never mine// tyler joseph

chapter six

val knocked on the door to her boyfriend's apartment after she had finished hanging out with tyler. maybe oliver would've been angry with her for making him wait, but she couldn't find it in herself to care. she wasn't going to bail on tyler just because oliver had decided to randomly ask her to come over.

he opened it a few seconds later, a blank expression on his face. he didn't say a word as he stepped aside, allowing the girl to walk in.

"hello?" val asked, obviously confused as to why he was being silent. if he was annoyed with her, the least that he could do was just say it up front.

"hi," was all that he said in return. he didn't really seem angry. for whatever reason, it looked like he was upset.

"are you alright?" val asked in a comforting voice. maybe he wasn't frustrated with her. maybe he was just having a bad day and he wanted her around to help him through it.

"yeah, i guess," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. he stared at the ground for a few seconds before his amber eyes finally met val's. "do you think we could talk about something?" he asked.

"sure. i was gonna ask you the same thing, actually," she responded. she took a seat on the couch, oliver sitting right next to her. "so, what did you want to say?"

he took a deep breath, giving val a knowing look. "it's about tyler. and i know you're probably sick of hearing about it, but it's really been affecting me. it just feels like you've been choosing him over me lately. i don't think you're telling me everything about your relationship with him."

there it was again. the lack of trust. of course she understood where he was coming from- it was normal for boyfriends to have doubts about themselves and be worried about other guys. but this wasn't a new relationship. tyler wasn't a new friend. they'd been together for two years now. oliver should have been able to trust her when she told him repeatedly that tyler was nothing but a friend.

but she needed to stay calm. if she lashed out at him it would start an argument, and that wasn't what they needed right now. they just needed to talk.

"i understand your concerns," val started, looking the boy in the eyes. "but i want you to trust me when i say that you don't need to be worried about us. oliver, you know that tyler and i have been friends since high school. and that's all we've ever been since then. friends. i would tell you otherwise if that were the case. i don't purposely try to pick him over you. you guys are both important to me, and i want to be able to spend time with you both equally. sometimes when we argue, i run off to him because i know i can talk to him and he'll give me advice on what to do. i know that you don't trust him. but you should know that he only ever wants the best for us, and he always encourages me to make up with you. i don't think it's fair for you to get frustrated with him."

val's words hung in the air, silence overtaking the entire room. she wasn't sure if oliver was considering what she'd told him, or if he was just letting it go in one ear and out the other. she so desperately wanted him to reply, to say something, but he just continued to stare down at the wooden floor beneath them. she didn't speak up either though. if he wasn't going to talk, then she wasn't going to pry at him.

after a few seconds, oliver finally broke the silence. "it's not that i don't trust you," he started, taking a deep breath. "i guess i'm just jealous of how much time you spend with him. i don't want you to leave me for him someday," he explained solemnly.

he was scared that she'd leave him for tyler? val let that thought sink in for a second. she'd never really pondered over that before- replacing oliver with tyler. even before she started dating oliver, she'd only seen her relationship with tyler as platonic. of course, she could never deny that he was cute, but she didn't ever think that they could be together. and now that she had oliver, she wouldn't have even bothered to let the thought settle.

yet for some reason, when he brought it up just now, the thought of her and tyler together didn't escape her mind as it had always done before. usually, she'd forget about it as if it were nothing. however, right now it intrigued her in a way that she couldn't quite describe. maybe it was his adorable smile, or the way he had always been there time and time again to give her advice. whatever it was, she didn't want to think about it. she was with oliver, and she had just told him that he needed to trust her. meanwhile, she was entertaining a thought that was contradicting everything that she'd just said.

"i'm not going to leave you for him," she replied softly. "i just want you to trust us."

"i'll try," he admitted, looking up at her. she noticed that he looked uncertain though.

"thank you."

"i love you," he responded, offering a small smile.

"i love you too," she said, placing her hand on top of his. his skin was soft to the touch- he made her feel safe. it was one of those things that reminded her of just how much she truly loved him, and she had never doubted it.