Falling Too (Tyler Joseph)

Chapter 34

We were all damp and cold by the end of our snow day. Even the now lukewarm cocoa couldn't help. So when we all piled back into Josh's car, he cranked the heat while we huddled for warmth. Despite the chill, chuckles still echoed through the vehicle as Dwane continued to pout over his team's loss in the snowball fight.

"That was dirty of you, Josh," He muttered as he shook his head in pretend shame. "I can't believe you would betray your best friend and girlfriend simultaneously."

"They threw four snowballs at my head, back to back!" Josh argued, causing my attention to snap up from powering back on my phone.

I glanced at Carly to see if she had noticed that he hadn't denied the girlfriend comment, and from the megawatt smile on her face, it was clear she had.

She pressed herself into his side, murmuring, "His girlfriend will find a way to make it up to him. He'll be fine."

It seemed that he finally became aware of the implication of this conversation, and his cheeks and ears became bright pink. With only a second of hesitation, he rested his head on top of hers as he mumbled, "You better."

Then there were sudden sighs of relief and someone muttering, "It's about time."

"Guys, I think we might have to find another ride home. I think we are interrupting a moment here." Brandon teases, and Dee lets out a whistle.

I laughed softly as I glanced down at my phone, which was buzzing in my hand with more notifications than usual, a startling amount. More than half of them were from my mom, some were from Marceline, and even a handful from people I knew from church. Something had to be wrong.

"Is something going on?" Tyler questioned as he, too, peered down at my phone's screen.

"I hope not," I murmur as I press my phone to my ear.

"Ashley, you'll never believe it," my mom answered by way of greeting, making my stomach drop. "Are you sitting down?"

Had something else bad happened to the church?

I took a deep breath before replying, "I am."

"Your father... he..." She stammered, and my dread only grew. "I still can't believe it."

What had he done now? He hadn't done something to hurt us again, had he? Had he done something to himself?

She carried on before I could ask any of these questions, "He turned himself in. He went to the church, returned all of the money he'd run off with, and went to the police to confess to the crime. I don't know why, but he did."

My dad had actually listened to me. I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. Was I dreaming? Had I managed to hit my head while running around in the snow?

"Ash, are you okay?" Carly asked, and I found her turned around in her seat with her tiny hand resting on my knee.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tyler mouth something to her, and she gasped, causing the others to voice their concern and curiosity.

A tear slid down my cheek as I finally found the words, "So what is going to happen now?"

"That's another reason why I wanted to talk to you. I've gotten so many phone calls from people at the church, and they want to throw a party as both a celebration and an apology to both of us. Isn't that incredible?"

"Yeah, it is," I agree, doing my best to not sound choked up while the tears kept coming.

Tyler's arms gently coiled around me and carded his fingers through my hair while Josh took my free hand with a gentle grasp. Everyone in the car was reaching out to comfort me one by one, and the whole thing was utterly overwhelming. I met each of their gazes with blurry eyes as they gave me reassuring smiles; I truly loved them all.

"Well, I'll see you whenever you get home. I just wanted to tell you the wonderful news!"

Our phone call ended soon after, and the car was a flurry of noise as they all discussed the insane news. I continued to scroll through my phone, taking note of the names that had called me. Part of being a Sunday school teacher meant I had almost everyone's number, including Kelly's. My shoulders sagged a bit when I reached the end of the surprisingly long list. I shouldn't have been that shocked to see that her name wasn't among the others. Her issues with me now went well past my father and his faults.

"Does this mean we should start preparing for the party?" Carly questioned, pulling me out of my downward spiral of thoughts. "Do you want to go looking for a new dress? We'll probably have to go with something warmer, which is challenging. Or we could go with sweaters!"

Her excited rambling was almost enough to keep me from returning to that dark place in my mind. What did I have to do to gain Tyler's mom's favor? Was that always going to be an unattainable goal? I would like to figure out somehow to show her I wasn't running away this time. Now that I truly understood what I had, I would fight for it, even if it meant fighting myself sometimes.

Half of my mind remained on that topic as we drove everyone back to their homes or cars as if I could find the answer if I thought hard enough. Even though I knew that regardless of what she thought, neither of us was going anywhere, I still hated the idea that I was causing any sort of damage to his family. There had to be a way, but it could take time. I would have to show her my intentions instead of trying to explain myself until I was blue in the face.

Tyler's slightly callused fingertips skirted down my jaw, clearly aware that something was still on my mind. When my eyes met his, he gave me a warm smile, murmuring, "So many  things are falling into place, don't worry about the rest right now."