Falling Too (Tyler Joseph)

Chapter 10

I was relieved to see that I had made it in before my professor had, Mr. Rison could be a bit strict. Dwane looked surprised to see me, but he quickly snapped out of it and motioned for me to take the seat next to him.

Once I sat down and got situated he asked, "You're never late, so where were you at?"

I shrugged while still trying to catch my breath, "I was hanging out with Josh and Tyler, and I guess I forgot about needing to be here."

"Who's Tyler?"

I gulped, I knew Dwane was going to give me a hard time no matter what I said. So I just told him, "Joseph."

"The basketball player? How did you end up being friends with him?"

"I kind of got in the middle of an argument Dorman was having with him so he wouldn't beat Tyler up and Tyler ended up talking to me a lot after that."

Dwane wiggled his eyebrows teasing, "Oh, you're his hero now."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but before I could respond Mr. Rison walked in the room.

A good forty minutes later I was knocked out of my focus on the lecture from my phone's endless buzzing. When I saw that Mr. Rison had his back to us as he wrote on the board I slipped my cell out of my pocket and held it just under my desk. I had seven missed calls and a ton more text messages from Tyler begging me to answer him.

Dwane must have noticed the concerned look on my face because he whispered, "Is everything okay?"

"I... I don't know. Tyler keeps calling me for some reason." As I stammered my phone began vibrating again.

Dwane shocked me by snatching the cell out of my hand and pressing the talk button. I could have sworn my heart nearly broke when I heard the way Tyler sounded on the other end.

"Oh thank goodness. Ashley? I need you to come to my car, please." He pleaded and it sounded like he was on the verge of crying or just plain freaking out.

I took the cellphone back from Dwane and asked, "Tyler, what's wrong?"

"I forgot to lock my doors and somebody got in here and stole my radio and CD's."

"Wait, seriously?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes, and I don't know what to do."

"Is there a problem Ms. Blake?" Mr. Rison questioned as he glared at me.

I glanced back at Dwane and he mouthed, 'You need to go.'

"Hey, hang on I'm on my way right now, okay?" I tell Tyler before turning my attention to my professor saying, "Um, I have to leave."

"Is there an emergency?"

I swiftly stuffed my things in my bag and tossed one of the straps on my shoulders nodding, "Yeah, there is."

As I rushed out the door I heard Dwane clapping and yelling after me, "Go, Ashley! Save your boy!"

I let out a heavy sigh as I thought of what the rest of the class might be thinking, but I pushed the pointless worry aside and picked up my pace. I spotted Tyler's navy blue car with the driver's door wide open and he was sitting behind the wheel with his head in his hands. I dropped my backpack right outside of the vehicle before opening the passenger door and getting in to put my hand on his arm.

He jumped as if I had shocked him, but as soon as he realized it was me he pulled me to his chest. His fingers dug into my sides as he held me and I could tell that he was having a hard time breathing by the way he was panting for air. He was clearly on the verge of having a panic attack.

I put my arms around him and rubbed large circles against his spine murmuring, "It's alright. It's over. We'll get campus security to look at the cameras so they can find the thief. We will take care of it and if worse comes to worst I'll help you buy back your things, okay?"

"Okay." He replied softly.

I could tell that he was still fairly shaken up, so I said, "Right now I just want you to breathe. If you need to you can try to match yours with mine, alright?"

He then scooted closer to me until we were flush together and I tried to keep my breathing steady for his sake, and secretly my own. We sat in silence until his breathing finally evened out and then he moved his body away from me giving me a soft smile.

In a hushed voice, he said, "Thank you."

I tilted my head in slight confusion, "For what?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, for dealing with my problems I guess?"

I grinned shaking my head, "Any time Tyler."

I watched him nervously lick his lips before questioning, "So I guess it's time we go deal with this?"

"Yeah, but let's take my car." I say and we both step out.

Tyler made sure to lock up this time around before we left. While I drove us to the security office my mind kept drifting back to something I've been trying to ignore from the moment I stopped that fight between Tyler and Chase, if it could have even been called that. The way I had instantly felt the need to protect him and that every time I am around him I feel a little bit stronger, at least for his sake. Tyler seemed to be changing me and he had no clue that he was even doing it. I snuck a quick peek at him as he gazed out the window and anxiously messed with his hair. 

I knew I couldn't lie to myself any longer, I have a huge crush on Tyler.