𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 | Tyler Hernandez x Reader

| Ep 71 |

3rd Person POV

With Tyler's stab wound and Aiden's head injury, they couldn't be of much help with what the group was out doing. They stayed behind in the room, going over documents the others have found during their past searches whilst the rest were out looking for any keycards of high clearance so they could unveil the more discrete information about the facility.

The two boys sat beside each other in bed with a pile of files in between them. Aiden boredly scrolled through digital records on a laptop, skimming through the long reports. Tyler had mostly been quiet by his side, working at his own pace.

Aiden sassily plops to his side, allowing the laptop to slip from his legs, "...I can't do this anymore. I'd rather die again."

Tyler shoots him an unappreciative glare, pausing his scrolling for a moment, "Don't joke about that, idiot. Especially after what Ashlyn told us."

Aiden senses the seriousness laced in his friend's tone. He sits back up and returns to browsing the long list of files. He grabs a folder from the pile separating them and flips through the documents.

"Find anything?" He asks as he mindlessly tosses the folder aside and grabs a new one.

"Nope..." Tyler sighs, reading through a classified medical record, "And I don't think we will. All of this crap is useless."

Aiden grins, tossing yet another folder, "Tell me about it."

A silence falls between them as they make steady work of the documents they were assigned to read. Of course, Aiden and silence are not a combo that can last very long.

"So..." His voice hangs in the air as he flips onto his stomach to get comfortable, "I don't think we've ever talked about the huge elephant in the room."

Tyler, who wasn't even bothering to match his energy, lazily glances up from his screen to narrow his eyes at the blonde, "Shut up and scroll."

Aiden whines and shoves the laptop away from him. He rests his chin in his palm and stares up at him, "Come on! Please? Can't we just take a quick break?"

Tyler's finger hovers over the trackpad, not entirely opposed to putting a short pause on the endless files of useless information.

He lets out a struggled sigh, "Fine...what do you want to talk about, dumbass?"

Aiden excitedly smiles and answers immediately, "Y/N."

Tyler tenses at the mention of his girlfriend before quickly growing curious, "Y/N...?"

"You don't really talk about her to us. We're friends now, right? Guys tell each other about relationships and stuff, don't they?"

Tyler quirks a brow up, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes, "You've never really had friends before us, huh?"

"Are you kidding? I had tons of friends. Everyone loved me back in my old town." Aiden responds smugly, though it was obvious he was bluffing.

"Well...there isn't much to talk about." Tyler's voice softens as pictures of her flood his mind.

Aiden's smile grows wider and he sits up in a crisscross applesauce position, "Oh my God."

Tyler inches back, finding Aiden's excitement irritating, "What?"

"You're whipped, Tyler."

"...Whipped?" He repeats, finding the term ridiculous.

"Yeah, dude," Aiden rolls over onto his back, unable to stay still for too long, "Y'know, like in love and all that gooey stuff."

Tyler raises a hand defensively and shakes his head, "Woah, I am not-"

He can't even bring himself to finish the sentence, knowing it would be the fattest lie he would ever tell. But he couldn't accept the fact that Aiden would be the first person to know about this.

He eventually sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, "You're so annoying..."

Aiden lulls his head back to stare up at the ceiling as he sings in a low tone, "Wise men say...only fools rush in..."

Tyler rolls his eyes, wishing he had the strength to strangle him at the moment, "I'm going to kill you..."

Aiden smirks, closing his eyes and attempting his best Elvis impression, "But I can't help...falling in love-"

One of the folders smacks Aiden's head, putting a stop to his horrendous singing. He groans and rubs his temples, feeling another headache coming in.

"Shut up already." Tyler scoffs, though deep down, the teasing was a little nice. He would never, not in a million years, admit that Aiden's antics brought him a little comfort. It was like a reminder of how things were before the phantom realm became their life's purpose.

The boys eventually return to their research, though the mood was much lighter after their harmless bickering. As Aiden scrolls through his laptop, he looks over his shoulder at Tyler, who was picking at his bandages.

"What are you doing?"

Tyler bites his bottom lip with focus as he adjusts the edges of the bandages, "They itch."

Aiden nods in understanding, "Real, I'm itchy too."

He scratches his armpit, making Tyler scrunch his nose in disgust, "You're fucking gross."

Several minutes later, Aiden's speaking up again. Tyler annoyedly runs a hand over his face. He scans Aiden over from head-to-toe, making the blonde raise his brows in confusion.

"What are you looking for?"

Tyler clicks his tongue, "A mute button."

Aiden's jaw hangs open in offense and he huffs out, "Fine, I won't ask my question then."

"You say that, yet you're still going to-"

"So do you think we're slowly turning into those phantoms?" Aiden asks away, completely overlooking Tyler's accurate assumption.

The brunette's face tenses slightly at the reminder of what possibly awaits the two. Ashlyn truly believed that their deaths in the phantom world would take a toll on their physical bodies somehow. Yet, they haven't felt much of a difference, aside from their current injuries.

"I dunno...maybe? Wouldn't we feel a change in our bodies if that were true?" Tyler asks as he swipes his finger over the trackpad of the laptop.

Aiden shrugs, tapping random keys to see if that would do anything, "...I don't feel any different though? Personality wise, anyway."

"I can tell." Tyler responds with a hint of sarcasm.

Aiden boredly taps away until he comes across something that heightens all of his senses. He sits up slowly as to not disturb his head injury,

"Tyler- I found something."

Tyler carefully sets his laptop aside and scoots over to Aiden, "What is it? I swear, if it's another meme you made because you're bored, I'll-"

His face pales when he reads the name of the recipient on the profile on Aiden's screen.

M/N L/N

He continues to scroll through and reads a few of the other names as well,

Mary Fields

Mariana Hernandez

Lily Clark

He shakily reaches for the walkie talkie by his side.

1st Person POV

I was rummaging through a filing cabinet when I hear the walkie talkie clipped onto Ashlyn's belt go off. Tyler's static voice comes through as he nervously speaks out, "Guys-"

We all abandon our posts and huddle around the device. A few seconds of static sounds through the channel before is slowly dies down. I hear an unstable breath on the other end before Tyler says,

"-Our parents are here."