[A/N: Song for the chapter:
- Demi Lovato // Catch Me]

"What do you want Ash?"

I glanced up from the diner's counter and scoured the lit up menu overhead. The last time I came to Ruby's Diner with Tyler, I made the mistake of ordering something cheap and awful. But since he was offering to pay, a slow grin crept onto my face as I recited my order.

"Two cheeseburgers, onion fries and a choco–"

Tyler laughed and cut me off. "And a chocolate milkshake with cream, sprinkles and marshmallows, yes I get it Ashley. You can stop drooling everywhere. It ain't cute."

"Excuse me?" I arched both eyebrows.

His smirk stayed intact until I gave him a dark look.

"What I meant was," He cleared his throat as I narrowed my eyes. "I get that you're hungry but can you please find us a table?"

"That's better," I flashed him a fake smile before I rolled my eyes and pushed myself off the counter, shooting him a smirk as I trudged towards the same table we sat at last time - the one that overlooked the parking lot.

Minutes later, Tyler flopped down onto the padded seat in front of me and propped his head up with his right arm arm. He absentmindedly started tracing patterns all over the checkered tablecloth with his left hand. We both stared out of the window, too exhausted to bother with any small talk since we'd just spent an hour with Dr Jillian, listening to Tyler dig up memories from his past. The session wasn't particularly intense since she only asked him to recall good memories so it was pleasant to hear things I had never known about my best friend. For example, I had no idea that she used to get Tyler to dress up in his father's suits and play wedding games.

We left Dr Jillian's office chattering about Taylor instead of wallowing in a heavy silence like the past two appointments, which was fantastic. Tearing my gaze away from the densely packed parking lot, I focused on the relaxed smile on his face and mirrored it.

"So what did you think about that session?" I broke the silence and turned my body to face him.

Since the table was quite small, our knees brushed and my kneecaps were now wedged between his legs. Tyler made no attempt to move away and I bit back a giddy smile.

"I guess it was kind of fun," He mused quietly with a smile. "Dr Jillian didn't ask any heavy questions and it was more focused on me rather than Taylor's death. I liked that."

"You did?"

He nodded and pushed his hair out of his eyes. An hour hadn't even passed, yet Tyler was still in a surprisingly good mood so here we were; getting lunch at the closest diner we could find - which happened to be the same one he took me to many weeks ago. Even though it had only been his third session, things were really starting to look up for him. He wasn't cranky or in a foul mood and was actually joking about with me - I mean, he did try to trip me up before we entered the diner.

"You handled yourself pretty well," I smiled, squeezing his arm reassuringly just as a waiter broke off his next response.

A tanned arm reached out to slide two ceramic plates in front me that were steaming with my mouthwatering lunch. Not bothering to thank the waiter, I instantly dug into my food whilst Tyler chuckled at my enthusiasm.

"Two cheeseburgers, onion fries and chocolate milkshake for you ma'am," The waiter flashed me a toothy grin when I glanced up with half the burger inside my mouth; and slid two more plates in front of Tyler. "And a hamburger, fries, chocolate milkshake and a large slice of banana cake for you sir."

The waiter lingered for a brief moment, shooting me a discreet glance before rocking back and forth on heels.

"Need anything else ma'am?" He asked in a low voice that made glance up from my plate. "Water? A side dish? Paper napkins?"

I shook my head and fiddled with the fraying sleeves of my burgundy sweater.

"No thanks," My voice dwindled into a shy whisper because of the waiter's heated gaze.

With a wide smile, he strode off to serve another another table and I turned back to Tyler, sipping my milkshake slowly. Chocolate, vanilla and thousands of sprinkles exploded on my taste buds and I had to swallow fast after Tyler raised an eyebrow at me with a stony expression.

"That guy has been checking you out since we walked in," He grunted whilst I just laughed off his ridiculous observation.

"No he hasn't. Trust me I would've noticed if he was," I picked up an onion ring and scrutinised the crispy, golden beauty before shoving it into my mouth. "Mmm, this is so good. Want one?"

Tyler's hair fell into his eyes when he shook his head. "I'm cool thanks."

"Suit yourself," I shrugged my shoulders and bit bark a snarky comment when he turned around to glare at the waiter.

"You've got to be kidding me...Look over there," Tyler turned around and his bright eyes darkened. "His eyes have been on you for the past minute. Look!"

I followed his gaze to the neighbouring tables and my eyes locked with the waiter's warm brown ones. The corner of his mouth lifted up into a lazy smile and I returned it before focusing back on my plate.

Was he cute? Mona would probably ask herself 'Do he got a booty? If yes, then he's hella cute.'

I looked at him, making eye contact with him again and he smiled at me. Yup. He was cute, really cute. Dark hair, a hooked nose and a wide mouth that seemed smile as much as his laughing brown eyes. He definitely has a booty on him.

"Crap, what do I?" I rubbed my clammy palms on my thighs and stole a glance at the waiter again.

"Why are you asking me?" Tyler snapped and I raised an eyebrow at the harsh edge in his voice.

Shrugging my shoulders, I devoured my first burger whilst I discreetly stole glances at the waiter. Tyler scoffed when he caught my gaze wandering around the diner but sat quietly and picked at his hamburger. Gradually I lost focus on the waiter and my attention was directed at Tyler again. Thankfully he failed to notice my creepy stares. I didn't mean to ogle him but since the homecoming dance, I couldn't help but marvel at how the cute guy from my childhood had transformed into a model-worthy guy.

He even carried himself differently to most guys our age. Tyler wasn't an asshole like Jonah; neither was he ridiculously hot-tempered or dense like Dylan. Sure he thought with his fists but I liked that he was always patient with me. He was himself, all the time. There were no split personalities that threatened to spill from his hard surface - he was grumpy, annoying, considerate, cocky and extremely attentive - and I liked that.

Taylor would have been proud if she was here to see how he had grown up.

"He's still watching you," Tyler barked, cutting off my train of thought by peering up at me through his thick lashes.

"Really?" I squeaked, suddenly unnerved to be the focus of the waiter's gaze.

Why was he staring at me? I was clad in an old sweater, skinny jeans and battered chucks. It's not like I was wearing any makeup either; although I guess my eyes were in proportion since I had left my glasses at home this morning in a rush to meet Tyler on time.

"And he's still staring at you," Tyler rolled his eyes and stole one of my onion rings.

I smacked his hand away and glared at him. Why didn't he take one when I offered? Laughter rose from his rosy lips as he snatched another one and popped it into his mouth but I was too busy sneaking looks over my shoulder at the waiter as he walked past our table.

"Stop checking him out Ashley!" Tyler whispered extremely loudly, wearing a smug smirk, when the waiter was within earshot.

"Tyler!" I hissed when the waiter disappeared behind the counter and I chucked an onion ring at his chest.

It left a greasy imprint on his denim shirt but that didn't faze Tyler at all. With loud chuckles, he held his hands up in a surrendering motion.

"I'm just messing with you Ash. Chill!"

With an exasperated huff, I pursed my lips and gave him a withering look.

"Now he knows that I find him cute. You just embarrassed me Tyler! Jesus, what's wrong with you?"

Tyler wrinkled his nose with disgust and the corners of his mouth were pulled down into a deep frown. "You think he's cute? What are you? Blind?"

I took a large bite out of my burger and ignored his rude remark. Instead I trained my focus onto the mayonnaise that oozed out of the sides of the fluffy burger bun. Swiping a finger along the rim of my burger, I popped it into my mouth and scowled at him.

"Oh would you look at that, here he comes. Again." Tyler muttered in a dry voice when a shadow fell upon our table.

Instantly my cheeks flared up when sea-green eyes studied my reaction. Brown eyes found mine and I blushed at the warmth behind them. They focused on my shy smile and the coy way I tucked a wispy curl behind ear.

"Enjoying your meal?"

"Mmm hmm," I nodded, unable to form a coherent sentence when the two guys were scrutinising me - one with a wide smile and the other with a deep scowl.

"Is there anything else I can get you?"

I squinted at the name tag that was pinned to the waiter's crimson shirt, cursing under my breath when the blur of black letters failed to make any sense. I shouldn't have left my glasses at home! Tyler wouldn't have minded if we were five minutes late for his appointment. My insides sagged and I was about to reply when my rude companion beat me to it.

"You already asked us that when we got our food. Mate." Tyler snapped in a cold tone, giving the guy a once over with calculating eyes before his face contorted with pain. "Fuck! My leg!"

Again, I kicked his shin, but this time with enough force to silence him. With a polite smile I turned to the waiter and shook my head kindly.

"No thanks, we're good here."

The waiter nodded and moved on to ask the neighbouring tables the same question. Meanwhile, sea green eyes burned a hole through the back of his head until I snapped my head to glower at Tyler.

"What was that for? Huh!" I snapped, leaning on my arms and glaring at him. "Are you always this rude to people?"

"I wasn't being rude!" He snapped back, bending over to rub his leg. "I was being direct. That guy was being annoying!"

I scoffed. "No. He was being friendly and you weren't!"

Tyler gave me a flat look as if I was being the unreasonable one before he grunted an incoherent reply. With a stiff hand, he picked up his fries and chewed on them slowly as if they were made out of grit. His jaw ticked angrily and I pursed my lips into a thin line, suppressing the urge to smack him silly.

Instead I glowered at my plate as if I had just sucked a lemon, struggling to maintain an impassive mask to conceal my exasperation. I chose to ignore Tyler's cold glances even after they transformed into apologetic ones. Silently, I dug into the remainder of my onion fries and gazed out of the window with a stony expression.

Guys seldom pay me the slightest attention so to have a cute waiter spare me more than a second glance was pleasant. It's not like I wanted to jump his bones and make out with him but it was comforting to know that he found me attractive.

After my troubling love life in ninth grade, I gave up on the idea of dating until college. It didn't seem worth it to wear my heart on my sleeve and risk getting hurt for a few fleeting months of puppy love. Most girls my age pounced at the chance to have a boyfriend but I shied away from the few guys who tried to exceed the friendship stage with me.

I was smart enough to figure out that high school relationships rarely lasted even though I am the product of one. I have enough problems of my own, so adding a boyfriend to the equation isn't fair; not on him or on myself.

But despite all of this, I still felt the urge to throttle Tyler because he was the guy that left me in tatters four years ago. He was the guy who stamped on my perception of the kind of love that Disney movies promoted - everlasting for all eternity; like the kind my parents shared. Tyler was the reason I was apprehensive of dating which made it worse that he'd just chased the waiter away. So excuse me if I want to crush him to a pulp and scream at him for being a douche to the cute guy.

When I began to nibble on my last burger, a light nudge on my calf made my head perk up. I glanced at the rueful half-smile that Tyler wore when he gently prodded his feet with mine again.

"Are you ignoring me?" He asked in a small voice and my previous anger with him diffused away.

"No," I replied in a curt voice, rubbing the crease between my eyebrows until it disappeared. In a softer voice I said, "No I'm not ignoring you."

"Yes you are," Tyler gave me an dejected look. "You haven't said a word to me for the past five minutes Ash."

I sighed heavily, exhaling my grudge towards him until I no longer felt the desire to kick him under the table.

Tyler slid the largest plate on the table forward. "Peace offering?"

My insides melted at the lopsided grin he wore and I nodded, picking up a spoon. Scanning the intricate dollop of cream that coated the upper surface of the banana cake, my gaze lingered on the jagged zigzag where Tyler had swiped his finger along the entire length of the cake slice.

Planting my hand on my heart, I flashed him teasing grin.

"You want to split this banana cake alive - your absolute favourite thing ever - in half...with me?"

Tyler winced at my exaggerated squeal and slowly pulled the cake back towards him. I clutched the edge of the plate to hold it in place and my grin widened.

"Not anymore if you're gonna act like a girl," He grunted, still reluctant to share his precious cake.

"Too bad. I am a girl," I pouted, crossing my arms with defiance. "I think you're running out of insults, don't you agree Ty-Ty?"

His amused eyes found mine. "And I think you're running out of nicknames, don't you agree Ashley-bear?"

Flinching, I tried to hold back a grimace.

"Don't call me that, my father used to call me that all the time."

Tyler failed to notice the edge in my voice and laughed, so I laughed too, even if my stomach churned like a washing machine. We both dug into his cake and all conversation dwindled into small comments before we lapsed into silence. I felt the weight of his gaze but the reference to 'Ashley-bear' made my stomach feel heavy like I was carrying an extra weight that I just couldn't shrug off.

"You're ignoring me again," Tyler pouted and I forced back a chuckle at the adorable way his bottom lip jutted out.

"For god's sake, can't I appreciate this amazing cake without your annoying input?" I huffed, feigning exasperation although the pressure of his leg against mine made me smile.

"Nope," He popped the 'p' and then pursed his lips, studying me carefully. "Silence is good, but you're too quiet. What are you thinking about?"

His earnest eyes made my tongue feel light and for the first time in years, the idea of talking about my father didn't seem so terrifying. I wanted to be honest with Tyler and tell him the truth, but that would lead to questions I wasn't ready to answer so I kept quiet.

Tyler huffed and put his spoon down, propped his head up by clasping his cheeks and digging his elbows into the table. His eyes bored into mine. I tried to take no notice of his unwavering gaze until it felt like he was peeling away my layers and attempting to figure me out.

"Stop staring at me," I said with slight annoyance straining my voice.

Unblinking, he edged his elbows forward until there was a mere ten inches separating us.

"Are you still mad at me?" He mused, cocking his head to the left and observing me with thoughtful eyes.

"No of course not," I sighed, unnerved that he was still watching me.

"Then talk to me."

"About what?" I planted my elbows on the table and mirrored his stance, narrowing the distance between us to five inches.

Tyler's lips pulled up into a soft smile. "Anything you want munchkin."

My eyes drank in his entire face, scanning the soft splatter of freckles on his nose and his warm eyes.

"Well what do you want to talk about? The weather? World news? Politics?" I gave a sly smirk, teasing him although he flashed me a flat look.

We stared at each other until a slow grin curled his full lips up.

"Adventure Time - or more specifically, last night's episode." He breathed, leaning closer and I caught a whiff of lemons, soap detergent and sandalwood.

I laughed, mirroring his wide grin. "And here I was, thinking that you were a mature adult who could hold an interesting conversation about...I don't know...adult things?"

A childish glint flickered behind his eyes, laughing and sparkling when he shook his head.

"As if!" Tyler's eyes flickered between mine. "But I can talk for hours about any tv show, soccer, baseball, basketball...in fact, pretty much any sport; Marvel and Disney movies, and astronomy. I can recite every damn constellation for you if you want."

"Is that it?" I raised an eyebrow, pretending to be unimpressed.

"Oh and obviously food," He added with a wide grin.

I rolled my eyes and edged closer to him.

"I completely forgot about your obsession with Disney princesses."

"It's not an obsession. Who doesn't like Disney movies?" Tyler protested as embarrassment flushed his cheeks.

I thought about the hidden stash in his room. He had all the movies from The Disney Renaissance - even Blake didn't have all of those and he was the one with the obsessive collection.

"You're such a perv sometimes," I laughed.

"Not my fault they're hot," He grunted, clearly annoyed that I was teasing him about his guilty pleasure.

"Agreed. But they're cartoon characters and you're a fully grown teenager who shouldn't be jerking off to movies aimed at five year olds!" I laughed harder, picking up spoon and shovelling more cake into my mouth.

"The fuck? That's just gross Ash!" He leaned back and gave me a filthy look. "What kind of sick bastard do you take me for?"

I giggled and prodded his cheek with the handle of my spoon.

"The sick kind," I guffawed, pleased that I had pissed him off.

Tyler smacked my hand away but returned my infectious grin, unable to stay mad at me for longer than a second.

"You can't really talk when you used to have a massive collection of dolls in your room."

I narrowed my eyes at him and frowned deeply. How on earth did he know about my extensive doll collection?

I used to collect Barbie dolls, comb their hair everyday and sew new clothes for them out of old fabric up until I was in fifth grade. Then just three weeks after my tenth birthday, I got Taylor to set my dolls on fire despite my phobia of fire, trashed my room in rage after she went home and sobbed hysterically until my mom found me curled into a ball under my bed.

"Who told you about that?" I shuddered, embarrassed because of all the time I wasted playing with dolls.

His cocky smirk gave him away and I scowled.

"Taylor," He sang teasingly. "She said you even had one of the Ken dolls named after me! And that they each had a family and you created a whole neighbourhood called AshleyVille!"

Tyler guffawed at my expense and I dragged my fingers over my face slowly, tempted to press my nails into my skin.

"Shut up!" I snapped hotly.

He carried on laughing, loud enough to attract the attention of the surrounding tables.

"Tyler!" I hissed. "Shut up!"

Eventually he managed to compose himself but his lips quivered, threatening to split into a toothy grin. Infuriated, I gnawed on my bottom lip and averted my gaze.

"If you don't wipe that smile off your face I'm gonna kick you hard enough to shove your ass out of this world."

Tyler remained unfazed, struggling to bite back a laugh.

"I don't mind as long as I end up in AshleyVille. You'll make sure of that, right?" He sniggered, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth.

I tried to kick him under the table but my feet were trapped between his ankles. I guess he was better prepared this time.

"Jerk," I hissed, stabbing my spoon into the cake and focusing on the smooth, rippling cream that coated the cake. At least that way I didn't have to acknowledge his infuriating smirk.

I just couldn't believe that all these years he knew about Tyler Junior - his namesake doll. My face flushed at what else my best friend had told him but I bit my lip and decided to take revenge by finishing the rest of the cake.

After five more attempts to silence his teasing remarks by kicking him under the table, the cute waiter returned with the bill and laid it on top of paper napkins before lingering for a moment too long. He stole a nervous glance in Tyler's direction before giving me one last smile and stalking off to serve a person behind the counter.

My gaze was glued to him until Tyler cleared his throat and stiffly pointed his chin at the table. I glanced down and found a scrawl of numbers that were scribbled on the top napkin. My eyes flickered up to meet sea-green ones, bewildered and confused at the scowl on his face.

He picked up the bill and pushed the napkin towards me.

"I think he wants you to call him," Tyler said in a tight voice, examining my face for a reaction.

My ears turned bright red as they peeked out from the dense curls that hung loosely around my waist. Frustrated and in a desperate need to distract myself, I wrenched an elastic hairband from my wrist and hastily tied my hair into a top bun that left a few curls framing my face.

I pushed the wispy locks back and ran a hand over my entire face, attempting to conceal my giddy smile. Nervously, I scanned the napkin and shoved it into my pocket much to Tyler's dismay. At least he didn't make a rude remark but he also didn't leave a tip for the guy when we left the diner.

Just before I shut the passenger door behind me, I surreptitiously took the napkin out of my pocket and stared at it before letting it flutter to the ground. It fell into a puddle and the ink bled through the white paper, blurring the numbers until they merged into one large blob.

Like I said earlier, there's no space in my life for potential heartbreaks. I mean, how could I maintain a healthy relationship when I was still mourning over a death that occured eight years ago? The cute waiter was better off without a messed up girl like me in life. I carried a lot of baggage that would certainly scare the likes of him away. Maybe he'll find another pretty customer to ask on a date.

With a pained smile, I forced myself to focus on the autumn leaves and passing pedestrians as Tyler drove me home in silence. At least that way, I didn't have to concentrate on the fact that I was a walking grenade that could explode any moment.

The less people around me, the less collateral damage. That was the way it was; the way it would always be.

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[A/N: Hey, how'd you like this chapter? It's a bit of a filler but the one-on-one quality time between Tashley is necessary for the upcoming chapters.

Chapter 41: "His Hands Are Down My Shirt" ;) I'll, umm, let you figure out what's gonna happen.

See you in TWO days :'D

Cote, promote and shareeeee because you love me and I love you twice as much.

- Kaddy]