Tyler

When I pull up to the spot Sessy told me to meet her, she's not standing there waiting for me like I thought she would be. I get out of the car and look around, hoping maybe she's somewhere nearby. But then I realize her car is gone.

I take out my phone to call her, but before I get the chance, a young blonde woman carrying a baby walks up to me.

"Looking for someone?" she asks.

"Yeah...my girlfriend," I reply uncomfortably. The way this woman is looking at me...it makes me feel uneasy, like she's up to something.

"Cecily?" she asks, even pronouncing her name correctly.

"Do you know her?" I ask in surprise.

"No, not really. But I saw her leave a few minutes ago. She was pretty upset," she answers.

"Upset?" I repeat.

She smirks at me. "You are really gonna stand here and pretend like you don't know me, aren't you."

"Know you? I've never seen you before in my life."

"Oh really? So you don't remember hooking up with me two years ago? When you were in Colorado?" she asks with a bit of venom to her voice.

"You must have me confused with someone else. I wasn't in Colorado two years ago, I was in Texas. And I've never hooked up with you; I don't even know you."

"Are those lies that you tell yourself to live with the things you've done?" she asks, getting louder and causing her baby to cry. "Look at him! He looks exactly like you!"

I furrow my brows, not even sure what to say. This baby doesn't look a thing like me and for good reason. He's not my baby and I don't know who this crazy woman is.

But she knows Cecily's name, and Cecily left here upset...

"I don't know who you are or what you want from me, but I have never seen you before," I say as calmly as possible.

She scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Stop bullshitting me, Tyler! I'm not an idiot!"

"I'm not saying you are, I'm just telling you that I don't know you, and what you're accusing me of is impossible."

"Impossible? So you don't remember the night we spent together in Denver? The Highland Hotel?"

The Highland Hotel...

One of my father's hotels...

Something is fishy here.

"I have never once set foot in the Highland Hotel, nor was I in Denver two years ago. I was a student at Texas Tech and I was living in Lubbock. Now, you can believe me or not; whether you do or don't makes no difference to me. I don't know how you know me or Cecily, but if you come around either of us again, I promise it will be the last time you ever do."

She opens her mouth to speak, but I won't give her a chance to spew more lies.

"You can tell Annie and Abe that I didn't fall for their bullshit," I snap, losing what little patience I have. "And for their sake, I hope Cecily didn't either."

With that, I get back in my car while she kicks and beats on the hood with her fist, her baby screaming and drawing a crowd.

After I drive away, I take out my phone to call Sessy. I have no idea how to explain what happened tonight, since I don't even know myself what happened.

She doesn't answer, of course, and I didn't expect her to. Who knows what she's thinking right now? I told her she's the only woman I've ever been with and then a random stranger shows up with a baby, claiming I'm the father.

I've had such a hard time earning Sessy's trust already. I don't need help from my estranged siblings to make things any harder for myself.

I start for Sessy's grandmother's house, letting my mind run wild with thoughts of paying my siblings back for this. I guess I should've known they would try something sooner or later, but this? They personally attacked my relationship with Sessy. It's not enough that they grew up with everything while I had nothing, but they want to take the only thing that's ever mattered to me too.

I won't let that happen.

When I pull up to the house, I try calling Sessy one more time. When she doesn't answer, I send her a text.

Sessy, please talk to me. I can explain everything.

I wait a couple of minutes for her to respond, but when she doesn't, I go to the front door. I can't let her leave for Baltimore tomorrow while she's upset with me, especially over a lie.

I knock on the door, even though I have a key. I don't feel like this is the time to just barge in.

After a few seconds, Sessy's grandmother answers the door. She looks happy to see me, so I guess Sessy hasn't talked to her yet.

"Tyler! Why are you knocking on the door like a stranger?" she asks. "You know you're always welcome here."

She pulls me into a warm hug and over her shoulder, I see Sessy standing in the living room staring daggers through me.

I awkwardly clear my throat and force a smile as I pull away. "Thanks, grandma. Do you mind if I barrow Sessy for a few minutes?"

Sessy rolls her eyes, but doesn't protest.

"Of course" grandma smiles. "I was about to head off to bed anyway. You two have a good night."

"Goodnight, grandma," Sessy and I tell her as she walks away.

After she's gone, Sessy just stands in the same place, staring me down. For as nice as she is, she can look downright evil sometimes. Like right now. I'm honestly a little afraid.

I take a deep breath before I start explaining. And I decide it's best to get straight to the point instead of explaining things first.

"Sessy...my siblings sent the girl with the baby."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she asks angrily, balling her fists up at her sides like she's ready to attack me.

"No, I guess not. I just wanted you to know that I didn't lie to you about you being my first. I've never been with anyone else. I've never even met that girl before tonight and she knew way too much about me..."

"So the siblings that you stole the money from, whom you said didn't even care and wouldn't come after you, sent a woman with a baby to do what exactly? Trick you into paying child support?"

I've never seen her this angry before, so I'm not sure how to respond without fanning the flames and making them bigger.

"I'm not sure what their intentions were just yet, but I will find out. To me, it seems like they were only trying to come between us."

"How do they know about us? Are they following you?" she asks.

"I don't know," I sigh. "All I know for sure is that someone told this girl where to find me. I didn't know anyone knew I was here, let alone my siblings. But it has to be them behind it. I don't have any bad blood with anyone else."

She squeezes her eyes shut and sits down on the sofa, pressing her fingers to her temples as if I'm causing her a headache. "All this time I've been so worried about whether or not I could trust you and if I could leave my grandma behind in your care. Then the day before I'm supposed to leave, shit starts getting fishy."

"I know the timing is not good, but I promise I won't let anything happen to your grandma," I assure her.

She gives me an incredulous look. "What did you pull me into, Tyler?! How bad is this?!"

What did I pull her into? I'm not even sure anymore. I was certain my siblings would never come after me. They know I will just spill the beans about their father's affair if they cross me.

They were supposed to leave me alone, not try and ruin my life. Coming between Sessy and me would do exactly that; it would ruin me.

"I'll be honest with you, I don't know what I've pulled you into. They were supposed to leave me alone if I agreed to keep my mouth shut, and I've done exactly that."

"You told me..."

"Yeah, but...they don't know that."

"They know something!" she cries in frustration. "And if you think for one second I'm leaving my grandma tomorrow while someone is out to get you, you're crazy! She's all I have left, Tyler!"

"I know that and I promise I won't let anything happen to her," I say, feeling like a broken record.

She gives me a look, one I don't quite understand. "I'm sorry. I can't. I can't do it. I'll never be able to focus on school if she's hundreds of miles away- living in an apartment that you refurbished using their money. What if they find out? What if they come after her?"

I feel like no matter what I say, I won't change her mind. She doesn't trust me and I guess I can't blame her. I hid everything from her at first, then as soon as she thinks she knows the truth, my siblings make me look like a liar.

"I was only trying to do something good for a change," I choke out, overwhelmed with emotion. "I wanted to help your grandmother, I wanted to help you, I wanted to get my life on the right track...but my past is always going to come back to bite me in the ass. I'll never be able to escape it."

Sessy's eyes soften as she looks at me. "I know you only had good intentions. And I know you felt justified taking that money, and in a way, I guess you were. But Tyler...in their eyes, you murdered their father. Of course they were going to seek revenge. They let you think they didn't care about the money so you would let your guard down. Now that you're finally on the right track, they want to mess it up. Don't let them. Sell the apartment and get the money back. Give them back what you stole from them. You don't need their money anymore, you have me. I love you and I think you're worth more than all the money in the world."

Not able to hold back the tears anymore, I sink down to my knees, right in the middle of the living room, sobbing like a baby.

Sessy sits on the floor in front of me and pulls me into her arms. "It's okay. We'll figure this out."

"I'm so sorry," I cry. "I'm so sorry I dragged you down with me."

"Hey," she says, taking my face into her hands. "Listen to me. You didn't drag me down. You aren't who you used to be. You're not the person your siblings think you are. And I won't let you ever be that person again. Do you hear me?"

I nod, meeting her intense brown eyes.

"But...I can't leave here not knowing what might happen. They are obviously trying to come between us, which means they are attacking you on a personal level. If it's really about the money, then let's give it back. Let's sell the apartment and give everything back to them," she says.

While I know I could easily sell the apartment, I don't want to. I promised it to Sessy's grandmother and I don't want to disappoint her, or Sessy. Not to mention, I know this isn't about the money.

"Sessy...I don't think it's that simple. I don't think it's the money they really care about," I sigh, dragging my hands over my face in frustration. "I murdered their father and got away with it. I'm afraid..."

"Afraid...of what?" she asks, her eyes filling with fear.

And I hate that. I hate that she's afraid. I especially hate that it's my fault she's afraid.

"You have to go to Baltimore, Sessy," I sigh.

"So you are in danger," she says, her face growing hard and angry.

"I didn't want to believe that I was, and maybe I'm not, but I'm not willing to take any risks. You have to leave tomorrow. Promise me you will."

She only stares at me, tears filling those big, beautiful eyes, making them look almost golden.

"Sessy, I need you to promise me..."

"I can't leave grandma-"

"Then take her with you," I say quickly.

"Take her with me? Do you have any idea how that conversation will go down? She will never let that happen. She'd never leave the bayou, and trust me, she's no stranger to a dangerous situation. This neighborhood has been on twenty-nine episodes of COPS and had seven documentaries filmed about the gang violence. She carries a gun for crying out loud! She will swear she can hold her own, but I know...I know she can't," she chokes out, starting to break down.

I quickly pull her into my arms, hugging her tight. "She might understand why she needs to go. Besides, it won't be forever, just until you're done with school. After that, she can come back to her beloved bayou."

"I'm telling you, she won't do it, and I can't leave her behind. I won't," she cries.

"You don't have to," grandma says, appearing in the doorway behind us. "I'm going with you."

"Grandma...how long have you been standing there?" Sessy asks.

"Not long, but long enough to know that you want me to go with you," she smiles, crossing the room and pulling Sessy in for a long hug. "I promised you I would always be there when you needed me. So if you need me in Baltimore, then this bayou girl will be happy to head north. It'll be nice to get away and see something new for a change."

"Are you serious?" Sessy asks in disbelief. "You really want to go with me?"

"If that's what you want, then that's what I want too, my angel. You know I will do anything for you," grandma replies lovingly.