Chapter 22

It was almost Christmas. And had Naura's life been going a little better, she would have been more excited. Christmas was a magical holiday. The spirit of it surrounded everyone and everything with the decorations and holiday cheer. The couple weeks before Christmas break flew by like none other. It was difficult for Naura to get through those weeks without talking to or even seeing Tyler. He still was never home. It was almost as if he didn't live there anymore. On the bright side, she hadn't heard any fighting between him and Rich and she had found out through her mom that his grades were the best they'd ever been. It was good that he was finally prioritizing his life but what else was he doing?

"Let's do something tonight. It's Saturday and there's plenty of parties but I'd rather do something else."

Naura sat down on the edge of her bed, cradling her cell phone between her ear and shoulder as she swiped black nail polish over each of her nails. "Like what?"

"Well," Rachel started. "There's an open mic tonight at Duke's Bar and Grill. It's all ages until eleven and then after maybe we can check out Xavier's Christmas party."

"Yeah, I guess so. Sounds fun. Do you know what kind of music people usually perform there?"

"Well, it's open mic so probably everything."

"Yeah, true. Okay, what time do you want to go?" Naura set the nail polish down on her dresser and started blowing on her nails.

"Maybe like eight thirty? The first person goes on at nine. And I'll drive because the place is closer to your house."

"Okay. Sounds good. Have you talked to Julie or Maya or anyone?"

"Yeah, everyone's going to Xavier's at like ten."

"Oh okay so we'll see them later."

"Yeah."

"Cool, well I guess I'll start getting ready now and see you in a bit."

"Yessir. Later chica."

"Later." Naura hung up and immediately went to the bathroom to turn on her curling iron so it would have time to heat up. She wanted to look cute tonight seeing as she was completely single. She still fully wanted Tyler but he was mad at her again for whatever incomprehensible reason so she figured finding a cutie to distract herself with wouldn't be too bad.

"Naura?" Her mom was walking down the hallway and stopped in her bedroom doorway, watching as her daughter searched through her dresser drawer for a cute top.

"Yeah mom?"

Theresa scratched her temple. "Rich and I are going to see that new Robert Downey Jr. movie. I was going to see if you wanted to come but it seems like you already have plans."

"Yeah, Rachel and I are going to an open mic night."

"Sounds fun. Be safe."

"We will."

"By the way, have you heard from Tyler at all? It's like he doesn't live here anymore but he's doing better in school. Rich is just worried he's distancing himself too much."

"No, he's not really talking to me right now," Naura answered truthfully, pausing in her shirt search. So she wasn't the only one who had noticed how much Tyler was absent from their home.

"Why? What happened?"

Naura sighed, resting one arm over her dresser drawer. "We sort of had a disagreement. But if he's doing better in school he's probably fine. His personality flips around so much it's almost hard to keep track."

Theresa smiled. "Yes, teens these days. What's wrong with you? You need to throw more temper tantrums."

Naura laughed. "Sorry, but that's not really my thing."

"Darn. I guess I'll just have to deal with how mild-mannered you are," her mom joked. "Well, have fun honey. And like I said, be safe."

Naura nodded, stepping forward to kiss her mom on the cheek. "I will. Tell me how the movie is."

"I will."

Returning to her outfit hunting as her mom left, Naura tried to push thoughts of Tyler out of her mind. Damn it. Thanks to her mom she was going to be thinking about him until Rachel got there. Everything she loved and missed about him. Their last conversation. Their last intimate encounter. Ugh. These were not thoughts she needed swimming around in her head when she was trying to emulate her old maneater habits.

Naura curled her black hair, the maroon highlights standing out more since she'd just gotten a touch up done, applied eye-liner, mascara, blush, and lip gloss, and then proceeded to put on her outfit. For this maneater returning night she had chosen a black thin strapped dress that was short and form-fitting in every area, the v-neck allowing sufficient cleavage to peek out. She wore black tights underneath, purple knee-high suede boots, and a black leather bomber jacket. Forgoing on too much jewelry save for her silver heart necklace and diamond studs, she surveyed the finished product in the bathroom mirror.

She felt pretty hot considering her state of mind. Good enough to eat. That was what she was going for.

When Rachel came she complimented Naura's unusually sexy outfit, giving Naura the boost of confidence she needed. It took about ten minutes for them to get to the venue and another two to find parking. The place was a regular bar and grill with red and green tinsel decorating the double oak entrance doors. Rachel led the way into the place and Naura was surprised by how many younger people she saw. There were multiple occupied tables toward the right, a bar to the left and a stage with a dance floor ahead of that. Rachel walked over to the tables and sat down at one against the wall, Naura joining her as they surveyed the room.

The crowd was mostly twenty something college kids. A few older adults littered the room and Naura spotted a girl from her math class with her boyfriend.

"This place is nice," she said, setting her black clutch on the table, deciding to keep her jacket on until she got hot.

"Yeah, it is. Want to get an appetizer? We have like fifteen minutes to kill until the open mic starts." Rachel shrugged out of the white suede jacket she wore, adjusting her flowy green short-sleeved top. Her thick chestnut hair was done up in a French twist which Naura would have to ask her how to do later.

"Yeah, I'm kind of craving cheesesticks."

"Mmm, you're making me hungry." They laughed.

"Well, there's a combo…"

The two ordered an appetizer and two cokes, slipping some rum in from the silver flask Rachel had been given as a birthday gift from an ex-boyfriend. He'd even had her initials engraved on it.

Half the crowd migrated over to the stage when a guy started announcing the night's performers on a microphone.

Naura sipped on her makeshift rum and coke, barely listening and watching a handsome brunette college guy who kept looking at her. She didn't notice how Rachel kept glancing nervously at her friend.

"You want to head over to the stage?" Rachel asked once they'd paid the bill as the sound of a female voice filled the room, her voice in sync with the music coming from the speakers.

"Sure. Let's go." Naura finished her drink and placed her clutch under her arm, following Rachel over to the packed floor in front of the stage. A blonde girl in her mid-twenties was strumming a guitar as she sang about love and how hard it was to find it.

"Let's get close," Rachel said back at Naura, pushing her way through the people to the front. She stopped just before the very front where there was a spot between two couples, behind a line of eight girls and guys who obviously knew the girl singing seeing as they would cheer her on every time she hit a hard note.

Rachel smiled over at Naura. "She's pretty good, huh?"

"Yeah, good and original," Naura quietly responded.

The girl sang her heart out, only cracking once, and received applause from the whole audience at the end. The host walked out and announced the next performer, a young guy with dreads back in a ponytail who looked like he wanted to just run off the stage. Once he started to sing though, all the anxiety seemed as if it was washed out with his words. The crowd was silent as he sang, shouting encouragement when he came to the tough bridge of the song. He smiled and bowed before walking backstage with his head held high as the host returned with the mic.

"Alright guys, our next performer has something special planned but I'll let him explain that to you. Please welcome Tyler Romaine!"

Wait, what?

The crowd clapped and a few girls screamed as Naura watched Tyler, her Tyler, emerge from the curtain and walk out onto the stage, his black acoustic guitar in one hand. He pulled a stool up to the microphone stand and sat down on it, placing the guitar lightly over his legs, his gaze down on the strings. He looked extremely handsome for some reason even though he was dressed casually in skinny jeans, a silver studded belt, a gray short sleeved t-shirt that was tight around his toned biceps, and black and white converse. His hair was spiked as usual with mousse and his snake bite rings were in. Adding in the guitar just made him look like a delicious emo musician...which is what he was.

Naura turned to Rachel, an expression of confusion on her face. "What is going on?"

Rachel shrugged, smiling innocently. "I don't know. Let's find out."

She would have to choke her friend later.

Naura returned her eyes to Tyler as he looked up and out at the crowd and spoke into the mic.

"Hello everyone. My name's Tyler, as you know." A girl whistled, causing him to grin. "Thank you. I've actually never performed on a stage before, actually anywhere besides my room, but a certain someone inspired me to do so. A girl." Another girl screamed. "She's here right now actually and there's something I've been wanting to tell her that I actually probably should have told her long ago. So to that girl, this is for you." He moved his gaze down to the guitar, turning his head slightly as he strummed the first few chords.

He was talking about her. He had to be. But why hadn't he looked at her yet? She was up in the front! Maybe he couldn't see past the lights.

Naura waited in anticipation as he started the song, his eyes downcast, moving his mouth to the mic.

Last time I saw you

You looked defeated and broken

I know I said a lot of crazy things

But it was my way of copin'

He strummed the guitar lightly, his voice low and guttural as he sang the first verse, the song a mix between Justin Nozuka and Jason Mraz's music.

You had another guy

I was so pissed that I

Wanted to hurt you something fierce

But my heart broke when I saw your tears

He raised his voice as he started the chorus, finally looking up, his eyes scanning the crowd as his lips moved against the mic.

I'm sorry for all the things I said

I never meant to hurt you

I hope you can forgive me now

Not one word I said was true

He extended the true, his voice soft as he put his heart into the song, his eyes slowly coming to rest on Naura. He kept his gaze focused on hers as he started the next verse, causing her heart to skip a beat.

Remember all the times

We talked and you asked why

The men you chose were unfaithful

Didn't care enough to stay so

Naura felt her heartbeat speed up as his eyes bored into hers, Rachel watching her out of the corner of her eye.

You moved on to the next

I sat back and watched you, feeling mixed

Emotions, I wanted them gone

My clouded mind made my actions wrong

I'm sorry for all the things I said

I never meant to hurt you

I hope you can forgive me now

Because I need you

Naura felt her eyes glaze over with tears as she continued to watch Tyler, his gaze finally breaking and returning to his guitar. She bit her lip and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding as he moved onto the bridge.

I'm so stupid

Damn you, cupid

I'm not equipped for this

But damn it's you I miss

He looked up at her again, his voice rising beautifully with the guitar.

If you were mine

I'd tell you every time

I saw you, held you, kissed you

The truth, how I really feel for you

His voice lowered but his eyes didn't. The melody slowed and his voice softened, still a bit husky.

I'm so sorry for all the things I said

I never meant to hurt you

I hope you can forgive me now

He paused, strumming the guitar, his hazel eyes locked on her brown ones.

Because I love you

It felt like a ton of bricks had just been dropped in her heart and stomach. She wondered for a second if she had heard wrong but knew she hadn't. He had really just said he loved her.

Tyler strummed the outro of the song, the corners of his mouth lifting a bit as he watched her shocked reaction.

As soon as the music stopped, everyone burst into applause, a few girls shouting as he slowly rose from the stool, nodding his head in humble appreciation.

Naura was deaf to everything around her. She didn't hear the applause or the shouts. She didn't hear the host come to the stage and commend Tyler on his performance for one lucky girl. She only saw as Tyler walked through the curtain backstage, glancing at her. Rachel was saying something to her but she could only think of one thing, one person.

She absolutely had to get backstage ASAP.

Ignoring Rachel, she pushed out through the crowd and walked to the left where a doorway was with a red curtain and an exit sign above it. This way probably led backstage. She pushed the curtain aside, Rachel hot on her heels, and walked over to a bald guy holding a clipboard and chewing on a piece of gum. "Excuse me, how do I get backstage?"

He looked up at her. "Backstage is only for staff and performers. You'll have to wait for your friend here."

"Please, it's important that I get back there."

"I'm sorry but I cant-" He cut himself off, recognition flooding his eyes. "Oh wait, are you that girl? The one from the song?"

Naura smiled. "Yeah, that's me."

"Oh okay. Well good luck. He's through there." He smiled and pointed to a door down the hall where the girl who had first performed was emerging from, a backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Thank you so much." Naura rushed to the door and opened it, oblivious to the smile from the blond. There was a small set of stairs leading up to the backstage room which Naura practically ran up, nervously running a hand through her hair. The backstage was small and cluttered with random light fixtures and equipment, music drifting into the room as the next person performed a soft ballad.

It wasn't hard to spot Tyler, zipping up his guitar case as he conversed with the singer with dreads who had performed just before him. Tyler looked over when she entered, his black leather jacket now on over his gray shirt. The dreads guy smiled and Tyler just watched her, his face void of emotion in order to gauge her reaction first.

Naura didn't even hesitate, knowing what she wanted to do. She walked over to Tyler and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his.

Tyler's arms were wrapped around her waist in less than a second from natural habit as he kissed her back, surprised but satisfied.

Her kiss was earnest and as her lips moved with his, she felt a tear run down her cheek. Clapping made them break apart, grinning when they saw the few people backstage were the source of the sound, dreads guy included.

Naura bit her lip as Tyler returned his eyes to her.

"Let's go outside so we can talk."

She nodded, just happy to do anything with him. "Okay."

Tyler took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as he lead her over to the stairs where Rachel stood, winking at her friend. He took her back out to the hallway and out the back door, the clipboard guy grinning as he watched them. The air was chilly as they stepped outside, a parking lot and gas station viewable to the left.

Tyler stopped and pulled Naura to his body and lightly kissed her, their fingers still entwined. He lingered as if savouring the moment before stepping back, leaving Naura warm and fuzzy inside.

She smiled at him, letting him intertwine his fingers with her other hand. "That was...the most romantic thing anyone has done for me. Did you really mean it?"

Tyler smiled lightly, his face inches from hers as they stood in their intimate position. "Every word."

"Even the last part?"

"Yeah, even the last part." He kissed her, barely leaving an inch between their lips as he whispered, "I love you, Naura. I'm in love with you and should have told you so long ago."

Naura felt her eyes start to tear up again and choked back her emotions before speaking. "I'm in love with you too."

His smile widened. "Good."

She pressed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. She tilted her head to the side as their lips moved together at a slow pace, the passion practically surging back and forth at the contact.

Tyler lightly squeezed his arms around her as if he never wanted to let her go, slipping his tongue past her soft lips.

They kissed for a while, moving slowly but passionately. When they pulled apart, Naura let out a little giggle. "I cant believe this is happening."

"Me neither."

"So, how'd you know I'd be here?"

Tyler smirked, pressing his forehead to hers. "I thought it'd be obvious by now. Rachel. I realized I wanted to do this for you on Thursday so I found a place with an open mic night and called Rachel since she seems to be your closest friend."

"Also a very good actress I'm finding out. I cant believe she knew this whole time."

"Yeah, guess I chose the right friend."

Naura smiled. "Yeah, you did." She looked down for a moment, a random thought crossing her mind which caused her to look up at him. "By the way, where have you been going every night?"

"Oh. To Zach's." He sighed, stepping back a bit so he could talk without being distracted by her lips as much. "We've been getting sober together and he's also been giving me good advice on you."

"Me? Really?" She raised a brow. "Are you fucking with me?"

He chuckled. "I know. He's not really that much of a douchebag though, Naura. It's just a front he puts up. He's really a good person."

She smiled lightly. "I know. He actually apologized to me a while ago. I thought he was joking at first but he was serious."

"See. He's not as bad as everyone thinks he is."

"Anymore," she pointed out.

"Yeah, anymore."

Her smile slowly turned to a grin. "Yes. So say that thing you said about me in your song again."

Tyler's smirk grew. "What thing?"

"Oh y'know that thing you said that explained how you feel about me."

"Oh that thing. You want to hear it again?"

Naura nodded, biting her lip to keep from letting a stupidly happy giggle escape.

"Okay then. You asked for it...I love you, Naura. You and only you."

Naura felt that familiar flutter in her chest. "And I love you, Tyler. You and only you."

Tyler smiled at her words and soon they were kissing again, feeling blissful and ridiculously happy with the way things had turned out.

And everything had turned out right.

Nothing could make either of them happier and nothing could go wrong. She'd finally found the right guy to give her heart to. Love didn't seem so bad anymore.

THE END

A/N: OMG IT'S OVER! *sobs*. Actually I'm so freaking glad it's over. And I have an idea for a sequel but I'm for SURE not starting it till I finish my other ideas. At least two of them. But chyeah thank you guys SO MUCH for sticking with me and falling in love with Tyler like I did! Haha. And just a random questiondo you prefer first or second person stories more and why? I think I've always preferred first person more but I always switch back and forth when I right them. Anyway let me know! And there will be an epilogue so stay tuned. :)

Siobhan: Ha thanks! Glad you're enjoying it!

Redneck-Emo-Country-Girl:I love your username first of all haha. And I'm so glad I ruined your productive day! Means I'm doing something right! lol. I mean it's not good to ruin your productive day but I'm glad it was because you were interested in my story. :) Hope you liked the ending!

:Lol yeah well he's an emo boy so he's got to be all confused and bipolar yaknow. I'm honoured to let you know though that this is the end of the whiplash! For now...ha.

Emitti: You're still here! Sweet. Ha. Hope you liked this ending. :)

Twilights-Pain'D-X-L':Yeah it is WAY true! I'm kind of basing this off my own love life a little ha. Everyone's always afraid of saying what they feel. Just say it! Shoot. But yeah, hope this was enough emotion explosion for ya! Thanks for reading!