Dallas.

Truth

Tilly (Tyler's mom)

"You have to tell him the truth. Look at the way you got by seeing them together. You have never gotten this way before. I know that once he left to tour with his band you felt a bit better, but I also know you want him back home more often. Atleast when he isn't on tour. I think it's time. I will be there every step of the way just like I have always been," I hear the words, but they cripp1e me. Telling Tyler the truth will change everything. What if it makes him hate me? "I know he loves Dallas. What if I tell her the truth and ask her to be there when we talk to him? What if she hates me too though?" I think of all of the ways this can go and I hate them all. He shakes his head. "No sweetie. You have to talk to our boy alone. I don't know if he would want this to get out. You know how he feels about those people," he says. I know he is right, but I am not ready for what will transpire from this. What if Tyler decides he wants nothing to do with me for keeping this huge secret from him? I sigh. I know I have to tell him the truth. It scared me to see them so close together today. They resemble each other a lot. I am actually surprised that they don't know the truth yet. That they haven't questioned it. I don't know how this secret has even stayed hidden for so long, but my husband is right. Tyler has to know. I'd rather he hear it from me than from anyone else. "I will talk to him this weekend," I say, and he sighs. He knows I am putting it off as much as I can. I am terrified. What if my son sees me differently? "He is going to go back on the road. Make sure you do it this weekend, otherwise there might not be another chance for months," he tells me. "I know, I know." I say and walk away, acting stup!d, wiping the walls knowing there is no dust anywhere. I am just trying to keep myself busy and away from this topic.

Dallas

The hospital was a crazy experience in itself. After they got me fixed and my medication, all of the staff asked for pictures. It took me longer than I expected to get out of there. They gave me meds that made me sleepy. I remember reading Tyler's text saying he was taking Austyn out and I thought I had replied to him but he said he hadn't received a text and when I went back to check, it turns out I only replied in my mind.

Now we are sitting here, we finished eating earlier, then played with Austyn and put her to bed, got showered and now we are about to have a discussion. I have no idea where to even start. I have to tell him what happened the night before. He needs to know everything from back in hs as well. Hopefully, we can start over. Is that even a possibility?

"Ty, I have so much to tell you. I want you to know that whatever is discussed today, nothing changes with you and Austyn. Your relationship with her is the most important thing to me." I tell him. "Yeah, that's my princess, my daughter, my baby girl, nothing will change that," he tells me. I fiddle with my hands a bit, I can't even look at him. I am afraid of how this will go. Not knowing where to even start. I guess the talk with Adeline is the best place to start.

"So, as you know, I met with Adeline yesterday. Well, things didn't go well at that meeting," I say. I turn and finally face him. "Why didn't you tell my Ty? You knew the truth after you two broke up, and you never wanted to talk about it with me. I feel like such an !d!0t," I say. He sighs. "I know. I wanted to talk to you about it, but she said she wanted to explain it all to you and apologize personally. I didn't know she was going to take this long though," he says. I end up telling him everything that happened at that meeting. Everything that Adeline told me. He lets me talk without interrupting me. I love that about Ty. He always listens. Once I am done, I wait for him to say something. "I knew some of these things. She told me some of it, but some things are new to me too. I couldn't believe it when she told me, and I still can't believe it now. How could someone be so evil? I would never have expected that from her, but it is what it is. I was angry for some time after, but now I don't care. The truth set me free. You aren't the only one who feels like an !d!0t, but we can't change the past now. All we can do is move forward," he tells me. I nod. "Yeah, me too. I did tell her I wanted nothing to do with her. At least I know Stephan's friendship with me was real, because any kind of friendship I had with Adeline was clearly fake. She used me. I knew Noreen was a witch, but to push her daughter to do this and for Adeline to agree. It just makes me look at everyone differently now. What will people do for money? I need to be careful with who I allow into my life," I tell him. "So, where does that leave us? Because I know what I want, but I need to know what you want," he says. Damn, straight to the point.

"Ty, before we get into that, more happened last night. I also met with Beau. We had a talk and he wants to be in Austyn's life," I say. His face turns from happy to something I can't even explain. Sad? Hurt? Anger? "He wants to step up now. Why now? Dallas, what did you tell him? He is not good for her. What if he hurts her? His family is the worst. His mother would surely hurt her. I won't allow that, Dallas. I will k!ll them all if I have to," he begins breathing harder and running his hand through his hair. "Ty calm down and let me talk. Beau said he wants to be in her life as an uncle or family friend only, not as her father. He claims to not have known about Austyn all of this time. His family even went as far as to think that Austyn was dad's kid. Can you believe that? He said he was going to confront his mother though. For all of the lying he claims she did. He seemed angry and disappointed in her, but I don't even care about that. I don't know what ibis true or a lie and I am the one who is angry and disappointed. How can he not want her now that he knows about her? Ty, he is such a little b!tch. You do more for her, you put her first, you do everything to make her happy and no matter what, you always put her first. He can't do that. It's sad and heart breaking. He said he was getting married to Marissa and kept saying that he was doing things this way to keep Austyn and me safe, but I don't believe him. Nothing in the world would take me away from my daughter. He is just selfish. You are Austyn's only dad Ty. I am not even going to introduce them like he wants me to. I refuse to let her find out who he is and her little heart be broken knowing he doesn't want her. At least not right now. She is too young. This can really damage her. I just don't know if I am doing the right thing." I tell him. "No-one will ever hurt her, I promise you," he tells me. I replay the conversation with Beau and again he doesn't interrupt. When I am finished, he is shaking his head. "Nothing will ever keep me from my girl. I will do whatever you want though. If you want me to be there, tell me. If at any point, you want her to get to know him, let me know. I know my place, but I will always put her first," he says.

"Now, about my hand, I was angry last night. I was hurt that Beau said he wouldn't step up for her. It's like I was heartbroken all over again. Not because of me, because I have no feelings for Beau Miller, but for Austyn. Every little girl wants her daddy, and she won't get hers. In a rage, I ended up slamming my hand on the wall. I knew it was bad instantly, but I couldn't feel pain at that moment. I just felt numb. I ended up at the cemetery. I also began to feel the pain in my hand. Anyways, I ignored the pain and I talked to mom and to my brother. I felt like they were talking back to me, you know. I know it sounds crazy, but they made me see the light. My life since the moment I found out I was pregnant flashed before my eyes. Who is the only person that was there the whole time? You, who is the person she knows as her daddy, you. I realized that Austyn is not losing anything, she already has the best dad in the world. No-one can compare to you. No-one even comes close. Austyn wouldn't want any other daddy than you. I hate that I made her with him, but I would pick you as her daddy over Beau every day." I tell him. "Thanks for those words, Dallas. I sometimes feel like one day she will want nothing to do with me. If she finds out who her real dad is, will she go running to him?" he says and that actually makes me really sad. "he wants nothing to do with her in the way you do, so now let's not worry about that, okay," I tell him. He hugs me. "So, are we good?" he asks me. I nod. "Of course we are good, Ty. I am glad we got that all out of our chest," I say. "Well, technically not everything Dallas, where does that leave us?" he asks me.