So I cut you off
I don't need your love
'Cause I already cried enough
I've been done
I've been movin' on since we said goodbye
- Dua Lipa, IDGAF

TYLER

I'd never come to a wedding before. My mum practically cut all ties with her family years ago when she'd dropped out of college to raise me so I didn't know any of my relatives. My father, Alexander Bernucci, whom I called Principal Bernucci or 'the bastard' until recently, only had one little sister named Clarabelle but she wasn't married.

It sounded weird how my parents' wedding would be the first wedding I'd attend because a child usually wasn't born yet or too young to remember a thing. Yet here I was, on the way to the wedding rehearsal although I had no idea that we needed to rehearse a wedding.

My cell phone on the table a few feet away from me rang. I walked across the floor and glanced at the caller's identification. Normally, I would have just picked it up without care but I was avoiding calls from Autumn. The word 'Alexander' flashed on the screen and I quickly answered the call, "Dad?"

"Tyler, where are you, son?" asked him, his tone a bit demanding.

"Home," I answered. "I just arrived and put my luggage in my room. I'm going there as soon as I can."

I heard my dad let out a small sigh. "Good. I need you here. There's--" He paused and it sounded like he put the phone away and was talking to someone. After twenty seconds of inaudible noises, my dad finally spoke again, "Ty, your mother, and I, we have news for you and Shanelle, an important one. The faster you get here, the better."

I frowned. "Dad, what is it?"

"Just get here, okay? Your mother and I will be waiting."

I glanced at the doorway where Faith was standing. She'd gone to the bathroom earlier. "Dad, I'm bringing a fri--" I didn't have a chance to finish my sentence as he'd hung up. I stared at my phone, wondering what on earth was about. My dad, being Carlton High principal for nearly a decade, was not someone who could easily get nervous yet he'd sounded super nervous and anxious.

I shoved my phone into my pants pocket and walked towards Faith. "Ready?"

She smiled and gave me a nod. "Yeah."

With my car in NYC, the only car left in the garage was Shanelle's flashy red MINI Cooper since Dad had taken his Mercedes. "Darn, it." I knew red wasn't exactly a girly color, some men would prefer red cars over natural colors like black, but sadly I wasn't one of those.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked at Faith. "Give me the keys, buddy. Let me drive."

I shook my head. "No, you don't have to." The inner gentleman inside me told me that I should be the one driving regardless of how small and flashy the car was. After all, it was just a car.

Faith rolled her eyes and took the keys from my grasp. "Well, I insist."

I stepped ahead of her and opened the door. I waited until she slid inside before closing the door behind her and walking over the hood to my side.

Ten minutes later I was grateful to be alive. A trip that was supposed to be twenty-five minutes was done in ten and my heart which was supposed to beat normally felt like it had done one hundred squats. "Fûck! I shouldn't have let you drive!" I brushed the cold sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand, completely forgetting that I was wearing a tuxedo and not a T-shirt.

Faith smirked as she killed the engine. "Look at the bright side, we're not late." She got out of the car and I followed her. "You should thank me." She tossed the keys and I caught them in midair.

"I'm just lucky to be alive," I scoffed.

I entered the hotel and saw my dad has been waiting for me in the lobby. His face brightened once he saw me even though a small frown slowly appeared when he realized I wasn't alone.

"Dad, this is Faith," I made a small introduction. "She's an old friend." To Faith, I said, "Faith, this is Alex, my dad."

My dad held out his hand. "Alexander Bernucci. Pleased to meet you."

Faith shook his hand and smiled. "Likewise, Sir. I'm Faith. Ty and I met back when he was still in Vancouver. We met again two weeks ago in New York."

My dad nodded. "Please call me Alex. A friend of Ty is a friend of mine." He looked over one shoulder and frowned.

His action was very peculiar that it got me wondering if something bad had happened. "Dad, is everything alright?"

He quickly turned to face me with an odd expression written on his face. He slid his gaze to Faith and said, "Could you please give us a moment?"

"Sure." Faith gave me one last look before heading towards one of the couches in the corner of the lobby.

I looked warily at my dad, not sure what to expect. "Is mom okay? Did something happen?"

"What?" He raised one brow and shook his head. "No, this isn't about Audrey. She's fine," added my dad with a flick of his hand.

Relief washed over me as I let go of the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. "Then what is this about?"

"It's," he paused and bit his bottom lip, looking more nervous than he'd been on the phone earlier. "I don't know how to tell you. Damn. Where's Audrey?" Again, he looked at the double doors behind him and then clicked his tongue impatiently. "Well, the thing is--"

"Who the fûck are you?!" A loud voice came from the same doors my dad had looked at a few seconds ago.

Two guys stepped outside, into the lobby. It seemed like a fight was waiting to drop. I narrowed my eyes and noticed one of the two guys was actually Steven Summers, Autumn's older brother.

"I don't care what game you are playing right now but you need to stop this bullshit and man up," said Steven, looking pissed and murderous. His eyes never left the other guy whose back happened to be in my line of sight.

My dad seemed to notice them as he quickly moved toward them. I followed closely behind. I had no idea who the other guy was but I knew Steven wasn't the type of person that liked confrontation unless there was no other option.

"I'm not playing games. I'm only here to see my mom marrying my asshole dad."

Steven gave a harsh laugh. "That's exactly why I know you're Tyler so stop pretending that you're not!"

I frowned and looked at Steven. "What's going on?"

When he turned to face me, his eyes widened in shock. "Ty?"

"Yeah?" I raised one brow and unconsciously ran one hand over the front of my pants. Maybe I accidentally left my fly open and that was the reason he was astonished.

Steven's eyes slid past me and I followed his gaze to stare into the eyes that looked exactly like mine. Not only the eyes but the mouth, the nose, the brows, everything looked exactly the same I felt like I was looking in the mirror and not another living, breathing person standing in front of me.

I heard my dad let out a huge sigh before saying, "This is what I've been trying to tell you." I turned to him, waiting for him to continue. "Tyler, this is your twin brother, " he gestured at the guy and added, "Flynn Ascott."

I looked at my old man to see if he was joking but when his face showed nothing but seriousness, I slid my gaze to the guy he called 'Flynn Ascott' earlier. Although he looked exactly like me, there was something different about him but I couldn't pinpoint what.

"Come on, Ty," said my dad in a rather urgent tone. "Flynn, we need to find Audrey and Shanelle." He turned to Steven and gave him that look that every headmaster seemed to master.

"I need to go somewhere. I, uh, see you all later," said Steven before he scurried away.

The guy, Flynn, crossed his arms in front of his big muscled chest. "Will this, meeting, or whatever, take long?" When my dad didn't answer, he continued, "I'm here with a friend. Actually, you know, she was the reason I came at all despite how I think this whole family thing is just a waste of time. So if this meeting going to take a while, I need to go to her first."

My dad let out an exasperated sigh. "Go to her but make it quick. We'll wait here."

"Well, she's my girl, so whether it's quick or not is up to us and not you, old man."

AUTUMN SUMMERS

"You look like someone who needs a drink."

I turned and saw Phraser holding two glasses of champagne, one in each hand. "Pfft," I took one glass and twirled my wrist. "Why, because my ex brings a new girlfriend that is not the same girl he left me for?" I couldn't help the sarcastic tone laced in my sentence.

He chuckled. "To better days," he put his glass forward and I clinked mine with his.

We both took a drink, enjoying the champagne in silence. "Cas is worried about you," said Phraser as he took a seat on the empty chair beside me.

I finished the remaining champagne in one go and put the empty glass on the table. "And you're not?" I raised one brow, challenging him.

"Nope." He smirked. "I always know you're a strong girl. If you can handle a murderous psycho bitch back in high school, you can handle your ex being here."

Sometimes I forgot what had happened in Carlton High, the things with Ellie and Rosie, complicated relationship with Ashton and Joe. Those were things that I'd left behind when I stepped in New York.

At least a dozen people would probably ask me, 'how can you forget something that horrible?'. Well, the thing about horrible experiences in life was that it would haunt you forever unless you let it go. It'd be best to take the lesson and forget about the event.

If I clung to that horrible experience, I would never be able to face forward, to look ahead. I would continue to look behind my back, worrying that a potential psycho might show up and try to stab me or poison me in dark alley. I knew an experience like that could leave a mark, it could make someone become mistrusting and it could destroy someone. I wouldn't let that happen to me.

The experience made me stronger, maybe a tad wiser, but it was in the past and it would stay that way as long as I didn't look back.

"Hey, are you okay?" Phraser's worried voice shook my wandering thoughts away.

I swallowed. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know," he mused. "Maybe because your ex brings a new girlfriend that is not the same girl he left you for?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine."

He put down his glass on the table and offered me one hand, "Come on."

I placed my hand on him, letting the warmth of his skin seep through mine. "Where?"

"I know a good place to cry," answered him as he stood and pulled me up with him.

I let out a nervous laugh. "Who said I'm going to cry?" I tried to sound tough although I knew my heart ache and it was getting harder for me to breathe normally.

"Fine." A mischievous smile formed on his lips. "A good place to get you feeling better."

I looked around, my eyes searching for Aubrey and Shanelle. I didn't know how this whole bridesmaid thing worked and I wasn't sure if I was allowed to leave now so I needed to find them first. Yet he tugged my hand softly and leaned forward as he whispered, "Are you afraid?"

I scoffed. "Of you? Of course not. You're no Klaus and I'm not Caroline."

His brows formed a stubborn line as he gave it a thought. "Does that leave your ex Tyler as Tyler Lockwood?"

I stiffened at the realization. Does it?

He brought us to the set of elevators on the end and pressed the call button. In less than one minute, an empty elevator came and we stepped inside. "Do you watch The Originals?" asked Phraser out of the blue.

I could feel my body relax a little as we moved to a more neutral topic. "Yeah, but only the first two seasons." I leaned against the cool glass on the back of the elevator and looked up. "I didn't have much free time these days."

"So she didn't know one of the great things on season five," he muttered to himself.

Out of curiosity, I asked, "What?"

"Klaroline reunites," answered him. I could feel his body moving towards mine, entrapping me between him and the glass. "I think they'll get their happy ending."

I forced my head to look ahead and locked my eyes on his. "That's great. They've been through a lot and I don't like her being with Stefan."

He nodded. "It's about goddamn time." A small smile appeared on his lips. "Do you believe in a happy ending?"

"Where did that question come from?" I chuckled nervously, trying so hard to show him that I wasn't affected by our close proximity when in truth, I was deeply affected. How I was still able to stand at all was a miracle.

"Well, do you?"

I shook my head. "No." His smile faltered a little. "It's a bit childish, isn't it? I think in life, the end is when we die and since no one wants to die, I think there's no such thing as a 'good ending'. But," I paused and swallowed hard, "in life, there are good and bad things. Life is like a moving wheel, sometimes we're at the top, sometimes we're at the bottom, and sometimes we're in between." I smiled. "We just have to be grateful that we're still alive after all."

He looked at me, completely amused. "When is your birthday again?"

"Why?" I frowned and tried not to grin. "What's up with all these random questions?"

He laughed. "It's just a part of getting to know you better." Phraser shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers and smiled. "I thought your birthday must be close since you sound a bit wiser."

I shoved him jokingly and he caught my hand. "Well, Autumn Summers, I think you're the best thing in my life right now. I'm so glad we crossed paths again." His back bent and his head leaned down. My heart beat faster and faster because I knew he was going to kiss me and I didn't know what to do.

Should I kiss him back or push him away?

He pulled away in the last second, just when the elevator dinged, informing us that we'd arrived. His hand clasped on mine as he pulled me and said, "Let's go."

I nodded as I followed him. I looked behind, at the elevator we had used earlier to get here, and shook my head.

Saved by the elevator, huh?

a/n: my Wattpad account saved the drafts up to here afterward all the file including the ending was eaten by my laptop so if I slow in updating the chapters, you know why (; how is your day, my angels? the new year gives me so many new things to do and I am just hoping that everything will work out ♥ loads of pizza, agatha x