Don't Forget About Me | TØP

Chapter 17 // Josh

"Tyler, I'm sorry. I was the reason why you had that accident. You have all the right to scream at me."

I shake my head and look at the bathroom mirror once again, thinking that was way too stupid.

"Alright." I close my eyes. "Tyler, I know this is hard to believe, but I'm the reason why you have memory loss... no, wait, ugh."

I press my hands to my face, feeling distressed. "C'mon, Josh, focus. He wants to talk to you for a reason, and you ought to do this. He deserves to know the truth."

I stare at my reflection once again, not really hating it this time. I'm this close to redemption, I can't screw it up.

"Tyler," I begin. "I love you, man, but I made a horrible mistake. You deserve to know that I-"

"JOSH!" I hear Jay on the other side of the bathroom door. "I need to use the bathroom!"

"Ugh, go upstairs."

"It's an emergency."

I roll my eyes and open the door. Jay bursts in and pushes me outside, back to reality. I needed that bathroom to escape all of this, thanks Jay.

I sigh and stare at the Josephs. Even though everything's cool with them now thanks to Zack I still feel like an outsider, and I wonder, with a pinch of sadness, when will everything go back to normal.

I look for Tyler but I get surprised to find out he isn't there. Before panic reaches me I wonder if he's already outside. I make my way to the door and pass by Jenna, who stares at me. Right now she's the only one who has cared about my presence here, so instead of ignoring her I give her a soft smile she quickly returns. 

I open the door, hoping nobody notices what I just did and leave the house. A cold wind invades me and makes me tremble, as I notice the wonders of the night: the starless sky, the well-lit neighborhood.

I take a deep breath, but my heart skips a beat when I finally see Tyler seated on the edge of the sidewalk. I can clearly see he's holding his ukulele, but he doesn't play it, instead he faces the night sky. 

Ok, Josh, now's the time. You can do this.

I walk towards him, a little too noisy so he notices my presence, and sit down next to him. He smiles at me and shows me his ukulele. 

"Long time no see." He chuckles. "How's your wife and kids?"

"Haha, very funny." I nudge his arm. "So, you wanted to tell me something?"

"Not really." He presses the ukulele too close to himself. "I was just wondering if we could hang out a little while. That's all."

"Oh, alright." I feel relived but disappointed at the same time. "When did you get your ukulele?"

"While you were in the bathroom I ran upstairs and took it. I kinda missed it. It makes me feel safe."

I bite my lip. Ty, not even that thing will protect you from what I have to say.

"Can I ask you something?" He faces me, his eyes too focused on mine. "Have you talked to anyone about, you know, my incident?"

I gulp. "Uhm, yeah. I talked to Leah when we went to visit her. I don't know why, but it kinda bursted out of my mouth."

"Leah... oh, the girl, yeah." Tyler smiles. "I'm sorry I never talked with you about that. I didn't know you were suffering until you said those words in the basement."

"What's you point?" I frown. "I thought you just wanted to 'hang out'."

Tyler keeps smiling, but his smile becomes more forced as time passes by. "I was just trying to start a conversation."