers to my smiling lips. Ty wanted me to hang out with his family? "I'd love to. Theo's hilarious, and Marie's so sweet. Is your dad pushing them to do something they don't want to do?"

Ty went quiet, thinking. He sighed, hands lying still on his lap. "Well, he's pushing Theo hard for hockey. I think that Theo actually enjoys it, though, so that's good. But I want hockey to be his decision, not to make Dad happy like I did." His voice went quieter, a lower, rougher pitch than usual. "And he's hardcore pushing Marie to do law, but I'm 99% sure she has no interest in it and pretends to please him. Which sucks. But I did the same. I let Dad think I was doing law instead of having the balls to just tell him."

"Gotta have balls of steel." I gave him a playful grin. "Like my vagina of steel."

He tilted his head to the side, lips pursed. "Your vagina of steel?"

I gave a crisp nod. "Yup." Ever since I came up with 'vagina of steel,' I had used it as much as humanly possible. Surprised I hadn't told Ty yet.

"Okay, Nat." Ty went with it, a gleam in his eye.

Or would the equivalent of balls of steel be ovaries of steel? Had my saying been wrong this whole time? Gosh-

"So, what's been going on with you?" Ty asked, cutting off my thoughts.

Right. What we came here to talk about, not balls and vaginas and ovaries.

"What's the biggest?" I had to talk about this matter-of-factly, or I'd get all upset again. "I'll start with Mia and Mom. She's been staying with Mia at her apartment, and nobody told me. Dad's been paying for Mia's apartment, so I think he's the one that okayed it." Worrying about the Mom and Mia and Dad crap was gonna start giving me stomach problems and ulcers. I was too young for ulcers!

Ty reached over and threaded his fingers through mine. "I know things are rocky with your Mom."

I hung my head. "Yeah." I'd never gone into that much detail about Mom with Ty, but he knew. I looked down at our interlocked hand, savouring the warmth. "I was hurt that Mia didn't tell me about Mom or Dad, but she can make her own decisions. We're okay now."

"Great." Ty squeezed my hand. "If she's free, invite her up to the cottage. I meant to ask you about it before we- well, before we broke up."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll ask Mia. I don't think she has any other plans. That'd be fun. I'll tell you what wasn't fun, though. Telling my mom that I don't want contact with her anymore." I swallowed hard. "That was tough."

"I'm sure." His thumb rubbed my hand, the movement gentle. "It's great that you did that. Took guts."

"Yeah, I had to do it for me. It's what's best for me right now." I shifted to face him. "But what about you? What have you been up to?"

"Nothing, really." He absently traced shapes on the back of my hand. "My life's been boring the last couple of weeks. Practice, classes, got drunk with Will." His gaze darted to the time on the dash. "We should probably head back now, though."

"I'll have to tell you about everyone else tomorrow. Or on the drive back to Summit. But I promise to tell you about everything from now on. Even if I think it won't turn out well, I'll tell you. Communication, right?" I let out an unsteady, unsure laugh.

But Ty's gaze was steady and sure as his clear blue eyes met mine. "Right. I promise to tell you everything, too."

"Perfect. Now, it's Beavertail time." Deep fried dough, here I come.

But could we do this? Could we mend our relationship and trust each other again?