never mine// tyler joseph

chapter seven

tyler had just gotten off of the phone with josh. they were discussing their next tour, since they were currently getting a few months off due to them touring nearly all year long. tyler thought that this could be good for him. he felt that he was too focused on val lately, and maybe getting away for a while to do something that he loved would be a nice distraction. maybe he could somehow magically get over his feelings for the girl he'd been in love with for years now. it wasn't likely, though.

he'd been on tour plenty of times, and although it was easy to get distracted while being away, his thoughts had always trailed back to her. sometimes in the middle of the night, he'd think about what she was doing, until eventually he'd just give her a call. they'd spend all hours of the night talking to each other.

it was almost inescapable. impossible. his feelings for her could just never change, and it was tiresome. it was so exhausting for him to be hopelessly in love with somebody who was already taken, to see movies of people falling in love with each other when he knew that he may never get to experience that with her.

it felt like his entire world revolved around her, and he couldn't stand it. he wondered what it would be like if his feelings weren't there, constantly weighing him down and pestering him every time he thought of her. back when they were teenagers in high school, tyler simply saw her as a friend, and that was enough for him. of course, he had always thought that the girl was pretty, but it never affected the way that he felt about her. not until that night that they graduated high school.

things would've been much simpler if he didn't have feelings for her. he wouldn't have been so terrified of her rejecting him, and he could've watched her and oliver be in love with each other without feeling hurt by it.

the tiny ounce of hope that val could possibly reciprocate his feelings never dissipated. maybe that was what was preventing him from moving on. although that hope was close to nothing, it still kept him pushing, wanting her. realizing that there was still the smallest chance that she felt the same, tyler wasn't sure if he wanted to erase those feelings anymore. he couldn't shake away the thought that there could be something more. besides, he'd already waited this long.

xxx

josh came over a bit later, and they continued to work on their tour, things like making preparations and setting things up with their manager. that lasted for a little while, until they got tired of it and decided to finish for the day.

right now they were eating pizza, conversing about the one thing that constantly plagued tyler's mind: valerie adrastea.

"do you think i'll ever stop liking her?" tyler asked hopelessly.

"do you want to?" josh responded with a mouth full of food.

"well- no. not really," tyler said with a shrug. josh gave him a pointed look.

"i think you should meet a different girl. maybe then you'll change your mind," he suggested.

"josh, no! we've tried this before, remember? it was a disaster," tyler explained. it was true- a few years back, josh had tried setting up tyler with a girl that he knew. it didn't exactly work out because the entire time, tyler couldn't stop accidentally bringing up his black haired friend. it was clear to the girl that he was interested in val, rather than her. he figured that if josh were to set him up with someone again, the same events would only repeat themselves.

"maybe i can just force you to lose feelings for her," josh offered, which prompted tyler to send him a disbelieving look.

"that's a terrible idea for two reasons. one, i doubt it's possible. and two, what if one day she actually likes me back? then i won't like her anymore, and the chances of us ever being together are gone," tyler countered.