Friends With Time ⌛ (Tyler Galpin x Reader)

Day 96-130

The Time Goes By:

The spring falls like water, with regular USOAT meetings and sneaking down to see Tyler. The two of you laugh together, and you even let him try his hand at painting once. He's not very good, but he tries his best, and when he pushes the small canvas through the conveyor belt (the only size you could fit through it), you hang it up on the wall across from him so he can see it. 

You reconcile with Deion and Mary (who are now an official, long-distance couple), Aliyah, and the others, and not even the board suspects anything.

There are calls with Sheriff Galpin, and on one of them, Tyler, blinking hard, wraps an arm around himself. 

"I have something to tell you, Pops," he says, sucking in a breath. "Y/N, could you... could you walk into the screen?"

You're surprised, but you walk over anyway, awkwardly waving to the sheriff. He waves back, then squints at Tyler.

"Pops, I'd... I'd like you to meet my girlfriend," Tyler says, eyes flickering over to you. You smile at him, a laugh bubbling up in your chest. 

"Your..." the Sheriff repeats, and then his eyebrows shoot up to the ceiling. "Your girlfriend!" He exclaims, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Son, that's your warden."

Tyler glances over at you and smiles sheepishly, brushing his hand against where yours brushes the glass. "Yeah," he says. "She is."

You feel a hot blush well up in your face, and you have to look away to hide your smile.

"I wanted to tell you," he says.

"This isn't... like the last one, is it?" the sheriff asks gruffly, and Tyler's shoulders slump.

"No," he says, swallowing and looking down. "This is real, and it's... it's weird, and smooth, and different. I don't really know how to. To love like that, I mean."

Sheriff Galpin's eyes flick from you to Tyler. 

"Well," he says eventually, picking up his coffee mug, "I took your Mom on a date. You could start there."

You laugh, and Tyler smiles tentatively, glancing over to you.

Sheriff Galpin raises his hands. "Fine!" he declares. "My son has a girlfriend. Don't go breaking her heart, though, you hear? I happen to like your warden."

The rest of the evening passes by in a swirl of laughter and explanation, and then visiting hours are over, but Tyler is beaming long after the call ends.

Days pass uneventfully, and a traveling USOAT merchant ship brings goods for you to buy. You choose a bright, fresh pineapple, and you carry it down the hatch like a sunshine prize.

"Look!" You say, bringing a dish of the sunny yellow fruit down to Tyler. "I brought some sunlight for you!"

That day is a good one- as it starts to get warmer outside, you and Tyler eat the fresh fruit and prepare for summer.

Summer in Paris, you realize, but the thought doesn't make you as giddy as it once did. 

"I wish you were coming with me," you confess to Tyler one night.

He laughs and says, "Me too."

That night, when you head up to the top deck to see the sunset, beautiful golds and reds that herald the summer carried to you on warm breezes, you take your father's journal with. It reads much the same as it always does, but as the wind catches the pages, you have an idea.