Tyler shakily set down his phone. Josh was reading his messages, but he wasn't replying. Why wasn't he replying?

Ashley appeared in the doorway, her cheeks red and her eyes bloodshot. Tyler immediately felt his heart restrict. The last time he had seen her, she had walked away crying. Did she hate him for how he had acted?

"Guys, could you please leave?" He whispered to his family.

"Of course," Kelly replied. She walked out of the hospital room, her husband and children in tow.

Ashley stepped forward and sat down in the chair next to him. "Hey, Ty."

Her voice was tired and weak. She had definitely been crying.

"I'm so sorry," Tyler said, holding back tears. "Ash, I'm so sorry. I was so terrible to you."

Ashley wiped her eyes and let out a watery laugh. "I can't believe you got shot."

Tyler chuckled. "Me either."

"Are we friends again?" Ashley asked quietly.

"Best friends," Tyler whispered, scared his voice would break it he raised it. "And now I'm gonna tell you the truth, because you deserve it."

Ashley looked up, her eyes wide. "Really?"

Tyler nodded. "I wanted to tell you the whole time," he admitted, "but it was hard. And, please don't be mad at me, because I kind of lied about a lot, but I was scared okay?" He took a deep breath. "I'm gonna start form the start. Quick warning; it progressively gets worse and worse."

Ashley grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes. "Thank you, Ty. And I won't judge you, I promise."

Tyler exhaled shakily. "First of all, I'm gay."

Ashley looked confused. "What? Yeah, obviously. Wait, was that supposed to be a secret?"

Tyler's eyes widened. "You knew?"

"I thought it was common knowledge," Ashley shrugged.

Tyler shook his head with a small laugh. "Wow."

Ashley hummed. "Alright, continue."

Tyler took a deep breath. "In freshmen year, I dated Eddie McAdams," -Ashley let out a gasp at that- "and he was, like... he was really abusive. So, I broke up with him. I recently ran into him, and he kind of attacked me, which is what I wasn't telling you. So that's that. What's been happening recently, though, is, like, a lot more intense. Basically, my mom's actually from a really powerful family in the mafia, the Persicos. And they're in contact with the Chechen mafia, and a mobster in that had a son that was in danger and needed to leave Russia immediately. So, I was forced to marry him."

Ashley's mouth fell open. "Josh."

"We're not actually cousins," Tyler laughed dryly. "So, yeah, Josh is Russian and my husband. Also, we're dating because turns out he's awesome. I think we are, anyway. Apparently, he's going back to Russia, but I really don't want to him to go." He paused to frown before continuing. "Anyway, Brendon's his best friend and also from Russia, so you were right to be suspicious." He took a deep breath, his rambling making his breathing difficult. "The Persicos ended up betraying the Chechen mafia by kidnapping Josh. Brendon and I rescued him, but Mr. Dun, Josh's dad, got mad and tried to kill me. That's why I got shot. But he got arrested, and I think Josh is going back to Russia, so it's all over, I guess."

Ashley stayed frozen, a dumbfounded look on her face. "Oh my God. Jesus Christ, Tyler. What the fuck? I- I don't even know what to say!"

Tyler shrugged and rolled onto his side, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. "It's okay. We don't have to talk about it. Like I said, Josh is going back to Russia. Everything's going back to normal."

Ashley sighed. "You don't want him to go, do you?"

Tyler shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes. "I like him so much. And I don't wanna go home. I wanna stay with him."

"That's why you were staying in the apartment," Ashley realised. "Wow, this is really all coming together. And that's why your parents have always been so sketchy, too."

Tyler nodded and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry I lied."

"No, I understand," Ashley said. "All of that must have been terrible. I can barely process it just thinking about it."

Tyler sighed and sat up, his arms outstretched. Ashley smiled and stood up so she could hug him. They stayed in the embrace for a while, lost in each other and devouring by the moment. Neither of them wanted to let go.