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Chapter 18

    “I haven’t seen you in forever, Daniel!” She squealed in her absurdly lovely voice. She hugged him tightly once more without paying me any attention.

    “Savanna!” Daniel said when she finally pulled away. “You look amazing.”

    Savanna, the tall goddess, spun around; her platinum locks flowing around her like a halo. She put a hand on her hip and straightened her black form-fitting dress. I had to admit that she did have quite a form. She reminded me of a model you would see nearly naked on a men’s magazine, large breasts and all.

    Her features were perfect, and she possessed an award winning, Mrs. America smile that when paired with her large brown, doe eyes could stop traffic.

    Or blind someone.

    “Thanks, Danny!” I mentally gagged at her use of a pet name. Who in the hell was this woman? “So do you! Have you been working out or something?” She slid a hand down his chest.

    I hated her automatically.

    A surge of boldness made me clear my throat loudly.

    Finally looking down at me, she shot me her pearly whites. “Oh, who is this cutie?”

    “Savanna,” Daniel began as he replaced his arm around my waist, “this is Tyler. He’s my boyfriend.”

    I gave her the brightest smile I could push up at her. “Yeah, Bitch. I’m his, and he’s mine!” I growled mentally.

    Something in her overly white smile faltered, but with a blink of her large eyes, she grinned. “I’m so happy for you,” she chimed. “You’re a lucky boy,” she said as she cast her eyes down at me.

    “When did you get into town?” Daniel asked.

    Savanna twisted a strand of her mane as she spoke. “I’ve been here for a few weeks just visiting my parents, but I go back tomorrow. I’m actually flying out to Brazil for a shoot.”

    “I’m sorry we won’t get to spend more time together,” Daniel said almost sadly. “How is the modeling going by the way?”

    Oh, great. She was actually a model. Could this woman be any more perfect?

    “Great!” She said with a little jump. Her mile-high stilettos clanked through the air. “I’m not super huge or anything, but I’m not having problems finding gigs,” she said proudly. “What have you been up to?”

    “I’ve just been working and enjoying my time with this one,” he gestured down at me, and I smiled as sweetly as I could up at the goddess. “We’re living together now.”

    Surprise flickered over her immaculate features. “I didn’t know you got that serious with anyone.”

    “Well, he did with me.” The words left my mouth before I even registered them through my mind.

    “I can see that,” she said with her mega-smile, but something in the tone made me want to scratch her face off. She glanced down at the thin, expensive-looking watch on her wrist. “It’s nearly lunch time. Do you want to eat lunch with me? We can all catch up then.” Her eyes snaked down to me.

    “That sounds fun,” Daniel said then paused. “Is that ok with you?” He asked me.

    I nodded, but my stomach twisted in knots as we began towards the food court. The place was absolutely packed with people stuffing their faces; somehow, we found a table and all sat down. Savanna sat directly across from me while Daniel sat beside me.

    “Oh, Daniel, will you be a doll and get me a salad?” She reached into her large purse and fished out a handful of bills. “Tyler and I will hold the table while you’re gone.”

    Daniel took Savanna’s money and stared at me with a worried look on his face. “Will you be ok?”

    I opened my mouth to tell him that I would be fine, but Savanna opened her giant trap and spoke for me. “He’ll be fine, Danny.” She placed her hand over his. “I want to get to know your boyfriend without you hovering.” She waved him away with her heavily ringed fingers

    He kept his eyes glued to mine, and I nodded, telling him that I would be fine. As he stood up, Daniel asked, “Do you want anything to eat, babe?”

    I didn’t want to eat in front of all these people, but I also didn’t want to look like an idiot not eating while everyone around me stuffed their faces. “A salad sounds nice,” I said with a weak smile.

    Daniel looked me over once more protectively before turning his back and starting towards the selection of restaurants.

    “How long have you and Daniel been together?” Savanna asked, making me turn to her. She had her long elegant hands folded on each other on top of the table.

    I cleared my throat and spoke softly. “A few months,” I said truthfully.

    Her manicured brows shot up. “Really? I didn’t take Daniel for one to meet someone and settle down so quickly.” She ran her eyes over me, making me feel uncomfortable. “I wonder what’s so special about you?”

    I chewed on my bottom lip and mentally willed Daniel to hurry up. “There has to be something he likes about me,” I said with a little more confidence as an edge crept into my voice.

    She rolled her eyes, her perfect mask finally cracking away to show her real, rotting flesh. “I wouldn’t get too used to it, little Tyler,” she sneered with an evil smile twisting her lips. “I’ve known Daniel a long time, and I know for a fact that he gets bored very easily.” She grinned and tapped her elongated nails on the hard surface of the table. “You better keep him entertained or he just may leave you crying in the dust.”

    I blinked at her and balled my fists. “Why in the hell are you?” I sounded pissed, but I still managed to keep my voice low.

    “I’m Savanna Elane Harris; who the fuck are you?”

    “I’m Tyler Greer, bitch.” I covered my mouth with my hands to silence myself. What in the world was I thinking? This woman, no matter how hateful, was still a friend of Daniel’s.

    Savanna laughed loudly and smiled brightly, falling silent for a moment. “Does Daniel still fuck as well as I remember?” She asked with her voice a wicked hiss.

    My jaw dropped and the look that danced all over Savanna’s features proved that she got the exact reaction she wanted out of me. Daniel and Savanna had sex?

    Somehow, knowing that made my heart climb into my throat. I hated this woman.

    “Here is your salad, Vanna,” Daniel said, using a pet name as he slid a large salad across the table to Savanna.

    “Thank you, Danny. You’re always so wonderful.” Her voice was back to its perfection.

    Daniel wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me against him as he slid me my salad. “I got you Italian dressing,” he said with a smile.

    He remembered my favorite dressing.

    “Thank you,” I said with a small smile.

    Daniel raised an eyebrow at me as he placed a kiss on my forehead. “You look pale, babe. Do you feel alright?”

    I opened my mouth to tell him I was fine, but Ms. Amazon interjected. “He’s fine; we were just enjoying some girl talk,” Savanna said happily.

    “You two didn’t talk crap about me did you?” Daniel asked as he pulled his arms from me and opened the wrapper on his cheeseburger.

    “Not at all, but Tyler was completely shocked when he found out that we were together in high school.” Savanna glared at me as Daniel enjoyed his food.

    I lowered my eyes to my salad and poked at it with the little plastic fork. There was no chance in hell that I could eat right now. Savanna was a total troll, and she needed to find a bridge to get stuck under.

    “That was a long time ago, Vanna,” he said with a laugh. “We got into so much crap though!”

    The two of them shared a laugh.

    “How long were you two together?” I asked from my salad quietly.

    “We were together our sophomore and junior year, but sadly, Danny-boo dumped me.” Savanna nearly wined, and her use of that disgusting pet name made me mentally gag.

    Daniel spent two years with this woman.

    “Yeah, Savanna still hasn’t coped with the fact that I used her as a cover-up.” Daniel laughed as he spoke to me.

    I couldn’t help but smile. Taking this chance to get the Amazonian beast back, I asked, “Oh, so you dumped her for someone else?” I crossed my mental fingers that I was right. “Please,” I willed mentally, “let Daniel say that he dumped her for a guy.”

    “Totally,” he said with a loud laugh. “What was his name again, Vanna?”

    Savanna’s perfect mask chipped, but she regained her composure as she spoke to Daniel. “I think his name was Austin,” she did her best to sound happy, but her words came out dryly.

    “He was way out of my league though,” Daniel said with a grin as he kissed my cheek.

    “This is the time,” I thought, “This is the time to serve the finishing blow.”

    Leaning forward, I claimed Daniel’s lips and kissed him with all the force I possessed. Daniel’s arms wrapped around my back, fisting the back of my sweater roughly. When I pulled away, I met his emerald gaze and smiled. “I love you, Daniel,” I whispered just loud enough for Savanna to hear.

    Daniel blinked as if he were in a daze and smiled at me. “I love you too, babe.”

    I sat back in my seat and faced the troll in front of me. Shooting her a satisfied grin, I plopped a bite of salad into my mouth.

    “Can you believe I managed to hook someone as amazing at this guy?” Daniel asked wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

    “I believe that you can have anything you want, Danny,” Savanna said with a glare.

    “And he wants me!” I mentally screamed at her as I swallowed my bite of salad.

    The conversation went on and the two of them continued to talk to each other about the times they spent together. I didn’t pay much attention, and I didn’t care that they were talking anymore. I knew that I critical hit that troll.

    “Oh. My. God.” Savanna began loudly. “I totally understand it now!” She clapped her hands.

    Daniel raised his eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

    I met her large eyes as she spoke. “Tyler reminds me of, oh, what’s his name?” She tapped a manicured finger against her plump lip. “What was the name of the kid we tormented in high school?”

    Daniel and I both fell silent, and he reached out grabbing my hand tightly. It seemed like it was more to comfort himself than me.

    “Jimmy?” She asked furrowing her brow.

    “Jeremy,” Daniel said lightly.

    Savanna snapped her fingers in the air. “That’s it!” She said meeting my eyes and glaring. “This is you trying to fix it, isn’t it?” She laughed and clapped her hands in front of her face. “So, some kid offs himself because of you, and you run off and take the first injured bird under your wing?”

    I closed my eyes to sever the threat of tears. I had to mean more to Daniel than just being a redo, and I knew that I did; it didn’t take away the sting that buzzed in my chest. This woman didn’t even know me.

    “That isn’t the case,” Daniel said firmly.

    Savanna rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me that. I know I’m right,” she mumbled stubbornly.

    Daniel stood from the table, pulling me with him. “You know that even if I were straight, I wouldn’t have ended up with you, right?”

    The look on Savanna’s face made her being such a troll worth it. It looked as if her entire world just shattered.

    “Get over yourself, Vanna,” Daniel said harshly. “It was nice to see you again.” His words were formal, cold. “Goodbye.”

    Savanna called after us as we walked away, but Daniel never turned around.

    We walked through the mall silently for a few minutes, but I chose to break the silence. As I wove my arm through his, hooking myself to his body, I said, “She’s a character.”

    Daniel laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “She is. It was nice to see you hold your ground against her.” He sighed. “I didn’t think she would take it that far though; I’m sorry, babe.”

    “I called her a bitch, so I guess we can just call it even.” I didn’t feel like we were even, but I had Daniel, and that was something she could never have.

    “Really?” Daniel asked, coming to a stop.

    I shrugged and bit my lip to stifle a grin. “It felt good.”

    Daniel wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. “I think we should get back home before you start telling everyone exactly what you think about them.” He placed a kiss on my forehead.

    “Today’s been fun,” I said with a wide grin as we made our way through the mall to the exit.

    The drive back home felt longer than the drive to the mall. I felt pretty drained and I couldn’t shake the stupid troll’s words from my memory. I knew what she said was stupid and pointless, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that her words could be laced with truth.

    What if Daniel did get bored with me?

    What if I was just a redo to him?

    I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair. Blowing out a breath, I decided to silence the ridiculous thoughts from my brain. “Savanna told me that you would get bored with me in the end,” I blurted out.

    Daniel laughed as he drove. “You can’t listen to anything she says, Tyler. She’s just an insecure diva.”

    I sighed. “She doesn’t have anything to be insecure about,” I grumbled. As much as I hated to admit, Savanna was beautiful. On the inside, she was a disgusting troll.

    “Something you need to know about Savanna is that she used to be this really fat girl. Senior year, her daddy paid for her to get gastric bypass surgery.” He chuckled. “After she got skinny, she put on this face and decided that she needed to be a bitch, as you so kindly pointed out to her, to fit in.” He shrugged. “I guess it just stuck.”

    I grinned at the image of a bloated Savanna; I got too much joy from that picture. Slowly, my grin faded as the last question settled on my lips. “What she said about me and Jeremy,” I began softly.

    Daniel sighed, cutting me off. “Tyler, I love you,” he said firmly. “I didn’t love Jeremy. Sure, I blame myself for his death, but there is nothing I can do about it now. You two are completely different people. The only trait you two share is your ability to make me a better person.”

    I placed my hand over his and squeezed tightly. “I’m sorry for bringing it up,” I said with a smile as I tried to end the subject.

    “You need to hear this, Tyler. I don’t want any doubt in your mind, ok?”

    I bit my lip. “Ok.”

    “Jeremy’s death haunts me, but deep down, I know it opened my eyes to the world around me. His death forced me to be true to myself.” He paused to take a deep breath. “If he never would have died, I know for a fact I wouldn’t have turned into the man you love.”

    If Jeremy would have never died, I would still be stuck in my old life, merely existing.

    The air grew silent as neither of us knew what to say next. I kept my fingers intertwined with Daniel’s the remainder of the drive home. Once we were finally safely behind the apartment door, I decided to diffuse the whole situation with a joke.

    “You really had sex with her?” I asked with a grin slapped over my face as I plopped down on the couch. “She was much rounder when you two had sex, huh?”

    Daniel blushed a deep shade of red. “That’s not funny, Tyler.” His face fell in a hard flat line.

    “I find it rather funny,” I said with another grin. “How was she?” I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing loudly.

    Daniel squinted at me dangerously. “We were both virgins at the time, so it was pretty terrible.” He was smiling now and the seriousness finally faded from his eyes. “Not to mention, I had no idea what I actually liked, and let me tell you, I learned pretty quickly that I did not like vagina.” He finally laughed.

    “I thought you lost your virginity to a guy?”

    Daniel shrugged from the doorway. “I lost my actual virginity with Savanna, but my first time with a guy was pretty terrible too.”

    He plopped down beside me, lying down and resting his head in my lap. I ran my fingers through his dark locks. “Thank you for today, my knight. I didn’t think I would have as much fun as I did, and even with Savanna popping up, I still had a good time.”

    Daniel smiled up at me. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I have to say that you really surprised me today.”

    I bit my lip. “I surprised myself.” Who knew that I could not only talk to a stranger, but also tell a bridge troll off? “Do you have to work tomorrow?” I asked suddenly.

    Daniel frowned and sat up. “Sadly, yes. I wish I could spend every hour of every day with you.”

    I leaned against his shoulder and closed my eyes. It wasn’t even six in the afternoon, yet I felt completely wiped out. “Let’s watch a movie,” I said with a yawn.

    “Sure. What would you like to watch, babe?”

    My eyes lit up as I leapt from the couch. Daniel caught on as soon as I made my way to the DVD’s. He jumped to his feet wrapping his arms around me as he pulled me away from his movie collection. “No!” He said with a laugh. “Anything but that movie!”

    I wiggled from under his arms and threw myself on the ground, clawing my way to the movies. “You said what I would like to watch!” I giggled as Daniel sat on top of me, anchoring me in my place.

    “I refuse, Tyler!” Daniel snaked his hands to my sides and began tickling me. I writhed under his touch and laughed until my lungs hurt.

    “Get off me, you big lug!”

    Daniel finally let me go, giving me the perfect opportunity to launch myself at the movies. I grabbed Mean Girls from its place and held it in the air triumphantly. Daniel let out a playful groan. “I’ll go make the popcorn,” he said in defeat.

    I didn’t even make it halfway through the movie before dozing off. I woke up just as the movie was ending. “You could have just turned it off,” I said with a large yawn.

    Daniel kissed the side of my cheek. “I got caught up in the movie.”

    I smiled. “Just admit how much you like it.”

    Shaking his head he grinned down at me as I snuggled against his chest. “Never.”

    I laughed at him.

    “I’m going to order takeout for dinner. Is that ok with you?”

    I nodded and stood from the couch. “I’m going to change into more comfortable clothes.”

    “Can I watch?” Daniel called after me as I started toward the bedroom.

    As we ate, I noticed the bag from the mall. Leaping from the couch, I pulled the bag from the coffee table and pulled out the tie-dye kid. “Can we do this tonight?” I asked with a large grin.

    Daniel shrugged as he slurped a noodle. “I think I have a few white t-shirts I can spare.”

    We spent the remainder of the night making a total mess in Daniel’s bathroom. We used the bathtub to safely saturate the shirts with color, and still managed to splash dye over the walls and floor.

    It was a fun experience, and when we finally wrapped the rubber bands over the shirt bundles and wrapped them in plastic bags, we were both giggling like school girls and covered in dye. “How do you think they’ll look?” I asked as I did my best to rinse out the tub.

    Daniel pushed me into the tub and climbed in after me, fully clothed. The water filled up around us, becoming a colorful bath before the colors all blended together into a murky brown. He kissed my lips lightly and ran a hand through my hair. “I think they’ll look perfect.” He kissed me once more. “They’ll be as perfect as you.”

    I furrowed my brow. “I’m not perfect, Daniel.”

    He laughed and kissed the spot between my eyebrows, making me relax the tension gathering there. “You’re perfect to me, Tyler.”

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Hello, everyone! I know these last chapters have been fluffy, but I promise it is all for a point.

As always, please take the time to comment and vote on this chapter. It really keeps me motivated to see and read lovely or constructive comments, and seeing my chapters get votes just makes me all bubbly :D

Anywho, how did you like Tyler defending himself? I feel like he did a pretty good job considering he used to be a total shut-in. What do you think? (:

*Edit*

I forgot to thank all of you SO much for helping get my story OVER 3000 reads! You have no idea what this means to me <3

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