Fantasy Two Halves of a Whole

[mon]

Acacia stared at him deadpanned when he insulted her at first, mildly offended enough to move herself off his lap. She had taken the pillow on the couch and was ready to throw it in his face until he justified his words, and the pillow lowered back onto her lap.

She snorted, "I never said I wasn't. I'm not the one who started the whole mad dog rumor anyways." It was the unspoken truth. Acacia would've been a completely normal individual if she hadn't been targeted for premature teenage bullying. Her title was only granted to her because she fought back at the teeth, which added to her rebellious nature. Sometime in her sophmore year, she stopped giving a shit altogether and did what she wanted. It wasn't like the teachers cared.

She placed the pillow behind her head and laid back down.

 

[PlotBrownie]

"Then why let people think that about you?" He asked her, shifting closer as he grabbed a pillow as well and placed it in his lap, resting his elbows on it and using his palm as a chin rest. "How did this whole thing even start? Did it start with Charlotte?"

Rumors circulated about how the beef started between Charlotte and Acacia but Tyler learned not to listen to the rumors as they were a twisted version of the truth almost always.

 

[mon]

"It's easier for me, I guess?" Acacia replied truthfully, staring up at the ceiling. It felt odd talking to someone like this. Her on her back on a couch. Almost like a weird therapy session. She sat up eventually.

"Let people believe what they want to believe. I don't care enough to convince them otherwise," she went on. The last part was a lie. She did care. A lot. But she stopped after failing to convince her closest friends to stay. If they wouldn't believe her, why would others? It was pointless to try so Acacia chose to use her disadvantages to her benefit.

Rocking the Mad Dog rumors, she was able to navigate the rest of her high school years rather peacefully, given how everyone was too scared to really interact with her. It was lonely, yes. But at least she didn't have to deal with drama anymore.

"I don't know how it started to be honest. Maybe it was Charlotte? Maybe it was Aaron? You know the quarterback," Acacia asked, naming another one of the well-known jocks in the school. Unlike Wesley, Aaron was a senior who was graduating this year.

"I used to date him near the start of freshman year. We broke up though for stupid reasons and I guess maybe that's where it started? I don't know. Or maybe I'm just being paranoid. It's pretty normal for exes to hate each other after a break up," she shrugged.

 

[PlotBrownie]

"Still, must be annoying having all these people against you when you've done nothing to deserve it. Or at least I don't think you've done anything. Have you?" Tyler asked though he had a feeling Acacia hadn't caused any serious damage with her pranks and attitude.

"This'll sound weird but I kind of see the bright side of this whole situation now." Tyler added, tugging at a loose thread in the pillow, "Maybe the universe thought you needed a friend and I needed to break out of my routine and they put us together. That's a nice way to look at it, yeah?" He pointed out.

 

[mon]

"Hmm, I don't know," Acacia didn't view herself as a completely good person. She's definitely used underhanded tactics to get back at people before, but only because they've striked her first. "Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. Who's to judge?" She sounded rather lackadaisical, as though she was talking about someone else other than herself.

She raised a brow at him and considered his words. Being a rather prideful person, she didn't like to admit that she needed a friend in particular. She was perfectly happy being alone, but it was a lot nicer to have someone beside her now. But for how long would it last? One couldn't blame Acacia for being paranoid. She was ready for the day Tyler left her like everyone else.

"The universe is full of shit. This is a ridiculous way to put two people together," she scoffed, sounding bitter. She didn't like to know that she was growing attached to Tyler and even if she was, God forbid she admit it to herself.

"I was fine on my own."

 

[PlotBrownie]

Tyler scoffed. "Well excuse me, Miss Independent, but you're still stuck with me."

Acacia didn't like people defending her, didn't like needing someone, and sure as hell didn't like help. Tyler was smart. He caught on quickly. Besides, it was obvious since the party and later on when she'd texted him then erased it that she didn't deal well with emotions and dependency.

She's more readable than she thinks she is, and Tyler was now positive that if she knew he was onto her she'd freak out and push him and that would complicate everything.

So, ever the smart boy, Tyler just shut up. He knew that to some extent she cared. She must have cared.

He set the pillow aside and pushed himself off the couch, turning swiftly to look at her, "I'm going to bed. It's been a long day. Night, Cia." He told her before turning to the bedroom and going in.

 

[mon]

"More accurately, I'm stuck in you," Acacia corrected, and this time she didn't waggle her brows or made an obvious display to point out her immature innuendo. Her commitment issues bothered her more than one would think.

She looked over at him when he did, meeting his eye in a pensive stare.

"Good night, Ty." And while Tyler went off into her bedroom to doze off, Acacia laid on the couch for a few hours, lost in her thoughts until she picked herself up. Instead of slipping into the bed with him, the ravenhead took a pillow and a spare blanket from the closet and opt to sleep on the couch. She didn't want to grow any more attached than she already was, afraid that she was already too deep in to pull out.

Throwing the blanket over her head, Acacia fell asleep curled up on her side.

She woke the next morning in her own body, far earlier than Tyler had. It had just turned 5 AM, which was far too early for anyone to wake on a Sunday morning but Acacia failed to fall back asleep. After pulling herself out of bed, she went out on the balcony for her usual morning smoke. Once the tobacco had numbed the buzzing in her head, the hot water was boiled for water and Acacia picked up her dusty ukelele left for abandon. She had found it in her closet the night prior when she was gathering an extra blanket for herself.

A few chords were strum softly. She hadn't touched an instrument in years and was pleased to see that she was still able to play.

"Sunday morning, rain is falling," Acacia hummed, sitting on her kitchen counter, playing at a volume that hopefully wouldn't wake Tyler up, "Steal some covers, shed some skin." Her voice was rather husky from the cigarettes she smoked.

 

[PlotBrownie]

He went to sleep on a bed and woke up on a couch, head resting against the armrest and arms wrapped around a pillow.

Tyler hadn't been this confused since he was still a kid and he'd fall asleep on the couch and wake up in bed.

It took him a moment to piece together what must have happened. The 'why' he couldn't manage to know for certain yet. Maybe she found him sprawled across the whole bed? No if that was the case she would've pushed him aside till there was room for her. Maybe she stayed up late and fell asleep on the couch? No that wouldn't explain the blankets.

His thoughts were interrupted by singing coming from the kitchen and the sound of a ukulele being played. He shifted till he was laying on his back and closed his eyes, listening to the song and noting how her voice was huskier than usual maybe because she'd just woke up or it was all the cigarettes she was smoking.

He recognized the song but couldn't remember the lyrics and from his place he couldn't make them out that well. When she was done he slowly raised his arms up and clapped. Short and slow, but enough to let her know he was up and he heard it.

A few moments later he finally pushed himself off the couch and stretched, wobbling a little at first till he put all his weight on his good leg then resumed stretching for a good solid minute, a couch does that to you, before joining her in the kitchen.

"Hey." He greeted her, his voice also a little husky since he'd just woken up. He didn't know if he should ask her about the couch or not.

 

[mon]

His sudden applause had startled her. She hadn't expected to have been caught playing. "Shit," she stopped immediately, hiding the ukelele behind her back on reflex even though he couldn't see her. It was futile anyways. He heard her play.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Acacia asked, setting the instrument aside.

 

[PlotBrownie]

"Nah, I was already up." Tyler brushed her off as he joined her in the kitchen, "Didn't know you could play." He said gesturing to the ukulele.

He noted that she'd already made herself coffee so he heated the water to make himself a cup of tea as well, moving about the kitchen and using one hand to do everything while the other held his crutch.

"How long have you been up?" He asked, turning to face her as he leaned against the counter and waited for the water to come to a boil.

 

[mon]

She frowned at his answer.

"You should've told me," Acacia replied. Then I wouldn't have made a fool of myself by playing in front of you. She wasn't sure how to feel about that, but if she had to guess, it was probably something akin to embarrassment.

She shifted on her leg, fiddling with the end of her shirt as she waited for her coffee too cool. "I don't know," she replied, glancing at the clock on the wall, "A few hours maybe?"

 

[PlotBrownie]

"I would've but I didn't want to interrupt you." He told her as he quickly fixed his cup and set it beside the kettle then walked over to the fridge to get out some milk. He glanced at the clock and noted that it was still early which meant she'd been up for a while.

" Couldn't sleep?" He asked her, "Couch not comfortable enough?" It was a simple question but clearly he was also asking for an explanation.

 

[mon]

Her frown didn't leave her. In fact, it seemed to curl further into a scowl, not liking the fact that he had completely caught her off guard.

"You still should've told me," she retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. Body language told them that she was just as uncomfortable with the question as he was wary in asking it.

"I guess," she replied shortly, unsure of how to phrase her complicated feelings towards him. She liked his company. Liked spending time with him. Perhaps even liked him. (As a friend, she told herself.)

And that kind of liking was terrifying, especially when their relationship was built on something so inexplicable and bizarre. If one day were to stop swapping, would this end too?

Acacia didn't want to stay to find out.

 

[PlotBrownie]

He mirrored her frown, though his was one of concern. "It's only a song." He pointed out softly. "Is everything okay, Cia?" He asked, taking his cup in his hands to warm them.

He didn't know if it was obvious or if he had gotten better at reading her body language but something was on her mind and it was bothering her and it's most likely about their conversation last night and he didn't know if he should encourage her to talk about it or not.

 

[mon]

She narrowed her eyes at his comment. Yes, it was just a song but she didn't need to be reminded of how petty she was being. This only made her more sour.

"Everything's fine," Acacia snapped, like everything was very not fine. She waved her hand as thought swatting away his invisible concern and stormed off into her room.

"I'm going back to sleep. Feel free to make good use of the exit door," she said aloud before flopping down, face first onto her bed.

Gods, what did she just do? She felt mortified that she just threw a mini tantrum infront of him, but there was an irritation boiling inside of her. An anxiety that grew like an itch that she couldn't scratch. She hated it.

 

[PlotBrownie]

Did she just kick him out?

No. No, Tyler isn't going anywhere. She's not going to push him away. He refuses to let her spoil their friendship which was already delicate enough as it was.

He walked up to her bedroom door, limping a little, and raised his hand up to knock then paused.

Maybe he needed to let her cool down.

He went back to the kitchen and sat down, propping his feet on the table and taking his tea again.

Five minutes passed. Ten. Fifteen.

Okay, enough cooling down time.

Tyler grabbed the ukulele and his crutches and went over to her bedroom door. He sat down on the floor, resting his back against her door and starting strumming.

"Often I am upset," He started singing, "That I can't fall in love but I guess, this avoids the stress of falling out of it."

He didn't necessarily mean it something by the song, but the gesture was more to tell her that he's still there.

 

[mon]

From the silence, Acacia assumed Tyler had left. Just like everyone else in her life, which was good. Good, she told herself again as she laid in bed, wondering how badly she royally fucked up. She wouldn't be Acacia Romans if she didn't, she thought bitterly to herself.

It wasn't until she heard singing from behind her door did she realize that Tyler hadn't left. In fact, he was pretty much making a show of how he stayed, which somehow, bugged Acacia a lot more than it should've. But instead of stopping him, she let him play on, listening to the sound of his voice barely muffled by the door between them.

Turning onto her side, she waited for him to finish as he had for her. Only then did she creak open the door, just a peek. Not fully opening it as well. With narrowed eyes, she frowned down at him.

"Why are you still here?" she asked, voice soft, unable to conjure up the faux menace, an edge she used to get people to stay away.

 

[PlotBrownie]

Tyler put the uke down once he heard footsteps on the other side of the door and had just enough time to put his hand on the ground to steady himself for when she opened it. Though even if he hadn't she hadn't opened it that much so he wouldn't have fallen.

He turned to look up at her, the top of his head brushing against the door as he smiled in reply to her frown. "You just can't get it through that thick skull of yours, can't you?" He teased, though some seriousness weighed his words down, "Two halves of a whole, remember? You're stuck with me, Mads."

"Also a little part of me thinks you don't want me to leave just yet. I haven't even made breakfast." He pointed out. If she was going to be extra sulky he was going to be extra preppy. They balanced things out that way.

 

[mon]

Acacia stared at him incredulously for a few seconds before flaring to anger. The agitation that had been bubbling in the pits of her heart exploded as she dropped to her knees, shoving him forward as though to get rid of him.

"You're the one who doesn't get it!" she hissed, the door that was flung open, slammed hard against the wall beside it. "Yes, we're in this mess because of this whole, out of body experience but you don't have to pretend to be my friend just because of it. Even if we are... friends," she choked the word out, "Friends don't sleep in one another's beds and make them breakfast the next morning. Friends don't go grocery shopping together and fall asleep watching to outdated horror movies. Friends don't do," she gestured at the empty space between them, "They don't do whatever we're doing."

"You should be reserving this sort of affection to someone you actually like. Not me. Not because of this fucking bodyswap shit storm the universe devised for us," Acacia finished, rambling everything out in an angry, frazzled breath.

 

[PlotBrownie]

Tyler stumbled a little when she pushed him but quickly regained his balance and scooted away from her to avoid anymore shoving. He waited for her tantrum to end, and despite acknowledging one of her points he still thought the other point was complete bullshit.

"You done?" He asked once she stopped yelling, "Good. I hope you're done telling me what I am and am not pretending to be too. Has it ever occurred to you that I actually want to be your friend? And yeah the whole body thing was the reason behind it but without it we would've never even talked because let's face it, Acacia, you didn't even know my name." He pointed out, took a breath, then resumed.

"And what's this shit about 'someone I actually like'? I like you, you idiot! What's so wrong with liking you? I don't care about the labels you're so interested in and I don't care if we're friends or something more or something less but I am not pretending when I say I care about you because I do and you're not going to scare me out of it, you hear me?" He finished, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at her with a look that showed no fear. A week ago if she'd given him that look with her face all red like it was now he'd be scared, but he'd learned that her bark was worse than her bite.

 

[mon]

Acacia's glare faltered momentarily into stunned surprise. His confession was the last thing she had expected, but she knew better than to carry false hope. That frustrated stare returned and Acacia got up, scowling.

"You don't care about what we are but I do! Everything you do is so misleading, but you don't even get what I'm saying at all, do you?" she accused, throwing her hands in the air and then turning to storm out of the house. "I can't do this right now."

She didn't care if she was still in her pajama shorts. She needed out from this mess.

 

[PlotBrownie]

"Acacia! Acacia, where are you going? Wait!" Tyler called after her as he scrambled up to go after her but he could barely stand without his crutches. He had no hope of chasing after her.

The door slammed behind her and he sighed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as the whole fight replayed in his head.

A couple moments later he opened his eyes and contemplated whether he should leave or stay. Eventually he decided to stay, just to process everything and make sure Acacia comes back okay.

With that decision in mind, Tyler went in her room and flung himself at her bed, burrying his face in a pillow and letting out a long and sad groan.

 

[PlotBrownie]

It's been two hours. Tyler was starting to get worried. He needed to talk to her.

Cia

me

where r u?

me

please just come back

me

I'm worried

me

Cia?

 

[mon]

Her phone buzzed for the fourth time in her pockets before she finally picked it up to check. She wasn't sure why she was surprised to see that it was Tyler who had texted her. The boy was too good for his own good.

"Who's that?" a guy whom she forgot the name of asked. He was seated within her arms, smelling of the same cigarettes as she did. Lipstick smears were on his lips but Acacia didn't care enough to point it out to him.

She took a deep inhale of her cigarette, before blowing out her reply nonchalantly, "No one."

Her phone was pocketed and she felt a pair of hands grab onto her hips, pulling her closer. Though the male before her was a looker, she could not get the image of Tyler, worried at home, out of her mind. It nagged at her like a bad sore and she groaned as she pulled away, deciding to cut things short. She didn't really want to go back, but she didn't want to explain to Callum why Tyler was alone, stuck in her dorm either.

"Thanks for the breather," she told the guy, pressing her fingers against his lips.

He winked in reply. "Anytime."

It took Acacia another thirty minutes to text Tyler back.

'fine.'

And another thirty to return back to the dorm sulkily.

 

[PlotBrownie]

Despite most of what she said being complete shit, Tyler had to give Acacia one point: they were definitely more than friends.

That scared him.

Acacia didn't seem like an easy girlfriend, and he didn't even know if she shared what he felt. Did she even want to be his girlfriend? He was pretty sure he wasn't even her type. Does she want this? Does he?


The front door opened and Tyler rushed to it as best he could with crutches.

Callum looked surprised.

"Oh.. Uh, hey Callum. Acacia isn't here. She went to get something I think. She'll be back soon." I hope.

His phone buzzed and he got it out, receiving her text.

He sighed and waited for her, trying to stay out of Callum's way.

Thirty minutes later the front door opened again.

He didn't bother getting up this time, deciding to wait in her room. They'll need privacy to talk anyway.