Tyler - 7. Chapter 7

Tyler - Chapter 7

That night, before going to bed Tyler took his pajamas into the bathroom and got dressed for bed. When he got back to the bedroom Connor was already in it. He walked around the queen size bed and crawled in the other side. “Oh man, Connor this is one comfy bed.” he said, as he literally sunk into the mattress.

“Yeah,” Connor said, putting his hands back behind his head. “See why I sleep so late now?”

Tyler rolled onto his side scooting closer to Connor. “Definitely!” he put his hand on Connor’s chest and rubbed it.

“You had sex before Tyler?”

His hand stopped mid rub. “Why you asking me that?”

“Curious I guess.”

“You aren’t gonna get all jealous and snub me the rest of the night are you?”

Connor chuckled. “I take that as a yes.”

“Just with one guy. That boyfriend I told you about.”

“Wasn’t that like two years ago?”

“Year and a half. I was fifteen, that’s not too young.”

“How old was he?”

“Seventeen. Well there was the fifty year old.”

Connor looked at him sharply, and Tyler laughed. “Just kiddin’ ya.”

Grinning, Connor shook his head and looked back up at the ceiling. “Did you have sex with that guy a lot?”

“Twenty six times.”

Connor laughed. “You kept count?”

Laughing himself, Tyler nodded. “I know, I’m a geek.”

Connor rolled onto his side and put his hand on the small of Tyler’s waist. “Did you all out have sex or just oral sex?”

“All out have sex.”

“What’s it like?”

“You want a play by play, or just my opinion?” He asked grinning.

“Well did you like it?”

“Yes, very much. It hurts a bit at first, but once you get used to it, it’s real great. And the best part is you’ve both got the same parts, so you know what feels best.”

“You know my mom would never hear us if we fooled around a bit now.”

Though tempted as hell, Tyler shook his head. “I could never do that. I’d be too nervous I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself. Besides, I’d feel guilty as hell every time I saw her for the rest of the week.”

Connor nodded and rubbed Tyler’s arm. “Yeah you’re right. Momentary lapse of reason there.”

They fell asleep facing each other with their hands on each other’s waists. Connor woke up the next morning just as the sun was peeking through the windows, his bladder screaming at him to be relieved. He jumped out of bed, rubbing his hands up and down his arms as the room was freezing. He ran out to the bathroom, did his business then ran back and crawled under the covers. Tyler was still sound asleep, still facing him. One hand was stuck up under the pillow the other was curled into his chest. His mouth was partially open and his eyes fully closed, the lids lying gently over his eyes.

The peaceful sight was making Connor’s heart ache. He had no idea of exactly what Tyler had lived through, but had picked up enough clues to know it was bad. To see someone who looked so peaceful and angelic like Tyler was now, it was very sad to have to think on what they’d had to live through. He wished he could shrink up real small, crawl past an eyelid and get inside to find out exactly what had gone on, and exactly how Tyler felt about it all.

He’d noticed over the last few weeks that Tyler changed the subject anytime anything was brought up about his feelings. He’d also noticed plenty of sad looks in his eyes when he thought no-one was looking at him. He thought of what Rick had said the first day he’d seen Tyler, about him having baggage. He was sure Tyler had plenty, but was more then willing to help Tyler sort his baggage out. Tyler was way too great a guy to turn his back on, ever.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep with a smile plastered to his face. Half hour later, Tyler’s eyes fluttered open and a smile immediately came to his face, as he saw Connor’s smiling lips inches from his own.

He gently and slowly moved his hand up and over them, then set it down on Connor’s cheek. He didn’t want to wake him up, seeing his sleeping beautiful face. “I love you Connor,” He said quietly, as he thought it would be too soon to say it out loud when Connor was awake. He knew he loved him though. There had been so very few people he’d loved in life, he was sure of that feeling when it did come.

He moved his hand quickly and looked up at the door as it opened and Carol walked into the room with an arm load of laundry. He watched her quietly open the drawers and put the clothes away. When she turned away from the bureau she turned to the bed and jumped a little, seeing Tyler awake and looking back at her.

“You don’t have to stay with him ‘til he gets up hon. He sleeps ‘til noon. You can get up and help me make pies if you want.”

Tyler’s face lit up and though she’d been joking about the pies, she got the feeling he’d really enjoy helping. “So, if you want just get dressed and meet me in the kitchen okay?”

He nodded eagerly. “Okay ma’am.”

She smiled, thinking he certainly was polite, then turned and left the room. Tyler looked back at Connor then leaned in over him and brushed his neck with his lips. A soft snoring continued out of him and Tyler grinned, figuring Connor was not one to be easily woken. He pushed back the blankets and got out of bed.

He grabbed his loose fitting jeans, another white T-shirt, some boxer shorts and a red plaid button up shirt. He walked out of the bedroom, his arms full of clothes and saw Carol just coming out of the bathroom. “Is it okay if I take a shower ma’am?”

“Certainly hon, there’s towels in the cupboard over the toilet.” She smiled again. “And Tyler, you don’t have to call me ma’am. Carol is fine.”

He smiled and nodded. “Okay, thank you.”

She squeezed his shoulder smiled again then walked out through the archway.

Twenty minutes later he joined her in the kitchen where she was molding out pie shells.

“You want some breakfast first hon?”

He smiled at her, always calling him hon and sweetie, something he’d not been called before and something he found he liked. “No ma’am, I don’t usually eat breakfast.”

She looked up at him. “No who?”

He looked at her confused then smiled. “Carol.”

She grinned. “You don’t really have to help with pies if you don’t want you can go watch TV or something.”

He turned his head back to the direction of the living room, then looked back at her and shook his head. “I’d rather help.”

“Well I need to get two more shells formed out.” She slid over two empty pie plates and a big ball of dough. “You just roll that dough out thin.” She held her hands out on the counter to show him how big the flattened out dough should be, “then lay your pie plates over it and cut about an inch out from the plate.” She turned and got a canister, then set it down near him on the counter. “And you’ll need flour.” She showed him how to flour the counter and the pin. He kept grinning at her humorously ‘til finally she asked what was so funny.

He blushed a bit then said, “I’ve just never been told to make such a mess before.”

She chuckled, thinking Connor was right in Tyler being so funny. “The more mess the better in this case.”

Tyler nodded as he took the rolling pin from her. He rolled out the dough as she instructed.

“So what’s your favorite dessert?” she asked as they worked.

He shrugged. “Long as it is sweet, I like about anything.”

“Do you like chocolate cream pie?”

“Oh yeah,” his eyes lit up a bit.

“Pecan pie?”

“Oh yes,” they lit up twice as much.

“Pumpkin?”

“Certainly.”

She grinned at his look of enthusiasm. “You get to celebrate Thanksgiving much before?”

Tyler’s heart fell as he hoped she wouldn’t hassle him with questions all week. He felt real comfortable around her and didn’t want to piss her off, so he knew he owed her an answer. “Back at my parents house we had real fancy thanksgivings. Had to wear a suit and tie and everything. We had caterers come for the day, ‘cause my mom couldn’t cook a lick.”

“Were you an only child.”

Tyler nodded, it being a harmless question.

“Julie’s always been a real nice girl. Do you like her?”

He looked up at her and smiled. “Very much,”

“I imagine she had something to say about her parents not taking you with them.”

“There was a whole lot of yelling.” he grinned, and that surprised her. “They remind me of one of those Italian families on TV. You know, where everyone is yelling over every one else trying to be heard. I don’t think they are Italian though.” He said, shaking his head.

She smiled and he looked back down at his pies.

“They treat you okay though Tyler?”

“Yes ma’am.” he shook his head again, “I mean Carol.”

There was a stretch of silence and he was the one to break it. “Did you read that paper Connor wrote about you?”

Carol smiled with pleasure. “Yes, such a sweet boy,” she said shaking her head, “I cried the whole way through it.”

He looked up at her in surprise. “Why’d you cry. It was real good.”

“I cried because it made me feel good.”

“I never heard of crying when you feel good,” he said, eyeing her not that he didn’t believe her, just that he was real surprised.

“Oh it happens Tyler, quite a bit actually.”

They were just pulling the pumpkin and pecan pies out of the oven when Connor straggled in, his hair in cowlicks and pillow creases on his face. “Whoa,” Tyler said, stopping short as he looked at him. “That’s what you look like in the morning?” He filled his voice with disgust, neither Connor nor his mom bought it and they both started laughing.

He grinned bashfully at her, then smiled at Connor, “you missed out on the pie making.”

“I usually do,” he chortled, “it’s the smell of them cooking that gets me out of bed.” he ran his hands through his hair flattening some of the cow licks. “How long you been up?”

“An hour or so.” He watched as Connor walked over and hugged his mom, and massaged his chest as though to ease the stab of jealousy he was feeling.

“I bought bagels yesterday.” she said after they’d hugged.

Connor rubbed his stomach then walked over to the fridge. “You eat breakfast yet Tyler?”

“No,”

“Geez ma, you put him to work and don’t even feed him?”

“I said I didn’t want any.” Tyler said grinning.

“And you still don’t want anything?” Connor asked, standing up holding out the bag of bagels.

“No not yet.”

After Connor ate his breakfast they all spent the rest of the morning peeling vegetables and preparing side dish casseroles. Tyler couldn’t believe all the food they were making and was really looking forward to the next day. Just after having bologna sandwiches for lunch, the doorbell rang and Connor jumped off his stool and ran out to get it.

He smiled a little wearily seeing Robert standing on the porch. “Hi,” he said casually.

Robert, whose head had been turned looking out at the street, turned and smiled at him. “Don’t worry I haven’t any ‘cause to beat the hell out of you yet.”

Connor chuckled and stepped aside, letting Robert in. Robert stopped just inside the door and turned back to him. “Is Tyler here? Please say yes.”

Connor nodded. “Yeah he’s here. Is something wrong?”

“Just that he didn’t tell Julie where he was going. She’s been calling her house looking for him. She got worried and called work, hoping to catch him there. She said she thought he’d be here but couldn’t remember your number off the top of her head and it wasn’t listed. I may have to teach that boy some manners.”

Connor looked at him sideways. “You ain’t gonna yell at him are you?”

Robert looked at him, his eyes glinting in humor. “No man, I was kidding. Who in hell would blame him in the first place? No one has ever cared where he was before. ‘Cept me and when he wasn’t home, he was always with me before.”

Connor nodded sadly, having to be glad that Tyler had at least had Robert. “You guys been friends long?”

“Since we were seven.” Robert looked around again. “Where is he? Can I see him?”

Grinning, Connor nodded. “Sure sorry, right this way.” He led him through the dining room and into the kitchen where Tyler was still sitting on his stool. He turned as they walked in and his face lit up.

“Robert.” He said jumping off the stool. He walked over into Robert’s arms and gave him a big hug. “What are you doing here?” he asked, taking a step back.

“Julie’s been calling her house. She’s been worried because you weren’t there, so I told her I’d track you down.”

Tyler cocked his head to one side and looked up at him as he was nearly a foot taller. “Why was she worried?”

Robert glanced at Connor over the top of Tyler’s head. “‘cause she likes you Tyler. People worry about people they like when they don’t know where they are.”

“Oh,” Tyler said dropping his eyes to Robert’s chest though he still didn’t really get it. He turned to Connor and Carol. “This is my best friend Robert.” he said smiling. “Robert this is Connor, my boyfriend. And his mom Carol.”

Robert walked over and shook Carol’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Carol smiled warmly at him. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Can you stay for a while Robert?” Connor asked. “Maybe for dinner?”

Robert looked to Carol, who nodded it was fine with her the looked at Tyler. “That okay with you.”

Tyler rolled his eyes and snorted. “No get the heck out.”

Robert grinned and pushed Tyler’s head back with the palm of his hand. “You do have to call Julie though.” He handed him a folded up piece of paper with her number on it. “Here use my calling card.” He said pulling out his wallet.

“Oh don’t worry about it hon,” Carol said with a wave of her hand.

“My card is like two cents a minute. It’s much cheaper.” He said smiling at her as he put his card in the palm of Tyler’s hand. Tyler walked over to the phone, picked it up, dialed the number on the card, the card’s pin number then the number on the paper.

Connor smiled at Robert, getting a stronger feeling that Robert was the type of friend anyone would want, but very few people deserved. Tyler, he knew was one of those deserving people and it made him a little jealous at how close he sensed they were. It was jealousy he’d never let show however, as he was not gonna be one to mess with what looked like a friendship made in heaven.

“So what are you thanksgiving plans?” Carol asked, smiling up at him from her sweet potato casserole.

“Going to my gram’s, she’s only in Greenwich Village so it’s not far away. We won’t go over ‘til tomorrow morning.”

“Is Julie there?” Tyler asked, as the sound of Mr. Henderson’s voice came on the line.

“Who the hell is this?”

“Tyler.”

“We left you there because we didn’t want you bugging us.”

“Well can you at least tell her I called?”

“No,”

He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at Robert as he clicked the off button with his thumb. “He won’t let me talk to her.”

“Who won’t?” Robert snapped, immediately becoming angry.

“Her dad.” Connor and his mom exchanged a look while Tyler continued to look at Robert. Robert stalked over and took the phone out of Tyler’s hands. He also took the card and the number and dialed the many numbers again.

Tyler put his hand on Robert’s arm. “Don’t yell at him too bad. I still gotta live with the guy.”

Robert grinned down at him and squeezed his hand around Tyler’s shoulder. “Yes sir, this is Robert Ackerman.” His voice was disguised and Tyler grinned at the fake last name. “I’m with social services sir, and I understand you will not allow a call through to your daughter from Tyler Adams. Is there a reason for that sir?”

Connor and his mother both put their hands over their mouths and started to chuckle, getting a strong impression that Robert had done this sort of thing before. Tyler smiled over at them, his own eyes lit with humor before he looked back up at Robert.

“And why is it sir that he was left behind in the first place? Are you not aware that taking in one of these children makes you responsible for them? That they then become a part of your family?”

Robert was silent for a minute while he rolled his eyes to whatever the man was saying on the other end.

“Perhaps when you get back we should all sit down and decipher why exactly you have volunteered for the position of being a foster parent. You don’t seem to me as though you fit the bill. Perhaps we are going to have to reevaluate the situation. Perhaps you folks are not fit to take in kids and not fit to take the money that comes along with them.”

Tyler gasped a little bit as he put his hand over his mouth, thinking Robert may have gone just a little too far. Robert shook his head at him and squeezed his shoulder tighter. “Well first off, I think you should allow him to talk to your daughter. It was your daughter that wanted to talk to him. Second off when he calls back, I’ll expect you to at least be cordial to him.” He nodded a couple times said goodbye then clicked the phone off.

Connor started clapping and Robert smiled over at him. He turned back to Tyler and handed him the phone.

“You shouldn’t have said that money thing.” he said shaking his head.

“Don’t worry so Tyler. He’s scared now and that’s what matters.”

Tyler looked up at him again and nodded before he shakily dialed the phone. Robert stayed beside him ‘til he was sure it was Julie on the line.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you Julie. I didn’t know you’d check up on me.”

“Well of course I would Tyler. I care about you. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Tyler blushed as he smiled into the phone. “Well I’m okay, I’m staying at Connor’s so actually I’m real good.” he said, smiling over at Connor who smiled flatteringly back.

Her voice lowered and he could hear a door close behind her. “Is there really a Robert Ackerman with social services, or was that man who called Robert Simons, your friend.”

Tyler chuckled. “Yeah, it was my friend. Don’t tell your dad though okay?”

“No way,” Julie said laughing, “got him pissing his pants. Good for him.”

Tyler smiled again over at Robert who was standing near Connor at the kitchen counter. He looked the two over, standing there together and felt warm all over seeing his two favorite people standing side by side. He hung up the phone a minute later and returned Robert’s card to him. “Well your conniving worked again.” he said grinning.

“Did he answer the phone?”

“No she did. Guess he was too scared.”

Carol looked the two boys over, getting the feeling that Robert had been taking care of Tyler most of his life. Also getting the feeling he loved every minute of it and she was thankful as hell that Tyler had someone at least looking out for him.

“Why don’t you boys go watch TV or something?” She said smiling. “We’ve done about all we can do for today.”

Tyler put his arms across his chest, cupping his elbows with his hands. Robert looked at him and smiled, but did not say anything ‘til they reached the doorway to the living room, “Where’s your room Connor?”

Tyler smiled inwardly, thanking his lucky stars for sending him such a brilliant friend.

“Right through here.” Connor said, turning back to them briefly before walking through the archway. They all walked into Connor’s room and Robert immediately walked over to the computer.

“Wow man, this is one nice computer.”

“Well it’s older, but I’ve pepped it up.”

“You know a lot about them?” Robert asked, brushing the keyboard with his fingers.

“Enough to take it apart and put it back together. I’m better with that stuff than the software side of them. But I can pretty much fix anything I mess up.” He leaned over and pushed in the power button on the CPU. The monitor was set to turn on automatically and within a few seconds the screen came to life.

Robert checked out the camera set up on a tripod on top of the monitor. “Go into chat rooms much?” he asked grinning.

Connor’s mouth fell open and he looked back at Tyler who was standing behind the two of them. “So do you get your perverted-ness from him or did he get it from you?”

Robert and Tyler looked at each other and smiled humorously. “I think we taught each other.” Tyler answered.

“You two want to play a game?” He opened a cabinet filled with CD’s. “I don’t have any three player, but the one who doesn’t play first can play the winner.”

Tyler walked over and picked his book bag up off the floor. “You two play, I’ve got homework.”

“Would you un-nerd for five minutes.” Robert said, shaking his head as he put his hands on his hips.

“Would you un-father for five minutes.” Tyler grinned, as he sat down on the floor at the foot of the bed. “I mean it, I got stuff to do. It’s not like I won’t talk to you guys.”

Robert looked at Connor and shook his head. “He just doesn’t want you to see how pissed off he gets when he loses these games.”

Tyler shot out his foot and kicked Robert in the shin. “Shut the hell up.”

Robert took a step back grinning himself. “See just the thought of it pisses him off.”

Shaking his head, Tyler chuckled a bit as he opened his English book. Connor patted the top of his head as he walked by to grab the extra chair out of the corner. He and Robert sat down in front of the computer and picked out a game. They spent the afternoon talking, playing and laughing and Connor knew without any doubts by the end of the afternoon that he liked Robert very much.

That night, after crawling into bed Tyler rolled onto his side propped his head up on his hand, and looked over at Connor who was in the same position. “Your mom said something today about when social services were in your life. What did she mean?”

“My grandmother called them when I was about seven. Told them my mother was unfit. They started coming here once a week for spot checks, to see how we were getting along. It only took them a few months to figure out the woman was full of shit.”

“Why is your grandmother so mean? Why would she do that?”

“No idea. Mom won’t even talk about her. She’s maybe mentioned her four times, that I can remember.”

“It must be tough with no father and no grandparents.”

Connor narrowed his eyes and snorted, as though in disgust. “Don’t you start feeling sorry for me. You don’t have either of your parents. Do you have grandparents?”

“Course I have grandparents.”

Rolling his eyes Connor shook his head. “Do you see them? Are they in your life?”

“No,”

“When was the last time you saw them?”

Tyler dropped his head off his hand and wrapped his arm up under his pillow, letting his hand hang down over the top. “Two years probably.” he put his other hand on Connor’s chest and played with one of the buttons on his pajama top. “Last time I saw them was in court. The day my parents were sent to jail.”

His eyes widening, Connor gasped, leaving his mouth hanging open a bit. Tyler watched him, knowing he had to say more now, but not sure of how much he should say. “They were sent to jail because of the way they treated me. My grandparents were there to say my parents had done nothing wrong. Course they had no idea what was going on but they were so mad about the whole situation, they had to blame someone and they decided to blame me.”

“Both sets?” Connor asked, his voice filled with disgust.

“Well my dad’s parents. My mother’s parents I never met. Seems they were as upstanding as your grandparents when it came to their daughter. I think that’s what made her such a bitch. Learned by example you know?”

“How long did they get sent to jail for Tyler?”

“Mom was five years, dad was fifteen.”

Connor reached up and put his hand in Tyler’s that was hanging over the pillow. “You gonna tell me what they did?”

Tyler slowly nodded. “But you can’t tell anyone. I told you I would tell you when I felt comfortable with you. That also means I feel comfortable that you won’t hold it against me. It started when I was real young, too young to do anything about it.”

“I would never hold it against you Tyler. You can trust me.”

Tyler took a deep breath and rolled onto his back, not able to look Connor in the face while he said it. “My father and I got along real well ‘til I was probably eight or nine. But long before that my mother started messing with me.”

Connor squeezed his hand tighter. “You mean sexually?”’

Tyler nodded, as he stared at the ceiling. “She used to do it all the time. But it was years before dad caught her. When he did he blamed both of us. He used to beat on her and he used to beat on me. It didn’t stop my mother though. It only made her do it more. Like I had to console her or something, because she said it was my fault too. That she never made me do anything, that I actually forced it on her. She’d say that while she was forcing it on me, so she never fooled me about that little detail.”

“In that time after my father found out she started beating on me too, they used to lock me in the closet for days. They’d tie me to the bed and hit me with belts, extension cords, hangers, pretty much everything they could get their hands on.” He knew Connor had started to cry beside him, but couldn’t bring himself to look. “Robert, was the only one besides my parents, who knew what was going on. He used to take care of me after particularly bad beatings. He was the one that got me taken out of the house, and he was the one that has stayed my best friend all these years. I owe my life to him, ‘cause I know if I’d stayed there much longer, they would have killed me. They both hated me; I know that because they told me every day.”

Connor pressed his face into the pillow and stretched his arm out so his hand was on Tyler’s chest. He rubbed his hand up and down, having no idea what to say, and having had no idea Tyler’s life could have been so bad.

Tyler rolled back on his side and put his hand on Connor’s cheek. “You don’t think it’s my fault do you?” he asked quietly.

Connor lifted his head out of his pillow, his face wet with tears. “No way Tyler. Not one bit. You were just a little kid. They should have been shot for what they did to you.”

“Well you’re not the only one that thinks that.”

“Robert?” Connor asked.

Tyler’s eyes widened a little. “And me silly.”

He smiled at him sadly. “God Tyler, I just had no idea it was anything so bad. I feel so bad.”

Shaking his head Tyler sighed. “Don’t feel bad for me. I didn’t tell you so you would. I only told you because you had a right to know.”

Connor sighed as well, before wrapping his arms around Tyler and holding him close. They fell asleep in each other’s arms. Tyler, feeling like a small weight had been lifted from his chest, and Connor, feeling like one had been put on his.