Friends With Time ⌛ (Tyler Galpin x Reader)

Day 132

Hey, everybody, sorry it's been a while. It's been a rather interesting week.

Anyway. Here's the chapter, I hope you like it! We're letting Tyler out for the first time, and things are about to change...

Day 132:

"Hey," Tyler whispers, shaking. The glass opens, separating the only barrier between the two of you.

"Okay," he says, moving slowly with his hands up. Your whole world seems to turn a shade of blue, your body shaking so hard you think you're going to fall over.

Is this the part where he kills you? Your eyes dart over his face for any sign of the gray, stretching skin.

He walks over slowly, holding his hands up still, crossing the barrier into the concrete room. His eyes flick up to the door, then back to you.

He stands just in front of you, so close you think he must hear your hummingbird-fast heart or the breath that snags on the raw terror in your throat.

His hand slips into yours, a warm brush of his skin on yours, and his other comes to rest on the silk covering your hip, warmth bleeding through to your thigh.

"This was a mistake," he says, and it's like your worst fears are confirmed, crashing down like dystopian nightmare fuel.

Your breath shudders in your throat, and you back up against the wall. "Then get it over with, then," you whisper, the words barely escaping your frozen throat. You think of his claws, and you think about running, about sprinting away.

"USOAT won't forgive you for this," he says, guiding you back, closer to him, hips bumping into each other. You stumble off balance, hands catching on his shoulders for balance, eyes flicking in terror around the room.

He squints at you. "Are you okay?" He asks, and you can't respond, the panic crushing you in deep, ocean waves.

A thumb brushes back your hair. "I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you're thinking," he says softly.

At least not until we're on the deck and he can escape, you can't help but think.

He's so close to you for the first time in months, but you barely notice as you take his warm hand, leading him through your living room, past the door, and the stairs leading to the deck.

He stops as you open the door to the outside, the metal creaking on his hinges. His eyes widen as light spills across his face, and then he closes them with a smile. "Sunlight," he says, the word filled with awe and craving.

You feel a pang of sadness in your chest. He hasn't been outside or seen any nonsterile light in months.

"There's more up there," you tell him softly, pointing up the stairs to the small square of sky that will explode into the Bubble's deck and the view of the infinite sea.

"I know," he mumbles, eyes opening again. "And you're... you're sure you want to bring me up there?"

You don't answer, putting his hand to your chest. "Come on."

The two of you hike up the stairs, and then there, at the top, your head bursts through the square of sky into the marvelous purple sunset, clouds dappled with fiery orange and royal purple in every shade imaginable. The ocean runs for miles and miles in dark blue waves, sparkling with reflections of the light like stars upon its coat.

There's a gasp behind you, and you turn to find Tyler staring ahead, eyes wide as he takes it all in, breathless. He turns around slowly, and you drop his hand so he can see it all.