iridescent :: tyler joseph

sixteen

I did my best to fake a cough and called into work this morning with a suitcase by my door.

Tyler dropped me home yesterday and my plans for this morning slipped up to him. He begged me to let him come, but I refused. I had to protect him from my mother and her jagged words that spilled from her lips without hesitation.

I pondered on calling Jason to inform him that I was coming, but I decided against it. He'd just make up excuses and try to get me to change my mind.

My mother had probably woken up by now, but the doctors would most likely keep her in the same room like they did last time.

I hauled into my car, beginning my three-hour drive.

-

I'd decided that before I checked into my mother's hospital, I would stop to eat breakfast at a diner my father used to work at. As I pushed through the glass double doors, a sense of nostalgia filled my clouded head.

I sat down at a table, ordering what I used to always get. The staff was new to me and there weren't any people to reunite with, which sort of disappointed me.

I sipped on my small cafe latte, scrolling through my Twitter feed. Ever since Tyler tagged me in a photo of our photo booth strip, my notifications had taken a sharp turn.

A lot of the attention I gained over social media was positive, which was amazing. Most of Tyler's fans were all very kind, which made me proud to be associated with them.

However, there was some negative feedback. A lot of it had to do with irrelevant things such as my looks or the way we stood together in the pictures. I was glad that they didn't have enough information to bring up Josh and I.

Just as I favorited a nice reply to one of my tweets, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whipped my head around to see a tall lady in a checkered apron and a huge smile.

"Bri!" she called, engulfing me in a warm hug It took me a second, but I finally figured out who she was.

"Melissa!" I replied with equal enthusiasm.

When Jason and I were too small to go to school, we would hang out at the diner until my father finished his shift. My parents couldn't afford to send us to a daycare, so it was our only option.

Melissa was always there when we were because her and my father shared a shift. Until I left to go to kindergarten, Melissa always took care of us. She would slip us a couple of pancakes when we were hungry, calm us when we were crying, and even play with us on her break. She was more of a mother figure than my actual mom.

"Jesus Christ, you've gotten big," she cried, pulling away from the hug to examine me. "and you have pink hair! What on Earth did I miss?"

"A lot." I replied chuckling. She sat down in the seat next to me and chatted over things that seemed important, the topic of my mother coming up.

"So how is Marina?" Melissa asked, a serious tone appearing in her voice. She knew that my mother wasn't a light topic for me to discuss with ease.

"She's in the hospital for drinking herself into a coma," I replied without hesitation. There was not exactly a way to sugar coat something like that, so I stated it bluntly. "that's actually why I'm back home."

"Back home?" she repeated, confusion in her eyes. "When did you leave?"

"I moved to Ohio four years ago. I had to get away from my family, I couldn't take it anymore." I replied, shaking my head. We really did have a lot of catching up to do.

"How long are you staying?"

"Only for a week or so," I replied. "I have someone at home who I need to get back to."