never mine// tyler joseph

chapter seventeen

later on that night, on the drive home from the restaurant she had been eating at with everyone, val contemplated going to oliver's. he had left without explanation earlier, and he was clearly angry. she would have to talk to him about it at some point. then again, it was so exhausting. speaking to him. arguing with him. she didn't think anything worthwhile would come from a conversation with him.

but a conversation would have to happen. especially if she was going to distance herself from him.

she knew that she couldn't be with him this way anymore. not when her feelings for tyler were there, brighter and more exhilarating than what she had felt for her own boyfriend. she didn't even know if tyler returned those feelings, but it didn't matter. this was about so much more than liking somebody else. it was about oliver's behavior, and how he was being controlled by his own envy.

she just decided to drive over to his apartment. she didn't feel like putting this conversation off for another time.

she found herself at his door, knocking, hoping that he'd answer it even though it was pretty late. she waited, the swaying of the trees and crickets in the background the only sound that could be heard.

eventually the door swung open, and she was met with oliver, who looked like he had just gotten up from laying down. he looked her up and down with tired eyes, a bored expression plastered on his face.

"what do you want?" he asked coldly, not bothering to let her in.

"we need to talk," she stated.

"about what?" he didn't sound in the slightest bit curious. obviously he knew what this was about, and he was acting this way out of anger.

"about how you left without saying anything," she told him, regardless of the fact that he didn't seem to care.

"you must know why i left, right?" he asked in contempt.

"yeah, i can take a guess. but that doesn't make it okay," she explained. oliver shook his head in annoyance, laughing humorlessly. he stepped outside, shutting the door behind him.

"you know what's not okay? lying about your relationship with another man," he accused her. she scoffed, her mouth slightly hanging open. she couldn't believe that he had the nerve to say that about her. after all of those times that she had told him to trust her, it seemed that he had never listened.

"lying? are you serious?" her voice got higher, louder. "i never lied to you about anything. you just never believed me," she snapped.

"why should i believe you? i see the way you look at each other, like you're sharing some sort of secret together that i'm not in on. he stares at you, tries to touch you whenever he has the chance. maybe you're too oblivious to see it, but i can. he likes you," he explained unkindly.

"that's not even true!" val exclaimed at him.

"it is. you just refuse to see it," he replied.

"okay, you know what, fine. say he does like me, which he doesn't, but if he does, what does it matter? how does that effect you and me in any way?" she asked desperately.

"because he's trying to come in between us, and you're allowing it," he said.

that was so completely ridiculous for so many reasons. tyler had never tried coming in between their relationship. if anything, he had helped it, giving her advice when she needed it. he always wanted the best for her, always was there for her when she and oliver had an argument.

"you're wrong," she stated, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. she was attempting to hold them back. "he's never done that, and he never would. but it doesn't make sense for me to try to reason with you, because it's never worked before. you don't trust me. you're not going to listen." at this point, the tears were freely falling, streaming down her red cheeks. she tried wiping them away with her hands.