Jogging Partners Ch. 07

I awoke the morning after Lauren's birthday to find she was no longer lying in bed with me. Still naked, I groaned, shifting under the bed sheets and sitting up. I rolled off the mattress and stumbled into the bathroom.

I relieved my bladder, took a quick shower then got dressed to find Lauren sitting in the living room watching TV.

"Morning babe," I said plopping down next to her.

"Morning yourself, last night was fun...just wish I could remember it."

I laughed, putting my arm around her and pulling her closer to me to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"You were pretty drunk, has anyone ever told you, you are very aggressive when you have drunken sex?"

"Ugh, I'm really sorry," she giggled. "You okay?"

"A little sore, but I'll be okay." I stood up and walked out to the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of Gatorade. "Wanna go for a run?"

"Sure, sounds good to me."

We left the apartment together, heading down the trail that led into the woods and started jogging. It was a nice morning and it felt good to be outside, especially good to Lauren who I knew loved the fresh air when she was hung over. It was the best remedy for her, and I knew she would love being outside.

After jogging for about half an hour, we slowed down and started walking side by side holding hands as we did. As we walked, I could not help but smile at her. She was absolutely beautiful. Everything about her was angelic, her voice, her smile, her eyes...everything. I could see me spending the rest of my life with this person and I knew she could make me happy, and I would do everything to make her as happy as I could possibly make her.

We got back to the apartment around 12:30 in the afternoon. We ate lunch and then Lauren made her way out to run some errands while I stayed behind and cleaned up the apartment a little. I finished everything I had to do by around 3:00 in the afternoon, at which point I laid down on the couch and quickly, without actually intending to, fell fast asleep.

I woke a few hours later, to the sound of my cell phone ringing quite loudly. I stretched, yawned and sat up straight, snatching the phone off of the coffee table that sat beside me. I groaned, irritated when I saw the phone number on the caller ID, it was Jennifer. What in the hell did she want, I thought. She had not left me alone for days now.

I had been ignoring all of her phone calls but she wasn't letting up and it was pissing me off. Still, I knew better then to answer and give her what she wanted...and so once again I pressed ignore.

I set the phone back down on the coffee table and laid back, prepared to drift back to sleep when the phone began to ring again...I looked at the caller ID and again I saw that it was Jennifer.

This time, I did not even bother to press ignore, I simply left it to sit on the table and ring until it clicked over to the voicemail on its own. I was surprised when a few seconds later it rang a third time... really annoyed now, I grabbed it, and hit ignore again, only to have it ring again just a few moments later. What the fuck was her problem?

Yes, she had been calling for days on end, but she usually gave up after the second call. It was unlike her to keep calling more than twice, and my irritation was quickly turning to anger and frustration. I picked it up and hit ignore again... and again... and once more. Finally, realizing she wasn't going to quit I pressed the talk button and exploded into the phone.

"What the fuck do you want," I yelled furiously.

"That's no way to greet your ex-girlfriend Tyler."

"Fuck you,"

I hung up and threw the phone on the couch and started walking to the bathroom. I was taking a piss and I could hear from the toilet, the phone was ringing again... I came out of the bathroom to find I had a voicemail.

"Stop being such a dick Tyler! I suggest you pick up and talk to me. Unless of course, you want everyone to find out about you and Lauren... I'll call back in five minutes and you better pick up."

What the fuck was she talking about...the phone rang again. I stared at the caller ID for a long time worried about what she was trying to do, debating whether or not I wanted to answer. I hit ignore again and almost a minute later came another voicemail.

"Bad move Tyler. See, I plan on telling all of your friends that you are having sex with a man dressed as a woman. Yes, I do have proof so don't worry about that baby. I don't intend on leaving a single detail out by the way and that includes how you're getting fucked in the ass by her. I'll give you one more chance to answer the phone for me."

What proof did she have, what the fuck was she talking about I wondered. Confused, annoyed, fearful and angry, I turned off the phone and furious I threw it across the room. I sat down at my computer and signed on to Facebook trying to calm my now raging anxiety. Just as I was beginning to calm down I received a message on Facebook and my anxiety flared up again as I saw it was from Jennifer.

"What don't you understand Tyler? I'm going to tell them all, every one of them. I have photos of you and Lauren having sex in your apartment last night."

I didn't even bother to address that she was planning to tell my friends, my first instinct was to find out how the hell she got pictures of us having sex.

Tyler: What the fuck are you talking about? How could you have gotten pictures of us having sex Jen?

Jennifer: I got a camera and took them silly. You guy's should really close your blinds when you have sex, you know. By the way, how is your ass? God damn, that guy really fucked the shit out of you Tyler.

I leaned back in my chair, furious now; she had really crossed the line at this point. I wasn't' going to let her get away with this, she had fucked up so bad. I had let her get away with the assault charges by not pressing charges at all really, but now I intended to press them.

On top of that, I could also press charges for harassment or something like that, I was sure. She had spied on us, she had trespassed on our property...there was a term for it, I just could not think of what it was because I was so blinded with anger.

Tyler: I am calling the cops.

Jennifer: Go ahead; I have already won anyway. You should have answered the phone Tyler we could have worked something out...its' not too late.

Tyler: Oh, yeah, like what Jen,

Jennifer: Just kidding...I already sent the pictures to all of your friends.

Fuck...

She could not be serious, could she? Had she really done it, had she really sent those pictures to everyone? I would not be able to know, it's not like she could show me any real proof that she had sent them. I wouldn't know for sure until I heard something from someone.

Jennifer logged off, and I stood up from the computer desk anxious and began pacing back and forth across the living room. I did this for a few minutes before heading to the kitchen and grabbing a beer from the fridge. About an hour went by and I had gone through seven or eight drinks in that' amount of time, when the door to the apartment opened and Lauren walked in.

"Hey, I'm home," she said happily. She stopped in her tracks though, her smile fading when she saw me sitting at the kitchen table tapping my foot and looking horrified.

"What...what's the matter?"

"That...fucking bitch," I spat angrily, my voice slurring. "That fucking bitch,"

"Who, whose a bitch Tyler?"

"Jennifer! She...she crossed the fucking line this time Lauren. She spied on us last night through our window. She took pictures of us having sex and sent them to all of my friends...that god damn-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on' a second...are you sure she wasn't just saying she took pictures to get you worked up like this?"

It was a good point and one that had already crossed my mind a few minutes after I started drinking my first beer of the night. To be absolutely sure, I had messaged her again asking for proof...and sure enough she had sent me a picture of me getting rammed in the ass, doggy style, by Lauren the night before.

I showed Lauren the picture and she was mortified. By this point, I had stopped drinking; I wasn't' going to let the alcohol become a form of comfort. Lauren was home we could talk about this and figure out what to do.

"I feel...weird now," she said sounding rather freaked out.

"I know... it's fucking weird."

"Like, I can't believe she'd do that shit. That's just... wow. Does she hate us that much that she would go that far just to get back at us? I mean, we're obviously going to call the police now."

I stood up, walked across the living room and leaned against the wall, sighing. I was going to call the cops, I had not wanted it to come to this, but she had brought it on herself. There was no denying she had landed herself in a world of shit, but what I was mostly worried about were my friends and how they were going to react now that they had gotten those pictures.

"I need some air," I said. I turned towards the door and reached to open it, when Lauren stood up from the table.

"Tyler... stay and talk with me. Its okay baby,

we'll be okay."

"I know," I replied. "I just need to clear my head... we'll make the call when I come back inside, I promise."

I stepped outside the apartment door and walked down the stairs. As I went down the steps, I thought about the conversation with Jennifer, retracing the whole thing piece by piece and trying to get myself to believe this was going on. I still had not heard anything from anyone just yet; maybe I should have told them last night when we were all out celebrating Lauren's birthday. That way it would have already been a known fact and Jennifer's plans would not work.

I reached the bottom step, opened the door and stepped outside into the cool night air. I shut the door and turned around to walk towards a bench set up outside the apartment complex, when I heard footsteps behind me.

I turned around just in time to see a tall man wearing a black hoodie jumping at me fist pulled back and the next thing I knew there was a sharp pain in my head and I slipped into darkness.

Lauren's point of view

I sat down at the computer desk, trying to register everything that was going on right now. I could hardly believe that Jennifer had gone this far, this far as to try and spy on us and take pictures of us and send them to all of Tyler's friends, this was absolutely fucked up. What a bitch... she was a bigger bitch then I had originally thought that she was.

Mostly, I was worried about Tyler; I did not doubt that he would call the police on her. I could see his anger and on top of that, to not call the cops would be disrespectful towards me...after all, I was in those pictures too. It wasn't that, that worried me though.

I was afraid of what his friends were going to say when they saw those pictures... would they hate him, call him names, turn their backs on him and maybe even turn violent?

I hoped not... I did not want him to lose his friends... not over me,

I logged onto my Facebook to find I had a message from the bitch herself...Jennifer. I angrily clicked the open button and the message popped up on my screen.

Jennifer: That's what you get for stealing my man Lauren. You fuck with me, and I destroy your fucking life. You two can be happy together all you want, but I doubt Tyler is going to have very many friends left when they all see those pictures I took last night.

"She has to be kidding me," I yelled furiously.

"You were an abusive, manipulative fucking bitch! Agh!"

Another message flashed on the screen. This one was from Tyler's friend Jared... why was he messaging me? Oh boy, here we go, I thought. I could only hope for the best, and nothing less.

Jared: Hey, is Tyler okay? I've been trying to call him but his phone is off and he is not online. I got the message with the pictures from Jennifer...that's uh... that's some crazy stuff. We all got them, but we are not really sure if it's even real or if Jen just edited it or something?

I took a deep breath and placed my hands on the keyboard and replied,

Lauren: Hey, yeah it's real... Tyler is okay. He's outside right now.

Jared: Oh, you know, I never would have guessed. I mean; it doesn't matter anyway. I mean we don't care. You love Tyler I assume right?

I smiled softly and continued typing.

Lauren: I do... so much.

Jared: He seems really happy when he is with you Lauren. That's all we really care about, trust me. Jen never made him smile like we saw him smiling last night while we were out at the restaurant.

You obviously mean a lot to him and as long as you make him happy that's all we care about. I imagine he is pretty upset right now, so please tell him I said that?

Lauren: I will... Jared, thank you so much, this is going to make him feel a lot better.

Jared: Don't worry about it. Just do me one more favor. Don't let him let that bitch get away with this one, okay? That's invasion of privacy, she needs to get her ass put away or something for this one.

Lauren: I know, we're calling the cops as soon as Tyler comes back inside. I'll have him call you and tell you what's up afterwards.

We ended our conversation on that note and I leaned back in the chair, smiling to myself, relieved to know that his friends were being so accepting of his decision to be with someone like me. There had not even been any serious questions, it was just accepted... I'm sure the questions would come later. Right now, they just seemed more concerned with the fact that Jennifer had really crossed a line this time.

I stood up and decided to go outside to get Tyler... he had been out there for a while now, and we really needed to get this phone call to the police over with. I poked my head out the window and looked down, trying to see him, but I could not.

"That's odd," I muttered. Where exactly was he, I wondered confused.

I threw on a jacket and made my way down the stairs, opening the front door and stepping outside. I turned to the left and my eyes shot wide open my heart freezing in my chest... no!

"Tyler!" I screamed, running towards him and dropping to my knees, lifting him off of the ground. I had no idea what the hell had happened, but there was a large gash on his left temple on his head and he was out cold.

I looked around but saw no one; whoever had done this must have fled right away. Finally, his eyes fluttered open and he groaned.

"Are you okay," I asked, my voice trembling, tears stinging my eyes.

"J-Jennifer,"

Jennifer... had she done this? Was that what he was trying to tell me?

"Did she do this," I asked.

"N-No... someone else. She was with him though. Their still here!"

I looked around again, but I still could not see anyone. That's when I noticed the door leading into the apartment complex was open, and I had closed it when I came outside to look for Tyler.

I helped him sit up and had him lean against the wall for a moment, stepping back into the hallway of the complex and listening. Upstairs, I could hear laughter, and loud crashing sounds. I knew where they were now; they had gone into the apartment and were likely trashing the whole place.

I balled my hands into fists, squeezing them tightly, I wanted to go in there right now and tear them both apart...Jennifer especially. I looked back down at Tyler though, who had drifted back into unconsciousness again, which probably was not good since he could have a concussion.

I swallowed my anger and lifted him up off the ground, dragging him to my car and putting him in the passenger seat. I got in the driver's side, turned on the engine and started rushing to the hospital. As I drove I pulled out my phone and dialed 911, this was going to end right now.

"Yes, I have an emergency two people have attacked my boyfriend and broken into our apartment. I'm taking him to the hospital right now, the two who did it are still at the apartment."

I tried to stay calm as the operator requested, and gave her the address and more information, as much as I could. I told her that one of the people was Tyler's ex-girlfriend and she reassured me the police were on their way.

She told me to have someone from the ER call them, again once we had arrived, and that another squad car would meet us there to take down an assault report. I hung up the phone, concentrating on my driving and hoping to whoever was up there that Tyler would be okay.