His throat was dry. Tyler realized he had not had water in quite awhile, and he had been crying. He suddenly became very aware of his appearance; his red rimmed eyes and splotchy cheeks, messed up hair and thorn scraped arms. Here, at the end of the road and beginning of the bridge, his confident, kingly, untouchable attitude fell and broke apart. His glorious downfall. Here it lied, at the end of his night time kingdom. It was replaced with a timid, concerned demeanor as he watched the dark haired kid, who didn't seem to realize he wasn't alone.
Ty cleared his throat. He didn't look up.
"Uh," He tried weakly. "Johnny?"
The boy with dark hair jumped ever so slightly, only glancing at Tyler for a mere second. He sighed silently, hanging his head and letting his shoulders droop defeatedly. After a while, Johnny lifted his head and met Tyler's eyes. Ty began to walk up towards him and Johnny looked away. Neither knew what to say- Johnny not wanting to speak and Tyler too afraid.
It was a few long, painfully quiet minutes before Tyler opened his mouth.
"Were you gonna do it?" He whispered, peering up at Johnny, who was staring down at the murky water.
It took him awhile to reply.
"Why are you out here, kid?" He asked tiredly.
Tyler's heart sunk at his tone. He turned away slightly, gazing down at his shoes. It began to rain lightly and Tyler watched the misty rain drops in the headlights.
"Why are you out here?" Johnny asked again, slowly turning to peer down at Tyler.
Ty felt his lip quiver and his eyes heat up. No, he didn't want to cry anymore. But facing it aloud was a whole different battle.
With glossy eyes and shallow breaths, he turned fully to face Johnny. Ever so quietly with a single tear running down his cheek, he whispered,
"I broke."
And then, just as quickly as he had appeared, the dark haired boy vanished from Tyler's vision. In fact, everything vanished from his vision. But it wasn't only his sight. He could no longer feel his lungs expanding and deflating as he took in air. He could no longer hear the soft rain against the hood of Johnny's car. And he could no longer feel the hot tears dripping from his eyes. Everything was numb and dark again; the way Tyler preferred it.
When he woke up, his back felt instantly stiff and his eyelids felt heavy, like they were closed for a very long time and didn't plan on opening any time soon. Even without opening his eyes, Tyler could tell it was dark. There was also a stream of cool air on his face that felt very nice. Finally, with a quiet groan, Tyler pushed himself up and opened his eyes. He blinked a few times, letting his pupils and mind readjust to where he was.
A car. It was parked on a dirt road, one he didn't know. A small, silver emblem was hanging from the rearview mirror. It was hand, two fingers up in a peace sign. Tyler reached his hand up and traced the small grooves with the pad of his thumb. He turned and peered out the front of the car. The dark haired boy was leaning on the hood, looking out over a field. The sky was growing lighter very quickly and Tyler realized he was probably watching the sunrise. He stretched and rubbed his eyes, running a hand through his hair as he shifted. He opened the door and walked around to the front, leaning back beside Johnny. Neither of them spoke, soaking in the first lights of a new day. The night prior to this was dark for both of them. Tyler remembered that, though he didn't know what was wrong with the other boy.
The tall grasses swept against his pants, dew droplets sticking to the ends. The sky became purple, then pink, then yellow, before finally fading to blue. Once the sun had rose and signaled the start of a fresh day, Johnny moved. He gently placed a hand on Tyler's shoulder before pulling back and walking to his side of the car. Ty watched and did the same, climbing back into the passenger's side.
Johnny turned to Tyler and smiled softly when he got in. He smiled wholeheartedly, as if nothing was wrong. As if he wasn't standing on the edge of high bridge with tears in his eyes only hours before, as if he had known Tyler his whole life and they were best friends. As if it really were the start of something new, not just a new dawn.
"How are you feeling?" He asked sincerely, causing Tyler to blink in confusion. He shook his head.
"How should I be feeling?" He responded quietly in regards to last night. He didn't really know what happened.
"Well, considering you blacked out-probably from exhaustion-and just slept for around five hours, I would hope you feel better." Johnny chuckled, pulling his seatbelt across his chest.
All Tyler said was, "Oh" and turned away. He pulled his seatbelt across him as well and gazed out the window as Johnny backed the car up and kept driving.
Really, he should ask Johnny what else happened, and why he was here, and how he got here. And he shouldn't be in the car with a stranger. And he should ask where they are and where they're going.
But, quite honestly, Tyler didn't really care.
It wasn't like he didn't care. He just felt like he really didn't need to. He really didn't feel threatened or in danger, and he actually did not want to know what happened. Ty was content on just being in the car. Then he remembered Johnny from last night.
The dark haired boy looked nothing like the dark haired boy beside him now. Tyler examined him with big eyes as he drove steadily along on the dirt road. Last night, his eyes were dark and hopeless. He emanated a feeling of pain and mental exhaustion. But now? Now he looked at peace, like all was right with the world. He looked tired, but not mentally. Then, Tyler's throat tightened. Last night, Johnny was in so much pain and what did he do?
He helped Tyler.
