Tyler dropped me off and I went inside. Dad was home and it smelled like Pizza. He wasn't a chef so I knew takeout was going to be on the table. At least he knew my favorite, garlic sauce with bacon and spinach.

I heard him come down the hall as I was heating up my pizza slices.

"Hey kiddo, you're home late."

I nodded, "Yeah, one of my friends was teaching me about parallel parking and letting me practice in a vacant lot." I figured if I just kept to parking he wouldn't get mad that I was operating a motor vehicle with out a license.

"I guess you're wanting to start that process huh?"

"Well in Texas I could have started it when I was fifteen."

"Well, it's sixteen here. It takes about twenty months to get all the way done with it."

My eyes grew a little with that answer. "So do I need to take a Driver's Ed class?"

"If you want to get through the first part of the program faster, you do. Why don't we sit down this weekend and will start talking about classes?"

"Thanks, Daddy!" I hugged him around the neck and then took my pizza upstairs so that I could start homework.

It was an hour behind in Dallas so when I got done with my work, I decided to FaceTime my sister Elyse.

She shrieked when she answered, "Hello, Beautiful! How was my baby sister's first day of school?"

I smiled, "Good. Most of it was just syllabus work. Had one teacher act like it was a graduate school class that had to start on day one. So that sucked."

Elyse crinkled her nose, "Ew. Gross."

"Yeah I am counting down my time until Friday."

"What's Friday?"

I blushed, "I'm going on my first date with Tyler."

That invoked another shriek. "Finally! I will have to tell Mom when I see her this weekend."

"Lord, don't tell Patrick. He will give me such shit."

She got quiet for a moment before saying, "I actually meant, Amanda, sorry."

I sat there dumbfounded. She was referring to our birth mother. The one she knew I never talk to.

"You're hanging out with Amanda?"

I hadn't had even a text conversation with my birth mother in over a year. I had refused. She had opted not to seek custody to keep me in the country when Dad had wanted to move me to Toronto last year. Even our stepmother, Jordan, had tried to keep me stateside.

Elyse looked guilty. "Sorry Lex, I know you and her are in a rocky patch, but she is our Mom."

"No. She's your mom if you want to call her that. She's just some bitch who pushed me out of her vagina to me." Oh I could start on a rant but chose not to. Instead I just hurried off the phone.

That made me want to call Momma Jordan.

On the second ring, Jordan's smiling face filled my screen. "Hi honey! What's up? Is everything okay? How was your first day back to school?"

I decided to skip over the pleasantries, "Did you know Elyse is hanging out with Amanda?"

Her brow furrowed. "Oh Lord, don't get me started. That started up a few months ago. Elyse reached out to her and I guess Amanda felt guilty enough to respond. I think she's the only one of the older four kids to even talk to her."

I had a half brother and sister that I never talked to. The sister was two years older and the brother was only a year older than Elyse. Apparently Elyse was the reason Amanda had left their dad for our dad. I think Elyse still talked to them. I was five years younger than Elyse and wanted nothing to do with anything that had to do with Amanda. That also included her two other sons with her current husband. I did not keep up with their ages, their birthdays, hell I barely knew their names. The only sibling I usually claimed was Elyse. Dad never made me do anything different. I gave him credit for that. He knew when not to push my buttons.

"What the hell? She knows it'll end badly. It always does with that bitch."

Jordan sighed. "She's Twenty-Two. She's a big girl Lexi. I can't blame her for wanting to have a relationship with her own momma, I just wish her momma wasn't such a C U Next Tuesday. You know Patrick and I are always here for you."

I sighed. "I know Momma J. I just can't believe she's not just talking to but hanging out with Amanda. Like, why? Why does she feel the need to associate with that woman?"

"She is a lot older than you, Lexi. She remembers a time when Amanda wasn't so bad. You have to remember that."

"I just hate it."

"I know sweetie. Other than that bombshell, how was your first day?"

I told her all about it. I missed having a mom to come home to. Jordan had been there from the time I was five until last year. She remembered by favorite colors and flavor of ice cream. She knew I was allergic to cats and apple peels made my throat itch. She didn't promise to come see me play soccer and then not show up because one of her new kids had a piano recital that she had conveniently forgotten about until the day of.

I had given my dad a lot of shit for moving me to Toronto away from Jordan. But the truth was, he had fought for me. Even when I begged him not to because I wanted to stay with my sister and stepbrother Patrick. Dad might not know how to cook and worked way too many hours but at least he wanted me around.

That was more than I could say about Amanda. I had always felt like I was an inconvenience to her. I didn't fit into her storybook narrative.

I talked with Jordan and then she put Patrick on the phone. His school had already started a few weeks ago. We caught up on how he was liking community college. He was looking to save money before going off to Texas A&M in two years. That was Jordan's alma mater. I had wanted to go there when I was a little kid. I wondered now if I would end up there or here in Toronto?

If I had be asked that a year ago, I would have laughed at the thought of being in Cabbagetown longer than was strictly necessary. With everything that had happened in the last year, I couldn't imagine not being around Jensen, Elle, my cousins, and Tyler. I'd be lying if I didn't admit how big of a role Tyler was playing in me loving where I was at at the moment.

I wasn't about to share that tidbit with Patrick.

I hung up with Patrick and started getting ready for bed. My phone started ringing again and I saw Tyler's face pop up for FaceTime.

"Hey, Baby." I could tell he was shirtless. He seemed to be in his room. I wish I could be there too.

Holy, shit, why did he have to be so fucking hot?

I smiled, "Hey, Ty."

"I just wanted to see your face before I went to bed."

I crinkled my nose, "I look rough, I'm all dressed down for the night."

Tyler smiled a perfectly crooked grin, "You look beautiful. As beautiful as you did the night you first came and watched me play."

I rolled my eyes. "That might as well have been another lifetime ago."

"It's only been a year Lex."

"Yeah but look at all the shit we've been through."

"You mean a lot of you putting up with my dumb ass and Munro's dumber ass?"

I rolled my eyes harder, "What should I do about that Ty? The whole Ari situation?"

I hadn't asked anyone that question. I had just been living in limbo when it came to Ari for the last seven months.

Tyler thought for a moment before saying, "It would be too easy for me to say to ignore him or not speak to him. But that's what he wanted you to do with me and we see how well that worked. You're your own woman Alex. I'm not going to tell you who to hang out with or who you can talk to. And I'm not going to get jealous if you talk to your ex. Fuck. I'm in a band with mine. You've never once brought that little fact up."

"Because I trust you and I know you're not into her like that."

"Exactly, and vice versa. I think Munro always saw what I see, what everyone sees."

I was sure I looked confused, "You wanna fill me in on what that is?"

"We have chemistry. Whether it's physical, romantic, or platonic, we've always had it. You have it with him too. Well you had it anyways. But I've watched you try and snuff it out for the better part of the last year. You can only do that so much Lex. Chemistry is there whether you want it to be or not."

"He hurt me like I've never been hurt before Ty. I can't just forget that."

"And you don't have to. But you also don't have to pretend he doesn't exist for my benefit or because you're hurt. That's just bullshit and it won't work. Trust your instincts Lex; I do. I know you wouldn't fuck me over and you know, you're different to me. I haven't tried with someone like this, ever."

"Why now? Why me?"

"Because we have the chance to be something real. I want that. I want you, Alex. And we can go on dates and go through all the formalities but at the end of the day, I want you as my girlfriend. I am making that explicitly clear here."

"Did you just ask me to be your girlfriend before we even have our first date?"

Tyler smiled, "Depends. Are you saying yes?"

I nodded, "Yes, Tyler, I'd like that."

"Well then I guess that's settled." He chuckled.

I bit my lip then for a minute. I wanted to talk to Tyler about the whole Amanda thing. I just didn't want to have to explain the whole history there. 

"I found out today that my sister is hanging out with our mom."

Tyler looked confused, "Why wouldn't she hang out with Jordan?"

I shook my head, "Our birth mom."

Tyler sat up straighter in bed, "The one you never bring up?"

"Bingo."

"They hang out?"

"Apparently. Kind of pisses me off. I haven't exactly been a fan of hers since she refused to try for custody to keep me in the US."

"Do you have like a custody plan or whatever where you have to see her?"

I laughed, "Jordan fought for a custody plan. She fought to get the judge to say that I got to come home to see her for at least one week a year. Amanda has never filed to get a formal custody plan with my dad. When they divorced he just kept Elyse and I. She didn't fight for us to come with her. She's never taken him to court for us. It's so fucked."

Tyler sat quietly while I ranted. "Lex, my folks were high school sweethearts. I can't fucking imagine going through what you're going through with all that. I know Elle and Brenna don't have a great relationship with their dad and Elle might be better at giving advice on this one. But thank you for sharing with me. I wish I could help more, and I will be here to listen to you anytime you need to talk about it."

I felt heard for the first time in a long time. Tyler wasn't trying to give me his opinion. He wasn't trying to be the expert on shit he knew nothing about. He was just trying to be there for me.

I wiped a tear away. I hadn't realized that I was frustrated enough to cry.

"Thanks for listening Tyler." 

Tyler smiled softly then, "I will see you in the morning then Baby."

"Goodnight, Baby."

He laughed at me repeating the pet name. It wasn't really my style to call someone by a pet name but it felt oddly right with Tyler.

I felt myself still smiling as I fell asleep.