Parallels | Dylan O'Brien

7 - New York, New York

A/N: From this chapter onwards, I've put New York or Los Angeles at the beginning of each chapter. New York being the universe where Dylan is still in College, LA being the universe with actor Dylan. Thought that would make reading easier ;) Leave me some comments, votes, messages,... to let me know what you think, guys! I'm really hoping I can finish this ! :) xx

New York

-Lydia Moon-

That same day, Dylan, Tyler and I decide to do a little sightseeing in New York. I've lived here and went to school here with Dylan. In the other universe, that is. In my universe. I wonder if the city's different here. "We should show her the Mets stadium!" Dylan exclaims excitedly, slapping his buddy on the chest playfully. I watch the two get excited about our little trip, but then I start thinking. One: I'm still wearing the clothes I was yesterday when I got deported here. Two: What do we do about my alleged girlfriends? My mind snaps back to reality, only to find the two bickering about what we should see first.
"Guys," I try, but they don't really listen, they keep on talking, "guys!" I try again, louder this time. The two stop talking, neither of them shutting their mouth, yet their head turns to me. "Two questions: Can I use your Lydia's clothes for the day? And what do we do about those two?" I point to where the living room is where the two are still sleeping. We don't see them, but we know they're there. Dylan looks at Tyler and gasps a couple of times as if he is trying to form words but can't pronounce them. A weird sound that could possibly be described as 'adhgj' -gibberish in short- comes out of his mouth.
"We'll tell them to go home," he then finally manages to say as he scratches the back of his head, "and yeah, go raid her closet," he lifts his hand from the back of his head and gives me the 'go'-motion. I nod my head and try to find my way back to the bedroom I stayed in all night. Never did I shut one eye, how am I going to during this whole month without my pillow? I mean, I'm sure I should be able to sleep without my pillow now that I'm twenty-one, but still. It's just hard to. I open one of the doors in Lydia's room, but find the bathroom instead of clothes. I chuckle to myself before opening the other door. The light in the compact room goes on automatically. Holy. That's really cool. I walk in and start browsing through her clothes like it's a shop. My eye almost immediately falls upon a plaid skirt. What can I pair it with? Let's see... A purple reddish shirt? Perfect! Now for shoes. My eyes scan her shoe shelf. Seriously? There's not one pair of flat shoes. No sandals, no Converse. Nothing. All just four-inch heels. I'm not good with heels. At all. And the Converse I was wearing when I got here don't really fit with the outfit. God dammit, Lydia Moon from this universe. With a sigh, a grab a pair of light brow ankle booties. The ones with the shortest heel. That should do.
When I'm ready, I walk downstairs again where I see Dylan and Tyler talking to the two girls I don't know at all. Do they even exist in my universe? The blonde girl looks up to me and smiles, so I smile back and just when I do that, Posey and Dylan turn their heads. It almost looks like Dylan has to check twice before he realizes it's me.
"Ah, that's a cute outfit, Lyds," the raven-haired girl tells me. I look down at my feet to check my outfit again.
"Oh, thanks," I say sweetly, but then realize that's not something the Lydia they know would say, "Very expensive as well," I sassily wipe my long hair over my left shoulder, "I guess, beauty comes with a price," I look over at Dylan to see whether I nailed that or not. I was just going from what the boys have told me about her and when Dylan nods, I know I pretty much did okay with that. As the boys try to get these girls out, I start looking around the living room. On a table near the six feet long glass wall sit a bunch of unwrapped presents. And when I say bunch, I mean bunch. The table is about 2 feet long and every inch is covered with gifts. Dylan told me something about Lydia's birthday party, so I guess these are all the presents she received for her birthday. Amongst those presents, but the most outstanding of all, is a small turquoise box in the middle. Without thinking twice, I grab it and open it. A beautiful rose gold bracelet sparkles brightly in the artificial light of the living room. A small gasp escapes my mouth. Who would ever give such a gorgeous and expensive-looking bracelet as a birthday present?
"I bought her that," Dylan's mellow, deep voice sounds from behind me and it makes me jump a little. "It was really expensive," he scratches the back of his neck when I turn around to face him.
"It's beautiful, Dylan," I whisper, making him smile a little.
"You can have it if you want, I don't think our Lydia would've worn it anyway," I look him in the eyes, only to find the sadness in them.
"Honestly, I think she would," I try to convince him, but he shakes his head. "Well, since I have to play her to convince everyone that Lydia isn't gone... Would you mind if I wore it?" I ask him. Not because I really want the gorgeous, expensive bracelet, but because I want to see that gorgeous smile of his that reminds me so much of the Dylan from my universe. I mean, obviously, they're the exact same person. And when the question has rolled of my lips, that exact smile I was hoping to see, appears on his face. And it makes me smile too.
"I'd love that," he tells me and the sadness has retracted from his eyes. I take the bracelet from the box, putting the velvet turquoise square on the table again, and try to put it around my wrist. But as you can imagine, I fail. Putting bracelets on your own wrists is so hard. "Let me help," Dylan then offers with a snicker and reaches out to my hands to take the ends of the bracelet from me. Our fingers touch just a little and it makes my tummy tingle. It's a weird feeling as I only ever got it when my Dylan touched me at the parties in college or when my ex used to touch me. I quickly shake off the feeling as his fingers delicately clasp the bracelet. His honey brown eyes look up at me and he smiles. For a second, I forget that this isn't my Dylan. This isn't the Dylan I've had a crush on for years. He just looks like him.
"There you go," he says and I give him a smile as a thank you. "Let's go sightseeing now, shall we?" I nod and following him towards the front door where Tyler has just let out the girls.
"Ready?" he asks and Dylan and I both nod. The boys start talking about what we should see and in which order we were going to do it. I just walk between them, already feeling my feet ache from the heels I'm wearing. How does Lydia do this? I follow the boys to the subway and we get on the train and let it take us into the city. We talk about what New York in the other universe is like and I tell them more about me than I have ever told anyone.
"Are Lydia's parents home? Like, ever?" I then ask when we talk about what their Lydia does on a daily basis so I can transform myself into a perfect version of their girl.
"Not really, no," Dylan replies.
"They're on business trips most of the time," Tyler adds. Maybe that's for the better. I wouldn't know how to act towards them. I mean, I respect my parents, always. We have a great relationship and I call them at least once a week when I'm away with uncle Richard.
"Is Lydia's uncle Rich still in New York? Or did he move to LA like mine?" I ask as we walk out the subway station at Times Square. Suddenly, the two boys next to me fall silent. They give each other this look as if they're communicating with each other with their eyes. "Guys?" I try, hoping one of them would answer.
"I..." Dylan starts, but it seems like he can't get it over his lips.
"Lydia's uncle passed away last year," I halt, my legs forbidding me to move. It's like every muscle in my body has decided to stop functioning. Uncle Rich is dead?
"Hey, you okay?" Dylan asks worriedly. The two of them look at me, but I still can't seem to move. Uncle Rich is like my best buddy, like my second father.
"I can't believe he's dead," is the only words I can muster to say.
"I'm sorry, Lydia," Tyler then says, "We probably shouldn't have said anything." And then my muscles start up again. I turn my head to face Tyler. He looks like a lost puppy who's just been told off by his human.
"No, it's okay, Tyler. I'm glad you told me," I tell him and he changes from lost puppy to a cute, happy puppy. Why didn't the casting directors of Teen Wolf see how good of a Scott McCall he would be? The three of us continue our walk. The boys show me around the city and tell stories about buildings and places where they spent their childhood in or at. They even tell some stories about Lydia and what connection she has to some of these places. I enjoy spending time with them and hearing every single story they have. We laugh, have lunch together and get to know each other a little better. I don't think they differ that much from the Dylan and Tyler I know. They're fun, loving guys who like to fool around every now and then. Maybe this month won't be so bad after all.

That night, Dylan drops me off at my place. Well, at Lydia's place. We had dinner with Tyler in the city and had a nice stroll down the Hudson River. It's late now and I could use a good nap, a good twenty-four-hour nap. Dylan follows me towards the bedroom where he sits on the chair and I take place on the bed. We chat a little more before Dylan decides to go home. I don't think I want him to. Maybe I could sleep when someone else is with me.
"Dylan," I say, stopping him before he can even open the door. His hand rests on the doorknob as he turns his head to face me, "Can you stay the night?" I blurt out without thinking about it first. He lets go of the doorknob to turn completely towards me. He has this inquisitive and confused look on his face. "I... I just don't think I can sleep in this enormous house all by myself." I didn't think he'd agree, but when he drops his sweater on the chair he just sat on, I'm actually surprised.
"Sure," he tells me with a smile. I lie down on the bed while he gets comfortable on the chair. We lay in silence for a while, the two of us trying to get some sleep, but both miserably failing. I open my eyes again and look at him. His eyes are closed, but I'm certain he isn't asleep yet. However, he looks cute. With his moles, and his mouth slightly agape.
"Dylan," I whisper and he opens his eyes, "Are you sure you're okay on there?" I ask him.
"Yeah, I'm good. I've slept on a chair multiple times," he tells me and I nod. I need to find another way. I want him here with me in bed. Maybe that'll help me sleep. He closes his eyes again. How do I say this in a better way?
"Dylan," he opens his eyes again, "Can you please not sleep in that chair?" A smile creeps onto his face. "I always sleep better with someone right next to me," it's not a lie. The boy nods and gets up from the chair to plop down next to me on the king-sized bed. We both lie on our backs, staring at the ceiling. Both still in our clothes, shoulders just touching. Both equally as nervous. This isn't the Dylan I've known for a long time, although it feels like I do. And I'm not the Lydia he's known for a long time.
"Do you ever think about what your parallel self would be doing right now?" Dylan then asks to break the silence. And that's a question that'll keep us up for the entirety of the night. We talk and laugh and giggle and eventually fall asleep next to each other. Maybe he is kind of like my pillow I can't go without.