Lost & Found

The Confession

As usual, he left for swim practice at the crack of dawn after a particularly good night's rest, which meant he had no idea he hadn't slept in his house the previous night, which also meant that he had no idea that she completely intended on avoiding him for a good portion of the day. Tyler went to training in an extremely good mood and returned from the mandatory team bonding lunch in an even better one, ready to spend the rest of the day with his girlfriend and still finding it amazing that the thought of having a girlfriend didn't scare the shit out of him.

After dropping his gym bag on his bedroom floor and taking a quick shower, he stepped barefoot into the hallway, his hair still damp from washing, and knocked on the guest bedroom door, his heart rate spiking a bit at the thought of seeing Cassie. However, his excitement was dashed when he got no response. Thinking that maybe she was with his sister, he tried Jessamine's room next, lifting his eyebrows in greeting when she pulled open the door only wide enough to reveal her head.

"Hey, sis," he nodded, mussing his hair with his fingers to get it to dry faster. "Is Cassie with you?"

"Nope," Jessamine shook her head. "Haven't seen her all morning. Did you check her room?"

"Yeah...," he replied slowly. "She's not there and I texted her earlier and she hasn't responded. I hope she's okay."

Jessamine lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "I'm sure she's fine. Maybe she's out with one of the girls and she hasn't checked her phone. She'll probably text you back in a couple hours."

He supposed that made sense, though he wasn't sure why Cassie would be out with the girls without Jessamine, but he decided not to question it, instead turning his attention to how he was going to spend the rest of the afternoon. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks."

Shooting him a soft smile, she shut the door before he could continue the conversation, leaving him a bit confused in the hallway. On the other side, Jessamine pressed her back against the door, inhaling deeply to calm her nerves and waiting a few seconds to ensure Tyler had returned to his room before shooting a glare at the girl sitting on top of her bed.

"Wanna tell me why I'm lying to my brother?" The tone of her voice was half genuinely curious and half annoyed because she hated keeping things from Tyler.

Cassie crinkled her nose apologetically. "Sorry. I'm just not ready to talk to him yet. I will, but I wanted to see you first."

Intrigued, Jessamine hopped up onto the bed beside her friend. Cassie had come into her room about an hour ago and Jessamine hadn't thought much of it because they often had gab fests at random hours, but when Tyler had knocked on the door, Cassie had begged her friend to say that she wasn't there and Jessamine had obliged. But now she wanted an explanation and Cassie wasn't entirely sure where to begin.

"Okay," Cassie started slowly, tucking a short curl behind her ear and chewing on her lower lip nervously. "So you know how Ty came with me to have dinner with my mother last night?"

"Yeah...," Jessamine replied, holding back a smile because she still finding it hard to believe that it actually happened. "Did it not go well?"

Tyler had already been asleep when Jessamine got home and Kira had texted her to let her know that Cassie was sleeping at the Brewer/Saxton place, so Jessamine hadn't gotten any of the details on the family reunion.

"Actually, it went kinda perfectly," she admitted, her eyes wide as she tried to convey her confusion. "Which made me realize that he's all in which sorta freaked me out."

"Gotcha," Jessamine nodded, processing this information. She supposed Cassie's reaction to Tyler being so invested was understandable, especially seeing as Cassie had never asked Tyler to be exclusive. All she wanted to know where the rules and it was Tyler who had suggested they be exclusive, a statement which probably left Jessamine's roommate thunderstruck seeing as it came from a guy who, after breaking up with the only girlfriend he'd ever had, said that commitment was for people who didn't know how to have a good time. "So what are you gonna do?"