章 38: Chapter 13 - Well, try again! Rome wasn't built in a day! (2)

T Y L E R

"So you're saying that you moved to New York because you thought your dad loves your stepsister more than he loves you?" I stared at Faith incredulously. She always acted wiser than her age so I was surprised when she told me that she was jealous of her stepsister.

Faith narrowed her eyes in disapproval. "I didn't think. I know he loves her more than he loves me." She sliced the tiramisu cake with her fork and brought it to her mouth.

Her father remarried after the divorce was finalized and had a one-year-old daughter. She lived with them for six months before moving out to live in New York instead.

"She's one year old, she's a baby, of course, he would spend more time with her. Or else your stepmom will have so much to do if he doesn't help." I raised my cup to my lips and drank the remaining. I put the empty cup back on the saucer.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. Faith cleared her throat and put both elbows on the table as she leaned forward. "So, how is your love life? When can I see this lovely girlfriend of yours?" I flinched when she mentioned Autumn. Typical Faith, she didn't miss a single thing. "What? What happened?"

I swallowed hard. "We had a fight."

"Oh." She gave me an apologetic smile. "About what? I'm good when it comes to relationships, maybe I could help you." She shrugged. "Give you some advice, maybe?" offered her.

"About you, actually," I answered. "I lied to her about where I was yesterday and she was angry about it." I ran one hand through my hair frustratedly.

"Dude," countered Faith. "Are you stupid?"

I frowned. "Huh?"

"She was angry about the fact that you met me and two hours ago you didn't think that this is a bad idea?!" Her eyebrows lifted and she looked at me as if I just turned into a big purple dinosaur right in front of her eyes.

"This." She pointed at me and herself. "Us. Spending time in a cafe while your girlfriend is mad. Gosh, guys can be so dumb." She shook her head. "Ty, you had a fight with her about you meeting your ex-girlfriend last night, and the next day you're doing exactly that."

"But I didn't call you or text you." My frown deepened as I tried and failed to understand her point of view. "We met by accident."

Faith rolled her eyes at me. "But you invited yourself to join me here."

"You were carrying three humongous books!" I pointed at the books beside her. "I can't let you carry them by yourself."

"I've been carrying them around all day. I won't pass out carrying them for a short walk from school to here." She paused and swallowed. "Look, you need to go to her right now. Explain to her that we're just friends and there's nothing going on between us anymore."

"She won't believe me." I let out an exasperated sigh. "I tried to talk to her this morning and she wouldn't listen."

"Well, try again! Rome wasn't built in a day!"

I shook my head. "I'll give her some time, give her some space. I'm sure she'll come around." Faith punched my arm and I flinched. "What's that for?"

"For being an idiot!" answered her loudly, causing several people in the cafe to glance at us.

"Hey, I'm not an idiot." I fold my arms in front of my chest and tried to stare her down. It didn't work. She was Faith, she didn't get scared of anything. Especially not me. "A few hours ago, you said I'm smart!"

"Well, that's a few hours ago. If I could take that back, I would." She shook her head in disbelief. "Are you seriously gonna tell me that you're not an idiot because you're a Biochem student?" Faith rolled her eyes at me for god knows how many times today. "Ty, even your Ph.D. won't help you save your relationship. How can you be so good at science yet so dumb when it comes to girls?"

I sighed. "What are you saying, you think I should keep pestering her?" At this point, I was hopeless. I had no idea what I should do. Autumn and I had a few fights before but none was as big as what happened last night and it broke my heart.

"No, not pestering her. I just don't want you to regret it later." She looked ahead and gave a sad smile. "If you give her too much space, someone else might get to her first. She's really fragile right now, especially after having a fight with her man, you shouldn't leave her alone to rethink the whole thing. You might end up losing her, you know."

When Faith said that, I felt like she just punched me in the gut. She was right, I shouldn't leave Autumn alone. Hell, I shouldn't go with Faith to this cafe and spend hours catching up. I pulled out my phone and was about to text her when I saw her message.

Come home before seven. Let's have dinner and talk.

I glanced at the top of the screen, it was six-thirty. I still had thirty minutes to get home. I looked up at Faith and said, "I'm going now.".

Faith gave me an encouraging smile. "Good luck!"

I walked to the front of the cafe and froze when I saw the guy walking to the table where Faith was sitting. I watched her look up at him and the expression on her face went sour. I quickly moved back to our table. "Faith, are you okay?" She answered with a nod. "Do you know this guy?"

I knew exactly who he was, considering I've been spending time with him for hours and running errands for him every day. I just hope she wasn't one of his acquaintances. The last thing I wanted was for any friends of mine to meet him.

Faith nodded once again. "Yeah." She let out an exhaustive sigh. "Ty, this is my ex. Mario."

"Hi." He turned to face me and smiled. "Mario Aiello," he added as he held his hand out to me. "Nice to meet you, man." The smile on his face might look innocent but I knew he was far from innocent. I may only spend three days with this guy, but I've watched him doing terrible things.

I didn't bother to fake a smile as I shook his hand. "Tyler."

"Are you one of Faith's friends?" Mario slid his gaze to Faith then back to me. A small frown appeared on his forehead as if he was trying to assess the situation.

Faith answered before I did. "Tyler's my first love." I looked at Faith. Surprised and confused. I've never heard her said that to anyone before and after the lecture she gave me about us remained as friends, I thought she wouldn't say anything about us.

She looked calm but her eyes screamed for help. Whatever happened between Mario and her was probably didn't end well. There was an unspoken pleading in her eyes and although she tried so hard to hide it, I knew she was scared.

This was probably the worst time ever since I was about to run back home and meet Autumn. My hands were tight, I had no idea what to do. The clock was ticking and I knew I had to decide before it was too late. One thing was clear, there was no way I could leave Faith alone with someone like him.

Mario raised his eyebrows and fixed his eyes on me. "Aren't you about to leave, Tyler?"

I refrained from cursing as I pulled back the chair and took a seat. "Nope. I'm staying." Mario sent me a warning look but I chose to ignore it.

I'd be damned if I let something happened to Faith.