Butterfly Kisses
“Okay, Hun. We’ll see you in the morning.” My mom smiled at me, making me feel less guilty about bailing out early.I hurried upstairs to my old bedroom and closed the door behind me.
Incoming Message from Ty
06:35 pm
Is that too lame?
Incoming Message from Ty
06:36 pm
It’s just we always used to love making
fun of old scary movies. Thought it
might be fun.
Outgoing Message Sent – 6:37 pm
No, it sounds perfect.
Outgoing Message Sent – 6:40 pm
I’ll be over soon. Just have to climb
down that damn tree.
I tossed on some sweats, and a zip up hoodie over my tank top. Honestly, my usual attire for any movie night with Tyler. Then I headed towards my bedroom window and peered down at the tree I’d climbed so many times before, sneaking in and out of my bedroom, after hanging out with Tyler.
When I stepped out on to the first branch, I laughed. Here I was, twenty-three years old, sneaking out of my old bedroom window to see my best friend.
The irony wasn’t lost on me.
“What’s so funny?” Tyler asked from the ground, startlingly me on my decent, and causing me to miss the last two steps.
I came falling down in a yelp, as he caught me in his arms.
He grinned.
I smiled, smacking his chest with my hand. “Why do you always do that?!” I scolded him, becoming very aware I was still in his arms.
“It’s my incurable hero complex. I always have to save you, apparently.” He laughed.
I shot him a playful glare. “Put me down you, ogre!” I laughed, as he dropped me to my feet. “Why didn’t you wait for me inside?”
He shrugged. “I thought we could sit in the treehouse first, for old times sake.”
I eyed him curiously. “Sure, but it’s cold. You want to grab a jacket?”
He was wearing similar gray sweatpants to mine, and a white t-shirt. I’d grabbed sweats from my old dresser, and there was a good chance they were actually his. Sometimes, if I stayed at his house, he would grab me some of his clothes to wear. I always managed to keep most of them, and it always drove him nuts.
“If I get cold, I’ll just double up on sweats and make you give me those back. You little clothes thief.” He grinned, and I wrinkled my nose at him.
“You have taken plenty of things from me.” I teased.
He only eyed me in silence. Then, ushered me towards the treehouse.
I climbed up first, only to find a blanket laid out for us to sit on. Another small detail that he’d always done for us. Had it meant anything special all those years ago?
He had climbed up after, and I shifted over to make a spot for him.
“Seems so weird.” I said, finally ending the silence.
“What does?” He asked, as he sat down next to me.
“I’ve only been back here one day, and it’s like I never left.”
He grinned. “The fact we’re both crashing at our parent's places, sure does make it feel that way for me too.” He laughed.
“I don’t want to go back, Ty.” I admitted, looking down at my hands, fidgeting with my fingers.
“What do you mean, like to the city?” He asked, looking almost hopeful.
“No, I mean back to who I was. I can't be that girl anymore.”
Chapter 16
Tyler
“I’m not sure I understand.” I stated in confusion, feeling hurt.
That same girl she spoke about with resentment and distaste, is the same girl I’d thought about everyday of my life.
I’d spent the last two and a half hours, just waiting for when we could hang out again.
“I can't be two different people for you anymore. I can't be your best friend one minute, and then the girl you’re kissing the next.”
“Ry, you’ve never been two different people to me. My best friend was always the one I wanted to be kissing.”
I watched her tucked her bottom lip between her teeth, nervously. “Then why is it, one minute you act as if you can’t keep your hands off me, and then the next we seem to fall back into this friend zone.”
“Ry, you seem to think that both feelings can't exist at the same time. That I can’t look at you and see my best friend, and still have the urge to kiss or touch you.”
“Well, the past has proven that to be the case.” I argued.
“That’s fair. I know I didn’t make it easy on you.” I conceded. “Honestly, back then I didn’t really know what I was feeling. I just knew you were my best friend, who happened to be beautiful, and that I happened to care more for than anyone else in the world.” I shrugged. “I was just a kid though, Ry.” I locked my eyes on her, hoping she’d look up at me and understand the importance of my words. “I was scared to risk our friendship over something, that back then, I only knew to be a temporary feeling.”
She looked up, just as I needed her too, letting me know she was listening to what I was trying to say.
“What about now?” She asked the hard question.
“Now?” I paused briefly, “now, I’m still scared.”
It was the truth, but not in the way Ryder might assume.
When woman usually started talking about a long-term commitment, I ended it. I knew before relationships even started that it was only temporary.
I never saw a future with any of them.
Ryder was different though, forever never scared me when it came to her. There was never a future I wanted without her in it, she’d always been my forever.
“Scared of what, hurting me?”
I shook my head.