𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 | Tyler Hernandez x Reader

| Ep 25 |

"Barron," Tyler walks over to us, but Barron doesn't move away from me, "What are you doing?"

I hear him scoff under his breath before mumbling to himself, "Oh great."

He finally releases his grip from my shirt and I nearly fall over as soon as my feet are firmly planted on the ground. Logan hesitates to approach me, instead giving me a worried look. I also don't fail to notice the bruise on his cheek, which I plan to ask about later.

Barron glances over at me before answering Ty, "I was just talking to your girlfriend about an assignment."

Tyler and I immediately lock eyes, making me have to turn away in embarrassment, my cheeks glowing a bright pink. What's weird is that this isn't the first time someone made that assumption and I never understand where the confusion comes from. He takes a moment to form a response before clearing his throat,

"She isn't my- God, Barron, just leave her alone." He stumbles over his words, eventually getting it out.

"Oh, you guys aren't together?" He then turns over to me with a sly smirk plastered on his face, "You should have said something. Wouldn't want to ruin that pretty face of yours."

I scrunch my nose when he raises a hand to caress my cheek. I smack his hand away and am about to land another punch. But Tyler beats me to it.

"That's enough!" He shouts, stomping over to Barron and swinging his fist, hitting him right in the jaw. I watch as he falls to his knees, creating enough distance between us for me to move away from the lockers. Tyler crouches down and grabs a fistful of Barron's hair, forcing him to lift his head up to look at him, "You're already skating on thin ice with coach. So, buzz off before he finds out how you're harassing girls...And don't ever touch my best friend again."

He then drops his head, making a thudding sound. I watch as Barron scrambles up to his feet and bolts down the hall. I let out a grunt, not feeling satisfied enough to let him go. I turn on my heel and am about to chase him down when Tyler grips my arm and yanks me back.

"I'm not done with-"

"You're done." He glares at me. His eyes then soften as he asks, "You okay?"

"Yeah...thanks." I say and he releases me gently, awkwardly patting my shoulder.

I give him a look, not knowing why his demeanor suddenly changed like that. I noticed a tint of red color his face but I don't question it, because I can feel the warmth spread over my face as well.

Ty then turns to look at Logan, who's head his lowered, "And you. Why didn't you stop him, huh?"

I purse my lips at his confrontation and pull Tyler's shoulder, "Hey, that wasn't his business-"

"No, Y/N! Logan was there and he should have broken it off!" He then looks back over at the shameful blonde, "You're seriously scared of him? After being around those things every night. Pathetic."

Taylor rushes over to Logan's side and glares at her brother's harsh words, "Tyler! Not cool. Like Y/N said, whatever that was had nothing to do with him. It wasn't his fault."

"Well, it kind of was..." Logan confesses, leaving me suddenly confused, "He must've already been in a bad mood when Y/N showed up and that's because of me..."

"How the hell is this your fault then?" Tyler asks, sounding impatient.

"I forgot to do his part of a project for science..."

I frown over at Logan, "He gave you that bruise, didn't he?"

Logan slowly nods and I let out a sharp sigh, "That's it. I swear to God, I am going to fuck him up-"

"Woah," Taylor places a hand on my shoulder, "No you're not."

Tyler's eyes narrow over at Logan pitifully, "How Is he supposed to survive when he can't even stand up for himself? At least Y/N landed a punch on the guy. Right now, isn't the time to be soft."

I shoot a glare over at him, which always works to shut him up, "Seriously, Ty-"

"Tyler's right," Ashlyn cuts in, "Though his way of saying it is uncalled for, Logan definitely needs some strength training. We all do."

"What are you suggesting? That we start taking boxing classes or something?" I sarcastically ask, my natural commentary getting the better of me.

"No, not that," Ashlyn gives me an unamused side glance, "I'm thinking of asking my parents to teach us self-defense. They taught me some when I was younger, but I don't remember it enough to teach you guys on my own."

"Weren't you worried about us getting sent to an asylum or something?" Tyler questions, finding it ironic how it's Ashlyn suggesting the training, "What are you gonna tell them when they ask why?"

"Yeah, that's the reason I haven't asked them yet. But after what just happened, I think we can use Y/N getting harassed and Logan being bullied as an excuse-"

"So, what? Us getting physically assaulted is just an excuse now?" I cross my arms in disbelief.

"I don't think that's how Ash meant for it to sound." Taylor whispers to me.

"What I mean is that it shows that some strength training will be good for us. We say that you want to better your defensive skills and that we want to support and learn with you." I relax at her explanation, feeling it does make sense. And aside from all of the phantom world stuff, I could definitely use this training. We all eventually agree and move on.

"Anyway, where's the psycho and big guy?" Tyler points out that Aiden and Ben are no longer with us. I glance around the hall and they are nowhere in sight.

Taylor answers, "Oh-um...I think Ben started acting weird. Aiden said that they were going to the vending machine and would see us in class."

I frown, "Is he okay?"

No one has a clear answer, leaving me to worry.

---

Our next period ends and I stand from my desk along with the rest of the students. Tyler, whose desk is right in front of mine, stands up and turns to me. He leans forward, lowering his voice,

"Hey, you doing alright?"

I look up at him with a confused face as I gather my things, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, with what went down with Barron. I know I already asked but I wanted to make sure you weren't just pretending to be okay in front of the group. Because I know how you put up a front and act like everything is fine when it usually isn't. And since these people are all still new, it would only make sense for you to lie-"

"Ty?" I place a hand on his shoulder to stop his rambling, "I'm okay."

He lets out a quiet sigh, raising a hand over mine resting on his shoulder, "Good."

The air around us suddenly thickens, and I can't tell if it's the tension or this classroom's horrible air conditioning. His eyes don't move away from mine, as if searching for any ounce of dishonesty.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, though." I say, though my mind isn't even focused on the words coming out of my mouth but the way his hand hasn't moved from mine.

He finally lets go and moves his hand to scratch the back of his neck, "Oh-um...yeah, of course. You know I always will."

I almost frown when he moves his hand off, but I'm not sure why. Us being physical is not new, so I don't know why this time was different. Ever since Savannah, we haven't really been acting the same.

"What's the hold up guys?" Taylor shouts from the front of the classroom. She and Logan must've been waiting on us. Ashlyn is in the middle of talking with Mr. Thomas.

Tyler quickly steps back from me to give me room to walk away from my desk. Whatever tension was there just dissipated and will likely never resurface.