Dean took me to the movies.

The movies.

Apparently, I gave that vibe that I would enjoy sitting in a uncomfortable seat for two or so hours quietly while watching a film this generation deemed to be amazing.

Which is not, by the way.

Throughout the movie, I was hardly paying attention, but when I was, it was just about this guy who was poor but was looking for ways to impress a rich girl.

Apparently, I also gave a vibe I was a hopeless romantic.

However, when the movie finished and he asked me how it was, I smiled and said it was good. Simply, good.

I know Dean told me that I could leave whenever I felt that our date wouldn't be great, but because I didn't want to be a total bitch, I stayed.

After four hours, he dropped me off at home, but not before stopping at a way too fancy restaurant.

Feeling way to uncomfortable to order anything bigger than a appetizer after he demanded to pay for the bill, I ordered some spring rolls.

"I hope you had fun," he said with a smile as we got into his car.

"I did," I lied, but looked at him with a smile nonetheless.

When Dean turned on his engine and began to reverse out of the parking spot, I glanced outside.

Once we got out of the parking lot, I watched the trees pass as Dean sped down the empty road, and I began to feel sick to my stomach as he took a sharp turn to my street.

In less than minutes, Dean parked in front of my house, and rushed out the car before opening the door for me.

"Thanks," I laughed as he placed his hand in front of me to take.

Once I took his hand, he helped he down with a smirk on his lips while I rolled my eyes at his playful behavior.

"So, can I be hopeful for a second date?" He whispered once we were both in front of my door.

I looked into his baby blue eyes and sighed. "Look, Dean. You seem like a great guy, but I don't want to string you along. I don't think this will be anything more than a friendship," I said, pointing to both of us.

He smirked once more with a tilt of the head, I scoffed internally, expecting that he would have another reaction. "It's fine, darling," he said.

"But can I have one last kiss before we can celebrate our friendship?" He asked, leaning slightly closer, and I couldn't help but laugh. Loudly.

"You want to celebrate our friendship with a kiss? I don't think that would work, Dean," I commented, but he smiled mischievously.

Before he could comment however, head lights poured into our direction, and I looked to the front of my house, watching as a car parked into my empty driveway.

Suddenly, the headlights were shut off, and I watched as Tyler left his car in a rush, jogging to me as if he hasn't noticed Dean's presence yet.

Dean, who also seemed to notice Tyler's weird behavior, stepped back, watching the scene in front of him unfold.

"Amanda, we need to talk now," he hissed, and my brows furrowed.

"What's going on, Ty?" I asked, testing out a new nickname that I've been debating on for a while.

His brows raised for a second before he bit his lower lip. "Let's head inside."

Dean cleared his throat, finally catching Tyler's attention. "Um, I'm gonna go," he said slowly, and Tyler immediately looked his way.

"Then go," he said with a cold tone, and I watched as Dean slowly waved in my direction awkwardly before heading to his car that was parked in front of my house.

When he finally drove off, Tyler looked back to me before eyeing my door.

My eyes rolled as I turned to the front of my door, unlocking it with my keys just before opening the door.

Tyler quickly followed me inside and took off his shoes before moving to the living room, and I followed him in a rush.

"What's going on?" I asked, sitting next to him on the couch as he rubbed his forehead.

"I think your dad and Travis are connected somehow," he said, stress laced in his tone, and my eyes widened.

"Why would you think that?" I breathed out, and he sighed before pulling something out of his pocket.

"Where'd you get this Tyler?" I asked as I grabbed the photo out of his hold.

The picture was of a younger child next to a older woman with dirty blonde hair and green eyes. Both of them were smiling so hard that you could tell with just a look that they loved each other.

"Who is this?"

"I got it at Travis' house. It's him and his mom. This was when he was seven," he shook his head slowly, as if he knew something that I didn't.

"But look behind them," he added, and behind Travis was a dusty pick up truck.

I looked around the background, trying to find out what I'm supposed to be looking for, but came up with nothing.

"What am I supposed to look at, Tyler?" I asked, and he sighed before pointing his finger at the license plate.

"Look. It's the same one we found in your dad's vent," he said harshly, and my mind jumbled, trying to remember what the numbers were, but came out with nothing.

"Why would my dad have Travis' license plate?" I asked, mostly to myself.

Tyler shrugged. "I don't know."

I glanced around my house, feeling wary about talking about this. Even though I know my dad's not home at the moment.

"I think we should talk to Travis, Ty," I said slowly, and he nodded in agreement.

"I know," he whispered, but I already knew without him having to tell me that he didn't want to get his friend involved with our mission to uncover the truth about my father.

I cracked a smile. "You wanna stay over tonight? We can head to Travis' tomorrow morning together," I said, and Tyler looked at me with a smile on his lips.

"Sure," he said.

"Then you have to move your car out of my driveway," I laughed. "I don't want to die from my father's hands tonight."

➸

I woke up the next morning with Tyler sleeping next to me under the covers, but as the front door slammed shut, he stayed still with his eyes closed shut.

When I checked the time on my phone, I noticed that it was almost nine in the morning, and I cried with annoyance.

Why did I wake up now? On a Saturday?

Deciding not to be a total asshole, I carefully left the bed before rushing to the bathroom, wanting to take a shower to wake myself up.

After twenty minutes had passed, I left my bathroom with a curse, wondering why I was so stupid to actually forget to bring clothes inside with me.

As I was beginning to rummage through my dresser, I felt someone's eyes on me, and slowly, I turned around to see that Tyler's eyes were on me.

"Sorry," I cringed. "I'm guessing this is not the best way to wake up. I just forgot my clothes. I'll grab them and head back inside to get dressed," I issued calmly, but inside, my heart was racing as I watched Tyler look at my body twice more before looking into my eyes.

"Yeah, no problem," he said, finally moving his eyes from me.

My chest felt lighter knowing that I wasn't being watched before turning back around to pull out dark grey leggings and a oversized black sweater.

Rushing back into the bathroom, I changed into my no fucks given outfit before heading back into my bedroom, seeing Tyler fully dressed in his clothes from yesterday.

"Let's head to Travis'," he said, walking out of my bathroom, and my brows furrowed as I followed him out.

"Okay first, how are you sure he's up right now?" I asked, jogging down the stairs behind him.

Tyler looked over her shoulder. "It's Saturday?" He asked, and I nodded. "Then he's up."

"What about your breath?" I asked quickly when I noticed he was in such a hurry to leave my house.

Tyler turned around right when he stood in front of my house door, glaring at me playfully. "I have gum in my car. Now let's go. My car's parked a block away."

He didn't wait for my response before heading out. I quickly grabbed my phone and keys before heading out with him, following him right when I locked the door.

We both entered his car silently after a few minutes from walking in the chill air, and Tyler quickly turned on his car before signalling to the main street.

My thoughts continued to be filled with why Tyler was in such a hurry to get to Travis'.

Don't get me wrong, I want to know what my dad's hiding, but it seems like Tyler has a theory and he's waiting for it to be proved right.

For over twenty minutes, we were driving down an empty road, until suddenly, my view of the outside was slowly filled with busted up homes.

My heart began to ache in my chest as I watched people standing out of their trailers.

Not everyone can afford a house. It's the sad reality of this word that some people forget about.

A few more minutes passed until we were parked out front of a wide, white trailer. The door was closed, but it didn't a lot of thinking to know that Travis was inside.

"This is where he lives?" I asked breathlessly, and Tyler glanced at me before looking forward.

"Yeah," he sighed, unbuckling his seat belt.

We both headed to the front of Travis' trailer, and Tyler pressed one leg onto the step as he knocked.

A few moments passed until the door was thrown open, revealing Travis in nothing but sweatpants hanging low on his hips.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked, stepping back to give us enough space to come in.

When we both walked inside, I looking around the small living space before turning to the kitchen, and by the table, I saw a younger boy eating a bowl of cereal while reading a comic.

"We need to talk to you," Tyler said seriously, and Travis slowly looked at the young boy.

As though he felt his gaze, the boy looked at Travis with the his matching green eyes. "Ollie, go get ready for hockey. We'll leave in twenty."

Ollie, who I'm assuming is his brother, sighed, closing his comic. "You promise twenty? Last time, James made me do fifty push ups for being late," he said with his English accent, and I took into account how similar they both looked.

Except, Travis had a killer glare and deep voice.

"I promise," he said softly, and my eyes widened by how loving his voice sounded.

Ollie smiled brightly at his brother, and in the both corners, I spotted faint dimples.

Once he went to the opposite side of the trailer to pack up his bag, Travis grabbed a long sleeve shirt before heading out with both of us following.

"What the hell is going on Evans?" Travis clenched out, glancing at me quickly before looking back to him. "And why did you bring Amanda?"

"We need to talk to you about her dad," he clarified, and Travis' face clenched in confusion.

"How the fuck would I know about her dad?"

I sighed before stepping forward so Travis was looking right at me. "My dad's Alexander Tanner. You know him?"

His eyes widened an inch before returning to its empty state. "I take that as a yes?"

Travis knew I wasn't going to give up pestering him with questions, so when he sighed, breaking our staring contest, I knew he cracked.

"He's my lawyer," he stated, and my brows furrowed slightly as thoughts poured through me.

"They want to trial him as an adult because his birthday in on the thirtieth of July. He'll be eighteen soon."

"You have to make his sentence less than seven months, dad. What's he charged with anyway?" I ask.

"Beating up his father to almost the brink of death," he deadpans, and my eyes widen.

"And you defended him before?" I ask, and a dry laugh leaves him.

"This isn't the first time it happened sweetie."

"Is your birthday on July thirtieth?" I asked suddenly, and he was taken back from my question.

"Yeah. How do you know?"

"My dad's spoken about your case before," I whispered, looking to the trailer where his younger brother was.

He never mentioned a brother.

Travis laughed dryly. "And what did he tell you?"

I looked back to him with a small amount of fear. "That you beat up your father so hard that he almost died."

"That's right," his jaw clenched. "But that's because he was gonna hurt Oliver. I don't care if he touches me. I can handle myself, but Ollie," he shook his head. "He's just a kid."

Feeling this sudden urge to comfort him, I spread my arms out before hugging him tightly around his waist.

Travis only pat my back awkwardly before holding onto my shoulder and moving me away. "That was unexpected."

I laughed, standing next to Tyler once more. "Don't get used to it, puppy killer."

He rolled his eyes, then looked between us. "By the way, I want my photo back," Travis glared.

Tyler sighed before pulling it out the photo he showed me back at home. "Sorry Trav. This photo proved something to Amanda that I needed to show her."

"And what was that?" Travis demanded as he grabbed the photo out of Tyler's hold quickly.

"The license plate. We found it in her dad's room," he confessed.

Travis' brows furrowed as he looked at the photo, paying attention to the license plate that's screwed onto the car. "What the hell?"

Suddenly, he went back into his house, and Tyler and I stared at each other with confusion until he came back, but with another photo in his hold.

He gave the photo to me first, and it was a picture of Ollie and Travis by the front of their house. It seemed to have been taken within the last few years, but in the far back, you saw the pickup truck.

With a completely different license plate.

"Why does my dad have your old license plate? That makes no sense," I whispered, looking down as my mind churned with ideas.

"Why did your dad have his father's car in the first place, Amanda?"

I looked at both of them slowly. "Hell if I know."

➸

We both spoke shortly after before Tyler dropped me off at home.

Throughout the rest of the day, I was either doing homework, or stressing about what my father could have been hiding.

When Sunday came along, dad decided for us to eat breakfast together before he went out, and once his waffles were freshly out from the waffle press, we ate in complete silence.

By ten he left in a hurry, and I got dressed out from my pyjamas, and decided on wearing sweatpants and a tee shirt.

Right when I slipped into my socks, a fist banging on the front door rang through the house, and my brows furrowed before rushing down the stairs.

When I got to the front, I swung open the door, revealing Tyler with a freaked out expression.

"What's going on?" I asked worriedly as he stepped foot inside my house before I closed the door.

Looking lower to his attire, I noticed how he was clenching a newspaper rather hard.

"You remember how my mom's a major hoarder right?" He asked, and my brows raised.

"She still is?"

"Yeah, another story," he sighed. "But as she was throwing out stuff, she found the newspaper that she got after the accident and..."

Slowly, he handed me the paper, and on the front over was a young Tyler bending down to grab the soccer ball while the car sped down the street.

"Was this from security footage?" I asked with surprise, and my heart clenched at the sight of Tyler being so vulnerable in the photo.

"Yeah," he confessed. "But look at the car."

Listening to his order, I looked at the pick up truck, but it was hard to make it out fully because the photo was extremely grainy — considering how old it was, I wasn't not surprised.

"Is that..."

"Travis' dad's pick up? Yeah," he nodded. "But the license plate..."

"It's the one that my dad has in his room," I whispered, and he nodded again.

"Does this mean Travis' dad was the one who crashed into you?" I asked slowly.

"Or was it your dad?" He asked warily, and my heart dropped.

➸