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Charity stared guiltily at the door as Lauren pulled it shut behind her. She rubbed her aching head, unsure if the headache was from the alcohol or the previous nights' events. She had been so tempted to tell Lauren what had happened, but hearing that Tyler wanted to talk to her put a dent in her plans.
Sighing, she picked up her phone and dialed Tyler's number. She was about to chicken out and hang right back up when Tyler answered.
"Hey, Lauren said you wanted to talk?" Charity asked, playing dumb. She half hoped that Tyler had been too drunk to remember the kiss.
"Yeah, about last night, can we just keep it between us? Lauren and I are kinda on a trial basis and I don't want to jeopardize anything. I mean, it was just a mistake right?" Tyler asked hopefully.
Charity had been laying awake for hours, asking herself the very same thing. She had replayed their entire history in her head, repeatedly. So yes, she'd been attracted to him from the moment she'd laid eyes on him. He'd also been Lauren's boyfriend. Then he'd introduced her to Derek and she fell in love. She and Tyler had a really good friendship, despite everything that had happened between them. Why then, was it almost an automatic thing, for her to run straight into his arms, as soon as her relationship with Derek had ended? That was the million dollar question and one that she didn't have an answer to.
"Yeah, it was a stupid mistake." Charity finally agreed. She hoped her response didn't sound as weak to him as it did to her.
"Cool. Well, then we'll just forget it happened. Oh, I talked to Logan last night. That boy has got it bad for you." Tyler told her. She knew that Logan had a crush on her. He'd had one since she'd moved to Tree Hill. Her mom told her that he reminded her of a kid that she'd gone to school with named "Mouth" only cuter, whatever that meant.
"Yeah, Logan's great, I'm just not ready for anything else right now. Have you talked to Derek?" She asked nonchalantly. Or what she hoped was nonchalant. She was biting her lip in anticipation of his response.
"Uh, yeah. I talked to him for a minute." Tyler replied uneasily. Charity very nearly threw the phone in frustration.
"Well, did he say anything about me?" She asked. She had to force herself not to raise her voice.
"Not really. There's not really an easy way to say this, but he called from Amy's. He went home with her last night." Tyler explained softly. Charity blinked furiously, trying to keep the tears at bay. She didn't want to cry while Tyler was still on the line.
"I'm so sorry Charity. I really didn't think that he would be like this. Not after what Cassie did to him." Tyler said after a moment.
"Yeah, me either. I guess you never really know a person, do you?" She asked, trying to keep her emotions in check.
"If you need anything, someone to yell at or a shoulder to cry on, give me a call." He offered as they ended their conversation. Charity flung herself onto her bed and grabbed a pillow to muffle her scream.
She had been down this road, back in Raleigh. Why did she always have to meet the "great guys" who turn out to be complete asses? She was like a magnet for well disguised assholes. Her ex-boyfriend, Zach, had been wonderful at first as well. His twin sister Chloe had been a hard sell, but even she had eventually come around and had been the closest thing to a best friend that she'd had before Lauren.
It was the three of them against the world for the longest time. She and Chloe were on the cheer squad and Zach played soccer. The three of them were inseparable. Well, they had been, until Charity had discovered that Zach was cheating on her with half the squad. Oh, and that Chloe had known about it and never breathed a word. Yep, that was about the time that Charity had lost control. She'd gone on a drinking spree which had ended with her stealing Zach's car and crashing it into a tree, earning her physical therapy and community service. At least this time she was relatively sure that there wouldn't be another suicide attempt.