Tyed

chapter twenty

"Nope." If he denies it maybe she'll reveal that it actually isn't true and this a whole big misunderstanding. "He's only been in there for like, seven years. He got something like twenty, didn't he? Life. I'm sure he got life."

"Twenty years," she corrects, and it sickens his stomach. "But-"

"He's like, seventy now. He won't even live. He won't even live to get out." Colby's touch doesn't help. Tyler fights the urge to shrug him off and jump over the balcony. "Mum, tell me you're making shit up."

"Darling, it's alright," she says and it's not. It's not. "He won't be able to hurt you, and it's not for another few weeks-"

"A few weeks? Just a few weeks?" He feels his chest tighten. Colby's hand anchors him to reality. "Why? Why is he getting out?"

His mother is silent for a long moment. "He's got stage four cancer, darling. They're letting him out because he's going to die."

"He can fucking die in prison, why-" Tyler's choking now. He stops, coughing, struggling to find his footing. Why has the world suddenly upturned? What did he do? "I need a minute."

"I know." She says softly. "I'll see you on Saturday, alright? Call me later if you need to."

She's come a long way, Tyler can give her that. She used to be so bad at this shit, although it wasn't really her choice to be stuck with Trey and Tyler, and Tyler can at least be glad that she's trying her best now that she is stuck with them. He puts his phone down. He can't even process what she said, what it really means.

"I... Can I ask what happened? If I heard correctly?" Colby says after a moment of silence, as Tyler's struggling to put the words together himself.

"My dad," he says as the words roll around like drops of acid on the tip of his tongue. "Is getting out of prison." Colby's silence forces Tyler to finish the sentence. "In less than a month." More silence, but the sentence isn't finished. Tyler just doesn't want to finish it. "Because he's dying."

More silence, but that's all there is to say. Tyler leans on the banister, head in his hands.

"I wish I knew," Colby finally speaks, and Tyler lets out a breath. "...how to react to that."

"Me fucking too." Tyler groans, hiding his face behind his hands. "Jesus, I can't stop being a mess, can I?"

"It's not your fault," Colby says, but even so, he sounds tired. "What do you want to do?"

Tyler doesn't know. He's never fucking known what he wants. He's so frequently wrong and fucking things up by chasing what he thinks he wants; why can't it be easy? Why can't things be simple and straightforward?

"I just want," Tyler says, thinking aloud, "things to be normal. I want a normal relationship where it isn't burdened by shit like this."

Colby grips Tyler's shoulder, turning him around to face him. Tyler doesn't want to look at him, but his hands naturally fall from his face and he has little choice but to meet Colby's eyes. His gaze is intense, and Tyler struggles to keep it; he finds himself gazing over Colby's shoulder, until a gentle touch of his chin brings Tyler's gaze back up to Colby's. Tyler hates that even this, now, is able to take his breath away.

Tyler begins to stutter more apologies, barely aware of what he's saying. "You don't have to deal with this. You shouldn't have to. I can figure something out, you can..."

"Tyler." Colby's level voice shuts him up. For a moment, Tyler's staring in silence, waiting. Waiting with bated breath for Colby to speak again. It's so easy to just fall into step with him, wait for him, do what he wanted, isn't it?