A Paper Heart

Part III
Moving on, It’s Easiest When I am Around You

Tyson and Piper now sat in her dressing room; a first aide kit was sitting on the nearby end table by the couch. She had her back to him as he sighed.
“You mind if I cut the back of your shirt, ya know, so I can see it better?” He asked gently. He had been referring to the cut on her upper shoulder. She nodded and he cut the back of her shirt and removed it from her shoulder. He dipped a washcloth in the small bowl of water, also on the table, and began to wash off the now dried blood. When he was finished he laid the cloth on the table. “It’s really not as bad as I thought. It should heal with out scaring.” He said picking up the disinfectant and another cloth. “This is gonna sting a bit.” He stated. Almost as soon as the cloth touched her skin, Piper winced. Tyson gently began to blow on her shoulder to ease the stinging. He bandaged her shoulder and then closed up the first aide kit. “All done.” He declared, somewhat cheerfully. Piper turned to face him, now having taken off her ruined shirt and having slipped on a near by zip up jacket. Tyson had now stood and was getting ready to walk out, when she stopped him.
“Ty, can you walk me to the bus? If Luke is still there, I don’t wanna be alone with him.” Tyson smiled, a warm and comforting smile.
“Yeah, sure. You want to go right now?” She nodded and so they began to walk towards her bus. They walked more or less in silence as he took hold of her hand and she made no objection, enjoying the feel of her fingers intertwined with his.

Piper had just walked back out of her room of the bus. She now wore red pajama bottoms with a matching red spaghetti strap shirt. Tyson was sitting on the couch when she walked back in. She sat down beside him and he put his arm around her. She cuddled up to him.
“Piper?” He asked.
“Yeah.” She closed her eyes and took in what was going on around her.
“I gotta know, what’s going on between us?” Piper picked her head off his shoulder.
“Ty, I…” She paused, thinking of what to say. Did she or didn’t she care for him? “Ty, wow.” She stood and began to pace.
“Gosh, you don’t have to answer now. I was just wondering, ya know making sure I’m not just some random rebound.” She sat back down beside him.
“I can’t answer right now, but maybe after I get some sleep.” He stood ready to leave. “But I can assure you that you’re not a rebound. I lost my love for Luke a long time ago. It just took me meeting someone else to prove it to me.” Tyson smiled as he began to walk to the door. “Ty, wait.” He turned to face her. She was now standing in front of him. “Stay with me. I don’t wanna be alone and I feel safe with you.” He smiled and nodded. This was to be their first night together.

Tyson woke the next morning to find Piper asleep. She had rested her head on his shoulder, draped her arm over his bare chest, and was lying on her stomach. He looked dreamily at her. She looks so peaceful. He thought, reaching his free arm down to the floor to fish around for his watch. Upon finding it he read the time. Shit, it’s already noon. There’s other people on the other side of that door, and here I am in nothing but boxers lying in bed with the girl of my dreams. He paused his thoughts and then rewound. Wait girl of my dreams? What the hell am I thinking! I’ve only know her for like a few months and here I am laying in bed with her, but she does feel nice up against me… he stopped his train of thought as he now become very aware of his erection. Great, now you’re hard and laying in bed with the girl of your dreams! He scolded himself. He carefully rolled out of bed, trying not to wake Piper, but not succeeding. She looked up at him, as he was now standing trying to get on his pants.
“Ty?” She asked softly. His eyes met hers.
“Did I wake you?” He asked sitting on the edge of the bed and, propping himself up with his hand, leaning over her. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face.
“Nah, I was already up.” She replied, smiling. She placed her hand on his swollen cheek. He winced at her touch. “He really got you good. You should have a doctor look at that before we hit the road tomorrow.” He smiled.
“I’ll be fine. Just a scratch.” He stated as Piper pulled a mirror from her purse, which was on the side of her bed.
“Does that look like just a scratch to you?” She asked holding the mirror so he could see his face. “Please go, just to make sure he didn’t cause any permanent damage.” He nodded in agreement.
“I’m taking you with me.” Tyson then remembered his erection, which was painfully obvious through his thin jeans. “I’m gonna head to my bus and take a quick shower, then we’ll go. You think you can be ready that fast?” He asked.
“Yeah, gimme thirty minutes and I’ll be ready.” With that he kissed her on the forehead and walked off her bus and headed to his own.

When Tyson skipped merrily onto his own bus Nick was waiting to hear all the news of the previous night. Tyson was bombarded with questions.
“Did ya do her? Was she good? What the hell happened?” Nick asked. Tyson smiled.
“She didn’t wanna stay the night alone, so she asked me to stay. So I stayed. Nothing happened.” Tyson shifted his pants uncomfortably. Nick cocked his eyebrow.
“Yeah, that explains why you obviously have a hard on.”
“Yeah, well. I gotta take a shower ‘cuz Piper and I are going out.” Tyson said walking towards the shower.
“You didn’t answer my questions!” Nick screamed after him, but was greeted with the bathroom door.
“I never kiss and tell!” Tyson screamed back. That seemed to satisfy Nick as he headed off the bus.

When Tyson reached Piper’s bus he was cheery and the world could tell as he was whistling to himself. He was most likely whistling some new song he was working on. He knocked on the door to her bus and waited for a reply. Isaac Marco, the drummer of her back up band opened the door.
“Hey, Izzy. Piper ready?” He asked stepping onto the bus. Isaac looked at him.
“Man, she’s a mess. Luke just stopped by and I could hear them yelling in the back room. It wasn’t pretty.” Tyson’s happiness almost instantly faded at these words and he rushed to the back room. When he arrived, Piper was laying on her bed with her face buried in her pillow. Tyson could hear her muffled cries. He sat down, but she didn’t look at him. He turned her onto her back and she sat. A trail of tears was perfectly visible on her cheeks. He took her into his arms and she wept, pulling back after a few minutes only to bury her face in his shoulder again.
“Piper, you wanna tell me what happened?” Tyson asked, hoping that she would confide in him. She shook her head. He wasn’t about to pry. He knew she’d come around sooner or later. Sooner seemed to be the time, as she pulled back and looked into his comforting blue eyes.
“The things he said,” she paused, wiping her eyes. “He called me a slut, and, and…” she sniffed. “He said that I never loved him and told me I should just kill myself and get it over with ‘cuz my life’s not worth living.” She burst into another fit of sobs, burying her face in Tyson’s shoulder. He pulled her chin up so her gaze met his.
“Piper, everything he said was a lie. He’s full of shit. Just because he was a jerk and lost you, doesn’t make any of those things true.” He paused, smiling at her. “You’re perfect just being you.” She threw her arms around him at these words. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. He had comforted her in a way only he could. He knew right then that he loved her. He only wished that she loved him in return, but did she?