Air Catcher

Down in the Forest

Alyx's pov

'Are you free Saturday night?' Tyler texted me late a night not quite a week later.

'Yeah, absolutely. What are we going to do?' I asked.

'It's a surprise. I'll pick you up around 7 if that works.' He sent. 'Oh, and it's formal dress.'

I groaned. 'You're making me wear a dress?'

'Or a skirt, or jumpsuit if you prefer.'

'How good is this going to be?' I asked.

'The best date you've ever been on. Please? For me? I've never even seen you in a dress before.' I could practically hear his voice whining.

'OK, you win.' I gave in.

'Awesome.'

__________________

I procrastinated as much as I could, but Saturday afternoon I chose a simple white dress that reached my mid-thighs with thick straps on my shoulders and a criss cross pattern in the back. To make sure I didn't freeze I pulled on a jean jacket on. Because there was absolutely no way I was wearing heels, I put on my high top black converse and called it good.

Tyler rang the doorbell at exactly 7:00, wearing a button up shirt and a purple tie. He smiled at me when he I opened the door, but raised his eyebrow when he saw my shoes.

"You never said heels were required." I smirked.

"I don't care what type of shoes you wear." He laughed. "What, are you getting married?" He asked, gesturing to my dress.

I smiled teasingly. "If you want." He blushed and fumbled for words for a minute. "You asked for formal." I shrugged. "So, where are we going?"

He grinned. "I can't tell you yet."

With that he took my hand and led me to his car, opening and closing the door for me before going around to the driver's seat. I looked out the window to the sky as we started driving.

"It looks like it might rain." I commented.

"It better not." Tyler responded.

"Oh, so we're doing something outside." I smirked.

"Dang it!" He grinned. "It's OK, you still don't know what it is."

"Look at you, being all mysterious." I smiled.

"You'll find out soon, just be patient."

"Patience isn't in my vocabulary." I laughed.

"OK, then I'll just have to distract you." He grinned and dug something out of the center console without taking his eyes off the road. He handed me the two pieces of paper.

I looked down at my hands to see two Panic! At The Disco concert tickets. "OH MY GOSH!" It came out as a high pitched squeal. My hands started twitching and moving uncontrollably as I squealed more.

Tyler tilted his head away from me. "Wow, OK."

"But you- you hate Panic!." I looked at him questioningly.

"I never said I hated it, they just aren't my favorite. Besides, you and Josh both wanted to go, so I decided it wouldn't be horrible to go with you guys." He smiled.

"Thanks, Tyler. It means a lot." I grinned.

"I can tell. Are you going to fangirl about my music someday?" He smirked.

"Trust me, I already do." I laughed.

We turned into the park on the edge of a forest and parked. The snow from the weeks before had melted. We got out of the car and Tyler took my hand again, leading me through the park to the edge of the woods. I was completely confused and glad I was wearing converse instead of some stupid formal shoes.

Instead of stopping at the edge of the trees Tyler walked into them, following what seemed to be an extension cord that was plugged in who knows where. I was growing more and more curious by the minute, but he didn't say a word. Finally we got to a small clearing in the middle of the forest.

I gasped and smiled so widely I thought my lips might tear. There were fairy lights strung on all the bare branches of the surrounding trees and a picnic blanket with a basket resting on it lay in the middle of the field. Tyler's ukulele was propped against the basket. It was beautiful. I turned around to face Tyler again, who was looking at his feet, blushing, but proud. I gave him a hug and kissed him.

"You went all out, didn't you?" I asked.

"Josh helped a little..." He gave me a tiny, embarrassed smile. I hugged him again. "Wait, you haven't seen the best part!" Tyler pulled away from me and sat down, opening the basket.

I smelled what was inside and immediately started laughing long and hard as I sat down across from him. "You got me all dressed up for a fancy picnic in the middle of an enchanted forest and brought Taco Bell?" I said between breaths and laughed again.

"Absolutely!" Tyler grinned. He pulled out a taco and started eating. I smiled and joined him.

When we finished eating he picked up his ukulele and I grinned. "You're going go play me more?"

He nodded. "What do you want to hear first, House of Gold or Trees?"

"Hmm..." I thought for a minute. "How about House of Gold?"

"OK," Tyler smiled and started strumming his instrument. "She asked me son when I grow old, will you buy me a house of gold? And when your father turns to stone, will you, take care, of me?" His voice was sweet and happy.

I smiled and swayed to the music, eventually mouthing the chorus as he played.

"And since we know that dreams are dead, and life turns plans upon their head, I will plan to be a bum so I just might BECOME SOMEONE!"

I was taken aback by his screaming, but I liked it. He smiled at my surprise and continued singing. I laughed silently.

Towards the end of the song his voice turned sweet again and slowed. "I will make you queen of everything you see... I'll put you on the map, I'll cure you of disease." He smiled at me again, his eyes sweet and honest.

I clapped and grinned at him. "I didn't think you were the screaming type." I teased.

"I've written a couple with screaming lines." Tyler said almost bashfully.

"Does Trees have one?" I asked.

"Yeah, kinda."

"Well then you've got to play it for me." I insisted.

"Alright, this one has a lot more digital effect though, so..." He dug out a speaker from the basket and turned it on. "Here we go." Music started to flow through the speaker with high pitched notes and lower undertones. Tyler opened his mouth and once again started singing. "I know where you stand," This time his voice was serious and almost pleading. "silent in the trees. And that's where I am, silent in the trees." His hands fidgeted up and down, sometimes twitching in his lap and sometimes moving around his face like they were the only things making sound come from him.

Every song he had played for me yet had been so different, but this one felt especially honest and almost vulnerable. It made me happy and almost scared at the same time. As the song continued his voice filled with more emotion, crescendoing until he took a breath and yelled. "HELLO, HELLO!" The drums playing through the speaker grew louder and more pronounced. "HELLO, HELLO." The music faded quickly into nothing and the song was over.

It left a solemn feeling in the air around us, almost too precious to break. I reached over and took Tyler's hand and the twitching stopped. He squeezed my hand and looked up at me, his eyes almost scared. I rarely saw him like this. He smiled another tiny smile.

"You're so talented Tyler." My voice was quiet and almost reverent.

"Thanks." Tyler blushed a little.

We stayed there for a while longer just talking until we realized it was almost eleven. We packed everything back up into the car and he drove me home. He walked me to the door and before I opened the door I stepped up to him and put my hand on the back of his head.

"Thank you." I whispered before kissing him goodbye.