Ruby ~Joshler~

1.3

Tyler rubbed his temples. They ached badly. Maybe it was because his siblings were arguing over dumb nonsense in the seats next to him. Or maybe it was because he was thinking too hard about how this was all wrong and how he didn't belong there. He couldn't figure it out, so his head continued to pound. 

"Look, I see it. Almost there." Kelly smiled and almost jumped out of her seat with excitement. 

"Yay!" Maddy cheered. 

Zack scoffed. "I still don't understand why we're going to the park. The only one who is going to enjoy it is Madison." 

"We're doing this because it's a nice day and we haven't gone for a family outing in a long time. That's why." 

"It looks like it's going to rain." Jay pressed his face against the glass of the car window, looking up at the dark clouds." 

Kelly sighed, obviously frustrated. "Jay." She glared back at him through the mirror. 

"Sorry." 

The car grew silent as Chris pulled the car into the parking lot of the large park. Tyler was grateful for the quiet but knew it would not last long. Local parks were almost always filled with children that were loud and it would only make his headache worse. 

As soon as the car was parked, Maddy and her mother were the first ones out and heading to the playground. Tyler was the last one out, along with his father who carried a big blanket and a cooler full of food for lunch. It was a big cooler, so his hands were full to the point where he could barely see where he was going.

"Do you need some help with that?" Tyler reached for the blanket. 

"Oh, yeah. Here." Chris allowed Tyler to grab the blanket and adjusted the cooler in his arms. "Thanks." 

"No problem." Tyler smiled at his feet. "Does she always do stuff like this?" 

Chris furrowed his eyebrows. "Stuff like what?" 

Tyler shrugged. "Like, do all the work around the house and stuff." 

Chris shrugged. "Happy wife, happy life." 

Tyler nodded and walked alongside his father until they reached the rest of their family. They were all under a big tree that provided a lot of shade. 

"This is a perfect spot for lunch." Kelly took the blanket from Tyler and placed it spread out on the grass. "Food?" 

"Yup." Tyler watched as his father put the cooler down and his siblings dug into it for food. 

xoxo

An hour later and Tyler's food sat in the cooler untouched. Everyone else's food was eaten and Maddy was now on the playground with Chris. 

Tyler sighed as he looked up at the tree he sat up against. The leaves swayed in the breeze and in a way it was calming. 

"Tyler honey?"

Tyler wanted to groan and tell his mother to go away, but he knew he shouldn't. "Yeah?" Is what he said instead. 

"You haven't touched your food. Aren't you hungry?" Tyler shook his head. "I made you a PB and J." 

"I'm not hungry." 

"There's also some fruit and chips left if you-" 

"I'm not hungry Kelly!" Tyler sat straight up, immediately regretting raising his voice. Kelly stared at him wide-eyed and surprised. "Mom. I mean mom. Sorry." 

"No, no. It's-it's okay." Kelly laughed nervously and turned to her two other sons. "Hey, let's go find Maddy and your father." 

"Um, yeah." Zack stood up, Kelly and Jay following. 

"Are you okay here by yourself? You can join us if you'd like." 

Tyler didn't look up at his mother. "Yeah, I'll be fine." His mother gave him a sad smile before walking off. 

Tyler let out a long sigh. He didn't know he'd been holding in that much tension and closed his eyes and let his ears take over. Soon he was drifting off, listening to the breeze and the birds around him. The children tuned themselves out. 

He didn't know how long he'd been out, but when he was woken up, he was taken back a bit. It had felt like someone had poked his arm, but Tyler was still half asleep and brushed it off as his imagination. 

But when he started to doze off again, he felt it for real and this time a small voice came after. "Excuse me." 

Tyler groaned and sat up. "Maddy, I-" When Tyler opened his eyes, he found that the voice did not belong to his younger sister, but to someone he knew better. "What the hell?" The boy rubbed his eyes and shook his head. This had to be a dream. 

"I'm lost. Could you help me?" But it wasn't a dream. She was standing right in front of him in broad daylight. 

Tyler looked up into those pretty green eyes and smiled. "Ruby!"