Fifteen: Yours

"Tell me," I whisper, my eyes scan his face, waiting for some type of apparent emotion to show.

"I guess you can already tell that I didn't grow up here," He starts.

That wasn't hard to tell at all. He didn't have a thick accent, but you could hear how he pronounces certain words differently than everybody else around here. While we were in the deep south, leaving off the g sound on every word that ended with -ing, Tyler spoke with proper form. It didn't mean he was more educated than anybody around here, he just spoke differently.

If the way he talked didn't give it away, the fact his first two mugshots that were listed in Philadelphia County did.

"How did you end up here?" I ask him.

"I was getting into a lot of trouble back home. Just bad things were happening and I didn't know how to make it stop. Nick had just moved down here to be with his girlfriend and suggested I come. Said there's no way I could get in any trouble down here."

Yet the second he shows up three people are murdered and he's a suspect.

"So I did that. I left everything behind and bought a house down here. I didn't want to look back on my past any longer."

I wondered what happened back home that had him like this. Was he always this closed off, or did some trauma happened that made him shut down?

I've seen Tyler interact with people on many occasions. He was charismatic and inviting. He had something about him that made everyone instantly like him. Once you get past friendly greetings though, he's cold. It's like you have to break wall after wall down to get him to be open about things.

I may have knocked one down, but I guarantee there's plenty more that I'm going to have to get through.

"I think you can tell by now that I have quite a bit of money," he says nervously. "I'm not going to tell you where it came from and how I got it. Not yet, at least."

"Why?"

"It's just better if you didn't know," he says, making me grow anxious.

Be patient, Octavia. It took you this long to get this information. Don't get frustrated when he's trying his best.

"I don't know why I acted how I did earlier. If I ruined the night, I'm really sorry," he apologizes.

I frown and reach my hand up to touch his face, the palm meeting the scratchy hairs along his jaw. He looks vulnerable, almost child like right now. His eyes were wide and hazy. He wasn't crying, but his eyes gave away how nervous he was.

"You didn't ruin the night. I had a good time," I promise him.

"When I moved here, I started investing, then I started purchasing. I bought Oliver's first. Then I bought a few bars. I have business partners for those. They were the ones who talked me into going for Joeli's."

"You were trying to buy Joeli's?" I ask, completely shocked.

I remembered he said he had business with Joeli, but I didn't think it was going to be that. Joeli has always been owned by Joeli. That's the point in the name. It's Joeli's bar. It didn't make any sense that Tyler would even consider buying it.

Nobody went to Joeli's for good drinks. It was cheap alcohol and a young crowd. Joeli was a sweet man and it just felt like home being there.

"Joeli was broke. He owed a lot of money to my business partners, so when I mentioned wanting to expand they suggested Joeli's. It was a win for all of us. They would get their money back, Joeli could pay his debt off, and I would own almost all bars in Madisonville," he says.

The way he speaks is as if he had big plans and dreams. It was admirable to see him talk about it his future with such high hopes. He had the motivation to get it all, and I wanted to see him get it.

But how far would he go to accomplish his goals? Did he kill Joeli because he wouldn't sell the bar to him?

"That night, when we met, you were so different then how you are now. What happened?" I ask, hoping he would give me some more insight.

"I tried everything I could do to convince him. He wasn't having it. Said he'd rather die before selling the bar," Tyler says.

Ironically, the next day he was found dead.

The signs really did point towards Tyler and I didn't want to believe it.

"Octavia," Tyler says, catching my attention.

He sits up in the bed and stressfully pulls at the ends of his hair. I sit up with him, putting my hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

We sit in silence for what seemed like hours, but I knew it was just minutes. The longer time passed, the more I let my body move closer to his, until I was behind him with my arms wrapped around his bare waist and my chin on his shoulder, waiting for him to say something.

"Don't push me away," I beg him, pressing kisses on his shoulder blade.

"I don't want you to get hurt. These people I work with, they're not the nicest," he confesses.

He must be referring to the people I saw in the photographs the other day; the ones Tom showed me.

"I can handle myself," I say, making Tyler laugh.

It wasn't a genuine laugh, more like a nervous one. It was like he didn't believe me one bit. Even though Jace had been helping me learn to defend myself, I'm sure some fighting moves wouldn't stop a gun. Whoever killed Joeli and the other employees that day used a gun.

Knowing that Joeli owed some big businessmen money changed everything. While the number 1 suspect was still Tyler, having these men labeled as suspects helped Tyler's case.

I move from behind Tyler until I'm sitting directly in front of him. I grab both his hands with mind and hold them down in our lips.

Tyler's eyes are fixated on me, like he's in a trance. It made me feel nervous, like I was going to mess something up and make him think lowly of me.

I've known Tyler for a month now, and he's never made me feel this way. I didn't know what was going on between us, but I just wanted everything to be alright.

I needed everything to be alright.

"I didn't expect to come here and end up liking somebody the way I like you," he tells me. "You've honestly fucked up all my plans, but I don't even care. I just want you, Octavia. If you'll have me, I'm yours."

I press a kiss to his lips, barely being able to keep my smile from emerging.

"I'm all yours."

*

"Yes, I was just wondering if you're ever coming home?" Haley asks as we walk side by side through the clothing store.

"It's only been two days," I point out.

Haley sighs and starts looking through the rack of shirts, her back facing me as I look at the shelves stacked with jeans. I was in desperate need of jeans, so when Haley picked me up from Tyler's house this morning, I begged her to go shopping with me.

I grabbed a pair of dark wash jeans off the shelf and unfolded them. They looked decent enough. I knew they wouldn't last long with how quickly my thighs managed to put holes in them, but they would work for now.

"Evan told me that it was weird not having us out Friday," Haley comments as she continues looking.

I raise both my eyebrows and come to stand at her rack. She doesn't make eye contact with me, but by her facial expression I could tell she was hiding something.

"Since when did you and Evan talk outside of the group message?" I ask.

"If you and Jace can do it, then why can't Evan and I?" She counters.

"Jace and I are best friends. You and Evan aren't. Give me the tea," I demand.

"He snapped me the other day after you and Tyler dropped us off and told me it was weird. I didn't want to leave him on read, so I just kept the conversation going. It really hasn't stopped since," she gushes, her face lighting up as she speaks about it.

I never pictured Haley and Evan together. Appearance wise, Haley and Evan aren't each other's types at all. Haley liked boys with dark hair and dark eyes while Evan's hair is bleach blonde and he's blue eyed. Evan wasn't too particular about what he liked, but I knew he was attracted to girls with an athletic build.

Personality wise, they may match up. Evan's funny and can take shit and give up; the same for Haley. They are very similar. Haley would put Evan in his place, and I think Evan would let her. He needs a girl to whip him in shape.

"What about Will?" I ask, remembering that they had just went on a date just two nights ago with Tyler and I.

"I don't know. I like Will, but we argue a lot. He'll get pissed off at me for no reason and ignore me for days. Then he will have the audacity to message me again like nothing ever happened," she tells me.

Sounds way too familiar.

"Jace is the same way," I say. "He knows ignoring me is the quickest way to piss me off, but he always does it every time we fight."

"The Hughes are trash," She says, making me laugh.

"You're right about that," I reply.

I carry on looking through the racks of clothes, finding a few cardigans that would look nice. I always loved winter, but after a few months of freezing weather, I desperately wanted to feel the sun on my skin again.

February had just began, and I knew it would be a while before summer was here. The only good thing about that was the fact I had months to prepare myself for how much work I would be doing. For some reason, crime rates were always up during the warmer months.

"What do you think about this?" Haley asks me, making my head snap back to look at her.

She held a navy, off the shoulder top to the front of her body. The sleeves are long and loose, and the bottom half of the shirt has a lace design. It's a cute top.

"Navy is your color. You should get it," I say to her.

She holds the shirt out in front of her, scanning it over to make sure it's what she wants.

"You're right. I think I will," she replies, draping the shirt across her arm to continue her search.

I make my way around the store, glancing at different clothing articles as I did so. Nothing really drew my attention. The amount of brown sweaters this store was trying to sell was actually a joke. Everybody needs a sweater, but not everybody needs this many brown options.

My attention is drawn to the large, white sign with red letters reading 'Valentines Day Sale!'

Hanging on the wall around the sign was an assortment of different lingerie. Most of the articles were just bra and panty sets, but some were baby-dolls and teddies. The amount of red and black lingerie was over whelming, but it is a Valentine's Day sale.

"You better be buying something," Haley says in my ear, making me jump.

I bring my hand up to my heart after nearly having a heart attack. Haley looks unfazed by it as she looks around the corner of the store where the sets were.

"You look good in red. Treat yourself," Haley encourages.

If I treated myself every time she told me to, I wouldn't have enough money to survive anymore.

"If you don't treat yourself, you can at least treat Tyler," she teases.

It wasn't the worst idea she's had.

"If you bought some, would it be for Evan or Will?" I ask, a smirk on my face.

"Don't act like you're not in a love triangle as well," She snaps back.

"I'm not. I'm with Tyler. Jace is with Kristen," I clarify for her.

I hadn't spoke to Jace since work on Friday. It wasn't my intentions to speak to him; I have just been busy. The weekends were the only time Tyler and I were both free, so we spend as much time together as we could before work consumed us both again.

From nine in the morning to five in the evening I was at the office, and then I would come home and eat dinner. After dinner had settled I had to meet Jace at the gym. I then went home, showered, went to bed only to do it all over again.

This past week has been hectic to say the least. Thankfully it is over and a new week has began.

"Thinking of Jace?" Haley assumes.

"I haven't spoken to him in a while," I confess.

"Call him," she says, shrugging it off.

"I don't have a reason to call him."

"If he's on your mind then that's a reason," She argues back.

"He's only on my mind because you put him there with all your love triangle talk."

"Actually, I never said the love triangle included Jace. I just said love triangle. For all you knew, I could have been referencing Caleb's undying love for you," she points out.

She had a point, but it was a weak one. Caleb and I rarely talked anymore and I'm pretty sure he has moved on finally. Whenever any relationship with me is in the conversation, Haley always brings up Jace.

She wanted us together more than we wanted to be together.

"I haven't told Jace that Tyler and I are together yet," I tell Haley as I peak through the different bras that were lined up on the rack.

"What if he gets jealous and tries to fight Tyler and then they both fight for your love?" Haley shouts, a little too loudly for the small store we were in.

"You read too many fan fictions," I laugh.

"More like you don't read enough. These things could happen. You never know," She justifies.

It could happen, but the likelihood of something that dramatic is low. If I told Jace, he would probably tell me he's happy for me or something basic like that.

"What's Tyler's favorite color?" Haley asks me.

"Purple," I say as I turn to face her.

As soon as my eyes meet her, she throws something at me. All I could see was a flash of purple fabric being thrown at me.

I hold it out in front of me, taking it all in. A mauve colored teddy with lace cups and strap of bust detailing. The entire thing was sheer, meaning my body would basically be completely exposed apart from the satin trim. I turned it around, noticing the key whole back and thong bottom.

"If you don't get that then you're the worst girlfriend ever," Haley informs me.

I liked hearing someone call me a girlfriend. I hadn't been anybody's girlfriend in a long time and while I didn't mind being single, it was still nice to be in a relationship.

"I couldn't pull this off," I say, reaching it back to her.

"Are you kidding me? Tyler will lose his damn mind when he sees you in this. If you don't buy it then I'm buying it for you," She barked.

Feeling defeated, I added the teddy to my bag of jeans. I look up at Haley, who looks quite pleased with herself.

"I'm surprised you're actually pushing it. I thought you didn't like Tyler," I admit.

"No, I like Tyler. From what I've seen, he's a nice guy and he seems to really care about you. I'm just worried about you, Tavi. You can like him as much as you do. Hell, you can even love him, but the point is you have to remember what your priorities are," Haley tells me.

The laughter and jokes from before have vanished and the serious Haley has appeared.

"I know you met Tyler before all this chaos happened and I know you liked him before you were assigned this undercover job, but you have to remember that you are in a dangerous position. Either Tyler is the one who murdered those people, and you're literally dating a murder, or he's innocent and you're okay. And on top of that, you have these guys that he works with that even Tyler admitted to saying are dangerous. It's like I'm watching an episode of Riverdale play out in front of my eyes."

She had a point. I did have to keep in mind what my purpose was. Tomorrow I would have to report back to Tom and tell him everything I had learned about Tyler. It felt wrong to go behind his back like that, but if it proved he was innocent, if he was innocent, then I had to do it.

"This isn't a television show. Those things are meant to exaggerate drama. This is real," I reply back to her.

"And that's the scary part. In television shows, besides Grey's 'cause they obviously love to fuck with my feelings, they don't kill off the main characters. In real life, it doesn't matter who you are. You can't tell me that doesn't scare you."

Everything Haley is telling me is right. I needed to be more careful. I needed to be more invasive with him. I needed more than anything to get my answers as quickly as possible for everyone's sake.

"I still love you; even if you are the most reckless person I know," Haley says, a smile forming on her face.

The seriousness was over.

"If I wasn't so reckless your life would be pretty boring," I counter.

Haley shrugs her shoulders and laughs.

"Can't argue with that. Let's go pay and get out of here. You're buying dinner tonight."

"You want Oliver's for free? I sort of know the owner," I joke with her.

"I heard he's hot."

The hottest.

A/N: if i made a cast i would cast matthew daddario as tyler. do what u want with that information. also, remember to vote and comment. really appreciate it!!