Angel POV

Tyson sat in the passenger seat of my mom’s car, shutting the door to it forcefully.

“Sorry,” he growled quietly when he saw me wince.

“I take it you’re still upset,” I commented, trying not to sound judgmental.

“What’s there to be upset about?” He countered, a sneer in his tone.

I sighed.

Guess he will never change!

Apparently a friend of Alex came to visit her over the weekend. A guy friend of Alex. And she’d invited him to stay over at her apartment for a while. So for the past few days my own friend was being in the worst mood possible.

He was jealous, that was obvious. He was angry, more than he usually was, that I could also see clearly.

And what was he doing about it?

Nothing.

He just sulked into his own misery, blaming everyone that his life had turned sour, all the while pretending he didn’t give a damn.

I knew Tyson since we were kids and I knew him well; that was how I realized this reaction was his self-defense mechanism. Faking that he didn’t care was easier for him than admitting he got hurt.

Again.

Throughout his life, every singe person who should’ve been close to him had turned their backs on Tyson.

His mother had gotten pregnant early, only as a teenager in fact, and by a guy who was known as the local screw up. Tyson’s father, in his twenties at the time, had a record as a petty thief and was infamous for his drunken outrages. What my best friend’s mom saw in him, I could really not tell, but somehow she got a child by that man. Her parents wanted her to abort this baby that brought them nothing but shame.

But she had refused.

So they had kicked her out.

How she’d survived being pregnant at that age and all alone since Tyson’s father wanted nothing to do with her either, I also did not know. But somehow she gave birth to Tyson and raised him up. Apparently she was a loving figure. Unfortunately, he barely remembered her.

He was five when she died of cancer.

He went into the foster system for a while and child services contacted his grandparents. They did not want him. His social worker then contacted Tyson’s father. He wasn’t keen on taking his son in at first but once he’d heard that each month he would be getting a check for the boy, he’d agreed.

But he was a horrible father to say the least.

Even when Tyson was very young, he’d leave him on his own for days with no money or food and when he came back home, he’d be drunk most of the time. And once Tyson’s father got drunk, he’d often get violent. He’d trash around the house, breaking furniture, hitting whatever came in his sight, Tyson including.

My friend quickly learned how and when to duck. Then he quickly learned how to block the punches. Then he learned how to hit back. It was what made him a good fighter, one of the best at the Ring – a place I absolutely abhorred and often begged Ty to stop working at.

But living with his father taught him one more thing: don’t get close to anyone, don’t trust people, they’ll only end up hurting you.

I tried to preach the opposite giving him an example of me and my family; he was happy with us. But Tyson had easily countered that one: he’d said that he loved us and that was the reason he’d felt pain once my dad died, not physical pain, but it still hurt him. That had been one of the few times my friend had spoken about his feelings and allowed himself to be vulnerable. After my dad’s funeral, he’d shut down and it took us months to get him to open up to us once more.

And now it was happening all over again.

He had finally allowed someone to get close to him, he had allowed himself to actually fall for someone, he had admitted that much and then… Devon showed up.

And now Tyson was going back to his estranged self.

“Why don’t you talk to her?” I asked, remembering how he had been avoiding Alexandra at school for the past couple of days. I didn’t even have to utter the girl’s name; my best friend knew who I meant.

“I have nothing to say to her,” he growled. “Shouldn’t we get going?”

The only reason I started the engine and drove off was because I’d decided that even though Ty did not want to discuss the matter I was going to make him do so and if I was driving he wouldn’t get out of the car just to avoid that. I mean, it wasn’t like he’d jump out of a moving vehicle just so we don’t have to talk, right?

Oh, God! If he got angry enough, he would.

I moved to the side of the street and parked.

“Why did you stop the car?” My friend queried.

“Tyson… We need to talk.”

And just like I’d expected his hand reached out to open the door. I locked the car to prevent him from getting out. After a few moments spent in futile attempts of escape, he turned to me with an enraged face.

“Angel, open the door, now!”

If I was anybody else and Tyson Williams was looking at me the way he was, I’d be moving at the speed of light to do his bidding. But I was his best friend and I knew this conversation had to be held even if it meant upsetting him.

“No,” I answered evenly.

“I’m not kidding, Angel, unlock it or…”

“Or what? You’ll hit me?”

He growled in anger and desperation, knowing he wouldn’t do that to me. He couldn’t.

“Fine, but make it quick!” He ordered, taking a deep breath and rubbing his temples.

Well, here goes nothing!

“Why don’t you want to speak with Alex? And don’t tell me you have nothing to talk about,” I added once he opened his mouth to protest. “You like her, Tyson, I knew that even before you told me so yourself. So why not confess? Just pull yourself together and do it!”

“Why should I bother? She obviously doesn’t like me. She likes Devon,” he spat out the name, scrunching his face in disgust.

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, really?” He laughed aloud. “You weren’t there to see them together, Angel. She kissed him! She saw him and she was all girlish giggles and kisses. And you are telling me she doesn’t like him?”

“Sometimes she is all girlish giggles around me as well but we are only friends,” I contradicted.

“Has she kissed you?”

“Well, no, but... It could be sort of a greeting with a very close friend...” I realized that was a weak conclusion. I made my voice more confident before I went on: “Why don't you ask her about it?”

“No way!”

I sighed again. I’d had plenty of practice with his stubbornness, but I was starting to lose my cool.

“Do you want me to ask her?” I offered, trying to sound calm.

“What’s the point? Alex is a whore; she’s probably screwing him right now.”

“Ty, you know very well that Alex isn’t…”

“Oh, yeah?” He burst out, his face reddened as he went on shouting. “She’s such a bitch! She toys with people, she sleeps around, she doesn’t care with who… First it was Emily, then it was Devon... Who knows how many others she’s had. She’s a slut and I hate her! She’s not worth fighting for because in the end she’ll just hurt me.”

“Ty…”

“I hope she moves back to Bulgaria so I’ll never have to see her lying, cheating face again!”

The sound of a fist colliding with skin surprised us both and put an end to his outburst.

Oh, God!

I’d hit Tyson!

I just hit my best friend!

The amazement on his face had washed out all the anger. He didn’t even look in pain; he just stared at me wide-eyed. I’d always done my best to avoid violence and what’s more I’d never hit him before.

“You… You punched me?” He asked instead of noting, the whole situation seeming surreal to both of us.

“Yeah… Yeah, I think I did.”

We looked at each other again before we both started laughing. When the sound died away, he leaned back on the seat and closed his eyes.

“I must’ve been way out of line for you to do that, Angel,” the boy stated.

“You were, but I still shouldn’t have done it. I’m really sorry…” I started with my apology but he cut me off.

“I know you are,” he said softly.

We were quiet for a while, before I finally built up the courage to venture back to our previous topic.

“You know Alex’s not like that, right?”

He turned his head to me and opened his eyes. He looked tired, not physically, but emotionally drained.

“I know that too,” he admitted quietly. “But I can’t handle it. All these new emotions, feeling so weak and vulnerable… I prefer being on my own than having to go through that.” He sighed. “Now drive, we’re already running late for school.”

I started the car again and headed down the street. I knew he wasn’t in a hurry to get to classes, he just wanted to end the conversation. But there was one more thing I had to say.

“I care about you, Tyson, you know that, right?”

“Yeah. I care about you too, Angel.”

“And you care about Alex although she might be with someone else right now.”

“Angel…” He started, but I interrupted whatever he was about to say.

“If I were to find another friend, someone else I started caring about, will you cut all ties with me as well?”

My best friend didn’t reply. He just turned around and gazed out. I could see his reflection in the window; Tyson was in pain.

*****

A/N: So Ty decided to avoid Alex again. Do you think that will work out this time or will they be thrown together in the next chapter?

PS: I plan on writing a short story about how Tyson and Angel met, probably told by Ty himself. What do you say: yay or nay?

Don’t forget to comment and vote!

xo

CatMint5