Chapter 19: Take What You Get

Silence.

Some of the best ideas were thought up in periods of silence. I can just imagine the thinkers of the world all wondering over the mysteries of the universe and their ideas bouncing around each other playfully in a big open field…of silence.

I tap my fingers on the table.

Silence is great for concentration.

Now what's a 7 letter word for 'without life'?

Tap, tap, tap.

Void? Unborn? Artificial?

Tap…

Screw this!

I toss my pencil to the table clumsily, causing it to clatter to the floor instead. But nevermind that for now. Something has to be done about this…silence!

I spin around in the chair and push the crossword puzzle book that I had been using to distract myself with, aside. There has to be something entertaining to do around here when nobody else is home besides watching reruns on tv or staring at the clock ticking time slowly by. This would be a long 4 weeks if this is all I can come up with. I'm not even that good at these puzzles so I don't know why I even thought it was a good idea. I mean, come on. How many days was it before I gave up on Kai's puzzle box? Like three? And that was BEFORE Tyson got his hands on it and I had to hide it better. So well in fact, that I'm not sure where it is anymore… So yeah, puzzles? Not for me. I'd probably be better suited at…drawing? Wait, no, we've already been over my talent in that.

I shuffle out of the kitchen and down the hall. Maybe it's time to finally unpack my things! Not that I have many things to unpack but I might find something useful in one of the boxes. Maybe I'll find Kai's puzzle box…

This probably isn't what you're really interested in though is it? You probably want to know what happened with Tyson. The truth is…

Nothing.

In reality he ended up working late and our all-out effort went down the drain. By the time he got home, Max was too busy freaking out about what to pack and I was…otherwise detained. We never got the chance after that to even tell him that there had been a change in plans. Then Kai and Max departed and it was never addressed formally. And, if I might add, this departure was a lot less…dramatic? Probably because I was too busy making sure Max wouldn't talk himself out of it again. Especially not knowing Tyson's feelings on the matter. I'm sure Tyson knew somehow though. I sensed it in the way he had started staying late at work nearly every day and returning only to disappear into his room to sleep. He wasn't the type to avoid eating or socializing so there couldn't be any other reason except him feeling betrayed somehow. Max was so torn about it that he almost didn't leave. But I had pushed him on his way and that was that.

That was three days ago.

Since then, I had been trying to get Tyson to pay attention to me. I'd continued to do my usual of making breakfast and dinner. It seemed to be disappearing but not within my sight. When did Tyson get so quiet and sneaky? He had to be angry with me. After he had made such a big deal about not being able to go himself and then I go off and offer the chance to Max instead? Who wouldn't be angry at that?

Ah! I know!

I toss whatever I was holding back into the box and stand up, suddenly being struck with an idea that would solve both my problems. (Yeah these boxes will never be unpacked).

A knock at the door as I enter the hallway throws me off though. A visitor? I wasn't expecting anyone… My heart stops a second when a fearful thought crosses my mind. Kai's father must have known I was alone and decided it was the best time to attack. Of course I stop to relax myself. Geez Ray, all those crime show reruns Max watches are starting to make you paranoid. Why on earth would he knock if he was going to attack? I must have lost my mind…

I walk to the door feeling a bit sheepish and slightly ashamed of myself as I open it to see who has decided to interrupt my day. Standing on the porch is…a little girl? I look around to see if anyone else is around before looking back down at the tiny figure.

"Uh…can I help you?" I ask, a little unsure. She holds up a box and on closer inspection I realize that it's a box of candy.

"Please buy some!" she bursts out shyly, closing her eyes and hiding behind the box as if it's a shield. I smile at how I could ever think such an adorable girl was some secret spy. (Yes the thought had crossed my mind). See Ray, it's just a girl selling candy. No need to be paranoid. Good thing Kai left me an allowance…and wasn't here to see me spend it on junk I probably didn't need. Maybe I could spend the rest of my boredom in the gym later. I'm sure there will be plenty opportunities if this is how things are looking so far…

I told the girl to hold on a moment while I went to go grab some money. After I had successfully bought waaaay more than I probably should have, I sent the girl off with a cheerful smile and a wave. I look down at my purchase guiltily.

Well…it was worth it! The look on her face had been so grateful and excited. It just makes you feel so warm and fuzzy inside. But, I don't have time to sit and daydream about candy bars and cute little girls. I have something to do!

I toss the candy bars aside on the couch, or the chair, or the table (I'm not really sure which as I wasn't paying much attention), and move on.

Curing boredom mission go! I shower and dress and bundle myself up, and then I'm off into the outside world again.

I take a deep breath of the cold air and sigh.

This is going to work out if I have to tie him down with duct tape.

Tyson couldn't hide forever and it wouldn't be just us for that long.

Of course, finding his office (or at least finding him IN his office) was not as easy as finding Kai's. His job was much less formal and because of that his office wasn't really an office at all. It was more like a desk hidden in the corner, abandoned and hardly ever used. Tyson's job was much more 'out in the field' since he had to work in promoting the business. This involved more personal involvement and face-to-face interacting with the public. The past week or so had actually been a big promotion time for the BBA, which is also why Tyson had been coming home later from all the events and out-of-office travelling to put out advertisements. He had to make an appearance at the tournament registration booths and other places where people would be attracted by his fame. The job fit Tyson's personality rather well, but I had a feeling he would much rather be participating in the events than just hosting them.

"He might be back soon, the event planned for the day was on the brink of being cancelled anyway because of a technical problem at the promotion location. He isn't one to really tell 'no' to though." The secretary I had managed to track down smiles sheepishly at her own disclosure. She almost appeared to feel shameful for talking bad about her 'superior' but she tossed it aside to motion me towards a waiting area. "You're free to roam around for a while until we know for sure where he is. If anything he always shows up for lunch!" she laughs and goes about her business without another acknowledgement to me.

She's much nicer than Kai's secretary. I wonder if they pair them that way to be efficient or if it's just random. I could see Kai firing a bunch of secretaries before they found the right one to suit his needs and personality. I wonder if he really had that much power here. It wasn't like he was in charge. He'd only been there for a little over a year. His authority probably didn't mean anything when it came to those kind of matters. Maybe I'll ask him when he gets back.

I stop to consider my options before asking a random employee where the lunchroom is and deciding to wait there for a bit. I should have called to see what his assignments were for the day before venturing all the way out here just to find him gone. It was nice to know that he had seemed to break away from the 'training' he'd been stuck in for months. I wondered if he had taken my advice and worked to get better at his job or if the training really was just training and had happened to finally end. Or the 'promoting' part was easier than the 'planning' part and he'd just found his niche. Just my luck that he happened to find it when I was looking for him. You win some you lose some.

The phone Kai had ordered me to keep with me at all times starts to ring before I even get to the door to enter the cafeteria and I fumble it out of my coat pocket, almost dropping it before answering it the way Max had showed me before.

"Hello?" I ask half panicked from the anxiety of trying to answer it as if it would explode or something if I didn't answer immediately. Kai had that effect on people. God forbid I accidentally take long enough for it to go to voicemail. That would probably be a whole other conversation that I would be happy never having.

"Where are you?" Kai returns, not sounding so pleased anyway. I guess we can't always avoid doing SOMETHING wrong anyway.

"Well hello to you to." I throw back, not at all thrown off by his tone.

"I tried you at the house and nobody answered."

"That could be because I'm not AT the house." I smirk. "I'm not a caged animal you know." He doesn't answer right away and that makes me think that maybe he wasn't in a joking mood. I look at my watch to see what time it is and count back the hours between us. "It's like 3am there, is everything okay?" He lets out a heavy sigh.

"Yeah." He doesn't give me anything more than that. I half guessed that 3 days with Max without any relief was probably wearing on him. He'd been much better at calling me daily this time around and Max had given me updates as well. He was having a great time and things were going pretty smoothly. Kai wasn't much of a talker but he said that Max wasn't as useless as he had anticipated so I assumed that meant they were getting along.

"If it makes you feel any better, I wish I could be anywhere else but here right now too." I offer, not divulging any detail about my whereabouts or answering that question for him.

"I won't say what I want to say. I can assume things aren't going well with Tyson?" I feel like I know what he wanted to say and it was true. I COULD be there with him right now instead of standing outside of a cafeteria 'hoping' to have a chance encounter with someone who was making it more than obvious that he DIDN'T want to have that encounter with ME. But, no regrets now.

"Where's Max?" I change the subject instead. Usually around this time in our conversations Max breaks in and steals the phone to gush on about his day. But it seemed pretty quiet in the background and there wasn't any other indications that our exchange was in danger of being interrupted.

"I sent him to his room."

"Nice job, Daddy."

"Don't ever say that again."

"Sorry…"

"Excuse me." A voice behind me makes me jump and I realize that I had been blocking the door. I step out of the way quickly and mumble an apology barely hiding my embarrassment, not only of standing in the way but of what I had just been saying. I had forgotten I was in a public place and wondered if anyone else was around to eavesdrop. I take a glance around but there (thankfully) doesn't seem to be anyone else nearby.

"Did you hear what I said?" Kai's voice through the phone brings me back to him.

"Wait, what? I'm sorry, there was someone else talking." I apologize hoping he'll repeat whatever it was. He just sighs again.

"It wasn't important. You seem to be busy so I'll let you go."

"Wait, no. It wasn't…" The phone beeps to let me know the call had ended. "…you…" I frown and debate whether to call him back before shoving the phone back into my pocket. Something was bothering him that he didn't want to talk about but bothering him more wouldn't make him want to tell me what it is. I knew he was still upset that I hadn't catered to his will and gone with him. He'd probably never thought that it would have ended up like this. But here we were. Not feeling as zealous about my mission as before, I turn away from the cafeteria door and walk off in the other direction. However, at the end of the hallway waiting to interrupt my brooding is Tyson's secretary.

"Oh, I found you!" she exclaims. "I wasn't sure if you were still here." She takes a brief pause to make sure she's caught my attention before continuing with what she had come to tell me. "The management called and said they made it to the site okay. Here's the address if you want to go catch him." She hands me a piece of paper with an address on it. "If you're taking the bus just make sure it's the 255. They stop right in front and don't take many extra stops on the way. The next one should be around shortly." She smiles and wishes me luck before she goes back towards her desk. I look at the piece of paper and shrug. Why the hell not? I have nothing better to do…

I catch the bus just in time and it isn't long before it arrives at the address on the paper. When I step off the bus I can see why they would have had 'technical difficulties'. The site in a small outside theatre that is secluded from the other buildings in the areas. It would be hard to hook up the equipment needed for the extravaganzas that the BBA usually throws. But somehow they had managed because there's Tyson, on stage, cheering on the crowd as a small local battle is starting in the middle of them. He showed no signs of being any different than he normally is. You'd never know that he was hiding from his best friends and burying his feelings instead of expressing them the way he usually does. And it feels…nostalgic. Almost like, out of all of us, Tyson was the least changed by 'growing up'. Despite his shortcomings, he still had a light that attracted those who wanted to share it with him. And they all loved it. It was only a small match but the crowd was going crazy about it. I'm sure those bladers felt like champions just being up there and hearing them all go wild.

I hide myself in the crowd until the match is over and everyone is departing, then I slink my way to the stage. Tyson is otherwise distracted by greeting his fans as they crowd around all wanting their share of acknowledgement. They clear out almost as quickly as they gather, too excited to express what they are really feeling as they go off to find someone to burst out their joy to. I remember those days. Before deciding I wanted that feeling to be more.

"Hey, can I have your autograph?" I ask, faking eagerness.

"Of cour…" he stops short when he looks over at me. "Very funny, Ray. What are you doing here?" He smiles at a few kids that wave at him, the action counteracting the clipped words he's giving to me.

"How else would I track you down?" I say proudly, as if being there was some sort of accomplishment. He waits for the remaining kids to turn away before he rolls his eyes at me.

"Do you want me to apologize?" he asks with a sour face. I twist my face in partial annoyance. He was being combative and I didn't come there to fight.

"You have nothing to apologize for…yet." I smirk and he rolls his eyes again.

"I'm working." He states as if that matters.

"Yeah, it was a good show. A GREAT show. You looked…so you." He shoves me out of the way to walk over to where the equipment is set up.

"Give it a rest already. And I'm not apologizing." He starts to gather up the things on stage as a group of men gather to pack everything up.

"I just said you don't have to," I say in a more serious tone so he doesn't think I am joking again. He ignores me and keeps going about his business. I consider leaving. Maybe this had been a mistake. He wasn't ready for this yet and I was pushing him into something that made him seem…un-Tyson. Clearly it was more than just anger that was eating away at him.

"Just tell me why." He blurts out furiously, throwing what was left on stage into a box and handing it to one of the others as they all departed towards a van.

"Why?" I ask, not quite understanding. Why what? There were too many things to consider before choosing which 'why' he was referring to. Why didn't we tell him beforehand? Why didn't we discuss it with him first? Why didn't Max say no? And a million others I could ponder over before choosing which 'why' was the right one.

"Why not me?" I almost want to cry but remembering the conversation with Max that had led to my decision, I forget about feeling sorry. Instead I give him my most sincere look and try a backwards approach. He might not listen if I jump right into an explanation. Besides, what could I say that he really wanted to hear anyway? No reason would probably be good enough to justify picking Max over him when I had known all too well how much he had struggled with not being able to go. This made his jealousy worse than just hating Kai, but Max too? Max would never do something like that. Not to Tyson and not willingly like that.

"Can I ask you a question before I answer that?" I make sure to make eye contact with him so that his mind doesn't wander off to something that wasn't so serious. But for once he didn't seem like he has been swayed by such a deep conversation. I don't think Max was the only one who hid his real feelings behind a smile. Somewhere inside the both of them was a person who felt hurt just like the rest of us.

"What is it?" he asks nervously. He starts to look a little less angry and a lot more wary. He starts to shuffle back and forth on his feet like he's anticipating something harsh is going to come out of my mouth. But it wasn't like I wanted to attack him. I had never wanted to attack him on any occasion. I had unintentionally done so numerous times in the past few weeks and the fact that he never shows that those kind of things bother him had made me forget that. I can feel it now however in the distance he is keeping between us.

"How do you feel when you're out here doing your job?" I ask the question sternly but I add a hint of curiousness to my tone so it doesn't sound as demanding. He relaxes, the question not being as threatening as he had anticipated, as he stops to think about it. He looks up to his right, past me, in concentration.

"Energized? No, maybe…proud or hopeful?" He meets my eyes again in a much softer way than he had been in days. "I mean, the kids get so motivated and it makes me motivated too. The way they are kept at the edge of their seats makes me think of how we used to be like that and I remember how it felt to be in that place and it's so fun to see others like that too. Cheering and carrying on like there's nothing else to care about." He goes on, yammering enthusiastically about some of the events he had done the past week and how pumped up everyone had been. The light in his eyes flares brighter with each spirited word. I cross my arms and smirk, watching him go on in his dramatic way of explaining things. He goes off for a few more minutes before he sees the look on my face and he slows to a stop mid-sentence. "What? Did I say something bad?" He looks at me dismayed, unsure of what he had done wrong. I shake my head.

"No, not at all but you just proved my point without me even having to try." I return gleefully. He scratches his head and tries to go back over everything he had said to find what I was talking about.

"What do you mean? I didn't say anything that would…" he trails off.

"Tys, you just self-animated an entire week at work without even taking a breath. That enthusiasm and excitement… THAT's what I offered to Max." My smirk grows into a full out grin as his face falls in realization.

"He never said that things weren't going well…" he mutters, thinking it over. "He was so wrapped up in school and the stuff he had to do there that I thought he was just stressed about that. Are you saying he was upset about something else? And he was hiding it? Was he upset about me and he couldn't tell me?" He starts to look pained and I can feel how much he wanted his friend to be happy. "What about you? Is it the same with you?" He scowls at himself. "Of course it is, I practically denounced our friendship without even thinking about your side of things. Not to mention what I've said about Kai. I didn't mean it to hurt anyone." He send me a sad look.

"We know that." I put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "I already told you that you don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. Max is happy that you love your job. He's…more than happy actually." I laugh and drop my hand away. "Do you remember that look you were trying to name but couldn't?"

"What does that have to do with this?" he asks confused. Max is going to kill me for this but…

"He loves you Tyson. He would never do anything to purposefully harm you." I pause. "And…neither would I. I admit that I have been a little envious of your relationship with Kai and at the same time I haven't really been considering your feelings either. It was never intentional. We all have things we worry about by ourselves."

"You were jealous of me and Kai?" he laughs, suddenly becoming more like himself than I had seen in the past two weeks.

"I'm glad that THAT is what you pulled out of this," I say sarcastically. He laughs again and then hugs me. At first I am surprised but then I calm down and hug him back briefly before releasing him and pulling away before I become too uncomfortable. I didn't want any misunderstandings passing between us that would make things awkward later.

"I'm sorry I cause so much trouble…" he replies showing his embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it. You wouldn't be you if things were peaceful." He scowls and I laugh. "Come on, let's go get some lunch." I offer before he can think of a comeback.

"Alright!" he cheers, pulling my arm and starting off in the direction of the van that had been patiently waiting for him. "You can ride with us! There's plenty of room."

"Okay. But… When we get home there's something ELSE that we need to discuss. A little LIST that you decided was a good idea." I drop all the hints I need to to make him swallow hard and look back at me in remorse.

"Do we have to?" he winces.

"You're not getting out of this one so easily."

A/N: Hey it's me again! Sorry it's a bit shorter and slightly less jovial than I had wanted it to be. Hopefully my wording doesn't get too confusing either. I tried to ifx what I thought was wrong with it but sometimes I think too much about things! Anyways, hope you enjoy!