The sight of it caused pang of pain deep in her chest on New Year’s Eve as she waded through the crowd with a drink in hand in search of her best friend. Her familiar smirk was directed at someone else and Daz didn’t think interrupt, instead she watched as the countdown happened. She watched that woman take what she thought was supposed to be her place. Maybe something had gone awry in her chest, or maybe she’d been punched; either way she felt as if all the air had been knocked clean from her lungs. She wanted to pry them apart. And do what? She wasn’t sure. Daz just thought she and Tyler would start the new year together, a harmless peck, but Tyler seemed to have other plans that left the Brit reeling. She found solace in hiding out in a bar, downing drink after drink. There was very little enjoyment in it, it was merely for the sake of feeling something else. Whether it was nothing or something else didn’t matter, the goal was to feel anything else. But all that seemed to happen was that though she got drunker the disheartening scene just replayed in her head as if she had any kind of right to be upset over it.
Tyler was special. A brand of special that scared Daz terribly. And so when they reconvened Daz did everything in her power to try and explain her viewpoint. Trying to word just how the fighter made her feel. ‘Safety’ was an important point, how safe Tyler made her feel but she was sure she went off onto a tangent about fire safety at that point. It had been convoluted by the quantity she’d drank but it rounded out to the idea that in her eyes there wasn’t really anyone like Tyler, whatever that meant. Daz was sure the little display of her was what had made it feel a little tense. Of course she’d try and express herself and end up doing it wrong. That’s what she thought as she laid alone in her bed after waking up on New Year’s Day. Her first plan of action was to drop by Tyler’s room, see if she was alive and wanted to grab some breakfast, her version of an olive branch. But then as she went to move she thought about her opening the door and finding Tyler cuddled up against someone else and again the same tight clinch hit her in the middle of her chest. She ignored that entirely and decided on sending her a text to check in before taking Princess down to the kitchen to get food for the both of them. Maybe she’d join and it’d be weird or maybe she wouldn’t and it’d be weird, either way Daz still heaved out a sigh as she got herself dressed and headed downstairs.
Tyler still did not know what had came over her. She didn't know what possessed her to grab that other by the lapels of her jacket into a kiss that had indeed been reserved for someone else, a kiss that Tyler just wanted to forget that had happened. That woman wasn’t the woman she’d grown so close to.. she wasn’t a lanky Brit with a juvenile innocence in which Tyler adored. Fuck.. she just wanted to take it all back. Yet at the same time -- she didn’t. She didn’t know what to do anymore. Everything was getting so complicated, something they promised wouldn’t happen when they’d met and agreed to fuck around. It was a simple deal and both were happy to go on with.. until now. Now.. Tyler couldn’t even sleep beside her anymore without wondering could different it could be if they were more than ‘mates’. And the thought scared her. New Years night, she’d found the Brit is their usual, hauled her home, grabbing water and painkillers for a sure hangover the next day... and left her there. Tyler couldn’t do it anymore.
Even in the early morning, New York had many people floating around, coming to and from work. Taxi’s beeped, impatient in the traffic.. the downpour of rain didn’t help anybody. For a change, Tyler was in her own clothes, a hoody, leggings and her running shoes. What had started as a dry morning run, now had the fighter soaked, chilled to the bone, her usually tanned skin was red from the freezing morning air, short hair stuck to her head from the lashing rain. Doing a walk of shame in the lashing rain, up the drive of the house, only returning when thunder began to boom over the city -- Tyler headed inside, making her way deeper in the mansion, trying to pull off the hoody that was stuck to her skin, impossible to remove.. yet, she was greeted by familiar whining, a doberman jumping up on her as she struggled. "Hey gorgeous.." She whispered, still in the early hours of the morning. Pulling at the bottom of her hoody, she glanced around, finding the familiar body she'd mapped out so well. "What's wrong?" She asked. "You're up early.. are you okay?" She asked, dripping wet. “Are you.. sick.. or something?” Shivering somewhat.