Philophobic : Tyler Galpin

24: Control

Tuesday afternoon, November 6th

[author's pov]

"How was I supposed to tell Tyler now?" Victoria thought. Tyler had told her he was willing to wait for her to figure everything out before knowing how she felt towards him. But how was she ever going to tell him how she felt after this truth came into light?

That it was worse than she ever imagined. That her most vulnerable timing would be now, when her abilities were the most out of control since she had been suppressing it for the past seventeen years of her life.

Though it still hadn't felt like she had truly blown up and lost all control–If what she did to Enid on Halloween night was just the beginning of what could've happened, she began to fear what was up ahead. Still, she couldn't stay away from Tyler.

To gain control, she'd dropped her volunteering hours and an honors class. After all, she'd already had enough for a lifetime of volunteering hours and she already felt more in control of her life. She even considered quitting her violin skill, but she had to admit that she'd grown a liking for it.

It took her almost three days to find out Eugene was being hospitalized after being attacked by a monster. The same one that came after Rowan and Victoria at the Harvest Festival. And everytime she thought of Eugene, she couldn't help but feel guilty for not going with him to search for the monster's hide-out. Especially after the Rave'N was a failure anyway.

So she currently sat in Tyler's car as he drove her to the hospital. She had just told him what she discovered about mimics in her mom's office yesterday. He was at a loss for words, unsure how to console her without trespassing her boundaries.

Trespassing her boundaries would only make him grow more impatient and tempted. He wanted to hug her, or at least hold her hand for comfort but he kept both hands on the steering wheel as he read her distressed body with helplessness.

He kept wondering what she was so afraid of now that she knew what she was. A mimic. She'd told him that they were feared, but he saw nothing fearful about her. If anything, she was the opposite, like an angel trapped in a human body. And he couldn't help but like her more for it.

As they arrived from Nevermore to the hospital, Victoria got out of the car and noticed Tyler was still inside the car. With a raised brow, he rolled down the window as she ducked down with a questioned expression.

"You're not coming inside?" Victoria asked.

Tyler was reluctant to even step inside of the hospital. There was an eerie feeling about this that crept on him as he shook his head.

"No, I just don't do well in hospitals," Tyler said with an uneasy tone. "But I'll be back in an hour. D'you want anything from the Weathervane?"

Victoria shrugged. "Surprise me."

"Fine by me," Tyler grinned.

She returned her grin as Shanks sat herself on Tyler's passenger seat, already comfortable enough to be around the boy. Tyler waited as she entered the hospital before driving off to the Weathervane.

A few minutes later, she was entering Eugene's room with reluctance. She'd been trying to figure out what she wanted to say to him all day, but wasn't sure now.

"Are you okay?" He obviously wasn't.

"I should've gone with." But that didn't sound right.

"What happened?" Though she already knew half of the truth.

Once Eugene saw her, he sat up slowly with a half-smile, half-frown.