#tylerxreader

“Another one?” his voice was serious now, “you had one just the other day too.”

“It’s just stress from work, is all,” you pop the pills into your mouth, “promise.”

“As long as you are taking care of yourself,” he seemed to relax.

“I am,” you quickly swallowed a glass of water.

“I’m so excited to see you,” Tyler said softly, “it’s been too long.”

“Yeah,” you smiled. It had been almost a year since the last time the two of you had spoken face to face - too long. While you had been close since about your sophomore year of high school, this growing thing between the two of you had never really been addressed. You didn’t keep in touch with other friends from fifteen years ago like you did him, and there was something that wasn’t there before. It sat between the words you did manage to say, like a weight on a scale, tipping your feelings in his direction.

“I’m going to let you go, so you can get some rest, okay?” he yawned.

“Okay,” you resisted the urge to yawn as well.

“Good night, Y/N,” he paused for a moment. “Sleep well, Lollipop.”

You felt your heart skip a beat, he hadn’t used that name for you since before the band had gotten big. It had been years.

“You too, Maverick,” you returned the gesture, hoping it sent some of your feelings silently over the phone.

“See ya.”

“Yeah, see ya,” you hear the silence settle on the other end before lowering your phone from your ear.

You would talk to him tomorrow after the show. You had to. About everything.

Tyler threw his arms in the air, the roar from the crowd washed over the stage like a breaking wave.

Another glance over his shoulder, towards the side of the stage - the tech shook his head.

Feeling his heart drop a little lower, his fingers found the keys for the next song and he shook his head, a little harder than normal to adjust his thoughts. He needed to be here, to be in the now - these people had come for a show and he would give them one. They were important and should be his priority. But the empty stage left, and the unclaimed backstage passes slowly ate away at him as the night wore on.

“This next song is for my main man, Josh,” he pushed through, he always did.

“What’s going on, man?” Josh wiped down his face with the white towel. “You’ve been off tonight.”

“I’m sorry,” Tyler’s fingers massaged his forehead. “She didn’t show up.”

“Y/N?” Josh frowned as his shoulders fell, “so, Marie didn’t either?”

“No,” Tyler’s voice was quiet.

“You should call them,” Josh put the towel down and stretched his sides, “something might have happened to them.”

“Yeah,” Tyler dug through his dressing room bag, “I just hope they’re alright.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing serious-” Josh was cut short by the look on his bandmates face, “what is it?”

“I have sixteen missed calls from Marie,”  he rubbed the back of his head as he pulled up the voicemails, “I think I might need to go.”

“Yeah man,” Josh watched Tyler pace as he listened to the panicked sound in Marie’s voice over the phone.

Tyler’s eyes were wide as he jumped between messages. “She’s at Wexner,” he cut off Marie’s last message, “let’s go.”

He paused in the doorway of the small hospital room. It was dark except for the small fluorescent light near the bed. Marie turned in her chair to look at them, there were tears in her eyes. She bit her bottom lip before turning back around.

Tyler slowly crossed the room. Stopping at the end of the bed.

And I’ll use you as a warning sign. That if you talk enough sense, then you’ll lose your mind.

“She looks so small,” his voice was barely audible. The number of things hooked up to your body was overwhelming. “What happened?”

“They think she blacked out,” Marie’s hands were in her lap, she was wringing them together, “she ran a light and hit a tree.”

And I’ll use you as a focal point. So I don’t lose sight of what I want.

“Blacked out?” Josh stood behind Marie, resting a hand on her shoulder gently, “is that something she does?”

“It’s happened a few times before,” Marie glanced up at him. Tears ran fresh down her face, “I should have taken an hour off work,” she began to gasp for air, fighting back sobs, “I should have driven her. She had been having headaches, I knew it wasn’t good for her to be driving alone.”

“Hey, hey,” Josh came around the chair, “this isn’t your fault.” He took her hands in his.

Marie was trying to regain composure.

And I've moved further than I thought I could But I missed you more than I thought I would

Tyler’s hands slowly found their way towards yours, “she had a headache last night.”

“Did she?” Marie wiped her cheeks, “you should tell the nurse when she comes back. She didn’t mention it to me, so I wasn’t sure when her last one was.”

“Why was she getting headaches?” Tyler’s fingers wrapped around yours, “what are they from?”

“She was in a really bad car accident almost a year ago,” Marie’s hands squeezed Josh’s, “the Doctor’s aren’t sure why she keeps having them, or why she’s blacking out. She’s been getting tests done.”

“Why didn’t she say anything to me?” Tyler’s eyes began to fill with tears. He continued to stare at your face, all bruised and cut up from the collision.

And I'll use you as a makeshift gauge Of how much to give and how much to take

“You were touring,” Marie sighed, “she didn’t want to burden you. It seems silly now, but she was so determined not to be a bother. Not to dissuade you from what you were doing.”

Tyler clenched his jaw, “yeah that sounds like her.”

Marie stood up, “I’m going to go get some coffee. Give you some time with her.”

“I’ll go with you,” Josh trailed after her. “That is,” he paused and glanced at Tyler, “if you’ll be okay.”

He only nodded.

I'll use you as a warning sign That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind

“You’re an idiot,” he mumbled to the room, “you should have told me.”

He leaned forward and rested his forehead against the back of your hand.

“If you don’t wake up from this,” his voice caught in his throat, “I’ll never forgive you, you know.”

He felt some pressure as your hand gently squeezed his. He looked up. Your eyes were still closed but he could tell you were listening.

“I sang a song for you tonight,” he ran his finger tips over your knuckles, “it’s an old one, I’m sure you’ll remember it.”

He inhaled and began to sing, his voice quivering, “The only difference between life and dying, is one is trying, that's all we're called to do. So try to love me and I'll try to save you. Won't you stay alive? I'll take you on a ride, I will make you believe you are lovely.”

“No, I’m cooking dinner right now. I don’t know whether it’s supposed to rain tomorrow or not.” You said to your mom as you reached for the salt. You were making a welcome home dinner for your best friend, Tyler, who was on his way back from a work trip.

“It’s Austin mom, it barely rains. I’ve got to go, he’ll be here soon.”

“Fine dear. Call me tomorrow and give Tyler a kiss!”

“MOM,” you groaned, “He and I are just friends and you know that.”

“Sure sure,” your mom said back with a hint of sarcasm, “Talk to you later, love you.”

“Love you too mom, Bye.”

You moved to Texas 2 years ago when you were offered an internship at a radio station. Fresh out of college, you rented an apartment to get a sense of the real world. You started working just down the street and one day this (gorgeous) guy came in and chatted up the sports announcers like he was their best friend. They introduced him as Tyler Coe and he worked for a company called Rooster Teeth Productions. You had heard the name before from your friends back home but hadn’t watched their content on your own. As Tyler stuck up a conversation with you, you both had a lot of things in common and quickly became good friends. Tyler left for work but continued to keep in touch and soon you were friends with him and his coworkers. When he finished work for the week, you two spent a majority of the time together catching up. Now two years later, he was coming back from a month long convention trip in Australia and your apartment was his first stop.

“OUCH!” you exclaimed while reaching into the oven without a mitt. “What was I thinki…”

There was a knock on the door followed by keys turning in the lock.

“HONEY I’M HOME!” Tyler yelled bursting his way through the door.

“Hey there Mr. Internet!” you shouted back while running to hug him.

He pulled you in for one of his crushing hugs.

“None of that stuff please. I’ve had enough of that for a while.” He laughed.

“Fine, fine,” you said, “How was it?”

“Amazing, just missed you and the friends a ton.”

“I missed you too. I made you a welcome home dinner, and burned myself in the process” You told him laughing it off.

“Not surprising, Miss Clumsy.”

“Thanks, Tyler.”

“Listen, before dinner, I need to tell you something.”

By the look on his face, you knew something serious was about to come out of his mouth.

“What’s up?”

“Look while I was down under I was thinking about someone. Someone who means a lot to me, and who I’ve started to fall in love with. I just don’t know how she’ll react and I’m worried she won’t feel the same.”

“Whoever she is Tyler, I’m sure she’ll feel the same way because you’re an amazing person and deserve the best.”

He reached down, grabbed your hands out of your lap and put them in his. “Will you help me then?”

“Of course, what do you need me to do?”

“Just react to what I’m about to say.”

He tightened the grip on your hands and looked down into your eyes.

“I’ve known you for a long time Y/N and I realized I’ve had strong feelings for you from the first time we met. I love you.”

“Good Tyler! Now you just need to say that to the girl.” You whispered since he was so close.

He looked at you again, and out of his mouth came “I just did.”

Your mouth dropped open and you gasped. “Seriously Tyler? C’mon quit joking.”

“I’m not,” He said, “I really do love you.”

Startled by his statement you stood up off the couch and started to pace around to the back.

He got up and followed you all the while saying “See I shouldn’t have told you because I had this feeling you just wouldn’t feel the same.” You heard the emotion in his voice. He stopped when he got to you, and you put your hands on his arms.

“Tyler, no… It’s not what you think” You looked into his eyes, saying what you wanted to tell him for years now.

“I’m shocked. I never knew you felt that way about me. I’ve been keeping my own secret for years. The minute I met you in the radio station, I knew I had fallen in love. I was terrified to tell you because I thought you didn’t feel the same.”

“You’re kidding.” He laughed and pulled you in for a hug.

“Not kidding. Not kidding at all” You said into his chest.

You backed up just enough to see his face, to see the love in his eyes. He leaned down and your lips connected in what is the most amazing, heartfelt kiss you’d ever had.

Once the kiss broke, he leant his forehead onto yours and said it again, the words you couldn’t wait to hear.

“I love you, Y/N.”

“And I love you Tyler.”