ashlynn shot up from her slumber, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she looked frantically down at herself and around the room. she had never known one could die in their dream, nevermind it would happen to her. but, the end wasn't that close to her, and she knew that well.
she got up from her bed, her hand going to her head accompanied by a groan of pain from moving too fast. it had been happening a lot lately, just her and her problems swarming her. josh told her to meet him on the roof of some building on valentines day in 2 days. she wasn't even looking forward to it, she'd have to actually leave the house and face people. gross.
she looked down at her spongebob slippers, the two toothed fucker looking back at her from her feet. how dare he be so happy when she was so sad? then it occurred to her that he is a fictional character. she sighed and looked back up, the tips of her mouth dripping down unusually and her back slouched. she hadn't felt like this for awhile, not since college. so. many. exams.
she got a cup from the cupboard above her head in the kitchen, placing it gingerly on the counter, and doing nothing else. she stared at the cup blankly as she traced her finger around the rim of the cup over and over.
the ringing of her front doorbell made her jump so much the cup fell off the table and onto the floor, bit it didn't shatter. it only cracked. it wasn't good for usage anymore, it was just there. broken.
she picked up the mug and placed it back into the cabinet, being careful not to damage it anymore.
she walked slowly to the front door and hoped for anyone aside from a specific 4 people, anyone at all. but, of course, when she peeked through the door, she saw tyler fucking joseph standing there.
she opened the door fully, and tyler's eyes widened at the sight of her.
"yeah, i look like shit. may i help you?" she addressed his shock with her monotonous voice.
"i wanted to make thing better but- what is that smell?" tyler coughed and pulled his shirt up over his nose to block whatever smell he was smelling.
"whiskey, probably," she recalled. she'd been drinking more than usual the past few days, and she had no clue why.
"you don't drink. ever. what's happening?" tyler's concern confused her. why was he being so nice after she was a bitch?
"why do you care? i was a bitch to you. i don't deserve your concern." her voice remained monotonous, though her words had actual meaning.
"yes, you do. you're just going through something. i looked it up, and apparently, there are 5 stages of any problem. denial, anger, bargaining, depression, then acceptance. you seem to have hit 4 out of those 5, now there is depression." tyler expanded rapidly, "you just took the anger one out on me. i can't blame you for that."
"you don't have to do this." she replied to his kindness.
"i don't. but i want to."
suddenly, she felt something inside her. just... an urge. she then saw tyler's eyes. he was closer than before. they looked soft and nice, like clouds. then she noticed his lips. they always were plump.
he took a microscopic step towards her, not breaking eye contact. his hand came up to cup her face, and the two both leaned in until they were millimeters apart. her mind was screaming no, but everything else was pushing her forward.
their lips collided and...
nothing.
they pulled apart after a quick second, and he searched her eyes for something, anything, and she returned the favor.
"did you feel something?" she asked in a hushed voice.
"did you?" he replied, his voice also hushed and his hand still on her cheek.
"we'll say out answer on three, okay?" he nodded in response. "okay, one, two, three-"
"no." they both said. a sigh of relief came from both of them as he let go of her face, his hands falling back at his sides. they kept staring at each other awkwardly for awhile until tyler broke out into a smile. then a little chuckle. then a full out stomach laugh. she soon joined him, clenching her stomach from all the laughter.
"you should have seen your face! you looked legitimately scared!" she exclaimed, pointing up at him through laughter.
"you looked like a deer in headlights!" he laughed back. "'did you feel anything?'" he mocked her scared tone, followed by harder more laughter from both of them.
somehow, she snapped back with this little reality check. she still felt sad, that was for sure, but it occurred to her that this problem wasn't going away. she just had to accept it. then, she had to defeat it.
their laughter died down, and the smiled on their faces remained.
"do you..." her voice trailed off as she stepped aside for him, "do you want to come in?" her voice was quiet.
"gladly."
|-/
after their little session, they came to a conclusion. no matter what they do, they couldn't just snap their fingers and make her problem go away. it's not that easy in the real world. her small strike of depression may have been fading, but that was only due to it being fixed in the early stages. have tyler not shown up, who knows what would have happened.
"thank you, tyler." she broke the silence of the two just thinking.
"it was no problem, ash." he responded casually.
"no really, like, thank you. you helped me. like, you actually did it. no one has really successfully done that beside josh. so thanks." she turned to face him completely.
"of course ash. speaking of the highlighter, where is he? we should go out for dinner somewhere, i'm hungry." tyler got up from his spot on the couch.
"probably at his place or something, i'll call and see if he's busy." she took her phone out of her pocket and discarded the notifications on her lock screen, putting it up to her ear to call josh.
"hey babe!" he answered after 3 rings. but whose counting, right?
"hey! so tyler and i were wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with us?"
"i thought you and tyler weren't getting along?" josh whispered, almost as if it were a secret.
"yeah, but we're fine now." she looked from the ground back up to tyler. "we're good, right?" she questioned.
"i'll think about it." he shrugged with a sly smile.
"he hates me still, but that's fine." she joked. josh agreed to meet the two, and everything was great again.
--
"so, mr. dun. we meet again." a wicked smile was etched on cassandra's face.
terrifying.
