1.8

"So, I heard that you led the football team streaking around ALT after your first win."
Ty's head snapped up from the homework he was diligently working on. "What? Where'd you hear that from?"
Kaylee grinned and watched as his eyes slid to the side then back down to his work.
"It was more of a naked hula," he muttered.
She cupped her ear. "Excuse me? I didn't catch that." She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing when he scribbled furiously in his notepad.

"It was more of a naked hula dance," he repeated without looking up.
"Hmm...yeah, and when I say led, I mean led the team!" She waggled her eyebrows when his eyes shot to hers in dawning horror.
"Oh, for fucks sake," he snapped rubbing the back of his neck. "It was a dare and I didn't know those girls were going to have cameras! Plus...it was cold!"
Running her tongue over her teeth Kaylee winked. "And they were so kind as to give me a copy." She fluttered her eyelashes as his mouth opened and closed in horror. "I keep it in my journal. The unedited version."
She burst our laughing when he buried his face in his hands. She watched as he tried to finish up his homework but when she rubbed her foot against his calf he slammed the notebook closed.
"How about we get some fresh air?"

Kaylee batted away the leaf that Ty was twirling against her neck as she tried to focus on her biology textbook. She frowned as she tried to understand the molecular breakdown of a certain near extinct sea anemone. Scientist were trying to figure it out to see if they could perhaps clone the anemones and trick them into reproducing more frequently. If they succeeded in doing that- She flipped the textbook over when Ty tickled the tip of her nose with a brilliant red leaf. "Is there something you wanted?"
Ty stiffened and his eyes flared making Kaylee swallow dryly. Ever since that kiss a few weeks back they had been trying to take it slow. They would kiss or make out but it never went further than that. She could tell that he wanted it to and if she were honest with herself she wanted it to as well. Lord did she want it to. But...the memories were holding her back. The memories of Janet's revolving door of men and the sounds of sex coming from the next room. Realistic she knew she wasn't anything like Janet however, the doubts lingered.
"Hey, what are you looking so serious for?" Ty asked breaking into her thoughts.
She shook her head. "Nothing. Just old memories that don't seem to die."
He reached out and ran a hand through her hair. "I like the new cut. You look like a pixie."
"Hence the name pixie cut. You're such a dork," she said laughing up at him. When she stopped she caught him looking at her. "What?"
He shrugged. "When you laugh you're unguarded and...it'd beautiful to me. It makes me wish that you could be like that all the time."
She twirled two leaves in between her hands, watching the kaleidoscope of colors merge. "I'm trying Ty," she whispered.
His big hand landed over top of hers and he gave her wrist a gentle squeeze. "I know."
Sharing a look they both laid on their backs and watched as the sun filter through the branches and kissed the leaves shooting beams of mulitcolored lights on them. Reaching down Kaylee slipped her hand through Ty's. And when he gave it a gentle squeeze she knew. She knew she was falling in love with him and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Good Lord Ty! Your room is almost twice the size of mine." Ty had finally talked her into coming to see his dorm room after weeks of asking.
He looked around then shrugged. "No, not really. I think it's just because I don't have as many books cluttering up all my space." He grinned at her then feigned pain when she jabbed him in the side. She walked over to one of the numerous paintings hanging on his walls.
"Wow, these are great! Who's the artist?" She looked over her shoulder to see Ty rubbing the back of his neck. A sure sign that he was nervous or embarrassed about something. Then it dawned on her. Spinning back around she stared at the painting in awe.
"You did these? I didn't even know you liked to paint!"
She felt him come up behind her. "You inspire me to try new things. When we were in high school and I used to stop by your house nine times out of ten you had either clay or paint splattered on your clothes."
She started to turn around but froze when her attention was caught on the object resting on the table next to the bed.
"Tyrese Jameson! What is that?"
He coughed. "Uh, a plate?"
She slapped at his arm then picked up the plate. "It's a plate that I made."
He took it from her and placed it gently back on the nightstand. "And I brought it."
Kaylee stared at him and he stared back as if daring her to say anything else. Shaking her head she climbed on his bed.

"I've been meaning to ask you why you picked biology instead of art or something along those lines."
She shrugged. "I have bills to pay and when's the last time you've heard of an artist hitting it big right out of the gate?"
He gave it some thought. "True."
"Besides, I've always liked animals, especially sea animals. I want to work with them and hopefully one day live by the ocean. Something about it just calms me."
"Yeah, you always were in the pool. In that little tiny bikini top and those sexy boy shorts." He waggled his eyebrows.
Kaylee shrieked with laughter. After wiping the tears from her eyes she glanced over at him. "What about you? Why'd you take up Psychology?"
"I want to understand why people do the things they do. I've always been curious about the inner workings of the human mind. The little things that make us tick and..."
Kaylee stared at Ty as he continued to talk. He was so driven. So focused. Whatever he put his mind to he was bound to succeed in. She felt a glowing pride for him. He wasn't just your stereotypical football player who took the minimal amount of courses. He wanted to be challenged. He wanted to be more than Ty Jameson, star quarterback of ALT.
"So, do you want to work around here?" he asked picking with a loose string on his quilt.
She grinned. "There aren't many oceans around here," she said with a chuckle then shrugged. "I don't really have a certain place in mind. I guess the first place that offers me employment." She looked over at him. "What about you? What are you going to do after graduation?"
"It all depends."
"On what?" she asked curiously. He stared at her for a moment then shrugged his shoulders.
"It...just depends."

"I don't want to see that movie!" Ty made a face. "What about that new horror movie?"
Kaylee rolled her eyes. "How many times can they remake that movie?"
They stared at each other for a moment then as if by silent agreement they fisted their hands.
"One, two, three," they said in unison.
"Scissors beat your paper!" Kaylee crowed, doing a little victory dance.
Ty scowled. "Best two out of three."
"Nope!"
"You always say that!"
"And yet, you keep asking. Don't be a sore loser Ty." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Are you going to drive me back to the dorm or should I call a taxi?"
"I'll drive you back," he said sullenly.


Kaylee turned away and swallowed back a chuckle. Ty hated to lose. She started to walk out to the parking lot but stopped when Ty called her name. "Hey...uh...there's this dance coming up at the end of the year and I was just wondering. I mean...if you have the time...if you'd like to go with me?"
Kaylee quickly calculated how much money she had to spare and then deciding that, for once, she was going to do something just for her, she nodding her head. She saw the flicker of surprise cross Ty's face then a huge grin bloomed.
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
He slung an arm around her neck as they started out for the parking lot. "Man, and I had some good arguments ready this time."
Her laughter echoed across the lot.

The months seemed to fly by. With school, football games and trying to squeeze in time to see Ty Kaylee was shocked to look at her calendar and see the day of the dance staring back at her. Glancing at the clock she saw that she had least than three hours to get ready before Ty came. Which was two and a half hours more than she needed. Opening her closet she stared at the dress she had found in a second hand store. It wasn't something that she would normally wear but something about it had drawn her eye.
Two and a half hours later she grinned when Ty whistled. "You look amazing Kaylee," he said as he bent down and gave her a quick kiss. She started to slip her hand around his neck to pull him back but he shook his head.
"I have something I want to give you."
She stared down at his empty hands. "Where is it?"
He grinned. "Back at my dorm. Come on." After helping her into the car and making sure he didn't catch her dress in the door he rushed around to the driver's side and slid in. He shot her a grin before pulling away from the curb.
"Close your eyes," he demanded as soon as they stood outside his door. Giving him a curious look she did as instructed. He gripped her forearm and guided her into the room placing her just so.

"No peeking!"
She laughed. "I'm not!"
There was shuffling and moving around before she heard him come stand somewhere to the right of her. She heard him blow out a breath then:
"Okay, open them."

She had to blink back tears in order to see the painting more clearly.


And when she did she cried even more.
Ty slip his arm around her waist. "Hey, I didn't mean to make you cry. It's just that you looked so happy that day and-"
Kaylee palmed his face before leaning forward and capturing his mouth with hers.

They never made it to the dance.


The next morning Kaylee woke up and stared at the ceiling. Oh my god, she thought to herself as she stared at Ty's back. What had she done? What would he think of her? She hadn't meant for things to go as far as they did but...
She stiffened when Ty rolled over. She held her breath when he slipped an arm underneath of her and curled against her side. He placed a soft kiss against her shoulder before going back to sleep. Tentatively Kaylee tried to ease away but his grip only tightened. Slowly she put her arm around his shoulder and he seemed to relax. She felt a grin pull at her lips as her fears dissipated. This was Ty. He wasn't some faceless man. Lulled by his even breathing she allowed herself to drift back off to sleep.



Things didn't change much just because they were sleeping together. There was none of the weirdness she had feared. In fact, if anything, it made their relationship somewhat stronger. They were still as competitive as ever. Working out with Ty was exhausting, Kaylee soon found out. He always wanted to stay on the treadmill longer than her and she just couldn't allow that. But it was also so much fun. She couldn't remember the last time she had had some much fun.
He was like a big kid. He could be serious if he wanted too but more often than not he was trying to get her to do something that that she would have never thought of on her own.
"Ty, someone jut raked those leaves," she hissed as he looked from the piles to her then back again. She recognized that gleam in his eye. "No, I am not going to do that."
He slid up behind her and kissed her neck. "Come on! You know you want to. And if it will make you feel any better I'll rake them back up."
"Well..."


Pushing the tip of her sneaker into the pile of leaves she heard them crinkle underneath of her sneaker and the smell of fresh dirt wafted up towards her. She shifted the leaves a little more then glanced over at Ty to see him grinning at her. He winked then quicker than she could blink he bent down, picked up and handful of leaves and tossed them in her direction.


Spitting out a leaf she glared at him mockingly. "This means war buddy boy!" she growled.


He made a come on motion with his hands. "Bring it on emo!"


Giving a mock war cry she charged at him and before she knew it they were laughing and tickling each other in the piles of leaves. Kaylee lay panting with a grinning Ty straddling her waist.


"God, I'm starving! Let's order some pizza!"


Between the two of them they polished off a whole pizza. Kaylee licked her fingers. Well, that was a waste of a day at the gym she thought, right before she took a swig of her soda. She glanced over when she heard Ty put down his book. He had an exam coming up. It was hard to believe that this time next year they'd be nearing graduation. He swung his chair around then leaned forward and stared at her.


"Kaylee, I've been thinking..." He blew out a breath then shook his head. "Move in with me."


"W-what?" Well, that's certain not what she had been expecting.


"Next year I'm not going to live in the dorms. I figured I'd get a place somewhere in between ALT and PSC so neither one of us would have far to go to school. I mean, you're here more than you're at your dorm anyways. And then you wouldn't have to worry about paying boarding fees which would cut down on your loan from Rachael. Something that you're worried about because you haven't received the check yet. I've been thinking about this for awhile."

"I see that," she said before slowly sitting up.


"Ty, I can't move in with you. What would your parents think?" He stared at her in shock.


"Are you seriously asking me that after they story I told you about my parents?"


She had to grin at that. "True. But...I wouldn't feel comfortable living with you. You have to understand. I-"


"I understand that you can't let go of your past enough to look to the future. Christ, Kaylee! I fucking love you! I would ask you to marry me in a heartbeat if I thought for a moment you might say yes! But I know you won't because you'll feel like you're holding me back when all I've ever wanted to do, since the moment I met you, was just hold onto you."


Kaylee's heart was thundering in her ears. Ty loved her? Had thought about marrying her? Without conscious thought she slid off his bed. She looked around blindly. There was too much to think about. The only clear thought in her head was that she had to leave. She had to leave before she did something stupid and agreed to move in with him, agreed to marry him. He had so much going for him and she had nothing.


"I have to go."


"Kaylee..." He stared at her for a moment before he smiled. "Alright. I'll-"


"I'll call a taxi." Bending down she placed a kiss to his forehead. He smiled up at her.


"Okay. I'll call you tomorrow."
Nodding jerkily she turned and walked quickly out of the room.