He makes a beeline for the bathroom the second Emily opens the door, and they switch roles. It’s Emily’s turn to help with the cleaning, although neither of us talks while we get on with what we need to do. The silence starts to feel too tense, so I turn on the TV as background noise. I open up every window possible and spray air freshener around the place. Emily trails the vacuum cleaner out from the laundry room and vacuums the whole apartment, even the bedrooms. I leave her to finish everything off while I shut myself in Tyler’s room to dry my hair, and the longer time ticks by, the more I start to wonder what’s taking him so long.
He’s been up on the roof for over an hour now. He never used to take this long to calm down before. When Snake gets out of the shower, I send him to check what Tyler’s doing. He rolls his eyes at my request, but he does it anyway. Five minutes later, he returns.
“He’s not there,” he says with a shrug.
I look up from the TV, eyeing him with a skeptical frown. I’m not sure if he’s messing with me or not. “What?”
“He’s not on the roof.”
“Then where is he?” I’m not sure where else he could have possibly gone. There’s no way he’d leave the building. He’s wearing nothing but jeans.
“No idea,” Snake says. He shrugs again and leans against the kitchen worktop, and then it’s his turn to look at me with a skeptical expression on his face. “What were you guys all arguing about, anyway?”
“Nothing,” I say immediately. He’ll probably find out eventually, but right now I don’t want to talk about it.
Snake scowls at me and I’m expecting him to press the matter further, but he doesn’t bother to waste his time. He heads around to the refrigerator instead, rummaging around inside for something to eat.
I look back to the TV, but I’m not entirely focused on it. I’m thinking about Tyler. Despite the fact that I don’t particularly want to talk to him right now, I decide to try calling his phone, but it’s no use. I hear his phone ringing from his room. I hang up and let out a long breath that sounds something between a sigh and a groan. Where the hell is he?
It’s not all bad, though. Lady and the Tramp is on TV. Snake mocks me from the kitchen for fifteen minutes straight as he rams sandwiches into his mouth, but I ignore him, increasing the volume each time he opens his mouth to speak. Disney movies aren’t childish, as he believes. They aren’t dumb, either, and once he stops laughing at me for choosing to watch them, he decides to visit the girls from apartment 1201 to see if they’re as hungover as him.
It’s nice to get some peace once he leaves. Emily, on the other hand, hasn’t come out of Snake’s room in over forty minutes, and I think she might have fallen asleep. I have the comfort of the living room to myself, with no one left to complain about my choice of movie, and I take advantage of this by spreading out on the couch and getting comfortable, snuggling into the cushions.
I finish watching the entire movie before Snake comes back and before Emily wakes up, and it’s now been almost three hours since Tyler stormed out. I can’t think of where he could have gone. He could be hiding out at 1201 or Alex and Brendon’s apartment three floors down. He could have locked himself in his car as a way to avoid me. He could be anywhere in the building. Sooner or later, he’s gonna have to come back and face me.
Right then, I hear the apartment door unlocking and I assume that it’s Snake. Pausing the TV, I push myself up from the couch and look to the door. My eyes meet Tyler’s.
“It’s about time,” I say. Looking anxious, he shuts the door behind him and drops his eyes to the carpet. He’s somehow managed to change into a pair of black shorts and a gray T-shirt. “Where’d you get the clothes from?”
“My gym bag was in my car,” he says quietly. He chews on his lower lip for a second before bracing himself and walking over to me. “Where is everyone?”
“Snake’s with the girls from the other apartment and I think Emily is asleep, so right now is the perfect time for you to be honest with me.” I get to my feet as I turn off the TV completely, silence forming around us as I walk around the couch. I don’t stop until I’m in front of him. “Please just tell me what’s going on.”
“Nothing is going on, Eden,” Tyler says. His voice is soft and sincere, much calmer than it was before. His eyes are gentle and faded again, although a little bloodshot. “I don’t get why you won’t believe me. What have I ever done to make you doubt me? How many times do you need me to tell you that Emily and I are just friends?” His voice grows firm. “Nothing happened last night,” he states slowly. “Nothing ever has and nothing ever will.”
“Nice to know you cuddled up close with her in bed and left me on the floor,” I mutter, because it’s the only thing I can think of to say right now. It feels like Emily has priority over me. Like Tyler had the choice of who to take care of last night, and he clearly chose her, which doesn’t exactly back up what he’s saying right now.
“You slept on the floor? I didn’t know that.”