forum •Favorite Liar• [one/one]

Started November 26, 2022 by @Dayzed forum

tune

Just as Andy thought she would make it to her car in time, she felt Tamryn body slam her. She fell forward and hit the road, the pavement digging into her skin and drawing out blood. She wanted to get up— she tried to get up— but her legs failed her as she collapsed back to the ground.

Andy looked up at her attacker, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. She could barely see Tamryn’s face because of the glare, but she was sure he could see hers.

“Don’t—“ She paused, trying to catch her breath. She could feel blood begin to trickle down her cheek. “Don’t hurt me.”

Tamryn was on autopilot, his mind running like a machine with one objective repeating again and again- kill, kill, kill.
As soon as he was able to bring the other down with him, he clutched onto the hatchet with his other hand, lifted up, and swung down onto the other person.

Everything was happening so fast, that Tamryn almost didn't catch it. The voice, the familiar face, the texture of her hair that he had seen every day all his life. But the hatchet still connected, going all the way.
Almost.
It missed by centimeters, hitting the pavement beside Andy. He couldn't have stopped the momentum even if he had tried- even if he had known a second before who this person was, because his mind was already poisoned, conditioned to kill. He hadn't hesitated, and because of that, he had almost made the single worst mistake of his life.
Don't hurt me. Were words he never thought he'd hear Andy speak to him. Never. He would never hurt her.
Tamryn's eyes were wide as he stared at Andy's face- she was bleeding, because of him. His whole body froze, stunned. A whole wave of- of- just everything overtook him all at once. Anger, hurt, desperation, sadness, and the need to get away from Andy as soon as possible. To crawl into a hole somewhere and die.
"You-" Came Tamryn's voice, but it broke before he could get any other words out. It's not that he knew what to say- yet he had so many questions, but couldn't force them out of his mouth.

Andy had so many emotions flowing through her at the same time. She had no idea which one to pick. She was angry— so angry— at Tamryn for getting himself into this whole mess. For almost hurting her. For dragging her into his mess. But she was so upset and scared. Both of him and for him.

“Tam…”

Her voice died off as she stared up at him, and for once in her life, she didn’t know what to say. Part of her was glad she was still living, but the other part of her wished that Tamryn wouldn’t have missed.

He was going to jail one way or another. She knew that as a fact. Her soulmate, the person she loved more than herself, was going to leave her. She felt so selfish for thinking that, but it was true. She was going to lose him.

Tamryn's heart had been beating so fast, but now it was pounding with how profound the pain was. It took another moment before Tamryn scrambled to get off of her.
"I'm-" so sorry. But what would that do? What would a sorry fix? Sorry that he would have killed her? How could you undo something like that?
"Andy-" He kept stopping like he had short-circuited or something. What now?
He got off the ground and stood up, the hatchet still in hand. Still considering. Considering? Considering what? Consdiering on covering up the evidence? On killing the person who had figured him out? Tamryn was scared, more so than he had been in his whole life. Was he really going to choose himself over Andy? If he did this, if, could he live with himself?
…
Obviously not. That much was clear. So what were his other options? Run? Run where? What about his parents? What about Andy? Too many questions. Too many things to sort through.
"Leave." Those were the last words that came out of his mouth. What else was he supposed to do? Have a nice chat about what she had seen? What he had done?
Despite trying to put on the tough guy act, as he did with everyone else, you could faintly see his body trembling. A bitter look on his face as he couldn't look at Andy. Why? Why couldn't you just have left it alone?

“Leave. Are you kidding me?”

Her hands shook violently as she forced herself to stand up. She had no idea what she was feeling— anger, pain, disgust, betrayal— but she couldn’t hold all in. She wanted to scream and take all her anger out on him, but she held herself back. Now wasn’t the time.

“I knew there was something off about you. The moment I found those stupid tools in your truck.” Her voice shook as she spoke. “And no. I’m not leaving. Not until you tell me exactly what is going on.”

No, no, no, no, no!
Tamryn swallowed as Andy spoke, unable to hide the absolute guilt he was feeling at the moment. Although he wouldn't look at her, he could see her outline and the way she shook from the corner of his eyes.
"Off about me?!" Tamryn's eyes darted to look at her, he looked not only angry but felt the betrayal sink in. Was this just a thing of when she found the tools, or had she always thought there was something "off about him"? The way she worded it made him think it was the latter.
"If you would have just minded your own business!" Tamryn bite out, clenching his teeth, but not with anger, more so to keep his mouth from trembling and showing how he was mere seconds away from breaking down.
At the last few words that came out of her mouth, Tamryn tilted his head slightly, eyes a dangerous shade of anger now.
"Andy…" He started. "I'm not asking" He hissed, gripping the hatchet harder which had relaxed in his hand. He hadn't meant to do it, but he really wanted her to leave. He wasn't going to do anything, but his actions indicated otherwise.

Andy noticed him tighten his grip around the hatchet, and her eyes immediately hardened. Any sympathy or concern she might have felt for him at that moment was gone. Tamryn was the last person she would’ve expected to threaten her life. He was her best friend. Heck, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. But here he was, holding a hatchet, threatening to end her life if she didn’t leave.

“Kill me, Tamryn.” She hadn’t intended on raising her voice at him, but now, she was full on shouting. “If you think killing me will solve all your problems, then do it? What’s stopping you? You clearly want to.”

Her voice shook as she stepped back. She wanted to pass out. She wanted to simply die, then and there. It was better than dealing with reality. She knew there was a possibility that someone was threatening him into doing this, but she didn’t care. He had crossed a line, and she hated him for it.

(SOBBING)

Tamryn looked taken aback by her demand, it was only then that he noticed how tight his grip was around the handle of the hatchet. He immediately let go, like it was scolding hot and it had burned him. It was too late though, his body's actions pointed in one obvious direction, even though it didn't reflect what he was thinking.
"Why would I-" Tamryn seemed baffled, but knew why she had said it. He was trying to find a way to fix it but here they were. She was screaming at him and he was filled with horror.
"I don't want to!" He threw back at her, now matching the tone of her voice and the rising pitch. "How could you assume I could ever do anything to you?!" He yelled at her, but he was being a hypocrite and the universe knew. The thought had crossed his mind once or twice and it deeply disturbed him.
"I just-" He let go of the breath he had been holding in, looking like he was going collapse for a second, but catching himself. His whole body felt weak like it wanted to give up on him.
It took him a second to gather his thoughts if that was even possible at this point.

"I don't want to do this." He said suddenly, gathering the strength from God knows where to straighten himself out. He wasn't going to act like the victim after what had gone down. He didn't have that right. He was to blame, all the fingers would point to him when evidence was out and there was no use defending himself. Not even to Andy. Would she even believe him now?

(( It’s SO freaking sad T^T but I’m also completely ignoring the fact that Andy’s original character is meant to be an assassin xDD ))

There were so many hints at what Tamryn was up to that she had tried to ignore. She didn’t want to face reality, so she came up with excuses. So many excuses. But now, now that she had seen the evidence for herself, she couldn’t deny what was going on. Only one word rang through the back of her mind.

Murderer, murderer, murderer…

She wanted to go away. She wanted to leave the state and never speak to anyone again. She didn’t care about her dream of becoming a police officer. Her biggest dream was to be with him, to grow old together, but that was all fading away before her eyes.

“Don’t you realize what you’ve done…?” Her voice broke, and she could feel tears streaming down her face. “We could’ve had a future, Tamryn. But you throw that all away, and for what? You’ve ruined lives.”

(BAHAHA i didn't know that! :0 she's such a badass already, i love her so much mannn :'))

Tamryn's mouth went dry at the accusation.
"You think I don't know that?" He breathed. "I know what I've done!" He argued. "I'm the one who has to live with myself!" But it wasn't an excuse, it wasn't even a good attempt at trying to defend himself or justify what he had done.
"Could we have?" He muttered, somehow not believing it.
You've ruined lives. And for some reason he didn't care. In the beginning, he had, but after all this time he had sold himself the lie that he was doing this to protect the people he loved, but was that even good enough to….to murder?
"I did what I had to do." He said firmly, there being no sympathy in his eyes even though he was watching Andy cry. "You would have done the same." He said, though he knew deep inside that maybe Andy wouldn't have done the same. She would have looked for a way out and he hadn't because….well, because he was weak and scared, and although he was tough on the outside he was easily swayed if you hit him in the right points.

(( Yess she’s one of my favorite characters T^^T The original character has killed multiple people in cold blood but it’s fINEEE ))

“Yes, we could have, Tamryn. We could’ve spent the rest of our lives together.” She tried her best to wipe her tears. She hated showing any type of weakness. Especially right then. “How many times have I told you that I love you?”

Her chest tightened as she listened to him try to defend himself. He did what he had to do? So her suspicions were right; maybe he was being threatened into this. But he still went through with it, didn’t he? He still pulled off the murders. But what if he didn’t? Would these people kill him?

She leaned against her car, feeling like she was going to vomit. She had two choices: keep the secret or call the police. She knew which one was the right thing to do, but she knew what would happen if she did.

She let our a sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She was so selfish.

“I don’t know what to do,” she admitted, her voice in a whisper. “I can’t lose you, Tam. I can’t. They’ll put you on death row…”

(XD well, i guess you're discovering a new side of her! (maybe) sometimes my characters surprise me, cause i'll have them be one thing, but then i find out that they have a different side to them, i really love that about building characters!)

Tamryn felt disgusting to be told that he was loved, maybe before she had discovered what he was doing, it was acceptable, but now? How could she still love him? It made Tamryn tense up, shrink into himself, want to disappear.
"You don't mean that." He snapped. Not because he didn't think that she actually meant it, he knew that she meant it, but he wanted her to take it back. He wanted her to actually not meant it.
"Maybe before, but now- Andy, I've killed people, what part are you not understanding? You can't love a murderer" He was pathetic, and even with all of this, he was trying to make this easier for her.

A cold chill ran down his spine at Andy's internal struggle. Didn't know what to do?? She knew exactly what she had to do! Why was she trying to cover for him?! He knew what it meant and it scared the living shit out of him. She genuinely without a doubt loved him. And it was a problem.
Tamryn didn't move, but it felt like he was in the middle of a hurricane of emotions and it was taking everything to not implode. His heart expanded and his face heated up as hot tears streamed down his face.
He wanted to tell her to report him, to turn him in, but he didn't want to go to jail, he didn't want to die. But he also didn't want this to bite her in the ass later if it was found out. She'd get tossed into the slammer along with him before it was his time.
Tamryn licked his lips and opened his mouth. He did not believe he was about to say this.
"Then…don't." His voice was shaky as he pitched it to her. "I can fix this-" You can't fix dead people Tam. Here he was, once again, trying to save himself at the cost of others. When would he realize that this was not the way to do things?
"I'll stop- If you just let me clean the house and cover up the rest, we can act like this never happened-"

(( Oh yeah definitely! Characters kinda just take on their own personality sometimes and it just sticks xD ))

“No, Tamryn. I do. I love you.”

She hated herself for uttering those words. She loved him? How could she love someone who she was taught to hate? Who had hurt so many people? She wanted to convince herself that it wasn’t true, that she didn’t care for him, but she knew that was a lie. He was her soulmate, her reason for existing, and she couldn’t see him die because of his actions.

She watched as tears streamed down Tamryn’s face, and she ignored every alarm going off in her mind as she pulled him close to her. She let his head rest on her shoulder as she wiped his tears and kissed his face.

Murderer, murderer, murderer…

She closed her eyes, letting her own tears trickle down. She was an accomplice. There was no debating that. She had become the very person she hated most in the world.

“Go. Go clean it up. Meet me at home after you’re done. We- we have a lot to talk about.” She took his hand, holding it to her cheek. “But please, Tamryn. Whatever you do, don’t leave me. I wouldn’t be able to take that…”

(yeah! :') and sorry this is so long lmfaoo)

Oh god. He didn't know how to react to that. He wanted to so bad tell her that he loved her with all of his heart, it was part of the reason he was doing this in the first place, but at the same time, it was a death sentence. This wasn't some one-sided love, yet he found himself being comforted when it should have been the other way around. Again, she spoke and soothed him, and he found himself staying quiet and acting like the victim. It did not look good on him and he knew that, but when it came to Andy, it was just different. He didn't know how to describe it other than he melted when it came to her and found himself being an absolute utter mess.

Tamryn hesitate for a second before hugging her, looking down at the floor behind her when he did so. The kiss was like a joke on him. It was such a soft warm thing she did and he didn't deserve it. He had lied to her about everything. He hated himself more than he ever had before with that single act.

"I don't think there are any words I can say to make any of this right, I am so sorry, but that doesn't begin to cover how really sorry I am-" He swallowed back tears, still trying to fight his emotions down. He pulled back slightly and watched as Andy's own tears fell. He had hurt her in more ways than one and the whole thing drove him mad. He was supposed to protect her, not put her in danger.

Taking his hand, Tamryn watched as Andy brought it to her face. And still, she begged him not to leave her. Honestly? The thought had crossed his mind, among other things but it was bunched up in a ball with other things in his mind.
"I won't leave. I owe you that much. I'm one of the worst people to exist in the world, and being loved by someone like that- I can't imagine how you must feel, but I do love you." He closed his eyes, opening them a second later when he was done talking. "It's one of the only things I've been sure about for a long time. You mean so much to me, and I've messed up. Bad. But I swear to you that I'll do anything and everything to mend things. I can't undo what I've done, but I can try to be better." He didn't deserve a second chance, murderers shouldn't be allowed to roam around free, and that included him, no matter what the circumstance was.

Tamryn didn't know how to react around Andy right now. More than anybody she needed the most support right now but he found himself paralyzed. She was strong yet Tamryn was acting like she was made of glass, afraid that if he even touched her slightly she would shatter into a million pieces.

(( Haha you’re all good! ))

She shook her head at the statement. He would do anything to mend things? He would try to fix his mistakes? It was always that way with Tamryn; he tried to do everything on his own, and if he made a mistake, he would never ask for help. She knew it would get him in trouble one day, but she never realized how much trouble.

But who was she to complain about his flaw? She had done the same thing. She had never told Tamryn about the men who attacked her. She had kept just as many secrets from him as he had from her. But that would change now. No more secrets. They would find a way to get through this together, meaning that they had to be completely open with each other.

“No, Tam. This is not on you anymore. We’re going to find a way to fix this,” she insisted. “I haven’t been completely honest with you either. But when you get home, we’ll change that.”

She rested her head on Tamryn’s shoulder, taking in a shaky breath. She felt like a huge burden had been taken off her shoulders. There were no more secrets, no more lies, but was this all worth it? She had discovered that the love of her life was a criminal— no, a murderer— and yet she still found herself here, holding him. She was ignoring everything she had been taught for him, and she despised herself for it.

“When we get home, I need you to tell me everything, Tamryn.” She reached up, gently holding his cheek. “Please. No more lies.”

Even though Andy insisted, Tamryn didn't look too convinced. He knew Andy would help because it was just who she was but this wasn't on her. It was on him and he shouldn't be helped with cleaning up his own messes, it wasn't fair to her.
To hear that Andy hadn't been too truthful with him didn't come as a surprise. He knew she had been hiding something after that emergency text that day, he just hadn't pushed it so as to not stress her out more than she already had been. In a way, he supposed he would have done the same as Andy had done. Gone around looking for answers until he found the horrible truth.

"I see, so I guess we both have a bit of explaining to do," He said nervously, shoving his hands into his pockets.

As Andy rested her head against Tamryn, he could feel the relief that came from her. His eyes softened as everything processed in his mind. She had willingly thrown everything out the window for him and that was something he could not afford to mess up this time.
Tamryn looked down at Andy when she spoke again, feeling the warmth of her hand against his skin.

"I will, I promise," He said, his whole body screaming at him to finish here, get into his car and take off, but he wouldn't do that to Andy, he wouldn't hurt her like that anymore. There was literally no way out for him anymore, all his exits had been blocked. His conscious or what little of it remained, wouldn't let him run, wouldn't let him leave. And even if he did live on the run from now on, he still had people who would be looking for him and it would end the same way. Dead. The only choice left was to face it head-on as best as they could.
"I won't lie anymore.." He said softly, almost sounding like a whisper. "Now let me finish here, I'll meet you at the house when I'm done," He said taking a step back. He crouched down and picked up the hatchet, one hand in his pocket and the other loosely holding the weapon. He looked tired holding that hatchet like it held the weight of everything he had done.

(would you like to time skip? :0)

(( Yes yes :0 ))

After hugging him one last time, Andy got back into her car and headed home. She wanted to lay on her bed for hours, crying and moping about how horrible her life was, but she couldn’t allow herself to do that. She already felt like she was going in a downward spiral, and it was up to her to find ways to keep herself afloat. So, instead of allowing herself to stay in her misery, she went around the house and began to make beds, do laundry, and make breakfast. Anything to keep her mind off of what she’d experienced.

In a weird, demented way, the events of that morning had somewhat mended her relationship with Tamryn. Yes, she had just discovered her best friend was a serial killer. No, she wasn’t going to simply allow him to keep killing people. But at least there were no more secrets. They would find a way to fix all of this together.

Andy sighed as she pulled a loaf of bread out of the cabinets. She kept telling herself that they would fix this, but how? She could runaway, start a new life with Tamryn, and put all this behind them. But even if they managed to pull that off, she doubted the men who had been threatening Tamryn would give up on hunting them down. They had to figure out away to get rid of that problem.

Just as Andy was having these thoughts, she heard the front door open, and her heart sped up ever so slightly when she saw Tamryn there. The morning had been so eventful, and she wasn’t quite sure of what to say to him. Instead, she went over and embraced him.

“Hey, Tam,” she whispered. “I made breakfast for you.”

Andy, surprisingly, had fixed up a lot since he was gone. She had changed out of her sweatshirt and stained jeans into a long floral skirt and a turtleneck. She had put on her makeup, all but hiding the exhaustion in her eyes.

(welcome to my stupidly long essay, sorry in advance again :'))

It had been hours before Tamryn was completely off the hook. He had cleaned the best he could- the best one man could. He had gotten changed and thrown his old clothes into the fire, cleaned out the driver seat of any possible evidence that could be traced back to him. He threw the hatchet into the trunk once again, that was the only space he had not made an effort to clean. The interior was smudged with dark areas and it still held the bloodied tools he had used before. He would need to deep clean that later.

Tamryn's face flushed as he walked down the aisles, skimming over the items the store had. What the fuck was he doing here? As if a present could make up for everything. Still, he felt it was appropriate. He could never begin to repay Andy for what she had done- was doing for him. Prior to the events that had unfolded that day, Tamryn had gotten something for Andy's birthday. Something told him that he should gift it to her now, the time was right.
Carrying a bag in his hand, Tamryn made his way back to the car. He made a few more stops until he headed home.

When he arrived at the door, Tamryn paused to collect himself before entering. He blinked a few times as he peeked through the door to see the house the cleanest it had been in a while. Tamryn had changed as well, his hair was still wet from taking a shower at a gym, something he did after every job. He had changed into his regular clothes and in his hand, he held a small present bag. Before he could say anything Andy was already hugging him.
Right then, everything felt right, like he could finally touch her without breaking her. He hugged her tightly and while tears threatened to ruin the moment again, he closed his eyes tightly. Not now.
He pulled away from the hug slowly, not sure if he should let her go just yet.

"Hey Andy.." He mirrored her response. His eyes went from looking at her to slowly looking past her and into the kitchen. Breakfast? Really? For him? God, he wanted to bash his head into the wall repeatedly for being, well, himself. She deserved better, someone who wouldn't almost kill her. She was way out of his league.
Tamryn's cheeks at this point had darkened into a deep shade of red, his eyes shifted to the side, now looking at the ground. His hand was already covering his mouth, trying to shield his face so that Andy wouldn't see how he was melting on the inside. He forced himself to look back at Andy. This wasn't anything new, Andy making breakfast, but the way she had cleaned up- she looked perfect, and while Tamryn took his eyes off of her for a second, he couldn't help but look back and admire how beautiful she looked. Fuck. He was really head over heels for her.
"I really appreciate that Andy, you didn't have to- you must be so exhausted-" He brought his hand to brush away a wisp of her hair away from her face. He examined her face, there was a fresh wound on her forehead from when he had tackled her. He cringed as he thought back on it.

"You uhm. You look really good." He said stiffly, seeming awkward after this morning. "So pretty…" He muttered, looking down at the shiny red bag in his hand.
"I got you something. I know this seems like I'm giving you this as a thank you and to mend things and I partially am, but I've had this planned for a while now, I just thought I should give it to you today because words fail me and you deserve every nice thing in the world" He stopped. He was starting to go on a rant. He cleared his throat and offered her the bag.
"It's not much, some snacks, a few other things, and the main thing, a small box which is wrapped in white wrapping paper" He seemed nervous as he handed it to her. You would think he was proposing to her with how shaken up he seemed, but he was not. It didn't matter though, because he felt like he was walking on eggshells and every step from now on had to be made with the purpose of fixing himself and the mess he had created for himself, and the beginning was here, starting with Andy, and doing anything possible to make it up to her.

( Oh nah don’t apologize, I love reading these things :) )

Andy watched as Tamryn began to go flustered, staring at her and placing his hand over his mouth, and she couldn’t help but blush as well. Yes, he was a murderer, but he was also her best friend. Well, even more than her best friend. She had no idea what to call their relationship anymore.

She brushed the wet hair from his face before running her fingers down his cheek. “You look adorable when you blush, you know that?”

As he brushed the hair from her forehead, she felt his fingertips graze her skin as he paused to exam her wound. She sighed softly, taking his hand and holding it to her cheek. She knew there was nothing she could say to ease his guilt. So, instead of using words, she tried her best to show him that she still loved him.

When he offered her the bag, it was her turn to get incredibly flustered. Out of all the ways she had expected him to try to make it up to her, this was the last thing on her mind. He had gotten her presents before, sure, but this felt… different. Since he’d confessed to her a day or two ago, everything had felt different between them. But not in a bad way.

After thanking Tamryn for the gift with the little bit of words she was able to muster, she took Tamryn’s hand and led him over to the sofa. There, as she leaned back into him, she began to open the present he had given her.

(<3)

His eyes widened slightly at the compliment, his face gaining temperature which he was sure Andy could feel.
To think that just a few hours ago he was wielding a weapon against Andy and now she was calling him adorable….he wasn't sure how to feel about that. It made his heart expand with warmness, but there was a different feeling there too, something akin to guilt.

"I- I'm-" He stuttered, his eyes drawn to hers mid-inspection on her wounds. Andy took his hand and held it to her face, it was something Andy did a lot and he loved it. It showed him that despite being who he was, she was not scared of him and instead welcomed him.
Seeing Andy get flustered increased his fidgetiness, he was just as anxious as he looked.

Sitting on the sofa his heartrate accelerated a little as Andy leaned into him. She was still so trusting of him and that scared him, because he didn't even trust himself.
Tamryn watched Andy open the gift and take out the items one by one. The first thing she took out was…chocolate. Okay, cliche kind of, looks more like a valentine's gift right now, but it's not like he had time to stop by any fancier place- which he would of, but he didn't want to keep Andy waiting. There was a thin small book that Tamryn had written in, flipping through the pages it said things like "redeem for free breakfast", "shopping day on me", and a typical childish "one free warm hug". There was more to it, but Tamryn had meant it as a throwback to when they were kids. Andy had gifted one to him at that time which he never used because Tamryn had been an ass back then. They didn't exactly get off on the right foot and it took a while for Tamryn to warm up to Andy.

There were other small gifts in the bag too (i'll let you decide on that cause i'm not sure what Andy would like :')) and then the main gift, which was the white wrapped box.
"They uhm, reminded me of you- your eyes specifically-" He cut himself off as the box was torn open and revealed two earrings in a teardrop shape, they weren't big by any means, but they had cost him a pretty penny. They were handcrafted and the quality was there, the color of the gem was a honey color, very soft on the eyes, and delicate looking.
"There were others too, and I nearly went crazy looking for the perfect one, but then I found those-" Tamryn didn't know much about jewelry except rings, so the name of the gem escaped him.
There was a pause as he watched Andy look at them.
"Okay, I had a little help from the store employees" He admitted, trying to add a bit of humor to the situation as he waited for Andy to say something, which came out as a clear way to distract himself from the nerves.

(( they’re sO freaking cute T^T ))

She shouldn’t have felt this giddy. People had died because of her and Tamryn, but yet, she was sitting on the sofa with the person who had killed them, opening gifts and talking with him. She knew she was going against everything she believed, but felt her heart melt as she went through the gifts. Tamryn knew exactly what she wanted, and he had done this all for her. She knew she was supposed to hate him, but she felt the opposite.

She came across the book and laughed, flipping through the pages. Her heart fluttered as she glanced at him. “You remember?” she asked softly. “I gave you one just like this when we were kids. You hated it, but…”

She pushed back the tears as she continued to go through the gifts. She was so, so happy sitting here with him. For once, she allowed to relax and forget about everything that had gone down between them. She was here now with him, and that was all that mattered.

Eventually, after she had gone through the rest of the gifts, she reached the box at the bottom of the bag. She opened it, and for a moment, she went silent. It became incredibly difficult to breathe.

“Tam,” she breathed, “you got these for me?”

She immediately took off her hoop earrings and put the new earrings on before turning to look at Tamryn. She felt tears prick her eyes as she searched his face. Was she seriously crying over a pair of earrings?

“I could seriously kiss you right now.” Her face flushed red, and she let out a laugh as she tried to cover it with her hands. “I just can’t believe you did all this for me…”

(jdhbfgsjdfh i knoooowww i love them so much !!! <3)

"Of course, I remember, and I didn't hate it," He said, putting an emphasis on the hate part, which kind of meant that he had at the time. "I wanted to use it, but I got it taken from me," He said, a sort of bitter look on his face as he remembered.
"I got it back though," He said proudly for a moment before he continued with the next part. "Not before it got torn to pieces…" He said quietly. Tamryn didn't let Andy know but the one page that was almost entirely in one piece, he had framed and kept in his drawer underneath some clothes. It was the one where it said "help with homework at my house :)". Tamryn had been failing his grades at the time due to the nature of his parents and basically disregarded school as unimportant. He had already failed a year and the teachers didn't know what to do with him because he wouldn't cooperate.

Seeing Andy's reaction, he stiffened. Was that a good reaction or a bad one??? He panicked and he kept looking from the gift to Andy. Was there something wrong with it ? Maybe it was too much-
"Y-yeah.." Was all he could say, unsure if he should go on a rant again. He watched Andy replace her old ones with the new pair. They dangled slightly from the earlobe and shone, almost as beautiful as her eyes, which sparkled in the sun when the light hit them just right. Tamryn's eyes shone a bit lighter in the sun too, but Andy's- they were more golden, which reminded him of the summer, his favorite season. They were warm and inviting and- he snapped out of it when Andy spoke again.

A kiss? He blushed as the sweet tone of her laugh came out. Just one of the many things that had made him fall in love with her. It was more of a polite nervous laugh than her usual free loud laugh that he loved so much, and it was the first he had heard it, which put a smile on his face.
"I wouldn't mind that…" He said softly but jumped at the opportunity to reply to Andy's last comment. He didn't want to make it seem like he wanted something in return, that's not why he had done this.
"I think you deserve that and a lot more" He gave an awkward dorky smile. "You've been with me through a lot of things and I haven't exactly been the best….but you're still here. With me. And I don't know exactly how to thank you properly, so I got you a gift- I still don't think it's enough, but it's a start" There was a relaxed smile on his face as his eyes stared at the earrings and the way they moved when she had covered her mouth. It complimented her so well, Tamryn was glad he had gone with those. It was perfect. She was perfect.

(( TT^TT ))

His smile. Oh, how she loved his smile. Despite everything they had gone through recently, she still found herself hanging onto every word he said and taking every opportunity to try and see his smile again. She knew that all of her friends and family would disagree with their relationship, but she didn’t care. They hadn’t seen this side of Tamryn.

She placed the bag of gifts beside the sofa before turning to Tamryn. She stared up at him as she slipped her arms around him, tracing designs on the back of his neck with her fingertips. She wasn’t sure if he was joking about the kiss, but Andy had been waiting for this moment for a long time. She couldn’t chicken out now.

“Tam, I love you. I know you didn’t believe me when I said I wanted us to have a future together, but I do,” she said softly. “Even if it may be difficult. I can’t imagine living my life without you in it.”

She sat there a few moments with him, her eyes flickering from his eyes to his lips. She had had feelings for Tamryn for years, but never had she been this confident around him. She knew the confidence wouldn’t last forever, so, before it died away, she did the one thing she had been wanting to do for years. She leaned forward and kissed him.

(sorry it's taking me a while to write this out, i'm like,,, short-circuiting over here XD)

Tamryn had been with a lot of women, but none came close to how Andy made him feel. The feeling of Andy lovingly tracing shapes on the back of his neck was dangerous. It was intoxicating to be so loved and so close to the person his heart melted for. He listened to her words and his lips parted slightly to say something before she was done talking, but decided against it until she was done.
"Sorry…I just found it hard to believe after you found out the type of person I could be- the person who I am. I can't imagine living without you either, you have no idea how terrified I was of you finding out" He followed her eyes which gradually looked down.
That was the moment he grew flustered again.

When Andy pressed her lips against his, he melted and closed his eyes, relishing in the moment. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. Her lips were soft and the feeling was amazing. He very softly and gently took the lead, letting out a satisfied breath after a couple of seconds had passed and he pulled away.
Tamryn's face was probably the reddest it had ever been in his entire life. His eyes looked over her features, he looked somewhat dazed after that, eyes bright and enamored by it all. He had no words after that, like Andy had stolen any thought he had or was attempting to form.
"I think I'm in love," He said, even though he had already confessed his feelings to her. "I'm sorry for making your life hell back then and even now." He looked down, avoiding her gaze as he spoke. "I love you so much, know that I would do anything for you and nothing that I've done hasn't been without the intention of keeping everyone safe for as long as I can, including you"

(( Haha you’re all good xD ))

She loved the feel of his kisses. She wasn’t sure how the experience would be at first; she had never kissed a man before, and she was nervous that she didn’t do well. But Tamryn seemed to enjoy it, and so did she.

Andy kept her forehead pressed to his even after the kiss has ended, and she eventually gained the courage to open her eyes and look into his. He was so, so flustered, but so was she. She knew that they had a lot to talk about regarding the murders and the men who had kidnapped her the day before, but for now, Andy wanted to ignore that. She just wanted to sit there with him for hours, kissing him and enjoying his company.

“I’m in love with you too, Tamryn,” she whispered, running her thumb over his lips. “Ive wanted to be with you for so long. Longer than I can remember.”

She slid her hands into his hair as she planted a kiss on his forehead. Just days earlier, she had been terrified to confess anything to him. She knew he loved him, yes, but deep down inside, she knew that he was hiding something from her. Now that she knew what that dark secret was, it felt much easier to confess to him about her love for him.

Andy kissed him again, and although it was shorter, she seemed a lot more confident about it.

“Tam, I don’t know how you feel about a relationship now with everything that’s going on,” she whispered. “But I’m ready for one if you are.”