TELL HIM LATER (2)
John Tucker x Female Engineer
Warnings!: Talks of cheating, LOTS of angst, and sadness
Addi Speaks!: Hilli guys! Holy schmoly I had this written when I posted the first part but decided to add to it and I think it’s like 20x better now so hopefully yall enjoy! I made a poll a few days ago asking about a song fic and a few people did want one so I combined the two! I am a huge Malcolm Todd fan so I couldn’t help myself… anyways hope yall like it!
——————————————
Ever since Tucker walked away from you that day, things haven’t been the same. The days felt longer, you went to class but didn’t retain any information. You forced yourself to make food so you didn’t have to go out and risk seeing him or your friends.
You were miserable.
Point blank.
Life after Tucker was one thing you never imagined and now that you’re living it, you can’t stand it.
Every single thing pisses you off now.
From Allie coming over to try to make you feel better, to your dad calling you nonstop, waiting for you to return his calls.
Everything made you angry.
Angry at yourself, the world, Mike, and your father.
Especially your father.
All of this was his fault.
And he knew it.
Which is exactly why you woke up to yet another gift basket at your door, with another apology letter that meant absolutely nothing to you.
Let’s back up a little so this can make more sense…
~ Two Weeks Ago ~
| Dad: Call me.
| You: Why? You know I’m at Tucker’s
| Dad: I don’t care, I said call me.
—————————————
Calling your dad was never fun, it almost always started and ended with a lecture.
Your father is a part of the BPD SWAT Team (Boston Police SWAT Team). Having a high-ranking sergeant father means you literally can’t catch a break. EVER.
You figured it would be easier in college because you moved an hour away to Briar but it in fact got worse.
And unfortunately for you, the body of a young girl, not much older than you, was found 10 miles out from Briar U. This means you won’t be left alone for at least three months.
What you didn’t expect though was for your father to literally assign you a personal bodyguard for the remainder of the semester.
Once he arrived at your door the next day, you immediately called your father. You didn’t think he was serious about this whole bodyguard thing until he actually sent a giant to your doorstep.
“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.” You scream through the phone, stepping out onto the porch
“It’s for your own good sweet pea.” He said in the same monotone voice that haunted your dreams.
“HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? YOU SENT GOLIATH TO MY SCHOOL!” You take a deep breath, trying to regulate yourself.
“Seriously, did Bradly pistol-whip you again?” You asked questioning his poor judgment.
“I heard that!” A voice came through the phone
“Good!” You responded quickly
“Dad you could’ve sent Bradly, at least I know who he is,” Grasping at straws, you try to make something out of the situation, knowing your father won’t back down.
“No, that’s exactly why I sent you Michael. You don’t know him, so you won’t distract him. Keep it that way.” He stated sternly before hanging up on you.
You let out an obnoxiously loud groan before reentering the house to meet Michael for the first time.
Yeah you definitely weren’t calling him Michael, so Mike it is
Unfortunately for you, Tucker was often busy. Which means he didn’t see this whole interaction, he never got to meet Mike before the fire.
You knew your boyfriend was a hard worker and you being you, wanted to lighten his load.
You decided to create Tucker's own version of Wednesday, one that he could wear all the time. During practice, games, cooking, and even just for sleeping.
You knew health was everything for Tucker and if he was able to monitor his health, things would be a lot easier. He wouldn’t be as worried about making extra meals to help with blood sugar and extra protein if he knew exactly what his body needed.
So you tried to make a watch band for him. It started as a joke when you met the rest of the group but you knew it could really help Tucker, so you made it.
Unfortunately, though, duplicating Wednesday was no easy feat. Which meant that you had to power her down to edit her internally and then proceed to duplicate her. It would be hard but it was doable.
Sadly, midway through making it is when the fire broke out.
You were welding the finishing touches to the frame of Tucker's watch when you sparked a roll of paper towels that Mike had left out.
You didn’t even notice it was burning until it was too late.
Either way you needed to finish the duplication before it failed or you would have to completely start over, which is why you weren’t tending to the fire.
Even in a crisis you cared about Tucker’s wellbeing more than your own.
“MIKE SO HELP ME GOD. GET THE FUCKING FIRE EXTINGUISHER!”
“HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN” Mike yells
“OH SHUT UP, IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. JUST PUT IT OUT ALREADY!” You yelled at the man
“YOU’D BE DEAD IF I WEREN’T HERE” He says trying to spray the fire.
The fire extinguisher isn’t working for Mike so he tosses it to the side causing a loud clank.
Yes, he was just doing his job but you hated when anyone but your boyfriend touched you.
At all.
Even your siblings were lucky to get a hug out of you
Tucker was just different, the way he carried himself and how he respected you made you love him even more.
Unfortunately for you, Mike had no clue you felt this way.
Another reason to yell at your father later!
He grabs you by your waist and drags you, along with the chair, away from Tuckers watch.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” You scream, flailing your arms in defense
Immediately hating every second of this.
A man who wasn’t your boyfriend, saving you.
Your worst nightmare.
He yells, quickly snapping your out of your thoughts
“YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOUR EXTINGUISHER WAS EMPTY?” Still dragging you by your waist away from the scene.
“CAN YOU GET OFF ME, I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP.” You squeal while squirming in his arms
He swiftly picks you up, tosses you over his shoulder, before running toward the back door.
“HEY LET ME GO” you say, literally kicking and screaming as he gets you both to safety
He sets you down on the front lawn and turns back to look at the house. He whips out his phone to call your father.
But the only thing you can think about is that Tucker would know what to do right now.
He would sweep you off your feet, tell you everything was okay and then put Mike the Jackass in his place.
Unfortunately for you though Tucker was asleep, knocked out harder than a dead man.
He won’t be here anytime soon.
The last words from hell apparently because less than a minute later, Tucker’s truck pulled into your driveway.
And the worst day of your life started.
Hearing some of your closest friends accuse you of cheating felt like you’d stared at a screen for too long.
Everything blurred and turned into white noise but him.
He looked helpless.
Like he wanted to trust you, he wanted to believe you.
But couldn’t bring himself to, even after all the things you said.
Watching John walk away from you was like watching the sun set for one final time.
You called after him but he’d already made up his mind.
He
Just
Kept
Walking.
All you could do was stare.
You watched him get into his truck and walk out of your life for good.
Leaving those damn tire marks behind.
The first sign of chest pain was the long hard sting that made you want to sink into earth.
Tragically just because your chest was hurting doesn’t mean that life just stops. You were quickly reminded of that fact when Mike walked up to you with the partially burned motherboard to the project that caused all of this to happen.
“They saved what they could.” He stated softly over the sounds of the water hoses
You were still staring at the muddy tire marks left from Tucker’s truck.
Normally you’d be fine seeing them, you actually loved it because they reminded you of how lucky you were to have him.
But today, knowing he might never come back made you snap.
You tore your gaze from the marks and slapped the parts out of his hand.
“These don’t mean anything to me anymore. I just lost the love of my life because you and my dimwitted father wanted to control MY life.”
You stomped on the parts until there was nothing left but metal bits.
You picked up the pieces and shoved them into Mike’s chest before storming off back toward the house sobbing.
Sobbing.
You sobbed.
You never sobbed.
Poor Mike got the worst of it, he had no clue what was going on but he took it like a champ.
You were hurt, you felt like a moron.
Losing him.
Losing someone you loved so dearly.
Someone you opened up to.
You lost the one person you felt safe with 100% of the time.
You lost your sweet sweet John Tucker.
Chest Pain is all you felt from that point forward.
~
Luckily for you Wednesday was backed up on a drive so your little hissy fit didn’t affect your progress too much.
Still, you chose to not speak to your father for yet another day.
Soon he took matters into his own hands by showing up to your house unannounced.
You were sitting in your semi-torched lab when he walked in.
“What are you doing here?” You study his appearance, noting he clearly just got off work.
“I came to check on you. Break up’s can be hard.” He stated flatly
Something about that threw you over the edge.
You were done holding back.
Done ignoring how pissed you were at him.
“Yeah Dad they do hurt, they hurt when you’re the problem.” You set your tools down and turn to him
“You’ve always been my problem. But this the type of hurt you can’t control.” You stand up and walk toward him
“Normally you can fix your issues and move on but I don’t have anything I can fix because YOU ARE MY PROBLEM.” you let out a rough exhale before continuing your tangent
“I haven’t lived a day without you medaling in my life and now it’s cost me the most important person I’ve ever crossed paths with.” Your finger digs into his chest
You turn your finger back to your own chest
“My chest hurts now.”
“Everyday it hurts, more, and more.”Your hands shake while you relive the event in your head
“I- I can barely even get out of bed because I know he is somewhere out there enjoying life without me.” Your voice breaks softly, thinking about Tucker moving on
“Oh hun, you don’t know that.” He says, reaching for you
You snatched your hands away from him and take a step back.
“I do know that Dad!”
“Our friends post videos of him out at parties having a good time but I can’t even bring myself to go to the dining hall because I’m scared to see that look on his face again.” You look down toward your feet on the verge of tears
“He hates me, Dad.”
“He thinks I was cheating on him.” Sighing you let the tears fall down your face
“Me, Cheating. The one thing I would literally never do. Not after what mom did to you. I’d rather die than ever cheat on someone, you know that.” You look back up at your father before busting into tears
“Oh gator,” He pulls you into a hug while wiping the tears off your face
Hearing your childhood nickname made you melt.
Today was rough.
You were definitely still mad at your father but after hearing him call you that name, you realized he was just trying to protect his baby girl.
Realistically you couldn’t be mad at him for that, at least not for too long.
~ TUCKER’S POV ~
“I'm hurting, I'm stuck in my bed”
“I don't know where to go, so I'll lay here instead”
“With my symptoms, symptoms of sorrow and dread”
“They all said it would fade, but again and again-”
The song abruptly shuts off
“Dude get the hell up,” Dean says yanking the covers off my body
“Leave me alone, Dean,” I quickly pull the covers back over my head
“You know you can’t sulk in here for the rest of the semester dude,” Logan’s voice shoots through the room
“I can damn sure try,”
“Tuck I know you’re hurt but I really do think there more to this than we know.” Garrett cuts in
He’s been saying this since we got back to the house.
It’s been over a week of this nonsense and I’m officially tired of it.
“Holy shit G, get off my back with this bullshit.” I swiftly yank the covers back sitting upright
“She cheated on me, okay? That’s all there is to it. I don’t need you coming up with some stupid conspiracy theory to make me feel better.” I let out a rough exhale
“That’s not what I’m trying to do at all-“ I cut him off before he can continue
“THEN STOP!” The room falls silent
“Just leave me alone. I’m tired of you guys trying to get my mind off of it. I’m tired of the parties and drinking until I can’t remember my night. I just want to be alone.” I roll back on my side and put the covers back on
Soon they leave without another word, they must’ve got the memo.
They’ve been dragging me to parties or even throwing parties just to get my mind off of Y/N.
I’m just tired of pretending I’m not infuriated with her.
I loved her with all my heart.
I wanted to bring her home to my mom.
That reminds me to call my mom, she’s been worried about me since I told her what happened.
I pick up my phone and dial her number, she always answers within a few rings.
“Hey honey! How you feeling?” She answers excitedly
“Hey Mom,” is all I say before breaking down
I’d been acting tough when I called her these past few days, pretending like this hadn’t affected my every waking moment.
Clearly I couldn’t hold up the act anymore.
“Oh baby, what’s wrong?” She asks but knowing her son, she already knew the answer.
“I can’t lie to you anymore ma, I’m sorry” I cry into the phone
“Oh honey, I can’t tell you how many times your dad tried to stay strong for me. I knew you were lyin when you told me a week ago,” She laughed on the other side of the phone
“I just didn’t want to admit how much it hurt but I can’t deny it anymore ma.” A shaky inhale travels through the phone
“My chest is hurting”
“My chest hurts, like the kind of hurt that lingers. It feels like there’s a boulder weighing me down.” I sigh before continuing
“My feet can’t fall out of bed”
The song that’s been on repeat for days plays in my head
“I don’t get out of bed if I don’t have to,”
“I don’t know where to go, so I lay here instead”
“Honestly even if I didn’t have to go to practice I wouldn’t know where to go.”
“With my symptoms, symptoms of sorrow and dread”
“I feel pathetic, like I’m some sort of failure that wasn’t good enough for her.”
“They all said it would fade but again and again”
“The guys keep trying to take me out and get my mind off of her but it never works. She was the best thing to ever happen to me. I-I thought I was for her too.”
“I love, I love, I love, I love, I love”
I’m not feeling much love right now, just torment.
“I really don’t want to let her go.” Tears stream down my face like a waterfall, I haven’t cried this much since I was a kid.
What is happening to me?
“John baby, I’m going to be completely straight forward with you right now and you have to listen to me when I tell you this.” She says softly
Confused, I immediately sit up. Hoping for some advice to help me get over this loss
“I truly believe there is more to this than you think. Now, I know you told me Garrett was saying he believed something was up since the start and honestly baby, I believe him.”
I can hear the stirring on the other side of the phone, she must’ve been cooking when I called.
“Oh mom not you too,” I sigh into the speaker
She laughs but I can tell she’s using that smile she does when she knows she’s right.
“I wouldn’t lie to you now, would I?” I can tell she’s beaming on the other line
“No…”
“Exactly. John that girl seemed genuine, she was respectful and sweet toward me. Also, I highly doubt she would throw away your relationship for some random guy.”
She stops stirring just in time to say the words I needed to hear most.
“She gave you that look, John. The look I gave your father and the look that only comes with true love.”
I hate it when she says things that make sense.
She inhaled sharply “I’m not saying I know she didn’t cheat on you but baby, I’d bet money she’s at home crying right now.” She chuckles softly before continuing
“Miscommunications happen, but that doesn’t me you should let them dictate your happiness.”
There she goes again being right and sounding like fucking Shakespeare while doing it.
“I think you should hear Garrett out honey, at the very least do that.”
I hate it when she does this because 99.9% of the time, she’s spot fucking on.
Which means I have to stop sulking and actually listen to Garrett Graham speak about his amazing observations skills.
Fuck me.
“You’re right, mom. I’m gonna talk to Garrett,” I pull the covers back and put my slides on, getting ready for the rant from hell
“I’m proud of you son, I know this is hard for you. I promise you’ll feel better knowing you at least tried.”
I know she’s smiling on the other side, she always is.
“Thank you, mom.”
“Of course baby, and tell me how it goes okay, I’ll be waiting!” She laughs before hanging up.
I walk toward the door and stumble down the stairs to find Garrett, Dean, Logan, Hannah, Allie, and Jules standing around the kitchen island whispering.
“Oh come on, are you guys trying to team up on me?” I slide past them to grab and drink from the fridge.
“Dude you gave us literally no other choice.” Dean throw his head back groaning
“I’m just now getting here so I’m kinda confused…” Allie says looking around the room for help
“So basically, Y/N’s Lab/ House caught on fire and everyone only found out because Logan saw it on the digital calendar live feed. So everyone started watching it to figure what was happening and some random buff guy came in and swooped her out like Magic Mike. Even funnier, HIS NAME IS MIKE!” Jules leans over the counter laughing at their own joke before earning a punch in the arm from their brother
“Dude…” Logan gives them and look that normally means stfu but they chose to ignore it this time
“I’m just saying it’s pretty ironic that she has a bodyguard named Mike who looks like a stripper” They put their hands up in defense
“Woah what do you mean bodyguard?” I cut in before anyone else could.
“I heard from around campus that it’s her body guard. Apparently her dad is some control freak cop who hired someone to watch her 24/7.”
The words hit me like a punch in the gut.
Her bodyguard.
Her dad is a cop and a control freak so Jules isn’t far off.
The idea of me losing her over something this stupid makes me sick but there’s also a part of me that hopes Jules is right.
“Dude I knew something was up! She looked like she hated that guy that day at the house.” Garrett exclaims
“She was reeming on him, man. She yelled at him, stomped on some stuff and then she shoved him in the chest and stormed off.”
“G you’re forgetting the most important part man…” Dean cuts in
“Oh right, she sobbed dude, Like full on ugly cry.”
Fuck.
She never cries.
Not even when Dean killed her pet gold fish.
Pulling me out of my thoughts, they continue the conversation.
“How do you even know all this stuff Jules?” Deans asks curiously
“There are no secrets when it comes to the fifth line.” They bow before plastering a smug grin across their face.
~Ding Dong~
“Did someone order food because all this investigating has me starving,” Dean asks smiling
Unfortunately for him everyone shakes their head no.
I was closets to the door so I decided to answer it.
There were two people I least expected to see at the door:
1.Y/N
2.Barack Obama
As luck would have it there was a secret third option that happened to come in handy because it was neither of them.
But alas, all luck must run out because it was Y/N’s father.
Once again, fuck me.
This day just keeping getting better.
“John, nice to meet you young man.” He extends his hand
I take it, shaking it firmly before responding
“Nice to meet you too, sir.”
“I wish we were meeting under better circumstances but here we are,” he chuckles before stepping back
I laugh with him because I’m not sure if he’s here to kill me or well I guess kill me is the only option…
“Yes me too sir,”
“You’re a very respectful young man, here why don’t we chat outside.” He turns before I could even answer
I turn back towards the group with a confused expression and motion from them to come listen at the door.
Of course they follow
Quietly, I take a seat next to him, letting him speak first. He’s looking down at his shoes like a kid who just broke something they shouldn’t have.
“I’m sorry.” Is all he says before looking back up at me
I’m immediately taken aback because what do you mean Y/N’s father, who I’m meeting for the first time btw, just apologized to me.
“I-I’m sorry what, sir?” I struggle to get the words out
“This is my fault, I’m taking full accountability for my actions here. I hired officer Tan, or Mike as she calls him to watch over my daughter, not thinking of the repercussions. It’s been hard for me knowing she’s going to college over an hour away with no protection.” He sighs looking back down
“Well other than what I taught her,” he chuckles to himself
“But regardless, I overstepped. I assigned her an agent that she’d never met before and had no experience with thinking it would help her but clearly all it’s done is harm.”
“She would never cheat on you, son.” He lets out a rough exhale
“That girl is a lot of things but cheater isn’t one of em. She wouldn’t even cheat on her tests in school like the other kids.” He smiles softly remembering the fond memory.
“Her mother cheated on me when she was very young and ever since then, she’s tried her hardest to be true.”
“She’s been at home crying for days because of my mistake and all I want to do is fix it.”
I sit in the silence, not really knowing how to respond.
“One day, you’ll grow up to have a daughter of your own and you’ll understand the feeling of just wanting her to be happy.”
“That’s all I want for my daughter right now.” He states softly.
Here comes the boulder in my chest again, just sitting there, weighing me down.
It hurts knowing that she’s at home upset over this simple misunderstanding.
Listening to her father ramble on right now makes me think of only one thing.
I need to get my girl back.
“I believe you.” I finally cut through the silence.
“You do?” He sounded surprised
“I honestly had a hard time believing she would cheat on me, but hearing your side clears a few things up.” I explained
“I KNEW IT!” Garrett screeches from the other side of the door.
We both stand up laughing before shaking hands again
“I’m glad we got this figured out,” He says walking down the steps of the porch.
“Hey sir, just one more thing?” I ask causing him to turn around
“How did you know what I looked like?”
“Son, I’m a BPD S.W.A.T Sergeant, you think I let my daughter date just anybody?” He chuckles before getting in his truck and driving off
I smile and shake my head while watching him leave
Things felt different.
I didn’t really know how to feel.
Happy because I didn’t get cheated on.
Sad because Y/N is probably still upset over the whole situation.
But I didn’t have time to feel all these feeling before front door opened swiftly
Garrett is standing next to Dean with a satisfied smirk.
He’s twirling my keys around his finger like a kid in a candy store.
“What the fuck are you still standing there for dude! GO GET YOUR GIRL BACK!!”
He tosses the key in my direction before slamming the door in my face.
He’s right, I need to go get my girl back.
~End of POV~
After your father had left, you felt a little bit better.
You felt good enough to continue the project you were working on.
Yes, working on something for your ex probably wasn’t the healthiest thing to be doing mid-breakup but it’s what made you happy.
Without having Mike there to wrongfully place a roll of paper towels or drag you away from your project, you actually got it completed.
However, you being you, it wasn’t going to be anything like the original design you had planned.
This time you added a 3-D hologram of Tucker that would project out of the front of the watch.
When you actually finished it, it was perfect. Everything he would’ve wanted and more.
Except you weren’t able to give it to him.
How pathetic, you thought.
He broke up with you and you’re still making him gifts.
That made your chest hurt even more.
~Ding Dong~
Oh fuck me.
I’m not prepared for any human interaction today.
Not even the mailman.
Only this time, something told you to check the door camera.
Something deep inside you.
So you checked, and lo and behold your sweet John Tucker stood before you.
Hands in his pockets, swaying back in forth like a nervous little kid.
You hadn’t ran that fast in years, you not so gracefully sprinted to the door and yanked it open.
You took a few seconds to try and catch your breath before saying anything.
Tucker just stood there, head down trying to hide his smirk.
“W-what are you doing here?” Stuttering an embarrassing amount when you said it
“I came to talk to you,” he exhaled, shoving his hands deeper in his pockets
“Listen Tuck, I never meant to hurt you. I would never cheat on you, I swear.” You poured your heart out to him like it was the last thing you’d ever do.
“I know.”
It felt like the whole earth stopped just for this moment.
He knew.
The silence was long, long enough for both of you to understand what happened.
“I thought you hated me,” That was all you could muster out.
“Oh darlin’ I could never hate you. Even this past week I didn’t hate you. I was upset, yes but I never hated you.”
He reached for your hand, slowly stroking your palm with his thumb.
“I love, I love, I love, I love, I love”
“God I missed you so much,” is all you say before pulling him in for a kiss
It was slow, clearly long awaited.
His hands dropped down to your hips to pull you closer.
You break the kiss while giggling
“It’s not like I’m going anywhere, John”
You look up at him before softly placing a hand on his chest.
“Oh, I know” He says before pulling you back in
That pain in my chest is gone now, and thank god because I wouldn’t be able to live another day with it.
Bonus!
“You’re telling while y’all were fighting you made him a custom watch with a hologram in it?!?” Dean clutched his chest in shock
“Yeah..” you stated sheepishly
“Awww, that’s literally adorable guys” Hannah gushes
“I completely agree, we need more of this” Allie chimes in
“Well it’s nothing crazy but I think it could really help,” you beamed toward the group
“Oh you have got to be kidding me,” Logan says from under the sink
“You good down there dude?” Garrett asks
“Yeah just wishing I had my own hologram to help me out” he pokes his head out
Earning a laugh from the group
“Nothing crazy my ass! Tuck should’ve been on his hands and knees thanking you”
He earns another laugh from everyone before dipping back under the sink
“Yeah Pepper, where’s the praise for baby Iron Man?” Birdie asks Tucker from the couch
“Not this again, you know they call me Pepper at practice now?” He looks at you in annoyance
“Awww maybe it’s time for you to get in the kitchen and make us dinner then?”
You shove his shoulder playfully before walking back to the living room
“Don’t say that because he actually will!” Garrett laughs at himself
“Damn right!” Tucker says from the kitchen
You look around realizing how grateful you are to have these people around you.
“whatcha smiling for?” Tucker plops down next to you on the couch
“Nothing,”
Lucky for you, your chest doesn’t hurt anymore.
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