You know someone's special when you feel perfectly happy even when you both are just lying around, in total silence, doing absolutely nothing.

Tyler and I were cuddled up together, on his bed, a tangle of warm limbs and soft sighs, and I couldn't remember the last time I had been so happy.

"You're staring, " he mumbled, his eyes closed, a smile playing on his lips.

"Sorry." I nuzzled into his chest and closed my eyes.

I heard him chuckle, before he wrapped an arm around me, pulling me closer. "Don't be, I like it."

"You do?"

"I just like having your attention." He kissed the top of my head and I grinned. "Ugh, it makes me sound like a sap."

I pulled away the tiniest bit to look at his face and kissed his jaw. "It does, but I like that about you, " I murmured. "It's not easy to tell someone how you feel. It's not easy to be vulnerable. I know that because I'm always struggling with it. And it never mattered before, but now..."

"What?" He whispered, his eyes intent on mine.

"Now I'm scared because you make me want to change...and I sometimes feel I'm not strong enough for that."

I know now that being vulnerable required a great deal of strength. To opening your wounds, showing your pain and letting yourself feel things, is the biggest risk of all.

It was a chance to be exploited or to be loved like never before...and when I looked at him, I knew I'd be willing to risk it all.

I was so fucked.

"You're one of the strongest people I know, Tiger. Maybe you don't realize that, so I'll just keep reminding you of that fact for as long as it takes for you to believe it." He cupped my face with his hand, his eyes tender. "You don't know how goddamn lucky I feel to call you mine."

I bit my lip, trying to overcome the lump in my throat, and said nothing. I closed my eyes, leaning into his touch. Soaking up his warmth, his words.

"God, you're beautiful, " I heard his soft whisper.

My heart stuttered in my chest. I opened my eyes to find his gaze roving over my face. His thumb gliding over my lower lip.

"You want to kiss me now, don't you?" I gave him an impish grin.

"I do." He smiled, bumping his nose against mine.

"So what are you waiting for?"

"Good question, " he murmured, his head dipping towards mine.

I closed my eyes when his lips brushed against mine. I wound my arms around his neck, coaxing him closer and he obliged by slowly climbing on top of me. His big body covering mine.

"Is this okay?" He whispered.

Instead of answering him, I leaned up and captured his lips again, in a slow deep kiss that rushed through me like a tornado, making all the painted shut doors and windows inside me, rattle and shake, threatening to break open.

He kissed me back hungrily, as my hips lifted to meet his, seeking some friction. With a groan, he ground his hips into mine, and I moaned into his mouth, wrapping my legs around his waist.

Gasping, he broke the kiss to drag his lips along my jaw and down to the hollow of my throat, where he nibbled and sucked at the rapidly beating pulse.

Suddenly a loud knocking sound broke through the fog in my brain. "Ty? You in there?"

Julian! Shit.

Grumbling Tyler rolled off of me and I quickly got to my feet, smoothing out my dress and hair.

"Just a minute!" I called out.

"Great timing little brother, " I heard Tyler mutter. 

I glanced over at him. "Could you do something about that?" I grumbled, waving a hand at his crotch-ular area.

He glanced down, then back at me. "Suggestions?"

"I don't know. Just..." I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "Pillow."

He sighed and pulled the pillow on his lap, looking at the floor.

"Think of something gross, " I said, taking a step towards the door.  "Like...your grandma's boobs or something."

His head shot up, eyes wide. "You're one sick puppy." Then he tilted his head with a frown. "It's working though."

I grinned and pulled open the door, to find Julian. "Hey!" I was smiling too wide, my cheeks stung.

"Hey...what's wrong?" He frowned, stepping in. 

"Huh?"

"Your face...you're smiling. You don't smile."

Behind me, Tyler snickered. Julian looked behind me, his eyes falling on Tyler's discarded t-shirt and he grimaced. "I'm interrupting."

"No! No, you're not." I rushed out, glancing at Tyler.

He frowned, and grabbed his t-shirt from the floor. "If you say so."

"Um, okay..." Julian glanced between me and Tyler. "I just got home and mom told me you guys were here."

I smiled and draped an arm around his shoulder. "I missed you."

"Alright, you guys catch up. I'll see if mom needs some help." He walked over to the door. "Come downstairs in a while, alright?"

As soon as he left, I turned towards Julian. "How have you been?"

"Good. What about you?" He smiled.

"Good, so how's school? Did you make any new friends?" I prodded.

"Not really, I've been busy with my studies and I also joined the math club at my school–"

"Okay...you know what, " I interrupted him. "I'm just gonna cut the crap and come to the point." I sighed, shooting him a glare. 

"What's going on?" 

"You weren't home yesterday. You were out, doing god knows what, with Max. You lied to me, I saw you with him last night!" I spoke through gritted teeth. 

He ran his fingers through his hair, his face going pale. "Does Tyler know?" 

"Huh?" 

"Did you tell Tyler about all of this?" 

"No. I thought I'd talk to you first...but how is that an issue here." I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"Sorry. Look, I can explain, " he promised and looked at the door, then quickly got up and closed it, before walking back to me. "Look...It's not a big deal, okay? Calm down."

"Let me decide that." 

"Okay. Well, I recently found out that Tyler promised Dad that he would give up football after high school and study business so that he could join Dad's company, later and–"

"That's insane, " I interrupted him. "He loves football and he is so good!" 

"I know, but dad is paying for his college and he wants him to major in business. The only way Tyler could still be able to play would be if he and his team win the football tournament this year, and get a scholarship for college. There are going to be a lot of scouts looking for good players in the finals and this will be a great opportunity for him." 

"Okay... I don't see your point though." 

"Now, the thing is Tyler will be playing against Max in the finals, so it's not going to be easy–" 

"But Ty is good! He has a very good chance of winning!" I interrupted him. "Quit stalling and get to the point, Julian!" 

"Will you let me finish?" He looked at me, annoyed and I nodded. "I know Ty is good, but so is Max. But the thing I'm worried about is that Max is not above playing dirty, especially because this tournament is very important to him too. After his dad cut him off, that's his only ticket to college." 

"His dad cut him off!?" 

"Yeah...right after he met you that day at your school, actually. Obviously, Max is pretty pissed off about it." He shrugged. "The point is, I was just trying to collect some dirt on Max so that it could help Ty out sometime. That's it. But Tyler has strictly warned me against it and he'll be mad if he learns about this." 

"What dirt are you talking about?" I squinted. 

"Even after Max's dad cut him off, I noticed his lifestyle hadn't changed much. With a little bit of snooping around, I found out that he is a...dealer, " he finished, looking nervous. 

"What? Like...a drug dealer?" 

"Yeah...apparently not a lot of them know about it. But a lot of kids from schools and colleges around town, who are regular users, come to him, he has a big circuit running." 

"Whoa! And what were you doing last night?" 

"He and a few of his friends were going out last night, and they invited me along. I figured if I wanted some proof against him, I'd have to gain his trust and spend some time with them. So I agreed to go out with them." 

"I don't like this." I shook my head. "I don't even know why he is friends with you. It's all so...odd."

"C'mon, just imagine, one solid proof and he'll be behind the bars. It'll be perfect revenge for all that he has done, Veronica, " he tried to convince me. "He has always managed to get away with everything that he has done, this might be our only way." 

"Sounds too good and easy to be true. You're a kid, and you shouldn't be involved in all of this. Tyler is right, you need to stay away from him." 

"They run a dope test on every player before the finals, he'll be thrown out of the tournament if people find out that he is using."

"He is not a fool. It's not the first time he is playing, Julian."

When he just shook his head, running his fingers through his hair and scowled, I caught his arm. "Please, listen to me, okay? I know you mean well, but this is ridiculous. You're not a fucking spy! So many things could go wrong in this situation." 

"I can handle it!" 

"Why risk it?" I countered. "If Max tries to sabotage Tyler, by playing dirty, we will find a way. We'll figure it out somehow. But you need to stay away from him, he is not an average high schooler, Julian. He is a fucking psychopath! You'll make things much worse for all of us if you get into some mess." 

"Fine, " he huffed, but it wasn't entirely convincing. "Just don't let Tyler know about this."

"Okay, but only if you promise to let this go." When he nodded, I continued, "It's weird to see you so scared of Tyler."

He sighed and made his way to the door. "Nothing is scarier than a pissed of Tyler Crosby."

***

"Is your dad going to join us?" I asked Tyler, as we sat down for lunch.

"No. He's out of town," Tyler answered. 

Thank God. I nodded, trying to refrain from openly celebrating the fact. 

Lunchtime was filled with laughter and a lot of stories from Tyler and Julian's childhood, much to their irritation, but I enjoyed every bit of it. 

"And there was this one time, I think it was because they had watched some horror movie for the first time or something and Julian was terrified to sleep alone. I remember the panic I felt when I saw Julian's empty bed and I searched the entire house, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I ran over to Tyler's room to see if he was gone as well, and instead, I found the two of them snuggled up together, fast asleep." Mrs. Crosby shook her head slightly, a smile on her face. 

"Can we please stop this walk down the memory lane, mom?" Tyler complained. 

"Aw, no. You were so cute!" I teased. 

"What's with the past tense? I'm still pretty damn adorable." Tyler winked.

I bit back a smile and rolled my eyes at him, while Julian made some gagging noises in the background. 

After Lunch, while I was leaving, Mrs, Crosby pulled me in for another bone-crushing hug. "Don't be a stranger, okay? I look forward to seeing you again."

"Let me know whenever you're cooking fried chicken again, and I'll be there, " I said, seriously. "They were so damn good!"

She chuckled, letting me go. I hugged Julian, promising to meet him soon and Tyler walked me back to my car.

"So you'll be home alone for a week?" Tyler asked as we walked down his driveway. 

"No, Ash will be staying with me. She is coming over in an hour, with all her stuff."

"Doesn't she have a date? Ryan was supposed to take her out today."

"He is?" I frowned, taking out my phone and like I had expected, there were several missed calls from Ash. "Shoot! I gotta go."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow?" 

"Yes. We have our extra class early in the morning, I'll see you then." 

"Early morning? I'll be seeing the grumpy version of my girl then," he teased.

I laughed and pecked him on his lips. Not going to argue on that one. 

***

A few hours later, I was sitting on the couch in my living room, watching Ash touch up her makeup for the eighth time. "For fucks sake, you look gorgeous. Stop it already!" 

"Sorry, I'm just nervous." 

"You don't say!" I rolled my eyes. 

She huffed and started fidgeting again. "Why isn't he here yet?" 

 "Jeez, calm down, it'll be fine. Ryan is a great guy, much better than Ian." 

"I'm glad he has your approval." She grinned. 

"So far, he's been good and he better maintain that, if he doesn't want to get in my shit-list, " I said, just when the doorbell rang. 

"I'll get it!" She shot up and scurried towards the door.

I followed her to the front door and greeted Ryan.

"You ready to go?" Ryan asked her and she nodded. 

"Here," I gave her my house key. "Take this with you, in case you're late, you can let yourself in. I don't think I'll stay up, I have an early class tomorrow. Just text me, if you'll be late though. "

"Okay, no problem. See ya!" She put the keys in her clutch and turned to leave.

"Have fun, kids. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, " I yelled after them, before closing the door.

***

After heating the lasagna Mom left in the freezer, I sat down and finished some of my school work. But after some time I started losing focus and was distracted by everything that had happened at Tyler's house.

I was still feeling spooked out and embarrassed by the way I had first reacted to Tyler's advances when we were making out. What the hell was wrong with me? I thought I had moved on from everything that had happened last year, but apparently not.  But I was glad that I had quickly recovered and handled myself, from something that could have easily triggered one of my panic attacks.

Nobody realized how hard it was to pull your own self out of a dark place mentally. But today, I didn't have to do it alone.

I couldn't help the smile that took over my face when I thought about Tyler. That guy could make me smile to myself like an idiot even when he wasn't around.

And then there was all the stuff that Julian had revealed regarding Max. 

Maths will have to wait. I shut my textbook and sighed.

A hot shower and some much need ranting session in my journal seemed like a great idea, right now.

***

I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard a door bang shut, downstairs.

Ash was back already? That was fast.  

I quickly finished getting dressed and plucked my cellphone from my study table, before heading downstairs. 

"You're home early. How was the big date?" I called out, while I was checking the phone for any messages from my parents.

There was only one message and it was from Ash. Frowning, I headed downstairs.

"Hey! What's going on?" I called out, opening her message.

 Ash- Hey, V, I'll be home late. Don't wait up. ;)

I froze in my tracks, a cold shiver running down my spine.

If Ash wasn't home... then who was?