Falling Too {tyler joseph fic}

Eight

Ari pov

I woke up the next morning tangled in my sheets, a phone alarm obnoxiously blaring. I reached to turn it off as I sat up, pushing back my hair which had fallen in unkempt tendrils around my face. I reached into my closet and grabbed the first hoodie I saw, pulling it over my t-shirt as I headed out to my car.

I spent the day not really paying attention, writing down notes when I needed, ignoring my classmates, absentmindedly playing with the cuff of my sweatshirt, desperately waiting for the bell to release me from my final class so I could go home and sleep.

I heard Tyler call out my name as I walked out of my last class, but didn't bother turning to talk to him, or waiting for him to catch up. I walked briskly to my car and drove home as quickly as I could.

Dropping my bag onto the floor, I walked up to my room and fell on my bed. Too lazy to do homework, I opened Netflix on my laptop and started watching a random TV show. It was mildly interesting but not interesting enough to keep me from falling asleep.

I woke to my mother calling me down for dinner. I rubbed my eyes and glanced at my clock, seeing I had slept for about two hours. I wasn't surprised, I had gotten at most an hour and a half last night and was left emotionally drained from crying most of the time.

After I finished eating, I grabbed my bag and decided I should at least start my homework. I pulled out my books and tossed them onto my bed before reaching back in and pulling out my phone. I saw that I had missed several texts from Tyler and I briefly scrolled through them before turning it off again.

Hey

Are you ok?

call me when you get this

Ari? you there?

I sighed as I pulled my geometry book towards me. I tried to focus on the problems but I kept thinking about Tyler. I was afraid to talk to him after what happened last night. No one knew about my depression, probably not even my parents, and it's not like I had many friends to tell. I didn't want him to leave, for him to see how broken I was and to label me as a lost cause. All I wanted was a friend who I could talk to about whatever I wanted. I knew Tyler wouldn't accept it if I just stopped talking to him, he would keep pushing me until I let him in, and allowed him to help me.

After successfully wasting forty five minutes debating what to do in my head, I reached for my phone to text him

Hey. I'm fine, just a little tired is all.

I pressed send before I could think twice and closed my textbooks, deciding I wouldn't be able to get any work done. I lay back down on my bed and waited for him to text back.

_________

Tyler pov

I had just finished my homework when my phone buzzed. I quickly grabbed it and scanned over the one line.

I could tell she was lying, I had done it many times before to people who didn't know any better than to believe me. I sighed as I thought about what to say. I wanted to talk to her, to tell her I understood what she was going through and that she wasn't alone, but at the same time I didn't want her to know about my own issues. I wanted to be that stable rock that was always there for her, and I didn't want to burden her with the knowledge that I had tried to kill myself a year ago, and that things never really got any better.

I guess I felt that if I could convince her that I was fine, maybe I would start to become better. I knew that was total BS but something inside still clung onto the idea that we could help each other through this.

No you're not. It's ok I get it. If you ever need anyone to talk to about anything, I'm here

I sent the text, not really expecting an answer- it was getting pretty late and she did look exhausted at school today- but she replied within a few minutes

Thanks. It means a lot

I half smiled, maybe together we could find our purpose.