SAHLO FOLINA < tyler joseph x reader >

< 14 >

Two days after we got back from Trench, everything seemed normal. Spencer came and went every night and morning, Amanda took a small group out to gather supplies (no one from the Rescue Tyler group decided to tag along), and it was becoming apparent to me that nothing was going to come of the incident in Dema with Nico and the Watchers. Graham and the other leaders seemed to think that, too, so no one was particularly concerned.

That day, I did my normal camp duties with Debby and Caroline after an uneventful breakfast with Tyler and Josh. They ended up working with Clancy most of the day, though Tyler made a point to wave and goofily grin whenever he saw me. I just laughed and waved back.

We had lunch, then went our separate ways again. Tyler, however, didn't end up doing more chores; Graham called him into the leaders' tent for a reason then unknown to me.

He came back out at dinner and sat down next to me by the fire. Josh was on my other side, talking to Debby.

"Spent the evening with Graham, huh?" I said.

He nodded absently, picking at his food. "Yeah."

I leaned toward him a little, brows furrowed. "You okay?"

It was almost like he'd snapped out of a reverie. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine. Just... Graham was asking me stuff about Nico, and what he did to me after I failed to escape the first time... I don't like to think about it..."

"Well, you don't have to anymore," I replied. "You're free now. You can leave all that behind you; you never have to think about it again, if you don't want to."

He smiled, then, and turned to show me his FPE Badge, which was finally on. "Graham put it earlier," he said. Then, he jokingly asked, "Does it make me look cool?"

"It makes you look incredibly cool," I replied, also jokingly. He grinned, then I patted my own FPE Badge and added, "And mine makes me look even cooler."

He went to reply, but then Josh butt in, "And mine makes me look the coolest."

"I beg to differ," I replied, scoffing.

"Then beg."

I was at a loss for words. Tyler and Debby started laughing. Finally, I said, "No," and turned back to Tyler.

We talked all through dinner, Josh, Debby, or someone else occasionally joining our conversation. Eventually, everyone made their way to their respective tents, leaving me and Tyler by the dwindling fire.

"Are you even sure that Spencer's a boy?" Tyler asked, looking at said bird; he was on his perch by then.

"Positive."

"But are you sure?"

I thought for a moment. "Well, I never checked, but no one's ever corrected me. And, anyway, Spencer can be a girl's name, too."

Tyler conceded then, and we lapsed into a comfortable silence as we looked at the sky above us.

"I always loved to look at the stars," I said quietly, almost without thinking.

I didn't look back at Tyler, but I heard him say, "I used to, too. When I was little."

After a pause, I said, "My mom used to tell Josh and I to always look up at the stars at night. 'Cause, in a way, they were ours. Not even the Bishops could take them away..."

"Yeah... Yeah, I thought that, too. Then it just started reminding me that I couldn't leave. I couldn't go up there and touch them, even though it really felt like I could sometimes."

I looked over at him. He was still looking at the sky. It gave me deja vu; looking at him looking at nature, as I'd done two days before. He was just as beautiful looking at stars as he was looking at the sunset.

Suddenly, he turned to me. But I didn't look away. I couldn't. I was experiencing tunnel vision; he was the only thing I could see in that moment.

He opened his mouth to speak, but only quietly breathed, "Y/N."

Instead of replying, I started leaning towards him. He leaned forward, too, starting to close the gap. My heart rate sped up rapidly; I could hear it beating in my ears. There were few times in my life when I'd felt more nervous than I did then.

After what felt like an eternity, our lips nearly touched - just a centimeter away - when Spencer cawed and ruined the moment.

We both jumped back, startled.

I could've laughed it off. I could've suggested we try that again. I even could've just kissed him right then and there with no warning; he obviously wanted to kiss me, too.

But I did none of those things.

Instead, I panicked and said, "I-It's getting late; I think I'm gonna head to bed," and took off.

I left him there. I just left him sitting there alone.

And I never stopped to wonder what had made Spencer caw in the first place.

••••
•THEY THINK IT'S MESSED UP TO SELL OUT FOR YOUR GIRL•