We all have our masks [Twenty One Pilots]

Chapter Three: Roadtrip Start

The soft voice startled Lena. She didn't hear the man coming to her due to the raindrops loudly hitting the pavement like an incessant beat. But she was in a daze, barely able to open her eyes again, so much that she wasn't even sure that voice was real. She pushed back the damp hair that was hiding her face, eyes still closed, and tried to focus on her situation for a bit.

"Hey, did you hear me?" The voice started again. This time, though, it was accompanied by a light hand on her shoulder. The touch felt warm against the wet fabric of her hoodie, and she thought for a second that this couldn't be a dream - or else she was going crazy. Slowly, she turned her head towards the hand that was still on her, then away at the boots that belonged to the guy. Untied combat boots. A flash came to her of an earlier memory as she finally looked up at his face. 

He was smiling gently, looking deeply into her eyes. He was wearing a snapback from which several strands of hair popped out, black skinny jeans... And suddenly she was pretty sure she had seen him before. Yes. That man had pushed her not only once, a few minutes before, spilling her coffee all over her chest, but twice - in that diner, earlier today. 

She used to see that kind of coincidences like a sign - she believed in that saying, "everything happens for a reason" - and if she wasn't that tired and hopeless, she would have smiled at him, she would have embraced his meeting again, like he was meant to be on her path. But her eyelids were heavy, and her muscles were sore. She blinked, a bit disorientated. 

"Come on, get up, or you'll get sick!" he said, helding out his hand to her. Lena's eyes stared at his fingers for a few seconds, looked up into his eyes, then back at his friendly hand. She shrugged and without a word, slid her tiny cold fingers into his warm palm. He helped her get up, and she suddenly realized she was freezing. She shivered as the wind blew stronger, and clumsily tried to get rid of the hair that got into her mouth. She wrapped her hoodie tight around her arms, then put the hood on, like it could prevent her to get more wet than she already was.

The guy nicely offered to carry her bags, and as they were walking back towards the truck stop store, he teased her.

"You know your hood is already soaked, right?" She eyed him slowly before looking down, blushing at his smile. She didn't reply. What could she say anyway? She kinda felt embarrassed at how she acted. Maybe he thought she was a junkie or something, and only pity drew him to help her out.

He looked really nice though, and she loved his style. He reminded her a bit of her ex-boyfriend Jey, but the thought of him made her heart shiver in her chest, and she shook her head. She could not think of Jey right now, or she'd start crying again, and she most certainly didn't want to look like more of a mess than she already did.

The guy pushed open the door and held it for her to get in, then followed in with her suitcase. The other man, the one who had entered the store when she was asking questions to the vendor, was still there, holding a small brown paper bag in his hands. He still had his hood on, and looked like he was waiting for something... or someone.

"I'm Josh, by the way." She turned her gaze back to the snapback wearing guy who was presenting her with his hand. She shook it lightly as he was continuing, showing her what seemed to be his friend. "And this is Tyler."

The hoodie guy, Tyler, made a step forward and shook Lena's hand as well. His skin felt softer than Josh's, but he was colder, even though he had stayed inside. She looked into his eyes but quickly turned away. His look sort of burned her skin, his dark brown eyes gazing at her like she was some sort of alien coming from another planet. 

"I'm Lena" she murmured quietly, and she wasn't sure that they had heard her, but she didn't really care. Honestly, she was glad Josh had been really nice to her, but all she wanted now was a place to rest, and a plan for her future life. She had enough with feeling lost already. And they probably couldn't help her anymore.