Sincerely, Tyler ▸ (Sequel to Dear, Rosemary)

6

"We have quite the few options to explore here, Ty. You eyeing one in particular?" Ryan's enthusiastic voice trailed into my ear from behind me. She was referring to the vast amount of choices I had when it came to which tree the house would be built upon.

My eyes narrowed down the options in front of me, however, the ones in my head didn't stand a chance compared to the Ash tree I had slowly approached.

"This one, for sure," It hadn't taken me long to decide. The tree was lovely. Large and sturdy enough, without too many invading branches.

"Hm, it's so cute. Any reason why you were so keen on this here birch tree?" Ryan spoke in some odd accent I couldn't make out, her hand patting the wood curiously. My throat couldn't help but let out a groggy giggle, "Um, it's an Ash tree but good try."

Her eyes rolled unsurprisingly, "Sorry tree boy. Now, explain."

My hands chipped harshly on its light bark, "The childhood treehouse of mine was built on an Ash tree. I get this odd sense of warmth around them, like some kind of safe feeling. It's confusing and weird, sorry."

"No, no, it's understandable. It's like that when I set foot on ice. I mean, ice is the complete opposite from warm and this may sound absolutely dumb but, I would get that feeling too. It's just something you're familiar with, you know? Nostalgia can be discrete like that. Again, understandable."

My body relaxed as Ryan spoke softly towards me. Ryan was a being so utterly full with intensity. It could be somewhat intimidating at times, and even worrying. She and I always had this tenseness to our friendship that was never really addressed or spoken about openly to one another, but it was obvious to the both of us.

Seeing now, in this moment of her showing me some kind of vulnerability, it allows me a grasp on my confidence when talking with her. It's easy to lose it when you're with Ryan sometimes, as confidence is all she oozes with.

"Alrighty, folks, let's get to it then," Josh exclaimed from across the yard. He and Rose had left to go and gather more supplies.

Immediately I rushed to Rose's aid, as her grip on a metal beam seemed to be loosening.

"Thanks, babe. That thing is heavier than I thought," She admitted, letting out a breathy chuckle, "The tree you picked is perfect, by the way."

"I'm glad you like it, I'm just jumpy from how excited I am. Let's just start now, even."

***

"Shit," I cursed under my breath, "Goddamn nail was almost sent right through my finger." The appeal of this was slowly being lost from me, as this was the fourth time I've nearly been impaled by some small, sharp metal utensil.

Josh smirked at me as I waved my victimized index finger in front of his face, "We're not even a quarter of the way to being done and you're already having accidents? I'm not surprised."

"Hey, that was mean and uncalled for. I can be manly too, Joshua. It's not just you with the biceps, look at these muscles," I jokingly lifted up my sleeve, flexing to the maximum of my ability.

"Geez, you've got me scared, now," He chuckled loudly, the hammer in his hand dropping to the floor as he coughed in laughs seeing me hurt myself once again with that forsaken hammer.

"I thought this was supposed to make me relax," My lips curled in a pout, as I focused on not drilling a hole through my finger.