Chapter Text
In the meantime, in the Hernandez house—
Tyler was doing the dishes in his kitchen when his heart sank in his stomach. He almost dropped the plate he was washing in the heat of the moment, but he managed to keep himself in check.
The vampire boy put the plate down carefully, then rubbed his chest, eyebrows furrowed in worry and confusion. What the hell?..
The only few times his chest had ached like this was when someone he cared about was hurt, or upset. Maybe Taylor?.. No, he could hear her singing some stupid white girl music in their room.
His mom?..
He turns around and heads to his mother’s room, opening the door in the slightest, just to be able to hear if she was crying. However, he didn’t hear anything, so he opened the door fully and walked in, trying to think of an excuse to be there if she asked.
His eyes lock into Marianna’s, who was working on her laptop, sitting at her bed. She looked tired, but… she wasn’t upset.
The woman smiles at him and puts her laptop aside.
« Tyler, did you need something? » she asks, patting the bed next to her in an invitation for him to sit down.
He shakes his head and looks around quickly, noticing the laundry basket next to her wardrobe. He was about to reach out for it and pretend that he was doing chores (which he was, but anyways), but his mother cleared her throat, making him look up at her.
« Sweetheart, you don’t have to do everything in the house. I’ll do the laundry tomorrow. »
« But… »
« No buts, young man. Come here. »
Tyler sighs and walks over to the bed, looking down at his mother with concern.
Marianna pulls him by his hand to sit next to her, then wraps an arm around his shoulder. He blinks in surprise, but doesn’t pull away.
« You’ve grown a lot… I’m sorry that I wasn’t in the best state of mind to watch you and Taylor grow, in the past years. » she says softly, a hint of nostalgia in her tone.
Tyler sighs and leans into her shoulder, resting his cheek on it.
« Don’t apologize. Y’know we can’t blame you. »
« Yes, I know that, because my two lovely children have been nothing but kind to their poor mother. But it’s still something I’d like to make up for. »
The vampire doesn’t reply, because they’ve had this conversation enough times to know that it isn’t going anywhere. He finds himself closing his eyes, and maybe he could rest there for a bit…
But the feeling in his chest didn’t stop.
He opens his eyes again and notices his mom admiring him with those eyes that only a loving mother can have. He clears his throat and pulls away from her, then gets up from her bed.
« I uhm… it’s late. Don’t work too hard. Te quiero. »
« Mhm… don’t stay up late, sweetheart. And tell your sister to shorten her concert, will you? »
He nods and leaves, closing the door behind him. Talking to his mother always left him with a weird feeling. He couldn’t describe it. Maybe one day he would.
Just to be sure, he went to their bedroom and saw Taylor singing and dancing there, using her hairbrush as a microphone. He watched her for a few seconds, having seen this scene so many times before.
When Taylor noticed him, she gasped in shock and went to stop the music, then turned around and fake-glared at him.
« You scared me! Why are you always so quiet, geez! »
« Uh… mom said to quit yelling. »
« It wasn’t yelling, it was singing~ »
« Sounds the same to me. Anyways, how long until midnight? »
She grabbed her phone and turned it on, then told him that it was 11:09 PM.
He nodded as an answer and headed towards his bed, laying face down on it. Damn it, if it wasn’t Tay or his mom, then who?
Let’s be honest, he doesn’t care enough about Logan or Ben to actually feel it, so it can’t be them.
Ashlyn?..
He grabs his phone from his pocket and turns on his side, glancing at Taylor as she hummed the song she’d just stopped.
He opens his texting app and clicks on Ashlyn’s name, deleting what he tried to type a few times before sending a cold « hey. »
The carrot top replied about one minute later with an equally as cold « what you want? »
Tyler:
nothing, just bored. what’s up?
Ashlyn:
not much.
you?
Tyler:
same. tay’s been blasting white girl songs for at least an hour, guess i’ll be fighting to survive with Kathy Perry stuck in my head tonight.
Ashlyn:
sounds like something she’d do. Kathy isn’t that bad tho, could be worse.
Tyler:
worse? like what lmao?
Ashlyn:
idk, a christmas song?
Tyler:
shut up
now i’ve got oh christmas tree stuck in my head
i hate you
Ashlyn:
suck it up
see you later
dont die
Tyler:
that felt like a threat.
Taylor snorts and takes a picture of him. He makes an indignated expression and raises an eyebrow, to which she replies by climbing on her bed while giggling.
« Huh? Tay? »
« You were smiling at your screen~ »
« No the fuck I wasn’t. »
« You were! C’mon who was it?~ »
« I have proof! Hah, Ash’s gonna love that. »
His eyes widen and he jolts so bad he hits his head against the headboard.
« Why would you send it to her ?? »
Taylor stops in her tracks, now halfway into pulling the covers of her bunk bed over herself. She stays silent for a moment, then asks, pretending to be nonchalant.
« You were texting her? »
Tyler senses the atmosphere change, wondering what the hell he did wrong.
« I mean… yeah, why? »
« Nothing. Do you like her or something? » that sounded a tiny bit too angry…
« Ew, no. She’s annoying. Super bossy. »
« You were smiling while talking to her, tho. »
« I told you I wasn’t! »
« What were y’all talking about? »
« Tay, what’s up with you? » He leans over the edge of his bed to try to look up at her, but she had now pulled the blankets over herself.
« Just reply. »
He blinks in confusion— humans are weird— before handing her his phone.
« You can look by yourself. »
She turns around and takes the device from him, then opens the conversation and reads it through carefully. Ashlyn was just her normal self… what did she mean by « that sounds like something she’d do »? Is that a good or bad thing?
« Tay? »
« Hm? »
« Do you like Ashlyn? »
That question throws her off guard, bringing a stupid blush to her cheeks. She hands him his phone back and clears her throat, hesitating for a few seconds before replying shyly,
« … Yeah? »
Tyler puts his phone down on his bed, then climbs up the ladder and sits next to Taylor. He pats her shoulder a bit awkwardly to get her to sit up properly, and she does so.
« Since when? » he asks calmly
« A few months, I guess. Or maybe even before… I don’t know, I always thought she was so pretty… »
He nods and wraps an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a side hug.
« So… you like girls? »
« Well duh »
« How did you find out? »
« That I like girls, or one girl specifically? » Taylor snorts and relaxes into the hug.
« That you like girls. In general. »
« Well… I don’t know. I always thought they’d understand me better, that they were prettier… The thought of dating a boy freaks me out. Every guy in our school is an ass, too. » she rolls her eyes at the last sentence, and Tyler can’t help but agree. He’d seen it from the first row.
« Makes sense. I hope I’m an exception » He smirks, trying to lighten up the mood. Not that it was gloomy, just… kinda tense?
« Nah, you’re the worst. » She teases back
« Man that hurts. Well if that can ease your mind, I don’t like carrot top. Not at all. She’s all yours. »
« Hah, I’d kill you if you loved her. »
Taylor’s phone turns on thanks to a notification from her mechanics club groupchat, and Tyler glances at the time.
11:32.
The vampire rubs his chest again, the weird feeling still stubbornly here. He jumps down Taylor’s bed and grabs his phone from where he’d discarded it on his mattress.
So it wasn’t Ashlyn. Or at least, she sounded mostly fine earlier.
That left only Aiden.