Speak To Me

Prologue

Tyler was glad to meet Noah when he did, he didn't have any friends at the time and he didn't think he'd be able to hold out. He'd love to tell Noah how much it meant to him, but well, y'know?

Their friendship started out kinda strange. Tyler was the new kid in the neighborhood and he couldn't really make any friends, he was around 11 at the time, and he felt like such a creep as he always looked out his window to see the other kids playing.

He mainly only paid attention to his neighbors. The older siblings would always ask for his brother or sister to come play outside, but never him. He was pretty sure that they didn't even know he existed, but he was okay with that, well at least he thought.

One day his parents thought it'd be fun to send him outside, to which he refused. I don't want to make friends, was what he wrote on a sticky note, but his parents didn't care, they wanted what was best for him. So when the neighbors came to the door Tyler was the one who answered. The look on their faces seemed puzzled and they were quick to ask, much to Tyler's dismay.

"Hey!" Said the girl who he soon learned to be named Anna. "What's your name?" She asked nicely.

Tyler smiled shyly and wrote down his response on a sticky note, I'm Tyler. The older boy looked even more puzzled when Tyler didn't answer with words, "Can't you talk?" He asked in the nicest way possible, as if trying not to come off as rude. "Ryan!" cried out Anna. "Remember? This is Tyler, he's the little brother of Riley and Ben. They've talked about him before."

Tyler shifted uncomfortably, Ben and Riley told them? The story there was one he didn't like other people knowing. They must've noticed they made him uncomfortable because they quickly changed the topic, "Can we come in, Tyler?" Anna asked as calmly and kindly as possible. Tyler nodded and let them in.

He was about to shut the door when he heard someone coming up the steps. "Hey, Tyler!"

Now it was Tyler's turn to be puzzled, he opened the door a little more so he could see who was talking. The boy smiled and waved, Tyler quickly jotted down on his sticky note and showed the brunette what he had written, How do you know my name?

The boy raised an eyebrow at the strange communication, but he didn't ask questions. "Well, I heard your mom talking to my mom about you a couple days ago." Tyler frowned, he hated being talked about to other people. The boy noticed and chuckled, "It's okay, they didn't say anything bad."

Tyler mouthed the word "oh" and nodded before turning to head upstairs. "Where are you going?" The boy asked from the bottom of the staircase. Tyler turned around and pointed to the top of the stairs, "Well duh you're going upstairs, I was asking because I thought you were going with us to the park. Are you?"

Tyler shook his head so fast he got dizzy. He hated going to public places, he hated the looks he got, he hated playing by himself, he hated everything about it.

"I guess that's a no. Well okay, I'll see you around then!" The stranger said with a smile before going off to find his siblings.

After that encounter Tyler felt kinda strange. The boy, who he soon learned to be Noah, actually talked to him. And when Tyler wrote back he didn't get questioned why. He smiled to himself, Tyler was just happy to know someone who didn't care why.

Their friendship took off not soon after. Noah would soon be knocking on Tyler's door, not for Riley, or Ben, but for Tyler. It didn't take long for him to build up the courage to knock on Noah's.

They didn't go many places, because Noah just knew how anxious Tyler got around people. So most of their memories take place in their living rooms, their backyards, their kitchens, rooms, anywhere that Noah thought Tyler would've been comfortable. And he was comfortable, because Noah made sure of it.

Sometimes when Tyler wrote to him, Noah would write back. He wouldn't talk, no, he would write. Tyler didn't know why but that just meant the world to him. But he preferred hearing Noah's voice over all. Which is why as soon as he got a phone Tyler would call him around 2am just so Noah could talk to him. Noah would always answer every single time.

One time when Tyler ran out of sticky notes, Noah dragged him to the nearest 99¢ store and bought him a whole pile of notebooks. It was a small gesture but it showed how much he cared. That's all that Tyler wanted out of a friend. One who didn't pry, one who didn't ask, one who would just be there for him. Noah was glad to be that one person.