Sincerely, Tyler ▸ (Sequel to Dear, Rosemary)

15

"Rose? Who's at the door?" Mila's quiet voice sounded from the top of the staircase, her brown eyes squinting to get a closer look at me. I had guessed her contacts weren't in.

"It's me, Mila," I responded, strolling closer over to her, waving. She gave a concerned glance over to Rose, who seemed to be gathering up an explanation of some sort in her brain. I jumped in once more, "I'm so sorry for intruding at such a later hour, I -"

"- You should be," Mila cut my words off, her arms crossing over one another as she slowly stepped down the stairs to come face to face with me, "It's almost six o'clock in the morning and you're showing up, uninvited, into my home, talking to my sister while you're completely intoxicated out of your mind. Am I missing something?"

Her statements cut deep, and I could tell Rose realized just how hurt I had been by them when she placed her hand onto my shoulder, trying to be comforting. As my mouth opened to begin apologizing once more, another higher pitched voice I didn't recognize came from the living room.

"Can you guys go argue somewhere else? You do realize it's still dark outside, right?" A petite brunette appeared before us, her hair tied up in a messy bun and a pair of large frames hanging from her button nose that was scattered with dark freckles.

She rubbed her green eyes tiredly, her chin slightly turning upwards as she began looking around at the situation taking place, her orbs landing onto mine, "Who's this then?"

"I'm Tyler Joseph, a...friend of Rosemary's," I winced at my own words as they escaped my mouth. I tried to be as polite as possible, holding my hand out for her to shake. She shot me a look that basically screamed, 'don't touch me.' I reluctantly reeled my hand back in to rest at my side.

"This is the asshole that broke your heart?" Her finger poked into my chest as she turned to glance at Rose. Mila scowled at me from my peripheral vision, her head nodding slightly. Rose flushed with embarrassment.

"I was at least expecting an Abercrombie and Fitch model seeing how upset you were over this dickhead the entire month," She snarled, pushing up her glasses to stare me up and down, "I'm Vivian, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want. My one and only condition, don't fucking wake me up again because I will beat your ass. Also, if you're just here to waste Rose's time, the door is right behind you, my friend. Goodnight."

It was sad to say that a 5'3, incredibly small girl had intimidated me, but hey, I accepted it.

Vivian's body faced away from me and towards Mila, "Go easy on the kid, he seems innocent enough," a sentence to which Mila grunted about, her eyes rolling profoundly. Vivian had left back to her spot on the couch, and Mila hadn't said a word before skipping back up the stairs to where she had came from.

"Rose, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cause any tension between you and your sister. I'm not too surprised she's grown out of me," I scratched the back of my neck, my feet bobbing up and down out of nervousness.

She held her cold hand in mine, "Shh, come with me." It felt like times were normal again, and Rose was still mine. I knew that wasn't the case, though. How could it be? Josh and Ryan were right, I needed to get my priorities straight. It seemed I had been focusing too deeply on things that shouldn't have even caught my attention to begin with.

My heart began to race as he appeared behind an opened door, his face showing no emotion as his eyes revealed all of the anger he had towards me. I tightened my grip around Rose's hand as she led me through the hallway and into her new bedroom.

She sat me on the bed, flicking the light switch on before she began rummaging through her drawers, "Take your clothes off, Ty."

A choke left my lips, my hand slapping onto my mouth to hide the fact that I had been so taken aback by her little order. Rose grinned wide, realizing that she had been a little too straightforward, "Just take them off. I have some of your clothes here with me that are far more comfortable than what you're wearing right now," She explained thoroughly.

My hands felt at the fabric she tossed at me. Some dark red basketball shorts I had bought for my high school team, and one of my old, plain white baggy t-shirts that would always find their way onto Rose's body somehow, "You kept these with you?"

Her face turned the colour of my shorts, and even darker, and I could already guess just how hot the back of her neck must have been.

"Yes, I did. I do have more of your clothes if you want them back, though -"

" - No, of course not. I would have just assumed you've torn them up or had thrown them away out of some resentment or hatred towards me," My head hung low as I could feel my eyes begin to well up again.

"So fucking sensitive. Grow up, Tyler."

I cringed at his words, trying desperately to push them out of my mind. I could feel that safety return as Rose wrapped her arms around me, her head burying into my shoulder as she rubbed my back soothingly, "Something I've accepted out of all of this, is that I could never feel that way towards you. No matter how hard I try, you have never been left out of my every thought. I could be grocery shopping and see a pack of grape juice boxes and think about how much you hate the flavour.

You know, Mila took me to go and get my hair cut, and I felt like I was missing something the entire time I sat in that salon chair. It was because you would always be the one to drive me to Joe's, and come sit beside me during the entire time some scissors went through my hair."

She had paused abruptly, her eyes rolling back in a way that showed her sudden frustration. Her arms left contact with my body, "I'm sorry, I regret saying all of that. I know you've found someone else already, and you probably didn't even think much about this as I did."

I took her hand in mine, "I think it's time I told you something."

"Don't you dare, Tyler."

Rose immediately began to squirm. I knew she wasn't good with hearing things like this for the first time. It would always make her nervous whenever I'd say let's talk, or I need to let you know about something.

I needed her to know this, though. It was something I had been hiding for all too long and if anyone were to help me overcome this battle, without a doubt it would be Rosemary.

"There's this...guy. His name is Blurryface, and sometimes he kind of, well, takes over my mind."