Third Person POV

Tyler Hart scowled deeply at the person he once used to adore. His scowl turned into a growl and a sneer made its way onto his pursed lips. He balled up his fist angrily and his body shook with anger. Spinning around, he stalked out of the apartment and bolted down the hallway towards the elevator. He slipped inside and furiously slammed the ground floor button.

Before the door could close, he caught a glimpse of his brother stepping out of the apartment and locking gazes with him through the opening. His brother scowled deeply, disappointed that Tyler didn't agree to come live with him in California.

He wondered why he wouldn't budge. He thought using their mother as an excuse would crack him after his outburst about taking care of her, and yet he still didn't oblige to the idea of coming to live with them.

With the question still pondering in his mind. He let out a deep chuckle when Tyler flipped him off dramatically as the door slid shut. Malcom shook his head softly and spun around before stalking back into the apartment. He grabbed his phone and dialled the now familiar number.

Pressing the phone to his ear, He spoke up when the gruff voice responded on the other line. "Hey, Dad. Tyler didn't agree to come with us." He stated as his eyes flickered to his gold wristwatch. "What?" His father snapped on the other line.

"Not even using mom as an excuse made him change his mind. Something's telling me that Tyler has a few. . .acquaintances here. I'm gonna find out what's making him make this stupid decision because this is a matter of life or death and the stupid son of a bitch doesn't even know it." Malcom growled. His father chuckled deeply and uttered the four words that made something click in Malcom's mind. Of course, nothing other than this can keep Tyler from making a ridiculous decision he thought to himself.

"He has a girlfriend."

~~~

Tyler stepped on the accelerator in anger and gripped the steering wheel tightly. He could feel the hot blood pulsating through his body but not reaching his hands from how white his knuckles turned from his deathly grip.

How stupid does Malcom think I am? Tyler asked himself as his vision turned a shade darker from the anger rising up to his head. He could feel the pressure of the vein palpitating on his forehead as he stepped on the accelerator harder, going over the speed limit and no doubt he could get pulled over.

Tyler shook his head vigorously and continued driving the one hour drive back to the campus. He's been driving for one hour so far when he was supposed to be for three hours but the speed he was driving at thought otherwise.

He racked his brain once again, not believing the words that left Malcom's mouth, dad's coming with us. How could he let that happen!? The man that just got up and ruined his family was moving with them like nothing ever happened!?

Tyler was angry, angrier than he's ever been in a long time, he needed to clear his head one way or the other and he knew taking matters into his own hands to defuse his anger would either have him wind up in a ditch drunk dead or in a ring beating the life out of someone's body. He decided he didn't want to do either of those, as angry as he was he knew he would maybe take someone's life tonight and waking up hungover was definitely not a motive.

So he stepped on the accelerator harder, his mindset on one destination where no one would find him. He needed to clear his head, get away from the anger that pulsated through his veins.

He needed to leave.

~~~

Arabella's back ached against the plastic chairs, she was growing impatient, beads of sweat rolled down her face, her pen slapped against the hardwood desk annoyingly, her teeth clenched and her eyes blinked out of focus. She wanted to get out of this three-hour class and just go grab a martini or something in a bar where she could chill and ponder on what her next design could be.

Still distracted in her thoughts, her phone blared in her pocket, a notification appeared on the screen from Aaron asking her if Tyler had contacted her. She texted back in confusion, explaining to him that she thought he was with them and that he hadn't called at all. Arabella couldn't take on class anymore but she bared the last thirty minutes and without a beat she hightailed out of class, making her way to the student lounge where the others were.

When she arrived there, Ace was casually laying on the couch flicking through his phone as Erika glared at him angrily. Aaron was sitting opposite them, his eyes casted to his phone, his brows creased in concentration and Max was nowhere to be seen. Arabella headed straight for Aaron frantically and she silently wondered to herself why her heart was beating so rapidly against her chest or why she had sudden flutters in the pit of her stomach.

Regardless she tried burying all the anxious feelings plaguing her deep inside her mind and eventually relaxing her tensed muscles. Plastering on a smile she lightly tapped Aaron's shoulder and he looked up quickly, his once frown now brightened up into a smile and Arabella took this as a good sign. She let out a shaky breath and lowered herself down on the sofa next to him.

"E–everything okay?" She asked, his smile once again faltered and he sighed, shaking his head softly. "Where the hell could he be then? Okay firstly I don't think we should be worrying, Tyler has left for two weeks once and returned like nothing happened. This is normal right?" But why do I suddenly feel so nervous? She thought to herself as she gnawed on her nails.

"Yeah, yeah you're totally right. I'm sorry for worrying you it's just that-" he began but suddenly cut off his words and shook his head frantically, quickly snapping his eyes back to his phone. "Just what? Ace talk to me! You're seriously starting to freak me out and freaking out does not work well with Arabella Smith." She exclaimed loudly and Erika shook her head frantically. "That is undeniably true." She said.

Aaron groaned deeply, his face falling into his hands in exasperation. "Before he left he got a call and it seemed urgent. We didn't even get to ask him what it was about because he bolted out of the door with his signature I'm Tyler Hart and I'm going to murder you look." He said, his brows arched upwards as he shrugged lightly, "he seemed upset that's all."

Arabella nodded her head and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Aaron watched her in anticipation as she found Tyler's name in her contact list and sent him another message. She had sent five in the past ten minutes but he never responded, they were all irrelevant questions but this time she seriously needed to know if he was okay.

Me: hey ty, I haven't heard from you in a while. Please let me know if you're okay, Aaron and I are worried.

"What did he say?" Aaron asked.  Arabella shook her head, sighing deeply as she leaned against his shoulder. "He didn't reply," she exclaimed softly. Aaron pursed his lips in a thin line and cupped Arabella's cheeks in his hands and peered deep into her eyes with a smile plastered on his face. "Okay, we need to stop worrying, it's the evening, this isn't out of the ordinary for Tyler, he'll be back before we know it."

Arabella still worried, sure he would disappear for times on end but he always left after he attended class, this time it was completely disregarded and the last time he did that his mother was in trouble.

"Do you think something happened to his mom?" she asked, tilting her head towards Aaron who frowned deeply, his brows scrunched in confusion as her words settled into his head. He remembered why Tyler had disappear constantly for two weeks and he only did that without informing anyone when it came to his mother. It was a possibility but it was a long shot he murmured to Arabella who nodded her head in understanding.

"Hey, Bells. Since we're both free at the moment, do you wanna go shopping with me? I have something that I need to buy like pronto." Erika asked, Arabella averted her gaze from Aaron and smiled in response, if anything needed to take her nerves off of Tyler then it surely would be shopping. She pulled away from Aaron's grasp to which he pouted and stood up. "Don't leave me, Max has class and Ace is an empty-headed crab," Aaron exclaimed loudly.

Ace gasped, his hands draped over his chest as he feigned hurt. "How dare you! I don't wanna hang out with you either!" He squealed in response. Aaron rolled his eyes and kept his attention onto Arabella who prepared to leave with an annoyed Erika standing behind her. "I'll text you if Tyler responds." He said, "ditto." She mumbled.

They bid goodbye, Arabella hugging Aaron and Ace and Erika flipping them both off. With an exasperated sigh, Arabella grabbed a hold of Erika's hand and dragged her out of the lounge and to the nearest mall.

                                                                                            ~ ~ ~

Arabella and Erika rolled up to the mall, they both slipped out of the car, slammed the doors shut and locked it before sashaying towards the entrance. With a few acknowledgments here and there they entered and quickly made their way to the Victoria's Secret store. Arabella arched her brows at Erika questionably to which she responded with a blush. "You better be purchasing an outfit for yourself and not for someone else," Arabella exclaimed as they idled their way to the lingerie section.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Erika scoffed nervously as she trailed her eyes over the lingerie, her fingers grasping and assessing each outfit before she stopped on a white laced outfit. She grabbed ahold of it, along with a set of different outfits before strolling towards a dressing room and slipping inside.

Arabella situated herself on the bench sitting outside the dressing room, her eyes roamed around the dimly lit store that blasted with some of her favourite stores. Women and occasionally men roamed around. their hands grasping outfits here and there, their laughter resonating off of the walls and to her ears. In the moment of silence, she thought of Tyler and wondered why she felt so nervous.

Something was off and Arabella could feel it in the pit of her stomach but she didn't want to think anything of it because panicking didn't sit well with her. She sighed and leaned against the wall as she called out to Erika, "So is this really for yourself or for you and Ace?" She asked. There was a moment of silence before Erika sighed exasperatedly to which Arabella chuckled.

"Can you guys just date already, it's getting old how you guys always banter like five-year-olds but are secretly yet not so secretly in love with one another."

"Wait hold up, slow down and reverse. I am certainly not in love with Ace. As much as I hate to admit it I might have feelings for him but love? no, no, no thank you. Currently, I'm just looking to have some fun not commit to a full-time relationship, that's reserved for you." She exclaimed. Arabella pursed her lips in a thin line and folded her arms over her chest.

"And look where that got us." She muttered sarcastically. The door to the dressing room suddenly burst open and Erika stepped out with the outfits in her hand. She flickered her eyes towards Arabella and lowered herself down onto the bench as well. "I don't know why you guys are so worried, Tyler always does this, no? So stop worrying and lets just have a little fun, okay?"

Arabella nodded her head in response and smiled.

Just have a little fun she thought.

Have a little fun.