never mine// tyler joseph

chapter thirteen

soon, tyler and josh would be leaving for tour, so tyler was gathering all of his belongings. he made sure to pack a few sets of clothes, his show outfits, his chargers, his computer, and just any other items that he figured that would be useful while being inside of a bus for so many months.

he mostly had everything ready, though. he was leaving tomorrow, so he'd been stressing about it all day, pacing around his apartment, looking for anything that he might've forgotten. but after checking room after room, he was sure that he had it all. so he sat down, waiting for val's arrival.

she was coming over to hang out with him right before he left. he was excited to get to see her in person before he went out to play shows. once he was on the bus, they'd be limited to facetime calls and texting. it was just never the same as getting to sit side by side.

when she eventually did come over, tyler noticed that her happy attitude that she usually had around him was nowhere to be seen. she offered him a smile, but it didn't look genuine.

"are you alright?" he asked her, heading to the kitchen to get them something to drink. she followed behind him, sitting at the small table as he rummaged through the fridge.

"i'm fine," she replied. tyler sat down across from her, handing her a drink.

"i can tell something's bothering you," he stated.

"i know," she said with a sigh. "i just don't want to keep complaining about the same things over and over." she stared down at the floor, as if she were afraid of actually annoying tyler. but he would've never been annoyed about listening to her problems.

"you know i don't mind," he reassured her. "you can tell me."

"it's about oliver again," she admitted. tyler had figured that much. whenever she had issues with him, she would usually go to tyler for advice. "when we all hung out together, it seemed like he was okay with everything. but afterward, he was being short with me. like i had done something to anger him. and he's been like that ever since. i don't know if i'm overreacting, but it's really getting to me."

tyler remembered that when he was leaving their car that night, oliver had sent him some sort of glare. he didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it seemed that something really had bothered him that night. it could've been the comment that val made about tyler smelling good, or how the both of them were talking to each other the entire night. whatever it was, it just seemed that oliver hadn't been able to push aside his jealousy.

"i don't think you're overreacting," tyler told her. "i noticed it too when i was leaving."

he wanted to tell her that she deserved better, that she deserved somebody who wouldn't act this way towards her. but he couldn't do so without feeling guilty. it was her relationship, after all. it was her decision. but that didn't change the fact that it wasn't right.

"i really thought that he was going to try harder," was all that she said. he saw a few tears well up in her eyes, and he wanted nothing more than to lean forward and wipe them away. instead, he stood up, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. he rubbed it soothingly, doing all that he could to comfort her.

"why don't we go watch something together? i'll even make you some brownies, if it'll make you feel better," he offered with a small smile.

"brownies?" she asked, looking up at him. he nodded, knowing that that would catch her attention. "okay," she said, standing up. before tyler could turn around to get the brownie mix, she wrapped her arms around him, engulfing him in a hug. all he could do was hug her back, squeezing his arms around her tightly.  "thank you," she mumbled against his chest.