what if.... - a twenty one pilots fanfic

part 7: the reunion

(tyler's pov)

a weightless feeling. a sharp bang on the head. silence. that was all i felt at first.

"hold on. i think he's waking up!" i heard an old man shout. i remembered the voice from the other world. it was santa man, the paramedic who'd helped me when i went into shock. voices started to shriek back with excitement.

"he's waking up? jenna? jenna! come quick, he's waking up!"  josh cried with happiness. his face was the first i saw when my eyes opened again.

"mr joseph, can you hear me? i'm the para-" i didn't let him finish his sentence. i leapt up and bundled josh, giving him the biggest hug we'd ever shared. "careful, mr joseph! you're still very weak. we can't risk you fainting again!" i didn't hear santa man warn me. i pulled away from josh, and saw that his eyes were filled with tears. "you had me so worried then, bro," josh smiled through the small drops escaping his eyes. "don't ever do that to us again, yeah?" he hugged me again quickly, sobbing into my shoulder with guilt. "i never should have got mad with you. this is all my fault," he took a tear-stained tissue from the back pocket of his black skinny jeans and raised it to his eyes. "don't worry, josh. we've both been assholes today," i responded, patting his shoulder. we laughed together, the first time we had in what seemed like a long time. "i've missed you so much, buddy." josh's smile turned upside down, beginning to look confused. "you....missed me??" he gave a nervous chuckle, fidgeting with his hands. i held his clasped hands tightly. "trust me, it's a long story." 

                                        *******************************************

"dude! i heard about what happened. you scared us so fucking bad, man!" a tall man with black hair and an abnormally large forehead greeted us with a widened smile. "you got that right, brendon," josh poured the drinks from the miniscule cabinet in our dressing room: whisky and soda for brendon, lemonade for me. "we were all scared you were gonna die!" i smiled back at them. and this wasn't the fake smile i had to put on almost every day: this was genuine, the real thing. this was one of the first times in my life where i felt invincible; like no one, not even blurry, could stop me. 

"it was so crazy, man. josh texted me to say you'd passed out, and we couldn't believe it. i was scared out of my mind, dallon was beside himself, goddamn it, even sarah was shocked. it's such a relief to know you're back, buddy." brendon patted me on the back in support. we all shared a brief period of smiling, then looking away and blushing. "why are we even still here? this calls for a celebration!" brendon hollered, clapping his hands. josh went along with his idea. "taco bell, anyone?" i couldn't say i'd already had a taco bell in a parallel universe. they'd think i was crazy. besides, the whole universe wasn't even real. or was it? 

"sure thing, guys. you call up dallon and sarah to meet us there. i'll catch up with you later, okay?" brendon nodded in acknowledgement, then ran out the door shouting random gobbledegook that josh and i didn't understand. it was silent for a moment. then....

"josh?"

"yeah?"

i couldn't just pretend none of this had happened. this had been a real experience. surely josh would believe me, right? he was my best friend. he'd support me, no matter what.

"would you believe me if i said that when i was passed out....i, erm....you know.....visited a parallel universe?"

josh looked bewildered at first. he scratched his head and tried to come up with a positive-sounding answer.

"not like, with aliens and stuff. but like, a universe where we'd never met? where twenty one pilots wasn't even real?"

he didn't say a word. but when he did start to explain his opinion on the idea, i was shocked.