Unlikely Lovers

Chapter 6

When all the paperwork was done for Caitlyn's discharge, Brandon left her to go get the car. When Tyler saw her being wheeled to the car, his heart skipped a beat. She looked like she was glowing. In her arms were the flowers that Brandon had asked him if she'd like. Tyler was at a loss for what to say to her. The last time he'd actually seen her, she'd just watched her fiancé take his last breath. She'd thrown herself into his arms for comfort. He'd wanted more than to comfort her.

Tyler knew now was not the time to show her how much he wanted her. Like she'd want me, he thought. He felt with his physical issues he didn't have much to offer her or any woman, for that matter. Brandon had given his doctor his word that he'd have him back after the will reading that evening. He'd promised that he wouldn't let him over use his legs. Which is why he was still in the car when Brandon went up to get Caitlyn. After what felt like a lifetime, she'd appeared.

" Hey CareBear, how are you feeling? "

"Uh, must you always refer to me as that?" Caitlyn said with a eye roll as she climbed in the back of her car.

" As your best friend's brother, yes I must make you remember your most treasured possession." Tyler said jokingly.

" This sounds like an interesting story." Brandon said from the driver's seat.

" Well it was-" Tyler began.

" Don't you dare go there! " Caitlyn interrupted from the back. Giving him a death stare.

" Aww I really want to know how you got the name." Brandon pleaded from the driver's side.

" Its not a long story. I was in foster care when I met Tyler and his sister. My foster parents were awesome people, just a little out of date. My room was done up in Care Bears. He saw it when he came to get his sister and hasn't let me live it down since."

" That wasn't the only reason I called you CareBear. If you cared about someone, you would turn into a bear if they were wronged." Tyler explained.

"Aww that's so cute."Brandon smirked at her in the mirror. Caitlyn blushed in the back seat.

The trip to the law office went fairly well with the three of them in the car. As they all started to get out, Brandon got a wheelchair out of the trunk for Tyler. Caitlyn stood to the side not making the wheelchair a big deal. Knowing how self-conscious his injury made Tyler feel.

"About time your damn party showed up." Jeremy and Brandon's mother snapped.

"Sorry to make you take time from your precious bottle." Brandon snapped back.

Once everyone was ushered into the lawyer's office, the lawyer began to go over the details Jeremy had set up. Jeremy had only paid the minimum amount and his mother had been annoying the staff since her arrival. Caitlyn and Tyler had out voted his mother on Brandon being in the room. She'd huffed in her seat in the corner dejectedly. Jeremy hadn't had much in the way of possessions so the allotment of assets went fairly quickly. As he finished, he handed a letter to Jeremy's mother, Tyler and a big manilla envelope to Caitlyn. The lawyer offered them the room for the next 15 minutes as a courtesy. After his mother finished her letter, she crumpled it up and threw it in the trash and left the room hurriedly.

"I hope to never see any of you again." Was all she said as she departed.

"The feeling is mutual." Muttered Tyler to her receding figure. His letter had been an apology for Jeremy taking advantage of their friendship and to ask him to watch over Caitlyn for him.

Caitlyn's letter seemed to be made up of different letters and her eyes were brimming with unshod tears and a look of anger on her face. As she finished with the last letter, She slid everything back into the envelope and stood up.

"I'm ready to leave when you are." She stated quietly.

"Where do you want to go?" Brandon asked as he moved to get the door for them.

"Back to the hotel to pack up and head for home. I hope that I haven't been locked out by the time I get back." Caitlyn said sadly.

"What do you mean locked out?" Tyler asked angrily. He was starting to think his "friend" had played him.

"The mortgage company hasn't received a payment in the last 3 months. I said there must be some mistake and asked that they hold off on foreclosure proceeding while I handled the funeral for Jeremy. Since it was for a solider, the company granted me until next week to either become current or vacate the property. Since there is no way I can catch up, I have a week to get everything packed. Jeremy was over extended in his account when he died. After learning everything that I know now, I see I've lived nothing but a lie and want to start fresh in a place without the ghosts of the past hanging over everything." Brandon gently put his arms around her and Tyler became jealous at how close the two were becoming. That should be me, Tyler thought.

"How could it be 3 months behind? I have more than enough for the payments to be kept current." Tyler says as the reach the car.

"Do you mean to tell my that you've been paying the mortgage? How long as this been going on?" She asked angrily.

"Um...Six months." Tyler reluctantly admits.

"WTF TYLER! How could you have kept this from me? Did you know about his gambling problem?" Her question was mumbled by her face being buried in her hands.

"I didn't know it was as bad as it was. I didn't want you to suffer for his bad financial decisions." Tyler explained.

" Why didn't you tell me? I would have listened to you. Since when was he more a friend than me? I thought I was family. Why did you keep this from me?" Caitlyn asked angrily.

"You're my sister's best friend. I wanted to make sure you had what you wanted." Tyler said quietly.

"All the more reason you should have told me what was happening behind my back. At least then I'd have been able to make an informed decision about his proposal." She stated calmly.

"I'm sorry about how that looked. You know you are important to me." Tyler informed her. They'd pulled up the VA hospital as he said this. As Brandon got him situated back in his chair, Caitlyn leaned out the window saying," This is far from over Tyler."

"Trust me I know." He said as he wheeled himself into the VA.