Falling Too (Tyler Joseph)

Chapter 38

"I can't believe you just did that," Kelly murmured between the three of us, her shoulders shaking. "He could've killed you for trying to get in the middle of that."

I instantly understood that she was speaking to me, and I scrambled to explain, "I couldn't stand there while he threatened Tyler. I had to at least attempt to talk him down."

"You didn't have to," she argued, and before I could even feel outraged by her words, she went on. But my son might not be standing here with us if you hadn't. I can't believe that I've been so blind this whole time to the fact that you genuinely love him. I... I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

I was stunned into silence for a long moment, but I found my voice long enough to reassure her. "Of course, I can. That's what we're supposed to do, right?"

Kelly leaned back, her gaze flicking back and forth between Tyler and me. "I won't get in the way anymore, I swear it. I will give you a hundred percent of my support in any way you want. I promise."

Hearing those words come out of her mouth sent my mind spinning for a whole new reason. It felt like I had stepped out of a nightmare and into a dream.

"Thank you, Mom," Tyler murmured, appearing to be in the same state of awe that I was in. "Are you going to be alright?"

She nodded as she brushed a few stray tears from her cheeks as she finally let go of us. That seemed to cue the rest of Tyler's family and mine to crowd us. 

"Ash! You were so awesome!" Zack exclaimed as he hugged me tight before turning to his older brother, nearly tackling him. "You are so lucky, dude! I'm so glad you're okay. Ashley truly saved your butt."

Jay joined in on the hug. "I am a thousand percent telling my nieces and nephews about this every chance I see them. Just watch."

The mention of the possibility of us having children had us both blushing, but thankfully, Madison swooped in to save us. "Even in the face of danger, Jay can still make jokes. I'm glad I have a sister to help me deal with it now."

Okay, maybe she was just as bad as her brother.

While she and Tyler exchanged a long embrace, Chris approached me. He gave me a warm smile before murmuring, "I, for one, would love your help with this bunch. Kelly has finally come around to that idea, too. Do you think you'd be up for it?"

To my surprise, Kelly was in the middle of speaking to my mom, but when she caught sight of me watching, she smiled softly at me. 

"I don't think your family would give me any other choice, but yeah, I'd love to."

"I already count you as part of this crazy group, so you should start thinking of them as your family, too. Five is a good number of kids to me; it keeps things interesting," Chris tells me with a wink and a gentle side hug before moving towards his other children.

Fondness grew in my chest at that, knowing that someone wanted to call themselves my father. I knew that Noah was good to my mother, but I still knew we had some bonding to do. Chris just had an easy way to him, a warmth that was like the sun. It was clear to see that Tyler had gained that trait. 

Suddenly, I was being wordlessly pulled into yet another hug, finding Josh and Carly sandwiching me between them. I wormed my arms out from between them to return the gesture.

"I'm so glad we weren't too late," Carly murmurs through a voice thick with tears.

"We ran out of here and called the cops as soon as we saw Chase's dad with that gun," Josh explained as his head rested on top of mine while shaking slightly. "I promise I wasn't just running away. I just wanted to get help. I couldn't lose my two best friends."

My hold on them tightened as I said, "You guys did great. We'd probably be goners if it hadn't been for what you two did." 

My mom finally made her way over to me, just as tearful as everyone else, but her hug wasn't as gentle. It was like she was trying to make sure I was real and standing before her. I kept my hug lighter than hers but didn't let go until she did. 

Noah even hugged me warmly as he murmured, "You were courageous back there, truly."

Countless more faces came to check on Tyler and me until it felt like I'd spoken to every person at the party. Thankfully, after that, Kelly seemed aware of just how tired Tyler and I were, so she managed to usher us to the music room, which was much quieter. 

She handed us both a bottle of water and shut the door behind her, saying, "Just come get me if you need anything."

It was an interesting change to have Kelly take care of me, to say the least, but after everything that had occurred today, I was grateful for it. 

"How are you?" I asked Tyler after I had drank almost half of my water.

"Struggling to believe that I'm sitting here speaking to you right now," He confessed as he reached out to cup my cheek. "I'm so blessed to have you. It's unreal."

"So am I; if you hadn't kept reaching out to me every time, I would pull away..." I paused as I thought of where we might be right now if a single thing had gone differently, and the idea sent a chill down my spine. "I don't think we would've ended up so lucky."

"You know what that means, don't you?"

I shook my head.

"We have to stick together. From now on."

I leaned over to kiss his lips tenderly, whispering, "How about we try for forever?"

"Even better."

THE END

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Wow! I have been on a roll about finishing my stories! I hope you all are alright with this sweet and soft ending. I feel like it fit the story best, and, let's be honest, these two deserved it. Either way, thank you all for reading this story! I hope you enjoyed it!

- AK