Don't Forget About Me | TØP

Chapter 13 // Tyler

A week later

"You don't care about Jenna and you don't care about me."

A familiar voice stabs my eardrum. Their voice feels horribly real, but it also it fades away at times, like a sound covered in white noise. I want to backfire to that accusation, but before I can do anything everything stops suddenly, anger rising to my throat.

When I open my eyes I take a minute or two to understand what just happened: another one of those annoying dreams that could be a potential memory, and where I tend to wake the frick up before anything important happens.

I let out a disgusted sigh, and roll to my other side. I face Jenna, who's fast asleep right now. Her hair falls on top of the pillow like a golden wing, and her presence makes me smile quietly.

 I woke up earlier than her, as usual. 

I stretch on the bed before standing up, while I try to remember that new memory. These past few days, my mind has reconstructed itself by joining those short dreams together, and it has worked pretty well, I guess. I have had dreams about my family - with Zack and Jay specially -, dreams about songs I have written before and dreams about Jenna and Josh. Those little fragments have helped me feel like I have some control for once.

Shivering, I walk down the stairs, adjusting to the early-morning lights stabbing my eyes. I head towards the kitchen, looking for something to drink and refresh my mind, but I stop half way when I see Josh sleeping on a sofa. What surprises me the most is the fact that his left hand grasps to something he holds on his chest, which rises and falls peacefully. I peak to take a closer look: whatever that thing is it is wrapped in colorful papers and has an irregular shape, and it has a little note on one side.

I focus my eyes on Josh again and shriek when I see him staring at me, surprised.   

"I didn't meant to wake you up!" I say as quiet as I can. "Sorry. Sorry."

"It's alright." Josh stands up, yawning. He stares at the object and lets out a gasp. "Fuck! You're not supposed to see this!"

He shoves the thing to his back and smiles at me. I feel my eye twitching. 

"What is that?"

"Nothing."

"Josh, we have been hanging out for days now. You should be trusting me by now."

"This is not about trust."

"Then what on earth is that thing?"

Josh shakes his head. We stay on silence for a while, until I run towards him and try to grab the object. Josh shoves me away, playfully, and runs away from me. I follow him, and when I'm close enough I push him and he falls, the object still in his hands. I pin him to the ground, and laugh.

"Mr. Dun, you're not supposed to run in this house."

"Mr. Joseph, you're not supposed to be awake this early."

I try to grab the object one last time but Josh pushes it way from us. It slides on the floor and crashes lightly on a wall, making an strange noise. Josh gasps and shoves me away, but I'm already miles away from him. I grab the thing and press a hand on Josh's face when he arrives, keeping him away from the object. 

"Tyler, no." He says, dead serious. "I wanted Jenna to see it too."

"Whoops." I shrug and read the little note. It just says 'For my best fren". ·"Aw, cute. I wonder if it's for me."

"Alright, I give up." He lets go and sighs. "Happy birthday, Tyler. That's your gift that isn't exactly a gift."

I stare at him. Birthday? What? 

"It's December the 1st today." Josh shrugs, remembering my small memory loss. "You were born today a long time ago. You get old. You receive gifts. You say thank you. That's all you gotta do."

I sit down on the floor and stare at the thing. I bite my lip, confused. I haven't have dreams about birthdays; I don't know what those are.

Josh nudges me and then the object. "Open it. In any case you already saw it."

I tear apart the paper and stay awestruck for a few seconds. In my hand I'm holding the very small guitar I have seen in my dreams. Its four strings move softly under my fingers, and it makes me feel extremely peaceful.

"I know it's nothing original," Josh says in presence of my silence. "but I think you're ready to see it again. Your ukulele, I mean. Does it bring any memories?"

"Maybe." I whisper, still staring at the ukulele. "Where did you find it?"

"The basement." Josh blushes. "Jenna and I realized it was time for you to finally see a piece of it. You keep all your instruments there."

"And you're telling me this just now?" I finally look at him, smiling. "Lets go see it!"

"Wow, easy, bud." Josh grabs my shoulder when I stand up. I notice he's just a few inches shorter than me. "One step at a time. Keep the ukulele for now."

I give him a short hug and proceed to play the beautiful instrument. It makes a sweet noise but at the same time it shrieks in horror. I wonder if its broken or it is supposed t sound like that.

"No we can form Twenty One Pilots again!" I say, clearly joking, but Josh's expression is pure happiness. "Oh, I love birthdays!"

In that moment, I hear small thumps on the stairs and in a flicker Jenna runs towards us.

"Happy birthday, beautiful husband!" She throws her arms around me and kisses my cheek multiple times. Then, her eyes focus on the ukulele. "Oh. Josh!"

Josh smiles at her, but Jenna just frowns. "Wanna explain why Tyler knows about our surprise?" She says, half joking half serious. 

"Tyler discovered it by himself." Josh shrugs. "He knows about the basement too."

Jenna curses under her breath, still hugging me. "Anyway, Ty, what do you want to do today? Apart from seeing the Josephs, of course."

I chuckle, not knowing what to answer. The cords of The Judge stab my brain and I shiver without paying attention to the lyrics. I look at Josh, and he seems more relaxed than ever, which makes me smile.

"I guess I want to play one of our songs." I say casually.

When I said I wanted my band back, I meant it.