Wildest Dreams

Tyler walked over to a cabinet in his kitchen and pulled out two shot glasses and then grabbed three different bottles from the counter and put them in front of where Meredith was sitting.

Meredith: What is this game that we’re playing?
Tyler: First, turn your phone off and put it away so Tanner doesn’t annoy you anymore.
Meredith: How—
Tyler: I just do. You get a certain look when you get a text or call from him.
Meredith: I do? I was really trying to hide the fact that I want to punch him into the ground.
Tyler: It’s a subtle look you get in your eyes. It’s like a spark of raging fire and then you take a deep breath and smile, it’s kinda cute actually.
Meredith: Thanks, I guess…

Tyler set out the shot glasses and started filling them with whiskey.

Meredith: Are you going to tell me what this game is now?
Tyler: I call it confessions.

Tyler smirked at Meredith as his finished pouring the shots.

Meredith: So is your goal to get me drunk and hear all my dirty little secrets?
Tyler: No, not entirely.
Meredith: Well I have a pretty high tolerance so you’ll be waiting a while for me to be drunk…
Tyler: I call it confessions, but really all you have to do is take a shot and we tell each other something.
Meredith: Like what?
Tyler: Anything you want. About school, life, your favorite things, the things you’ve done, places you’ve been, whatever comes to mind. It can be surface level or you can actually tell me something personal.
Meredith: I told you about my grandfather, which was personal. I didn’t even have a drink before I did that.
Tyler: I know, but you also put that on social media so I don’t think you can play the super personal card.
Meredith: I only put it on social media because a lot of my old friends would want to know and I didn’t want to have to personally let them know. That was too many people and a conversation I did not want to have over and over again.
Tyler: You wanna go first?
Meredith: It’s your game so you can go first.
Tyler: Fine.

Tyler took a shot.

Tyler: My favorite color is green.

Meredith took a shot.

Meredith: I like your dogs more than you.

Tyler filled the glasses and took a shot.

Tyler: I didn’t lose my virginity until I was in the NHL even though my friends think it was my 10th grade year.

Meredith took a shot.

Meredith: I didn’t lose mine until last year.

Tyler filled the glasses again and took a shot.

Tyler: You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.

Meredith smiled took a shot.

Meredith: I got my first ‘B’ last semester and I cried. One class ruined my 4.0 GPA.

Tyler refilled the glasses and took his shot.

Tyler: My favorite thing to do is watch movies.
Meredith: What’s your favorite movie?
Tyler: Hey that’s cheating; there are no asking questions.
Meredith: You never gave me rules, you just said I had to take a shot and say something.
Tyler: Exactly. Those are the rules.

Meredith took the shot.

Meredith: What’s your favorite movie?
Tyler: All of the Fast and Furious movies.
Meredith: Never seen them.
Tyler: You’re joking right?
Meredith: No.
Tyler: We need to have a movie day and watch them all.
Meredith: Okay, I’m up for that.

Tyler smiled really big and took a shot.

Tyler: My guilty pleasure is Taylor Swift but if you ask me what my favorite song is, I tell people I don’t really know any of them.

Meredith took her shot.

Meredith: The Jonas Brothers will forever be my favorite artist slash band, even though they broke up, and I’m on Joe’s side of his breakup with Taylor Swift.

Tyler downed a shot and started singing.

Tyler: Now I’m speechless, over the edge I’m just breathless, I never thought that get hit, by this lovebug again.
Meredith: No you did not!

Meredith started laughing and smiling really big.

Tyler: My sisters were obsessed with them and that’s all they listened to, I may have picked up a song or two.
Meredith: I think you just became my favorite person for singing that. That was perfect.
Tyler: Don’t tell anyone, I won’t live this down.
Meredith: I thought anything we said here didn’t get repeated.
Tyler: It doesn’t, your turn.

Meredith drank her shot.

Meredith: That was one of the greatest things that’s happened, but you’re a terrible singer.

The glasses were filled and Tyler took his shot.

Tyler: I know you think you’re trying to push me away, but every time you do, I want you even more. I really want to kiss you right now.
Meredith: That was two things.

Meredith took another shot.

Meredith: One of these days I might give into you.

Tyler downed the shot.

Tyler: I can’t wait for that day.

Meredith took another shot that Tyler had poured.

Meredith: I’ve lost count of how many shots I’ve taken. No more for me tonight.

Tyler filled his glass and took the shot.

Tyler: Nine. I saw what Tanner texted you at dinner tonight. I wasn’t reading your texts; I just glanced down and saw it.
Meredith: It’s okay.
Tyler: Really?
Meredith: Yeah, he’s just being the typical asshole he always is.
Tyler: Did he always talk to you that way?
Meredith: Not until he started cheating on me. That’s when I became the annoying pest to him.
Tyler: He cheated on you?
Meredith: Yeah, he’s such a great guy, isn’t he?
Tyler: That’s awful.
Meredith: What’s awful is walking into his room and seeing him naked and inside another girl from my sorority, and then getting yelled at for walking into his room without knocking.
Tyler: He yelled at you for not knocking?
Meredith: Classy, I know.
Tyler: Have you talked to him? I know he’s been calling you a lot.
Meredith: I talked to him right before I called you because I didn’t check caller id on my office phone.
Tyler: What did he want?
Meredith: He wanted to check in on me and see how I was doing since my grandfather died, which made me angry. He doesn’t get to know how I’m doing. He didn’t care about me when we were dating, obviously, so he can’t call me now and act like he does. Especially while he’s dating the slut he cheated on me with.
Tyler: Wait, they started dating or stayed together?
Meredith: They stayed together and publicly started dating.
Tyler: Who starts dating the girl they cheated with?
Meredith: Tanner.
Tyler: Well I think you should just forget about him and start dating me so you can prove you’ve moved on.
Meredith: Tyler.
Tyler: What?
Meredith: I don’t need to prove anything to him. I’ve moved on and forgotten about him. Tonight I’m just pissed off at him for talking to me the way he did and acting like he cares. I’m over being mad about him cheating, I’m over him, and I lost all respect for him.
Tyler: Well he doesn’t deserve your respect anyway.
Meredith: Looks like you succeeded.

Tyler gave Meredith a confused look.

Meredith: I told you about Tanner.
Tyler: I didn’t even have to get you drunk.
Meredith: Told you I had a high tolerance, and I’ll tell you things, just when I’m ready.
Tyler: I never know when that’s going to be with you.
Meredith: You know two very personal current events in my life right now and you’re the only one that knows about Tanner. Tell me something about yourself that you’ve never told anyone else.
Tyler: A true confession?
Meredith: If it’s something you’ve never told anyone before, then yes.
Tyler: I’m gonna need two more shots and a beer before I tell you.
Meredith: Fine, I’ll get the beer.

Meredith stood up and walked to the fridge to get Tyler a beer and one for herself. She opened the bottles and handed one to Tyler.

Tyler: How about we go sit on the couch where it’s more comfortable for this confession.

They both went and sat on the couch and the dogs jumped up. Tyler leaned back on the couch and Meredith sat crisscross to the side, looking at him while Cash sat in her lap and she pet him.

Tyler: You really want to hear this?
Meredith: Yes.

Tyler took a deep breath.

Tyler: When I was twelve, I accidently killed my aunt and a family.

Tyler paused for a moment and Meredith patiently sat there until he was ready to continue.

Tyler: It was a Tuesday and I was twelve and hockey and lacrosse were everything to me. I had practice for hockey and my mom wasn’t home from work yet and my dad was nowhere to be found. I called my mom to see when she would be home and to remind her I had practice. She asked me where my dad was since he told her that he would take me that night but I had no idea and that’s what I told her. I remember she got really irritated. Looking back now, I think that’s when their marriage started falling apart but I didn’t notice, I was twelve. So, my mom was irritated with my dad and told me to call his work phone so I hung up and called my dads office but there was no answer. I called again and there was no answer, again. So then I called my mom back to tell her that he didn’t answer and she told me the last thing I wanted to hear. She told me, “I’m sorry honey, but I can’t get off work, you’re going to have to call your coach and explain to him that we can’t get you to practice tonight but you’ll be at the game on Saturday”. That was the last thing I wanted to do. I knew if I called him and missed practice I wouldn’t get to start on Saturday at the game. That wasn’t an option for me. I had never missed practice and I had always been on the starting line and I didn’t want that to change.

Tyler tilted his head back for a moment and gathered his thoughts.

Tyler: Knowing that that was what was going to happen if I didn’t make it to practice, I called my dad again and this time his receptionist picked up the phone. I asked her where my dad was and she told me that he went out for drinks with some of his coworkers. I got really mad and hung up the phone. And this is where I really messed up. I tried to call my uncle but he wasn’t home and my aunt answered. My aunt was epileptic and at the time I didn’t really know what that meant. I just knew she took medicine and that she wasn’t supposed to drive unless it was an emergency. To me, missing hockey practice was an emergency. She answered the phone and I told her all about how my dad was supposed to take me to hockey practice but he went out with coworkers and how mom couldn’t get off of work and how I wasn’t going to be on the starting line in Saturday’s game and how it was pretty much the end of the world for me and a true emergency. She listened to me ramble and asked what she could do to help. I asked her to drive me to hockey practice. She told me that she wasn’t supposed to drive because of her medicine and that only in emergencies was she supposed to ever drive. This was an emergency to me. And I don’t know how but I…

Tyler started to softly cry.

Tyler: I… I convinced her that she would be okay and that it was a short drive to my house and to the rink and then my uncle or mom could pick us up after hockey practice. I don’t know why, but she let a twelve-year-old kid convince her that she would be okay. My aunt and uncle lived close. Only about ten minutes away, sometimes fifteen, depending on traffic. I stood outside and waited for my aunt to pull up to the house. I stood out there for forty-five minutes waiting and instead of seeing the extra car that my aunt and uncle had, I saw my mom’s car pull up. I was afraid she found out that I called my aunt and I was going to be in trouble. I remember this very clear, and in the exact voice my mom said it in. She got out of the car and came up to me and said “honey, I need you to go inside and tell your sisters to come to the living room. I need to tell you guys something”. She looked upset, like she had been crying. I did what she said and she went back to her car to get her purse. When she came inside my sisters and I were sitting in the living room waiting. She put down her things and grabbed a tissue. She wiped away her tears and looked at us.

Tyler started crying more.

Tyler: She told us that right before she left work she got a call from my uncle saying my aunt was in the hospital. Mom told us that my aunt had been driving a car and had a seizure and had gotten in a really bad accident and it didn’t look good. They didn’t know why she was driving and they didn’t know where she was going. I remember I just sat there and didn’t say a word. I watched my mom cry and my sisters give each other hugs and I sat there and never said a word. An hour later the phone rang and my mom told us to get in the car. We all got in the car and she drove us to the hospital. When we got there, we went up to a room where my uncle was and my aunt was laying in a bed with her eyes shut.

Tyler started talking slower and slower and was getting choked up on his words. He kept wiping away the tears and looking away. Meredith reached for a tissue that was on a table behind the couch and handed it to him. She wiggled enough for Cash to jump off her lap and she scooted in towards Tyler to give him a hug. Tyler wrapped his arms around Meredith for a minute until she pulled back.

Meredith: You don’t have to finish the story if you don’t want to.
Tyler: I want to... I need to.

Tyler took several deep breaths and continued the story.

Tyler: I walked in to see my uncle crying and my aunt not moving. My mom looked at the three of us and told us that it was time to say our goodbyes to my aunt. I walked up to the side of the bed and looked at her lying there, so peaceful but covered in cuts and bruises and bandages and wires and all sorts of things. I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t get anything out. I held her hand for a second and walked out of the room. My uncle followed me out and gave me a hug. He didn’t say anything, neither one of us said a work until a nurse walked by and my uncle stopped her. He asked her how the other family was doing. The nurse shook her head at him and looked down for a second. She looked back up and said that the little girl died on scene, the mother died when they arrived to the hospital and the dad just passed away in surgery. My uncle started to cry more. I didn’t know that another family was involved in the accident; I thought it was only my aunt.

Tyler took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Tyler: After that my mom made us leave the hospital and we went back to my house and none of us spoke in the car. We just sat there in silence. The next morning the funeral arrangements were made and it was Saturday. I missed hockey practice, and I missed the game but for once I didn’t care. I couldn’t stop thinking about how it was all my fault. I was being selfish, I just wanted to go to hockey practice and I convinced my aunt to take me and I never should have done that. Still to this day, none of my family knows why she was driving or where she was going. I didn’t say anything the day it happened and after that I thought everyone would blame me or hate me so I never told anyone. I’ve kept this secret for 10 years. You’re the very first person I’ve ever told.

Meredith crawled into Tyler’s side and lied on the couch with him. They laid there in silence for a couple of minutes while Tyler composed himself. He rubbed her back and wiped away the tears that were still falling down his face.

Tyler: Looks like you’re the one that got me drunk and heard my dirty secrets.

Tyler chuckled.

Meredith: You didn’t have to tell me that personal of a story…
Tyler: You asked for something that I’ve never told anyone. That’s it.
Meredith: But you opened up so easily to me about it.
Tyler: I know…
Meredith: Why?
Tyler: Because, there are just some people that you meet in your life that make you want to open up and you feel that you can trust them with anything.
Meredith: You feel you can trust me with anything?
Tyler: Yeah, I do. You barely tell anyone what is going on in your life so why are you going to go and tell people about others lives?
Meredith: I’m not.
Tyler: Exactly, that’s why I feel like I can trust you.

Meredith smiled and snuggled into Tyler’s side some more. He leaned down and kissed her forehead and then looked at the dogs.

Tyler: Looks like my story put the dogs to sleep.
Meredith: They’re just tired; it’s late. I doubt they understood any of what you said.
Tyler: Hey, they’re very smart dogs! But it is late.
Meredith: What time is it anyway?

Tyler looked at his watch and Meredith sat up.

Tyler: Almost three…
Meredith: I should probably get going.
Tyler: You can’t drive. We both had way too much to drink.
Meredith: I’ll just go to my parents’ house, it’s only like fifteen minutes away, I’ll be fine.
Tyler: No, stay here. You had about eight shots and a beer; you can’t drive. I have three guest rooms, take your pick, or you can have my room.
Meredith: I’m not taking your room, that’s yours. I’ll just stay in the room down the hall.
Tyler: You can have my room, its okay.
Meredith: I’m fine, but do you have a t-shirt I could borrow?
Tyler: I think I can manage that.

Tyler smirked at Meredith and they went into his bedroom to get a shirt.

Tyler: Is that all you need?

Tyler handed her a green Stars t-shirt.

Meredith: Yeah, that’s all, thank you.
Tyler: You’re welcome.
Meredith: Well, I’m going to head to bed, goodnight!

Meredith started walking towards the door.

Tyler: Hey Mer?
Meredith: Yeah?

She turned around to face Tyler.

Tyler: Will you stay with me for a little bit?
Meredith: Yeah, do mind if I change first though?
Tyler: Not at all.

Meredith went to the bathroom to change and came out to find Tyler lying in bed in just pajama pants. She smirked at the sight of him?

Tyler: What?
Meredith: Nothing.

She smiled and climbed up in the bed and sat next to him.

Tyler: I don’t bite, you can get comfortable and lay down instead of just sitting there.
Meredith: I’m just thinking about all the different girls that have been in this bed and how I don’t want to lay down in something.
Tyler: Rude, I washed the sheets this morning. Its clean, you can lay down.
Meredith: Fine.

Meredith lied down and stared at the dark ceiling.

Tyler: Thank you.
Meredith: What for?

She rolled onto her side to look at Tyler.

Tyler: Staying with me for a little bit.
Meredith: Yeah, no problem.
Tyler: I just haven’t thought about my aunt and how it was all my fault for a while and I just don’t want to be alone.
Meredith: Its okay, I didn’t want to be alone tonight either and you were there for me. It’s the least I can do.

Tyler smiled and kissed her forehead. He rolled onto his back and dozed off. Meredith lied there waiting for Tyler to fall asleep before she went to the guest bedroom. Before she realized that he had fallen asleep, she fell asleep herself.

Notes

War Paint by Kelly Clarkson was the influence of this chapter.

I got kinda deep and made up this story for Tyler. I hope you liked it! I think its about time Meredith and Tyler got together but I don't want her to just give into him. Let me know what you think about it! I would really appreciate some feedback :)