caught in the middle | tyler joseph

𝔈𝔩𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫

☆♪

It had been three days since that night, and I wasn't any better. I still felt numb and empty, and there wasn't anything I could do about it.

Today I had to work, even though I didn't want to. So I got ready and left my apartment.

When I got to the diner I went to the kitchen and dropped off my stuff.

"Hey! Long time no see!" I smiled at the sound of Mikey's voice.

"Hey!" I pulled her into a hug then released her.

"How have you been?" She asked with a grin.

I looked away for a second as I thought for an answer. I didn't want to lie but at the same time, I didn't want to discuss my problems at work. "I've been great! Thanks."

"No problem." She gets back to making orders and I put on my apron.

☆♪

I leaned on the counter, waiting for any new customers.

"Hey, Eliza, could you bring this to table 5?" I heard Mikey call from the kitchen.

I stood up and walked into the kitchen. She held a tray with a burger and fries on it. I took it from her and smiled, then I walked out and brought the food to the customer.

"Thank you." The man said.

I nodded at him. "No problem." I grinned and made my way back behind the counter. Since we didn't have many customers, I stacked a few menus that had fallen to keep myself busy.

The sound of the bell at the door caused me to look up from the menus. Someone had walked in.

I felt bile rise up in my throat at the sight.

Tyler.

I wanted to run away but I was the only waitress working right now, so I swallowed my anxiety and bit my lip.

"Hi, what can I get for you?"

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, can we talk?" He inquired softly.

"I'm working," I replied blankly, not daring to show any emotion in my face.

"Please, Eliza." He pleaded.

I sighed heavily. Even though I didn't want to talk to him, I wanted to know why he kissed that girl, and why he hurt me. "Hold on." I stuck my head into the kitchen. "Could you watch the cashier for a minute, I need to talk to someone," I asked Mikey.

"Yeah, sure." She comes out and stands behind the counter.

Tyler bit his lip and led me outside, then he stopped and turned to me. "Please, let me explain." I folded my arms across my chest.

"Fine, but you have five minutes."

He smiled the tiniest bit. "I'm so sorry for everything that happened." He paused.
"You remember that girl at the party, blonde hair, blue eyes—"

I cut him off. "—Yeah, I remember," I said harshly to hide the pain in my voice.

"That's my ex-girlfriend."

"Okay?"

"Correction. My Crazy ex-girlfriend." I furrowed my eyebrows. "That night at our concert she showed up and tried to get back with me. I told her I had feelings for someone else and she acted like she didn't care." Feelings for someone else? "She found out I would be at that party and showed up again, only to find you and me together which just infuriated her even more. So she decided to make a move on me when you were gone."

Tyler grabbed my hand and looked at me in the eye.

"She kissed me, and you came in right when it happened; before I could push her away." His eyes started to water as he spoke. "I care about you too much to do that to you."

My facial expression softened, did he really care about me?

"I'm truly sorry, I hope you can forgive me, but if you can't, I understand."

"You really hurt me, Tyler," I admitted and a look of guilt washed over Tyler's face. "Can you give me some time to think about it?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course." He dropped my hands and scratched the back of his neck again.

I nodded. "Thank you." With that, I walked inside and got back to work.

☆♪