Always (Boyxboy)

Chapter Twenty-Six - Tyler

It started out as a great morning. James was in a wonderful mood, so it had been easy for Tyler to talk his friend into buying him coffee and a pastry on the way to school. Sure, he had to listen to his best friend excitedly chatter about his boyfriends long awaited return as they ate in the car together, but even that didn't bother Tyler much. He was excited to see Kalen as well, though in a far different way from James.

School wasn't that bad either. No homework was assigned for the weekend, and Tyler's least favorite teacher was sick, meaning they got to sit in the library for the entire period and do whatever they wanted, permitted it was quiet. Tyler played computer games until the bell rang and he was dismissed for lunch, where they were serving his favorite meal.

"Good things are happening for me today," Tyler said as he drove them to James's house. Kalen was supposed to be arriving in about an hour and they had half an hour before they were expected at the Bradford's, meaning they had time to stop at their houses and change out of their school uniforms first.

"Me too," James agreed happily, pushing his seatbelt back enough that he could pull his sweater vest over his head and shove it in his backpack. "I haven't kissed my boyfriend in over two months. I really miss it".

"Ugh, dude," Tyler groaned, making a disgusted face out of the windshield as he drove. "You've got to stop saying shit like that. Like, for real, save it for Kalen".

"It's been longer since I've kissed someone than since you've kissed someone, so you can't judge," James protested.

Shaking his head, Tyler spared him a glance. "That's not how this works". He turned onto James's street, and then into his driveway less than a minute later. "Alright. Can you get ready quickly?"

"You're the one who takes a long time," James pointed out, kicking phone the passenger side door and climbing out. "You can even wait in here if you want. My parents aren't home so you'd just have to sit there awkwardly waiting for me anyways. I'll be like five minutes. I'm just changing really quick and brushing my teeth".

Reclining his seat slightly, Tyler waved James away, turning up the heat and unbuckling his seat belt. The passenger door shut, and he watched his friend run up the pathway to his house, hands fiddling with his keys as he went.

Tyler thought about his life before James had moved to Illinois. It had been far lonelier, though at the time he hadn't felt that way. At the time, he had been fine spending his afternoons sleeping and talking to James over the phone, had felt fine sitting with a group of people he could barely call friends at lunch. Without James around, it was easy to forget how much the other boy filled up his life.

It felt wrong to feel happy about James return to his life, because it had been brought on by Ace's death, but Tyler was in the process of training himself to stop feeling guilty for the things he felt and couldn't control. Just because James being there made him happy, it didn't mean that Ace's death also made him happy, just as falling in love with Pierce didn't mean that he saw Ace as not good enough.

Tyler allowed his eyes to slip closed, a sigh leaving his lips. It still hurt to think about Pierce, he still loved him just as he had before he had known, but he needed to talk to him soon, not just because he felt obligated to explain his behavior, but he needed to see Pierce like his life depended on it. He missed him.

Pathetic.

"What's pathetic?"

The sound of James voice had Tyler starting, since he hadn't even heard his friend pulling open the car door. "Jesus you get ready fast".

"Yes," James agreed, sliding into his seat and buckling his seatbelt. "What's pathetic?"

"What? Oh. I said that out loud?" Tyler asked, eyebrows drawing together.