{Tyler}
I watched Preston as he struggled in his blanket, unsure of what to do. I didn't want to wake him, but he was also clearly distressed. I didn't have to worry about it for long though, since he stopped moving, and his eyes fluttered open.
“Tyler?”
“Yeah?” I gave him a concerned look, which made him frown,
“I love you, you know that?”
“I… I love you too.” I shyly smiled at him, and he smiled back, blushing slightly, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just had a… flashback.”
“To the… thing?”
“Uh-huh…” He nodded, wiping at his eyes, drawing my attention to the tears staining his cheeks.
“Hey… It's okay. W-We survived.”
“Y-Yeah… we did… Can you come here?” Preston asked, and I nodded. He sat himself up, and wrapped his arms around me when I took a seat. He rested his head on my shoulder, “Thank you, Tyler… Or, actually, not, since you hate that.”
“Yeah, I really do.” I chuckled softly,
“Why…? Why do you think we... survived…?” He whispered,
“I don't know… We got lucky, I guess…” I sighed, “I'm really sorry for… making these memories come back to the surface.”
“Y-You… You didn't… They've been there, they always have. I just… didn't want to bother you with it.”
“Why would it bother me?” I frowned,
“I don't know…You've just got a lot to focus on yourself, and I don't want to add more onto your plate.”
“Dude, you've got to tell me this… I… I don't care about anything else, if you're going through shit, well… I want to help you, because I… I…” I took a deep breath, “I c-care about you… a… a lot. You're… You're the only person I've ever had, and… Fuck, I just… I don't want you to be alone.”
“I-I'm sorry, I don't know why-”
“Don't apologize, you don't need to.” The both of us stayed silent for a while, unsure of what to do or what to say,
“It… He haunts me in my sleep, Tyler… I… I don't know how to get rid of him.”
“I’m not sure either, Preston… I’m sure it would take some sort of therapy… When all this is over, we can do that. I have the money for it.”
“But don’t you need that to move out?”
“I have enough, as long as I can pick up a job right away. If not, well… I’ll just stay out here a bit longer.”
“I still don’t see why you don’t just move in with my dad and I.”
“If I had been cut on money, I definitely would have, but… God, I don’t want to go back there.”
“Why not?”
“My shitty family… The thing… This… I just… It’s too much for one little town, and it drives me mad. If you wanna go back, I’ll... send you money or something.”
“But Tyler… I don’t want to be away from you. For the last... fourteen years or so, we’ve been together… It will be… weird? I guess… Just… Please consider staying with me and my dad. You won’t have to go see your parents. You’ll be eighteen, you legally can do whatever you want.”
“I… Yeah, I’ll think about it.”
“Or you could at least not go too far away…”
“Of course I’m not gonna go far… Did it sound like I was?”
“Yeah, it did. It always sounded like you were gonna go all the way across the world.” He whispered, making me chuckle,
“I wish.”
“I don’t.”
“Why not? You won’t have to deal with my grumpy ass anymore.” I teased, but Preston didn’t seem to enjoy it,
“You aren’t grumpy.”
“Really?” I raised an eyebrow, and he laughed,
“Okay, maybe a little, but I don’t mind.” Preston sighed, “I used to hate it though.”
“How could you not? I still hate it.”
“I think I mainly hated it because of the time you started developing it.”
“Why? Was it hard for me to turn you on?” I smirked as I watched Preston’s jaw drop and his face turn red.
“Eww, no you perv! I was like ten!” He lightly slapped me, and I burst out into a fit of laughter, “Dude, it’s not that funny,”
“I know, I’m pretty sure I’m sleep drunk,” I explained, still laughing,
“Then go to sleep!”
“I can’t do that when your fat ass is on top of me!” I chuckled,
“Wowww, okay.” He shook his head, and moved out of the way so I could lay down. Once I was comfortable, I pulled him down on top of me, and wrapped my arms around him,
“Goodnight Preston…”
“Goodnight Ty, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
ns 15.158.61.48da2
