You Can Take It Off (When You're Ready) [Twenty One Pilots]

Chapter Twenty-Twø: Sit back, Relax

"Hurry up, Lena!" Hannah yelled, bumping into each and every other person walking past her in the crowded hallway. "If you weren't one hundred percent in on this trip, I would think you're purposely trying to make us miss our flight!"

Lena rolled her eyes, following swiftly after her cousin, the strap of her sport bag sinking in the skin of her shoulder. She was in on this trip. She really was. But there was always that little something inside of her that was tugging her back, softly whispering in her ear that maybe there was still a chance that this whole story was nothing more than a major coincidence and that she should just forget it. 

"Here!" Hannah stopped in her track, suddenly turning left and letting out a breath as they reached their boarding gate. The small waiting room was now empty and the lady in charge of checking the boarding passes seemed just about to close the door leading to the airplane. She threw both girls a glance, forcing an annoyed smile on her face to let them in after scanning their tickets.

"Phew," Hannah exclaimed with relief as they finally sat down in their assigned seats.

Lena mimicked her and let out a sigh as well. "I really didn't think we'd m-" Her words fell to silence as she felt her phone go off in the pocket of her jeans. She retrieved it quickly and glanced at the screen before letting out a swear word that the caller would have definitely not approved. Lena looked up at Hannah, as if she could have helped anyway.

"Is it Tyler?" the other girl asked, genuinely concerned. "Did you tell him?"

Lena shook her head no. She hadn't spoken to Tyler in a while now, mostly because the boy was busy working hard on his band's first record through a music label, but also because part of her tended to avoid him. She didn't want to have to lie to him about all this, and telling him the truth would have probably been just has hard. All in all, the fact that he didn't call, which would have been worrying in other circumstqnces, was actually a blessing this time around. However, Lena still felt really bad. With her heart tightening in her chest, she answered the call. "Hey Tyler," she said with forced enthusiasm and a clearly audible ting of guilt.

"Hi princess," his warm voice greeted her as Hannah, right beside Lena, was mouthing her the words "Tell him!" 

"How's it going in California?" Lena asked, closing her eyes to try and avoid the reality that Hannah was right. As Tyler went on, blabbering about how great Los Angeles was but how he could never live there and staying there for so long had made him realize how much he actually loved Ohio, Hannah kept nudging her cousin, poking her in the arm repeatedly until she finally opened her eyes again, an annoyed frown now scarring her face. 

"Tell him!" Hannah mouthed once again.

"Since when are you so adamant to telling the truth?" Lena whisper-yelled back.

"Since I know you'll never forgive me AND yourself if you don't!"

Lena raised her eyebrows, still surprised at how well Hannah had learned to know her. She was right. She couldn't keep lying to Tyler, or hiding the truth from him. He had done so much for her, and all he wanted in return, all he had specifically asked for, was honesty. It didn't matter if honesty was harder on Lena. It was about time she take responsibility for her actions. 

"Lena?" Tyler's voice echoed. "What's going on? Are you ok?"

The girl snapped back to reality. The concern in her boyfriend's voice was enough to send a wave of guilt floating inside her chest. "Yeah, I'm good, it's just-" She hesitated. She had to do it now. "Tyler, I have something to tell you..."

Lena could hear the boy on the other side of the country hold his breath. She mentally slapped herself. Why did she think starting the conversation with that exact sentence would do any good? Hannah fidgeted at her sides, taking her hand in hers and giving it a little encouraging squeeze. But before she could speak again, Tyler did.

"You're believing it."

"What?" Lena asked, half-confused half-apprehensive.

"You're believing it, aren't you? That crazy story?" And there was a hint of reproach in his tone, mixed with something else Lena couldn't really figure out. Was it pain? Sadness? It also sounded a little bit like fear but Lena swiftly brushed that thought off. Tyler didn't have any reason to be scared. 

"Tyler, I-"

"What are you gonna do about it, anyway? There's no way-"

"Ma'am," Lena jumped as one of the flight attendants softly put her hand on her shoulder, "it's time to turn off your phone, please. We're taking off any minute now." The girl nodded briefly before returning her attention to Tyler's voice. She couldn't back off now, she had to tell him.

"Listen, Tyler. Please, listen to me." When the boy said nothing, Lena gulped and continued. "There are so many hints. I promise you I wouldn't do that if I didn't think this could be true. I will tell you everything in detail later but I have to go now, we're gonna take off soon and-"

"Take off? You're on an airplane? Wh-where are you going?" It was obvious that Tyler was completely lost now, and it pained Lena to know she was causing him such troubles which he obviously didn't need, especially at a time when he deeply needed to focus on his music. 

"We're going to New-York-"

"WE?" Tyler was shouting now, and Lena closed her eyes, biting her lower lip to prevent it from shaking. "Are you with Hannah? Is she putting you up to all this?"

"No, Tyler. I agreed. I know what I'm d-"

"It doesn't seem like you do, Lena." The judgment in his voice was unbearable, yet Lena couldn't help but think that she was on the right track. He had to trust her. 

"Tyler, Leah was born in the morning of the 1st of January. I was born on the 31st of December, late at night. Do you really think this is a coincid-"

"How do you know that?"

"How do I know w-"

"How do you know her date and time of birth, Lena?"

Sh*t, Lena swore to herself. She wanted to tell him the truth, sure. But not all of it. Not like that. 

"Answer me, Lena. How do you know?" And his tone was harsher now. Lena could tell Tyler was pissed, because he truly sounded like the old version of him, back when she had just met him and he wasn't too fond of the idea of her travelling with his band and crew back to Ohio. 

Lena looked down at her hands, one of which still held her cousin's. Taking responsibility for her actions was much harder to do when she actually regretted some of them. "We visited Leah's mother and found her birth cert-"

"You did WHAT?"

"Ma'am, your phone please," the flight attendant interrupted her again with a look that could kill.

"Listen, Tyler, I'm sorry okay? It's just-" Lena took a deep breath, her voice trembling. "I have to do this. Please, trust me."

Tyler scoffed on the other side. "Whatever. Do what you want. That's all you ever do anyway."

"Ty-" But the beeping tone was already resonating, signaling that Tyler had cut the conversation short. Slowly, as if nothing else in the world mattered, Lena lowered her phone, sliding and tapping her thumb on the screen to set up the flight mode. She then slipped the device in her pocket, fastened her seat belt and sat back. As the airplane started its ascent, she closed her eyes, trying to remember all the good reasons that had made her accept this crazy trip back to where she was born. 

She couldn't find any.