Always (Boyxboy)

Chapter Fourteen- Tyler

"You are not driving me to school," James claimed, watching from a few feet away as James's mother pressed a hand against Tyler's forehead to feel his temperate.

"You're not warm..." she trailed off, her eyebrows drawing together. "You're so pale though, and your eyes are very red. Are you sure you feel alright dear? Do you need me to call your mother?"

"It's alright," Tyler assured, forcing a tired smile. The worst had happened, and had been happening for the past three nights. Gone were the few hours of sleep he had gotten each night that kept him sane. He hadn't gotten a moment of sleep since Pierce's most recent message to him.

It had come two days after his afternoon at the Bradford house, in the middle of his history test on Tuesday. He hadn't been able to check it right then, unwilling to pay the fine one got for being on their phones during a test, so he had read it in the bathroom after class, locked in one of the stalls and sitting on the closed seat of the toilet.

From: Pierce

You fucking idiot, just tell me you're okay please. You looked like shit when I ran into you last and I'm actually worried about you.

Tyler had read those words over and over, wondering what they meant, and in what way Pierce was worried. Was he worried about him as a friend, or was it something more? If it was something more, what was Tyler supposed to do about it. Yes, he liked Pierce, loved Pierce, but it didn't feel right loving him after loving Ace. He felt guilty.

"My mom fussed over me enough this morning," Tyler assured James's mother, leaning back so her hand fell off of his forehead. "I'm really okay. Just tired. I didn't sleep well last night".

"Is something worrying you?" she asked, frowning. "You've always been prone to getting worked up over things". This was true. Even when Tyler was a child things would very easily stress him out. It made sense that as he aged, this problem got worse as his issues did.

"It's alright, Mrs. Anders," Tyler assured. "I have an appointment with my doctor in a few weeks and he should be able to renew the prescription for my sleeping pills".

"Those will help you sleep but they won't address what is causing you to lose sleep in the first place. Have you ever talked to someone about what's keeping you awake? Anxiety medication my help as well. Have you ever tried that?" She asked worriedly. Normally, friends parents didn't as so many personal questions, but Tyler was nearly as comfortable around James's mother and his own, and he knew she saw him as a son.

"I haven't thought about that," Tyler admitted, frowning. Medicine for his anxiety would probably be helpful. When Tyler was in middle school, his mother had brought it up to him, noticing how the increased workload often caused him to shut down, but Tyler had insisted he was fine, at the time not liking the idea of taking any sort of medication. Now that he knew what it felt like to go five straight nights without sleep, he was a bit more open to the idea. Still, he didn't think it would solve the entire issue. There were still a lot more things he needed to address, but that would be a start. "I'll bring it up to my doctor when I go in. Thanks Mrs. Anders".

She brushed a hand over his hair fondly before moving away from him, back towards the kitchen. "You boys have a good day at school. Tyler, call me if you need to go home and I'll pick James up from school".

"Alright," Tyler agreed, looking at his best friend then. "You ready to go?"

"You are not driving," was James's response, and he held his hand out for the key. "You look like you're going to fall asleep at the wheel. I'll drive". Normally, this would be a big red flag to Tyler– he didn't like other people driving his car– but he also felt like he was going to fall asleep at the wheel, so he passed his keys on, frowning as he did so.