[open] You run away

[Tyler Haze]

Most little boys, when asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, would respond with something along the lines of a policeman or a fireman, or something of the sort. But if anyone had cared enough to ask the quiet little boy named Tyler Haze who never seemed to have any friends and silently evaded any and all questions the teacher might ask, his response would have befuddled child psychologists for generations. All Tyler Haze wanted to be when he grew up was free. You see, as a child he learned to conceal the bruises and hide the pain. He never cried... ever, he never complained, and he never said anything about the abuse at home. Instead, he stood aside silently and watched the other kids enteracting with one another, wishing he had friends like they did, but too afraid to put himself out there. To get a friend you have to be a friend... but Tyler didn't know how.

The one he envied the most was Robby Mitman... and why? Well, it was simply because Robby "had a girlfriend." Tyler had seen them holding hands at recess and a time or two when he thought no one was watching, Robby would sneak in a kiss on her cheek. Paisley was the girl all the boys wanted to have, and all the girls wanted to be. She was picked up and dropped off by a mustang every day. She had the best this or the newest that... but none of that mattered to Tyler. She was the prettiest girl he had ever seen, and he spent most days trying to wrack up the nerve to go talk to her when Robby wasn't around. He finally did one day after school in the third grade, but just as he managed to stutter out a "hi," her mom pulled up and called her over. Paisley hesitated a moment, then walked away. As she got into the car and they drove away, Tyler heard what her mom said, "What have I told you about talking to that boy? You stay away from him. Robby is a much nicer boy..."

Poor Tyler was crushed... not because Paisley walked away... not because he had finally worked up the nerve to talk to her and it had all been for nothing... but because, by no fault of his own, he would always be "that boy" that the other kids were warned to stay away from. Not because he caused trouble, not because he was mean... just because he was labeled "just another Haze." His family was a bit of a problem... from domestic disturbances to breaking the law, to his older brother's drinking parties... no one liked the Haze family... but Tyler... he was so much more than just a Haze. Despite the abuse and pain he suffered at home, he was possibly the sweetest seven year old boy on the face of the earth... but no one could see it. All anyone ever saw was the last name... and because he had been born into the Haze family, no one would give him so much as a first chance. He walked home from school that day alone, just like every other day, to the beating that awaited him when he walked in the door... a routine that had become all too familiar to him.

By the time high school rolled around, Tyler had been told so many times by so many people that he was nothing but trash, that he had started to believe it himself. He was still quiet and withdrawn, but by no means a nerd. Of course, by then, Paisley was long gone, but Rachel... oh lord she was perfect, and the object of every man's desire. So when 16 year old Tyler found himself talking to her between classes, he knew he would be ruffling some feathers. What he didn't expect though, was to be jumped by several jocks on his way home. Already battered from the beatings at home, he didn't have the nerve or the will power to fight back. So when a fist connected with that weak spot in his ribs where the bones had been broken at least three times before, he was suddenly rendered incapable of breathing because of the pain and collapsed. His immobility convinced the jocks that they had killed him, and in a panic, they fled the scene.

It took him some time to get home after that. Walking with broken ribs was extremely painful... but it was the only way he could get home. When he walked in the door, his mom instantly lit into him, asking him where he'd been, and not giving him a chance to explain before her screaming at him started. Of course, her shrill voice woke his dad up, and of course he was mad at Tyler for being the cause of him being woken up... and well, I'm sure you can imagine what happened from there. It didn't take much to down the already injured teen, and he was on the verge of losing consciousness when his older brother walked in. Jacob had turned his life around in recent years, and had been looking out for Tyler a lot lately. He managed to pull his dad off of him, then helped his younger brother up and got him out of there before they ended up killing him.

He stayed away from home and school for a few days after that, and when he did go back to school, the teachers and faculty automatically assumed the worst and he was reprimanded for truancy. After that day was when things really started to go down hill. Tyler started rebelling against authority... hoping deep down that maybe someone would notice his sudden change in behavior and look into it... but no one saw this as a desperate plea for help... they just saw it as another Haze let loose on society. It was during this year that he finally found somewhere that he could go and get away from everything. There was an old building on the edge of town that had been condemned but was still standing. It wasn't difficult to get to the roof, but most people never would due to the rickety and unsafe appearance of the building... but to Tyler this place would become more of a home than anywhere else. Standing on the edge of the building looking out over the lights of the town at night he felt at least a little liberated from the hell he called life... it was there that he could be free of the judgement of everyone... where the quiet withdrawn Tyler could take a backseat along with the violent and angry Tyler, and he could just be himself.

Now here he was, just barely 20 years old... and even that old building couldn't offer him comfort anymore. He had lost everything... Jacob, Alessandra, Vivian... his baby girl... all of them had slipped from his grasp... and what little sense of self worth he had felt when he was with them had slipped away with them. Jacob and Alessandra lay dead in the ground... his baby would probably never forgive him for giving her up... and he could never forgive himself for what he did to Vivian. He stood there in silence, beneath the boughs of the old oak tree, one hand grasping the promise ring Vivian had given back to him, the other shakily tracing the heart with "V+T forever" that Vivian had carved into the bark with his knife the night he had given her that ring.

Normally, his cold gray eyes were like expressive windows into his soul... but now... there was nothing. There was no pain, there was no sorrow, there was no love, there was no hate... there was nothing in those eyes. Why? Because nothing existed there anymore. Tyler had been so hurt for so long that he had withered away into nothing. The quiet and withdrawn Tyler had died a long time ago... the violent Tyler had died months ago... and the real Tyler had finally hit rock bottom and shattered into nothing. All that was left now was an empty shell of a man who had nothing left to live for... and even that empty shell wouldn't live for long. He knew where the gun was... he knew how to use it... it wouldn't be long now before he did... but for now, he just stood there silently, "forever" the only word running through his mind. He had promiser her forever... then threw it away. He hated himself even more than he loved her. At this point in his life, he wanted nothing more than to die and not have to feel anymore. Life without her wasn't worth living, and that was all there was to it.

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[Alex Lovasz]

When a tiny petite blonde hair blue eyed woman runs into a troubled monster of a guy her usual reaction is to shy away in fear of the worst. But I guess we all know that’s not how this story was going to go… because if it was there really wouldn’t be a story at all. Alex Lovasz didn’t scare off easily… especially when you knew that she knows everything. Once you know that… It explains a lot of how she responds to certain things and situations. For instance… Tyler Haze big, buff, some may say reckless, teenager who has already been in and out of jail, most people would be threatened and maybe even terrified if he so much as gave them a passing glance, but not Alex. Yes he was intimidating but Alex was one of those people who constantly recited and lived by the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Tyler was no exception to that rule she lived by. Even if she didn’t know his whole life story by reading the signs it didn’t take her long to figure out why he was the way he was. Sometimes the reason we’re afraid of things is because we don’t know why it’s the way It is. Just like the reason people are afraid of Tyler all they see is the bloodline and what’s on the outside… they never consider what lies beneath.

The first time Alex ever heard the name Tyler Haze was when Alessandra came home chattering about her encounter with him at the barn. Her first thoughts of him were “That boy really knows how to stir stuff up.” Next thing she knew Ale was head over heels for him and he was causing trouble with Sebastian Kings… and from what Alex knew, was definitely not a good idea. From there life for them was like a suicidal roller coaster. Blood tests, wedding plans, fights, breakups, makeups, along with strange cravings and mood swings on Alessandra’s part, Then add working two jobs and a psychotic horse into the mix and that was Alex’s from then on out. A few months later she found herself with a close bunch of friends that were all tied together in the most strange of ways. They all had their issues and they weren’t perfect so there were always arguments but when it came right down to it she believed they were all pretty good friends. Even with Sebastian’s dislike of Tyler they managed to keep it under wraps around Ale and tried to get along as best as they could.

Next thing she knew her life flashed by and she was rushing to the hospital…dreading the thought of losing her best friend forever. Ale had gone into labor and with no one home, decided to drive herself…. She got hit by a truck was rushed to the hospital and that’s when the nurses called Alex, Tyler, and Sebastian. Tyler was already there when she walked into the room. They were all too late… there was nothing they could do… and within moments she was gone. That was one of the hardest days in Alex’s entire life… and she forced herself to hold it together for the people that were around her, especially Tyler. He was devastated and for the first time…it was written all over his face. He refused custody of his little girl when Alex got the papers and she signed them knowing that one day he would change his mind… And like always she was right. He was brought in under suicidal watch and that’s when she brought the sweet baby girl, whom they named Alessandra after her mother, to the police station so he could understand that someone in the world needed him to stick around. After forcing the baby into his arms and causing him to break down he gave in and she bailed him out.

From then on out Alex looked after him… he reminded her a lot of her little brothers. She got him on the right track… he still wouldn’t take Ale but he was now at least a part of her life and that’s what she needed the most. He was still drinking a lot… but in all honesty Alex didn’t blame him…she did too and she couldn’t tell him not to when she wasn’t one for double standards… unless it was in a joking manner. But then… he met Vivian… well he already knew her… but now he had “met” her. Vivian just so happened to be Sebastian’s little sister…. And as you can imagine with Ale no longer around… Sebastian and Tyler’s little charade had gotten thrown out the window. Vivian also sort of hated her older brother, which is another story, but the point being Sebastian hated Tyler and the idea of him being anywhere near his little sister. Alex on the other hand saw the change in Tyler now that he was with her… and with Anthony taking Vivian under his wing she knew the same went for her. Alex and Anthony were now counselors I suppose you could say.

Alex helped Tyler get his act together and sober up and Anthony did the same with Vivian… minus a few beatings from Sebastian… things were going pretty smoothly. Tyler was coming by to see Ale and Vivian and him had their bumps but all in all were doing pretty well… Until something went terribly wrong… It had been a rough day for Tyler and instead of going to see his girlfriend… or going to talk to Alex… he went out drinking… It started off harmless really but went downhill quickly. The next morning Vivian found him in bed with another woman and suddenly the world fell apart for poor Tyler. At first Vivian just avoided him… well that’s what it appeared to look like and honestly Alex didn’t blame her. What Tyler did was a very jackass move, but she also knew it wasn’t something he’d intentionally do. Then when he saw her at the club and she completely rejected him he knew he’d done something very wrong… and it was all made clear when Sebastian’s fist made quick contact with his jaw. It all happened so quickly and no one even saw Dustin use Tyler’s knife to stab Sebastian… and therefore they all swore it was Tyler’s doings.

Alex knew better… she knew he wouldn’t do something like that… even if he was about to die. He respected and maybe even feared Sebastian and whenever Seb beat him before he never once fought back. So she knew it wasn’t him, he didn’t do it. She didn’t bother trying to argue with anyone else but she stuck by Tyler. Not much time past when the anniversary of Ale’s death came around and Alex found herself on her knees on the side of the road hugging Tyler. He was the only one who truly understood how she felt. Alex may not have endured all the things Tyler had been through… or even close to that, but she in some odd way understood and didn’t blame him for any of it. He was her little brother in her mind and she was going to look after him… she was on his side. After that day she made a point to go see him and drag him to the house to see Ale. Just to talk and make sure he didn’t slip back into his old bad habits and thoughts. Plus helping him helped her. It took her mind off the hectic things that she was avoiding.

Time seemed to be passing by more and more quickly every day. It seemed like just yesterday she was moving to this town and then just meeting Anthony… now here she was married and raising two kids, well babies rather. If anyone could handle two business, Anthony, Jake (her son), Alessandra, 5 horses, Tyler, and much more… it was Alex. The queen multitasker, the master at handling stress, She was gifted in taking care of everyone, her children included, and still have time to spend quality time with her husband and her friends. She had a strict schedule… which hardly ever worked out perfectly… I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to have a day go perfectly with you schedule, because you have to include the free will of the people around you. They make their own decisions and that more often than not affects you in some sort of way. Being the way that she was usually she didn’t mind making adjustments and altering her plan, in fact she was quite used to it by now. Considering the people that surrounded her there was constant change in the flow of their lives. Even if they all stayed home something would happen to someone to throw them all off their steady stride, but I suppose that’s just how life was.

Today was supposed to be just like she usually planned it… but as previously stated you probably got that it wasn’t going to go as she planned. Alex was supposed to take Ale to see Tyler in the park this afternoon after she did the afternoon workouts with the horses. The morning went semi normal… dropped the kids off at the sitter’s house, which was a story all in its own how they managed to find someone to watch their kids at oh-dark-thirty in the morning when they went to do workouts. After that it was to the barn first Doubt, while Anthony cooled him off Alex road Loco, then Anthony worked King, and little Ozzy wasn’t ready for heavy workouts like the older horses but she worked with him in the afternoon. After all the workouts she picked up the kids took them home fed them got them ready for naps etc. Alex had to admit she was thankful they were such good babies and never complained much it made things so much easier on her compared to if they were little terrors.

Things seemed to be running smoothly…until she returned to the barn just to be practically ran over by a very panicked stricken Sebastian. Luckily being little means gravity doesn’t have as much of a pull on you so she managed to stay on her feet. Once he looked at her she knew something was about to change in her plan something was about to twist their lives into a different pattern than the one she started on at the beginning of her day. It turned out that Vivian had gone missing… normally she wouldn’t be that worried because Vivian often didn’t come home due to spending time at Nate’s or wherever with her friends. But Sebastian said that she hadn’t been home in a few days that he knew of and he seemed like he was about to call in the FBI or something so she figured this was good cause to worry. Not that she let it get to her head; she was still the same calm level headed person she almost always was. Vivian had practically crumbled beyond no return after her and Tyler broke up and she started seeing Nate. Now Nate wasn’t a bad guy he was really good to her actually but everyone knew she was only using him as a rebound. It was obvious she was falling apart or at least it was obvious from where Alex stood, but she couldn’t imagine her just up and leaving without so much as a hint to that being her plan.

A few hours later after Alex managed to calm down Sebastian as best she could and told him to ask Vivian’s friends if they had seen her or if she had been acting differently lately or even just the slightest hint to her running away. After a few moments she found out from Sebastian that she hadn’t taken anything with the exception of what she normally left the house with. It was a true mystery even to Alex; sure Vivian could be… a handful at times and had a tendency at pissing people off but not enough to put herself in any danger. She hadn’t run away… she wasn’t with Nate…. She wasn’t on a road trip or vacation or anything. Anthony ended up arriving and they tried to keep Sebastian from freaking out too badly but who was going to tell the brother whose sister just disappeared not to panic? She was his responsibility since she lived with him. Alex suggested calling his parents to see if she went there… but imagine if she wasn’t and they found out that their son had “lost” their daughter while they had entrusted him to take care of her. Alex definitely wouldn’t want to be in his shoes, but she promised she would help him in any way she could and that they would find her no matter what.

With the news of Vivian’s disappearance you could be sure that the afternoon workouts would be canceled. Now she was going to be late to meet Tyler. She got into the car and started to drive…debating whether or not she should tell him. On the one side if she told him there was a slight chance he would know where to look or find her…. On the other hand she could have just signed someone’s death certificate. She didn’t want to push him over the edge after they had already made so much progress, but he did deserve to know… and if anyone could find her it would be him. Course she purposefully failed to mention anything about Tyler to Sebastian, because well Sebastian hated Tyler’s guts and had a warrant out for him and practically posted “wanted: dead or alive” posters of him all over town. So even mentioning Tyler’s name could have caused Sebastian to go into cardiac arrest especially now. Oh how she wished they could all go back to the days when everyone got along… but I guess those days never really existed in the first place.

When she was about halfway home was when she decided it would be better to find Vivian and risk someone getting murdered. So she turned and headed for the park leaving Ale and Jake in Anthony’s care. It only took a few minutes to get to the park but finding him was a task in its own…simply because with all the mornings’ events she had forgotten where they said they were going to meet. Though it didn’t take her long to find him. He was standing with his back towards her facing a tree with his hand on it. She stopped a ways away just watching him for a minute not really sure how she was going to tell him that his ex-girlfriend whom he was still completely and irrevocably in love with was now missing. She let a small sigh escape her lips… “Tyler…” that one word wasn’t masked at all it was completely evident that the plan had changed and that something was completely wrong… and when he turned around and saw her face it would be even more evident. Her eyes were full of sympathy and it was obvious that she was going to tell him something that was far from being pleasant. Though she hated the idea of upsetting him she knew he would want her to tell him… how she was going to say it she still wasn’t sure but he definitely needed to know… She was doing the right thing… He needed to know. She bit her lip softly looking at his back waiting for him to respond waiting to change his plans just like Sebastian had changed her… it was a never ending cycle of change… and it was called Life.

[Tyler Haze]

The thud of knuckles slamming into wood was one most people had heard, but generally not outside of the silver screen. That day at the barn though... it was as real and clear as the day. Tyler was a mess, everything that could possibly go wrong had gone oh so severely wrong. He had lost everyone he loved, he had been arrested... again... and put on suicide watch, he was trying so hard to find a job and make things right but everywhere he went he was harshly turned down. He returned to the place where he first met her... or well... where he met her the second time, but the first time that he remembered. Overwhelmed by the memory and the emotional trauma he had been through as of late, he turned, and threw a powerful punch into the wall, angry at life for dealing him a hand that would hurt everyone around him.

He put such force behind it, that it was enough to tear through the skin on his knuckles and let a stream of blood ever so slowly form and drip from his fingertips as he sank down onto the ground with his back against the wall, his elbows on his knees, and head in hands, overcome by the grief that was ripping his heart out of his chest. He had finally cracked. It had taken 19 years, but he had finally cracked. He was carrying so much weight on his shoulders, and he didn't know how to ask anyone for help... and eventually the strain of it became so intense that he finally couldn't do it anymore. Now here he was, broken and hurting... with no one left to lean on... or so he thought.

Though it felt like an eternity, only moments later an arm was wrapped around his shoulders and soft fingers brushed over his bleeding knuckles. He didn't look up, and he didn't know who it was... but none of that mattered. The embrace of a complete stranger would have been comforting to him in that moment... it didn't matter who cared at that point. Honestly... it didn't matter if they really even cared at all... it could have been the police arresting him for something and it would have been comforting. Human touch, that was all he needed... something to let him know that the world hadn't completely forgotten him... something to tell him that people still noticed, that his actions still had an impact on this world.

When he realized it was Vivian, it just made it even more comforting to him. He had met her before, and though he didn't really know her all that well at that point, there was something about her... something compassionate and caring... something that just made him feel the way he felt all those years ago when Jacob would tell him over and over again that there was something out there for him, that he wasn't the worthless shit the world so desperately wanted him to believe he was. Anyone who stumbled on the scene of the two of them there would surely have been confused. Tyler Haze, the renowned criminal in Pinewood considered one of the most hardened people around, being held in the arms of the younger and certainly more delicate Vivian Kings. People tended to forget that even guys like Tyler could get hurt, that he was human just like the rest of them, and that he had a heart that was easily broken... but Vivian wasn't most people, and when he needed it more than anything else, more than he ever had, she stepped in and saved his life.

When he had promised Vivian to love her to the day he died, he had really truly meant that. Looking at him now anyone could believe that. Of course, the majority of this town would refuse to after what they believed he had done to Sebastian. No one understood him... no one got where he was coming from. Yes, he had betrayed Vivian and he would never forgive himself for that, even if he hadn't done it consciously... but people had failed to take into account the fact that Tyler had been an alcoholic essentially since he was about 14 years old... he couldn't help it. He hadn't been sober for a 24 hour period probably since he was at least 16... and now that he was 20 years old, when things went wrong, it was a force he couldn't resist. Yes, he should have gone and spoken to Alex or Vivian, but you know what they say, once an addict, always an addict.

He didn't remember what had happened that night. If asked to identify the girl he'd slept with between only two women, he wouldn't have been able to positively identify her. He wanted to remember... desperately so. Not because he wanted to remember the sex or anything like that, but because he wanted to know what he had done to Vivian, so that every moment from the time he stepped into that club to the time he came to the next morning could bore into his mind in excruciating pain, so that every breath, every touch, every last memory would destroy him. He didn't want to simply die, he wanted to live in constant agony because of what he did... so that maybe, just maybe, the pain of being without Vivian would be masked, and he would die not because she left him, but because he had betrayed her. He wanted the fault to be completely his own. He didn't want to risk her saying "if I hadn't broken up with him..." after he killed himself... he just wanted the blame to be all his own.

As he stood there in silence, the memories he had with Vivian flooding his mind, the pain returned to his expression, and he closed his cold gray eyes and leaned his weight against the tree. It felt like what little energy he had left was quickly draining from him as memory after memory flashed through his mind. Every smile, every laugh, every touch, every tear, every bit of pain he endured to be with her, every passing moment rushed though his memory in excruciating detail. His grip on that delicate promise ring in his hand tightened, and he completely ignored the pain that action caused in his broken arm. It hurt like hell, but it wasn't the kind of hurt he wanted. He wanted that emotional pain, he wanted the mental pain... but no matter how hard he tried to get it, he simply couldn't.

He was slightly startled when his name was suddenly said from behind him. He didn't react as if he was startled though... that would take too much concern for his own well-being, too much energy. He had almost completely forgotten the reason he was here in the first place. The one thing keeping him alive right now... his beautiful baby girl who he loved with all his heart... her and Alex. If it wasn't for the two of them, no doubt he would have long since killed himself. That was all he ever had to look forward to... seeing Ale. So when he slowly opened his eyes and turned towards her... seeing Alex there without his baby in her arms with a very somber and foreboding look on her face... you can't even imagine the feeling of panic that ripped through him like a hurricane through a mud hut.

The look of pain was replaced almost instantly with one of fear bordering on terror. Where was his baby girl? Surely the last thing he had left in this world hadn't been taken from him now too. If she was gone, then he wouldn't waste a second's time in getting that gun and putting a bullet in his head. It took him a moment or two to find his voice and words to put to it, and even when he had none of it was said smoothly at all. Alex... what... where is she? Tyler's life was already barely hanging by a thread, and that thread was a one-year-old baby girl. He needed that child. Yes, the toughest and most hardened criminal in all of Pinewood depended on a fragile tiny baby girl in order to survive. What a twisted life he lived.

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