"Zia," and I turn my face to see the owner of the voice—Tytas.
"Vik, Vik," I call him, and he hears me. I know it, but he doesn't move. "I have to go," I say,
"Get off her," Tytas says from behind,
Vik looks at me and glances at Tytas at the back, "It's better you walk home yourself." He says,
"I said—" Tytas groans,
I quickly turn around and look at his scary gaze, "I'm coming. You can't come in here." I say,
"Now you sure you won't be here with me?" Vik says,
I pull his hands off carefully and turn to Tytas again, "Please stay outside," I say,
"Zia—" He holds his tongue, "Yes," He says and leaves the room,
"You haven't told him? That you take care of me." Vik asks, and I just look at him. "Why not?" He asks,
Because your father said so and—I don't want him to be worried or angry.
"I will tell you one more time, princess," He says and holds my face,
"Vik—" I pause him,
"If you're not going to leave him now, you'll be stuck with him forever." He says,
I look at him, mystified,
"Why don't you ask him about that night? The night of the accident," He says,
That night—he came to me—sweating.
Now, my heart flutters not with the butterflies but with moths in the dark, empty stomach.
"He was with me," I say the truth,
And his eyes are wide open, forcing the sleeping pill that controls his melatonin.
"Heh—fuck, that's how crazy he is—" Vik says upsettingly and laughs the pain out.
Suddenly, someone grabs my hand and pulls me away from Vik.
"Tytas!" I say,
"Shall we go? It's over time." Tytas says, "You're fucking alive and seem fine—Vik," he glares at Vik, "Take your hands off my girlfriend before I cut your hands off." He groans,
Vik says nothing, and I touch Tytas's chest, which is pounding like crazy. "Let's go," I say, pulling his sleeves.
"Does she know?" Vik shouts,
Fuck,
"what you did," Vik says,
As I look up at Tytas's face, I see that he's getting quieter and quieter, and his breathing is rising and rising. Then, I pull him out immediately. It is the quietest drive I have ever felt from Tytas. I can hear the air conditioning blowing quite clearly.
"You haven't told me that you've been seeing him." He opens the conversation.
I turn to see him, "Mr. Vanderbilt—he told me he needed the extra care, and I—" I say,
"I can presume that there's not just you in that building." He says in a steady voice.
I say nothing,
Then, he stops the car, sits still, and turns to me, "What did he do to you?" He asks,
"He didn't do anything," I say, but he doesn't seem to believe me, "I promise," I say,
"I saw he put his hands on you, Zia." He says,
"Probably because of the effect of the pills." I try to explain.
He sighs and stares at me, "I don't want you to be with him—if he hurts you again—" He pauses,
"Tytas, Can you tell me what happened between you two? After—I left—before you came to my house." I ask,
His stares still lock on mine. "What did he tell you?" he asks. He holds my hands, both hands, raises them over his face, and kisses them.
"Why don't you tell me?" I ask back, "I would rather hear from you." I say as I gaze into those green eyes.
I really want to know the real deep side of Tytas, the side that everybody has warned me about—I don't know that I'm ready for it, but it's time.
"I just told him not to bother you—or even come near you," He pauses as he holds my hands tightly, "He came to the party and talked—-shit about—-what he had done to you," He gulps and glances at me, "That fucker knew that it would drive me crazy and mad—-'cause I'm madly in love with you, Zia—" He kisses the back of my hands again, "You said I needed to clear things out with him—and I didn't want him to be in the middle of our relationship anymore. Zia—I was so afraid that you would leave me and I wouldn't be able to be with you, and—you wouldn't see me in your eyes anymore."
"When you said—you put him in justice—what did you mean by that?" I ask,
His green eyes are so fucking green at this moment, and I don't know is it good or bad.
"I cut him off from the team—cut him off from the gentleman club—he couldn't take it well—he said and threatened to take you from me, so I punched him, he punched me, we fought that night," He says while holding my hands like he's afraid that I will take them away from him anytime.
"He was so drunk—he drank a lot and took a bunch of stuff—I chased him out—from my house—he took off—and we found out later he got in a car accident." He says,
I bite my lower lip,
If Tytas told me the truth without hiding anything inside the story, that means Vik exaggerated the story—way too much. But it seemed to be something more, I'm sure of that. Vik wouldn't probably กระวนกระวาย repeating and reminding me over and over again to be free—from Tytas and what he might do to me. Over and above that, the way Tytas told me about Vik threatening him to take me away also justifies the reason why he overstated those things.
I was unpersuaded by both of them. They might tell the truth and the lie, but the things that I really pay attention to are not the facts about the story. It's the unhidden truths of Tytas' capability of doing something that is called—monstrous or minacious. The words that struck me the most and hurt me the most were I was always open to any love that someone gave to me and accepted every bad aspect of that person. Am I?
I was trying to understand that person if—I was trying to know about them. No one fucking perfect; I am not perfect. I have a dark side even deeper, and if Tytas has one, I will not be surprised, so I don't judge and won't budge or run away, but I should not let someone treat me or play me mentally to figure out how far I can handle them, or how far they can do to me.
Tytas knew—Vik was right. People might not know the real story behind my terrifying situation back then, but people talked, people gossiped, and people had connections. If they would like to know stuff, they fucking could.
Does Tytas also want to manipulate me like others try to do?
But do I like or love him enough to let him do that?
I like him very much, but I can't say that word out of my mouth or even in my mind because,
—I saved it; I saved that word for someone I used to know. And I wait to feel that way again, but I don't know when the time will come.
"Say something, Zia," Tytas says,
I breathe in and sigh lightly. "Alright, can you take me home?" I smile.
He hesitates. "Yes," he says, putting his left hand on the wheel. His right-hand holds my hand, not letting mine go.