Falling Too (Tyler Joseph)

Chapter 15

"What exactly did your mom mean by saying that I'm changing you?" I asked as we sat in the car, waiting for it to heat up a bit. 

I watched Tyler shift around in his seat before speaking, "I've just been making a lot of decisions as of late that she doesn't agree with."

"Like what?"

"Well, I dropped out of college for one thing..." 

"Tyler that's some serious money! Why would you do that?" I demanded in disbelief. 

"I know, that's why I finished this semester and I just didn't sign up for the next one." He reassures me. 

"Okay, that's better than what I was first thinking."

"Yeah, you don't have to worry. I've been thinking it through for a while now and I have decided that I want to solely focus on making music."

I was surprised at his words and I could tell that this was something he truly wanted, so I said, "That's actually an amazing idea."

He grinned at my words, "Thanks, Ashley."

I figured that the car was warm enough for us to head out and as I put it in drive I asked, "So, do you want to go to my house for a bit?"

"Yeah, sure."

Halfway there I voiced something that had been on my mind since we left the restaurant, "You know, I don't see how you're dad and brother's even liked me."

He gave me a puzzled look, "Why do you say that?"

I shrugged slightly, "I felt like I didn't fit into all of that. I don't know, I'm just different."

I could picture him smiling as he says, "I've noticed."

I whipped my head in his direction, "What's that supposed to mean?"

He laughed when he saw the look on my face, "It's a good thing, I promise."

When we step inside my house it ends up being my turn to laugh when in the quiet I heard Tyler's stomach growl. "Are you hungry or something?"

"Not really." He replies with sarcasm heavy in his tone.

"Okay, just hang out in here and you can watch TV or something." I tell him as I leave him in the living room. 

He followed me to the kitchen as he asked, "What are you doing?"

"I feel like all that back there was my fault and making sure that you have a birthday dinner is the least I can do." I tell him with a shrug as I search for something to make.

"You don't have to do that, besides none of that was your doing."

"Well I'm starving, so I'm going to cook  anyway." 

"Can I at least help?"

"Sure, let's get to it."

I watched him head straight for the fridge asking, "Was there anything in particular that you wanted to make?"

I thought about it for a minute before suggesting, "We have the ingredients to make tacos or burritos, we could do that."

"That'll be great!" He cheers with a grin.

I rose an eyebrow at his excitement asking, "Are you a big fan of Mexican food?"

"Sort of, I'm a fan of Taco Bell more than anything authentic." 

I laughed, "Okay, well let's get to work."

We got out all the necessary things needed and I handed him the package of hamburger, deciding to let him take care of that.

"So, what do you want me to do?" He questioned, sounding a bit hesitant. 

I scooped up all the vegetables to rinse them explaining, "Just brown the meat."

For a second he appeared as if I had just spoken a foreign language before dropping the expression and stepped over to the sink to wash his hands. He grabbed the drying towel before heading over to the stove and I put my focus back on the veggies. I moved to the cutting board and began chopping up the washed vegetables, but a strange smell quickly caught my attention. I glanced over at Tyler and nearly screamed at what I saw. 

"Tyler! The towel's on fire!" I cried as I rushed to fill a glass with water and dumped it on the flames, thankfully snuffing it out. "What even happened?" 

"I... I don't know." He stammers obviously freaked out. 

I then noticed that the back left burner was on instead of the one with the raw meat and the corner of the towel Tyler had used earlier was resting against it. I instantly put two and two together and knew that's what started the small fire. As soon as I figured that out I explained it to Tyler.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Ash." He apologizes while giving me a somewhat pleading expression.

"It's alright, it was an honest mistake," I reassure him quickly correct the stove dials. "You don't cook often though, do you?" 

He shook his head no, clearly embarrassed about it.

"If you want I can work with the stove and you could cut the vegetables. Sound good?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I think I can handle that much."

"Okay, just please, please don't cut off a finger or something." I caution jokingly. 

He rolled his eyes chuckling, "I'll do my best."

After that I hurried to get everything done because my mouth was watering from the delicious smells around me. So it was such a relief when everything was finally finished. 

I turned off the stove and announced, "Now we can finally eat!"

"It's about time." He remarked as he gave me a high five.

I laughed and questioned, "Are you in a rush?" 

"At this point yes." He tells me and picks up the plates I had left on the counter to fix his food.

As I watched him swiftly build his burrito I murmured, "I can see that."

He seemed to be in deep thought for a moment before he smiled slightly saying, "Speaking of seeing, are your eyes blue or gray? Because I can never tell." 

I giggled softly as I reached for my own plate telling him, "They are blue."

"Are you sure?" He asked with a now mischievous grin.

"Of course I am. I see them all the time."

"I'm jealous." He pouts putting down the plate in his hands and strides over to me until we were face to face. 

"Why? Because you don't have blue eyes?" I asked in a teasing tone, doing my best to hide how nervous his closeness made me. 

He shook his head speaking in a low voice, "No, it's because I wish I could look into yours all the time the way you get to."

My surprise at his words made me speechless and Tyler's hands were suddenly gently placed on my waist. I saw that his gaze was focused on my lips and we seemed to have an almost gravitational pull to each other as I leaned up and he lowered his head towards mine.

"Ashley, are you home? Why does it smell like you burnt something?" My mom asks loudly from the front door and her voice startles me away from Tyler.

I tried to not trip over my own feet or stutter as I went to face her, "H-hey, um Tyler and I were cooking and I accidentally sat a towel too close to the burner."

I internally scolded myself for stammering and I decided it would be better to say that it was my fault instead of his. It certainly wouldn't make a good impression on her and I really wanted her to like him. I hoped that she believed me because I was still a bit scatterbrained from what had almost happened only seconds ago. I couldn't stop wondering now, was I nearly kissed by Tyler?