Don't Forget About Me | TØP

Chapter 11 // Tyler

Josh's face goes so pale I worry for a second he might pass out or something. He keeps his mouth shut and his eyes very open.

"So you did." I say. "It's alright. You can tell me. I suppose I will remember it someday."

He crosses his arms across his chest. Jeez, I think I broke him. He doesn't move, not even an inch, and his eyes are focussed on mine.

But then, he smiles and looks so sad doing it I fight to urge to hug him. 

"Actually, yes I did." He nervously chokes. "I mean, this is going to sound stupid but you were actually really hurt by this. I remember it was a day that I was hanging out with Michael Clifford from 5 Seconds of Summer and you decided it would be a good idea to expose him on Twitter because we called ourselves 'best friends'. I suppose you never forgave me, but don't worry; I wouldn't change you for anything, Ty. I promise."

I'm actually really surprised. "Oh. That's all?" He limits himself to a simple nod and I laugh. "That's sad! Is that why I feel so angry when I look at you?"

His smile drops. "You do, tho?"

"Yes. But not anymore." I do an effort to leave my seat and crawl myself to his side, just to give him a big hug I wanted to give him before. "Thank you for your honesty, best friend."

And I meant it this time. I was actually feeling relieved. On the other hand, Josh returns me the hug and he feels less tense under my arms than he looked. We stay like this for a long time, until Jenna comes and knocks the window.

"You guys, if you don't mind I want to get out of here, please."

I let go of Josh, chuckle and crawl back to my seat. Josh leaves the car to change of seats and sits by my side, soaking wet from the rain outside. And Jenna jumps in at last, on the back of the car. She grabs Josh's shoulder and smiles, he smiles back and I feel a pinch of jealously. But then I notice his eyes are red, and I ask myself if he was crying while I hugged him. However, he rubs his eyes and shakes his head, smiling brightly. 

"Here we go."

Then we leave, and I relax leaning against the window. It feels as if one million rocks left my chest in a millisecond. 

~

It was faintly drizzling when we arrived to this Kentucky.

I come across some shops and houses that remind me of my own, but there's a different vibe over here. When I press my face on the window all I see are small towns, interconnected by the big road our car is soaring on.

It's very unsettling. A small part of me tells me I have already been on this exact same road, watching the same houses as we pass by their side. But, of course, I don't recall anything.

"You sure this is the way?" Josh asks and snaps me back to reality. When I turn around I see Jenna holding a phone next to his head, since he has been driving for a couple of hours now. "I don't want to draw any attention to us."

"100% sure!" Someone says excitedly on the other side of the phone. "As long as you stay on this road you will arrive in less than an hour. Are you tired yet?"

"Nope." Josh says, but I notice some fatigue in his voice. "This is a piece of cake."

"And don't worry too much about drawing attention." The voice concludes. "The press stopped worrying about you two and went after two famous kids who started dating out of nowhere. Everyone believes Tyler is safe and sound now that he's awake. So anyway, good luck, guys."

"Bye, Mark." Josh and Jenna say at the same time and Jenna ends the call by tapping on the screen. 

I stare at them, trying to understand what's going on, but after I get no answers I turn around and stare at the window: the sun has started to set.

"Is it too late for us to do this?" Jenna sighs, a little bit worried. "I bet everyone in that house is too tired to receive any visits right now. Especially this cardiac-arrest-worthy visit."

"I don't think so." Josh answers, his eyes lost in the horizon. "If we wait until tomorrow morning we will have to stay in a motel and I don't want to put us in danger. Plus, we are too close already. We can't give up."

Jenna stays quiet, but a few minutes later she grabs the bag resting on her lap and takes out a few sandwiches she bought in a small shop on one side of the road.

"Anyone hungry?"

When the sun finally sets and the sky goes almost pitch black, I finish my sandwich.  My companions do the same, and we keep driving, without saying a word to each other. Things have been a lot more peaceful since our first stop, but I notice Josh has been getting more tense as the minutes go on. Maybe he's still in shock; I really don't know how that works.

As for Jenna, she just looks very tired. Dark circles decorate her eyes, and even in the darkness I know they are still there. But she refuses to fall asleep, and the same applies to me.

Finally, Josh takes us across a street full of 1-story houses, and slows the car down while he stares at each house carefully. I remember the man on the phone gave us a description of the house he's looking for, so I join Josh on his search party.

"Bingo!" Josh smiles after a while. "Here we are. Brace yourselves, pals."

Josh pulls over on the garage of one of the houses and when the car is turned off he gets out of it, clumsily getting used to walking again. Jenna does the same, but before I can get off my side too, Jenna rushes to my door and carefully opens it to help me out. I take her hand and stand up, feeling as if my legs were disconnected from the rest of my body. 

I put my arms around Jenna's shoulders and rest my head on one of my hands. Jenna gives me a smile.

"You ok there?" She asks and I nod. "This is going to be something extremely painful for us, so if you feel like you can't take too much pressure you tell me, alright?"

I nod, again. It's until now that I realize I don't know much about this "road trip" we just made. I have no idea how we ended up here in first place. But I stay quiet, as always.

We stare at the house with illuminated windows in front of us, realizing everything is too quiet inside. By my side, Josh bites his underlip so hard I worry he will damage it, and for a moment I see him taking some steps back, but then he puts himself together and firmly marches to the door. He presses a button next to the door and waits patiently for it to open. In my arms, I feel Jenna's heart beating faster and faster, but her face stays still.

The door stays closed, tension spinning around us. Josh is about to turn around when suddenly the door is unlocked and a girl appears by the doorframe, rubbing her eyes. She stops doing this when her sight gets locked on Josh, and then on Jenna and me, and then back on Josh; her eyes wider than the wheels of our car. 

Before we can say anything, the girl covers her mouth and a muffled sound escapes her lips:

"Holy fucking shit."