Tyler's POV

I gave him a one over, a frown creased across my forehead. He was lean, skinny even with scribbles of tattoos drawn on his hand and I could see a little appear beneath the Polo of his shirt. His hair was also in dreads and he had a cigarette hanging lazily on his lips. I wasn't comfortable with him and I could see Joel wasn't either. That made me very curious.

Who is he?

"Joel my man! How far na." He stretched his hand to Joel for a shake, his eyes not leaving Tiana's shell shocked ones and that made me feel so uneasy. Joel hesitantly took his hand and shook it.

"I'm good. You look...really different." He forced a smile.

"What can I say... God has been faithful." King grinned and it took all of me not to scoff. Everyone was quiet, watching their exchange.

"Oh I'm sure he has." I heard Lyla mutter sarcastically beside me. King pulled an extra chair and sat down, his gaze lingering on Tiana.

Stop looking at her!

"Seems like you decided to follow Bamidele here." He said to her, an unsettling smirk playing on his lips

"My dad decided that we should move. I didn't follow anyone here." Tiana said through gritted teeth. I glared at King, angry at the fact that he was making Tiana feel uneasy.

"Yeah... Sure. Whatever makes you sleep at night." King chuckled and looked around the table. "Ohhh where are my manners? My name is..." He started but I cut him off.

"King. I guess we all picked that up." I said with a tone, my face was hard and expressionless. King looked at me. "I'm Tyler." I stretched his hand and king took it. I made sure to tightened my grip.

"Strong grip my man."King smirked and I cocked my head to a side. He looked at all the girls there and felt my blood boil. He was looking at them like they were suya.

He's not even being subtle...

"Let's cut to the chase, bro." Charles spoke for the first time since King showed up. "What can we do for yah?" He asked, looking at King dead in the eyes.

"I can't say hi to long lost friends anymore?" He looked at Tiana, his tongue running across his lips as he took her in. I felt disgusted and I knew for sure everyone else felt the same. "Tiana, you decided to just leave Abuja. You decided to leave when things were getting so good between us." His sinister smirk was really unsettling.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt but we were in the middle of an hangout before you came here so if you don't mind, we would like to continue it that way." Ada grimaced.

"With no additional characters...." Kelvin frowned too. King chuckled.

"Okay, okay. Imma gonna leave." He brought a pen and paper and wrote his number, sliding it over to Tiana's side.

"Gimme a call, will yah? We have a lot of catching up to do." He winked at Tiana, stood up and walked away.

The hell?! What kind of history do they have?

For some minutes the table was as silent as a grave yard. Tiana had her head down and obviously everyone was watching her. I looked at her, taking her hand in mine. It was unusually cold.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked her but she said nothing, just staring into space. I became so concerned and worried about her.

What kind of hold does he have on her?

"Okay, I don't know that King guy but I'm getting a bad vibe from him." Lyla spoke up first. I still focused my attention on Tiana who hasn't said anything still.

"Stating the obvious are we? I couldn't even count the number of tattoos on his skin. Is he supposed to be our age mate?" Zaria asked Joel who seemed to have a better idea about King.

"Of course. He probably dropped out of school or something because his brain couldn't carry it anymore. I always knew he was gonna turn out this way." Joel replied.

"Hey, Tiana are you okay." Kelvin asked.

"Hey..." I whispered again to her, holding her hand. She looked up.

"I have to go. I'm sorry I ruined your day..." She picked up her phone and I frowned.

"Hey..." I called to her again but she wasn't paying any attention.

"No you didn't. None of this is your fault." Charles said.

"I really have to go. Thanks for having me." She simply said and I became even more worried about her.

I can't let her leave alone.

"I'll drop you off." I stood up.

"No. Enjoy you day with the guys." She shook her head.

"I'm dropping you off." I insisted, trying to meet her eyes but she wasn't looking at me. She also didn't argue with me anymore but she turned and started to walk. I sighed, turning to the guys.

"I'll talk later guys. I have to go with her."

"It's understandable. Just make sure she's okay." Zaria said. I nodded and walked away, trying to catch up with Tiana who had gone far.

****

Tiana was already far in front of me that I had to increase my speed to meet up with her. I didn't like that King made her feel uncomfortable. Apart from the annoyance I was feeling, I also felt my curiosity perk. The fact that I still didn't know anything about Tiana made me ignorant, helpless even.

Who is he? What kind of history do they have together?

I was curious and I really wanted to know her more. He must have been part of her  life back in Abuja. I know I promised myself I wouldn't pressure her to tell me about her, but I really needed to know.

Tiana why can't you let me know more about you? I groaned inwardly.

We soon got out of the mall. I reached her in time and held her hand to stop her.

"Hey, slow down." I said and gently turned her around to face me.

"You don't have to drop me off at home, Tyler. You need to go back to your friends. The last thing I want is to spoil your day." She replied, searching my eyes for understanding.

"You are not spoiling my day. What's the fun in going back if you are not there? I want to spend my day with you and there is definitely no way I'm letting you leave on your own after what happened in there. Let me help you take your mind off it." I told her, her hand still in mine.

"How are you going to do that?" She asked, her lips slightly tugged in a smile.

"It's a surprise but only if you let us go together." I said and she nodded slowly.

"You are not going to ask me who King is...." She trailed off, looking at me.

"I'm not gonna pressure you into telling me something that makes you sad or brings back bad memories. You will tell me on your own accord. I'm just really hoping it's soon." I replied. She smiled and nodded.

"Come on." I jerked my head to where the car was parked and gently pulled her along. We got to the car and drove into the busy road.

****

"We are here." I smiled at Tiana who looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"The surprise is your house?" She asked. I chuckled as I honked at the gate man who opened the gate, allowing me to drive into the compound. I got down and came to her side, opening the door.

"You will see. Come on." I took her hand and pulled her along, into the house.

"Wow! Your place is really nice." She looked around as I pulled her up the stair case. She looked at me. "Where are we going?" She asked. I smiled.

"I told you it's a surprise." I replied her and she rolled her eyes playfully. We got to the front of a room and I took a key out.

"You know how you have always wanted to see more of my drawings?"I asked her and she nodded. "Well..." I opened the door to the indoor gallery. "Here we are." I told her.

I saw her eyes widen as she made her way into the room painted with all white, on the walls were frames of my drawings and few of Mum's painting I could save. I haven't told Tiana about my mum. Probably I would today.

"Wow!!! This is beautiful!" She went to one of the drawings and traced her fingers on it. I was really happy she was appreciating my drawings.

"You like them?" I asked. She looked at me

"Are you kidding?! I love them. You are really talented. I'm still wandering why you ain't in art class you will make it big as an artist." Her eyes returned to surveying the room. Her eyes landed on one of my mum's painting.

"Whoa! You can draw and paint?!" She schemed her fingers through the painting of landscape. I smiled sadly as I came behind her.

"This isn't mine. It's my mum's." I replied quietly.

"OMG. I would really love to meet her. It's really rare to meet a female artist as good as your mum. She must be an icon." She smiled. I met out a strained chuckle.

"I would have really love for you to meet her too. She really was an icon." I said quietly. Tiana turned, probably noticing the use of my past tense. She touched her hand to my arm.

"Tyler...." She trailed off, looking a bit confused.

"My mum is late." I clarified for her, a sad smile playing on my lips. Tiana widened her eyes.

"Oh my God. Tyler, I'm so sorry..." Tiana trailed off again. I nodded slowly, memories flashing back.

I was suddenly back in the hospital, six years ago. Mum was holding my hand, the Cancer silently eating her up from the inside out. She looked me in the eyes and told me she loved me one last time and that she would always be with me, to when the monitors beeped louder and louder, to me screaming my mum's name, to dad holding me and pulling me out of the room, to me seeing my mum breath her last...

Mum....

I didn't even know I was crying until Tiana cupped my face in her hands  and used her fingers to clean my eyes. She pulled me into a bear hug. I held unto he, crying onto her shoulder, tightening my hold around her as my tears increased. She gently stroke my back and the back of my neck as she let me cry.

"It's okay... I'm here. You have me." She whispered lowly, giving my back gentle strokes as the tears kept coming.

Please don't leave me.

A/N

Another Chapter guys!! I told you I would be updating when I get the chance and lucky for me and you guys, no classes on Friday so Fridays might be my constant updating days sha. I'm not promising every Friday sha.

So how do you like this chapter? It's divided into two parts tho. The other part will be coming soon. Poor Tyler still misses his mum. I don't blame tho. Tiana and Tyler's chemistry tho... So on point.

Don't forget to vote comment and share.

Kisses