Hell of A Storm (Twisters Tyler x OC)

Chapter 17 - Who I am ... and Who I used to be

I told you I wasn't done with these two yet...

Not sure if the timeline fits with the movie, but let's just pretend it does for argument's sake.

Hope this is staying true to the characters... All errors are mine and will continue to be mine.

It's easy to forget when you're busy. To ignore the nagging feeling in the back of your mind that you're missing something. Two months had passed since Kate and I first arrived back in Oklahoma, and since then I had moved to Arkansas, started a new job, been on the rode with the Wranglers... I hadn't had time to distinguish between a Monday from a Saturday until the specific date was staring me in a face, stopping time.

I had almost forgotten, life had been easy, I was happy and then today hit, I stared at my calendar, and it felt like the floor had been ripped out from under me. Two months and my nightmares had become scarce, Tyler and I were still together, Kate was working hard to get funding for our Tamer Project, Javi was setting up the old barn on the Carter Farm... and one day makes all the progress seem irrelevant.

For five years I was miles away from the accident, the tragedy, so it was easy to mourn in silence, hide in my apartment... but now I was a stone throw away from where it all happened.

My mind had been at war since yesterday. I spent most of the night tossing and turning and convincing myself and then second guessing myself on what I should do. That's where I found myself this morning, moving my struggle from the bed to the counter, coffee untouched in a mug between my hands as I stared at the wall. Until my phone made me jump as it buzzed on the counter beside me.

Tyler's face filled the screen, and I smiled, my inner turmoil stuffed away for the moment as I answered.

"Hey." I smiled to myself.

"Hey, did I wake you?" His voice filled the space between the phone and my ear, and the tension I had held in my shoulders eased slightly.

"I've been up." I answered shaking my head to myself. "How's the trip?" I asked before he could question my statement. The Wranglers had been headed towards Oklahoma and were following a series of storms as the season started to wrap up. Boone was convinced the best storms always occurred at the end of tornado season, and they had been on the road for going on two weeks now. I had been with them a few days ago, gathering data for work and getting readings for Kate to use in New York.

"Good, packing up right now." He answered.

"Looks like there's some clouds forming near you, if your fast enough." I smiled watching the weather shift on my open laptop to my left.

"Keeping tabs on me DC?" He chuckled.

"Just making sure you go in the right direction." I stated. I also was keeping on eye on the strength of the storms he was chasing. He was doing what he loved, but the thought of him getting caught unaware of a storm, it still scared me. I still turned off the video feeds of his channel when his truck disappeared, still couldn't watch, and still waited anxiously for a phone call from him after.

"Are you ever going to let me live that down?"

"Never." I laughed.

"What are you doin' today?" He asked shifting the conversation.

"Thinking about heading down to Sapulpa." I said, dumping out my now cold coffee.

"What about work?"

"Took the day off." I answered him, leaning back on the counter.

"Is everything okay?" The concern was clear in his tone, and I instantly felt bad. If I told him my real reasoning, he would drop his chase and come back, and I still struggled with the guilt of knowing that. It was hard to accept that he is willing to drop everything, accept that he would put me over his job, his team.