Lost & Found

The Kiss

Like clockwork, he woke at six am. It didn't matter that he'd hardly slept the previous night; at six, his eyes fluttered open and he rolled to the floor to begin his routine of crunches before he headed downstairs for a light breakfast. He paused in the hallway outside his bedroom door when his ab workout was finished, staring at the door of the guest bedroom.

She was probably asleep. She'd been through a lot the previous day, what with the road trip and meeting his entire family. But a part of him wondered if she had tossed and turned the same way he had; if she had stared at the ceiling and replayed their conversation over and over in her head and thought about the way her lips felt as they ghosted across his skin.

Probably not, he thought, shaking his head as he jogged down the stairs. Because more than likely, he was reading too much into it and she was just being friendly. That's what they were after all. Friends.

Despite his less than normal amount of sleep, Tyler had never felt more energized. He paced the kitchen as he chowed down on a banana before running back up the stairs to pull on sweats and a hoodie and grab his gym bag. Whistling softly as he swung his car keys around his index finger, he was stopped on the bottom step on the way to the garage by his father's deep morning voice.

"What's got you in such a good mood?"

Turning, he lifted the corners of his lips into a smile at the sight of his father rubbing sleep out of his eyes with the palm of his hands.

"Nothing," Tyler shrugged, trying to sound as casual as possible as Justin approached. "Just going to swimming. You're up early."

"Yeah," Justin groaned, indicating that the fact that he was awake was not voluntary. He shoved his hands into the pockets of the navy hooded sweatshirt he had zipped over his bare chest atop his plaid pajama bottoms. "I don't know how, though. I got a little bit wasted last night and your mum had to drive me home and..."

He stopped mid-sentence as he realized this probably wasn't a conversation he should be having with his son, despite the fact that Tyler was now of legal drinking age. "Forget I said that."

"Will do," Tyler pressed his lips together to hold in a laugh. He actually liked the fact that his father often talked to him as though they were mates because it made it easier for Tyler to confess things that were on his mind.

"Jessa got in okay?" Justin changed the subject before he could do any more damage to his parental authority. "She texted me that she and her roommate went straight to Dan's house. Did they have fun? What's her roommate's name again?"

"Cassie," Tyler replied a little quickly, clearing his throat uncomfortably, despite the fact that Justin hadn't seemed to notice his eagerness to say her name.

Nodding, Justin continued on. "Right. I think I talked to her on the phone once cause Jessa was in the shower or something and couldn't pick up, so Cassie did–"

"Dad!" Tyler interrupted, sure he would like to hear the rest of the story, but knowing he didn't have the time. "I appreciate the bonding time, but I gotta get to training."

Coughing, Justin nodded, raising one hand in a wave. "Yeah, of course, get going. Swim hard. Good luck. Love you."

Laughing softly, Tyler stepped forward to wrap one arm around his father's shoulders in a quick hug before turning towards the door which led to the garage and calling out behind him, "Love you, too."

Tyler smiled the entire drive to practice and hummed as he changed into his speedo in the locker room and pulled on his swimming cap and goggles. He was even singing to himself as he stood by the side of the pool and shook out his limbs to loosen his muscles. It wasn't until he hopped into the water to get his body acclimated and do a few warm up laps that his focus kicked in.