a moment in time//twenty one pilots

epilogue

~three years later~

My fingers strummed the ukulele casually, not really playing any special tune.

The ukulele was actually Tyler's, but he trusts me and let's me play it anyway. It was weird that I was holding and instrument that had been around the world.

Tyler actually didn't know I was here, I wanted to surprise him, knowing that we hadn't seen each other in six months. I was going to show off my new car and driver's license.

It had been three years since that whole ordeal. And since then my parents and I have barely spoken any words to each other, but I'd rather keep it that way, I have more freedom.

I had still wanted to see Tyler and Josh and everyone else obviously, so we had come up with an agreement where every six months, my parents would drive or fly me out to Ohio, or wherever the boys were at. But now that I have a car, I can go to Ohio whenever I want.

I heard Tyler's voice call out.

"Who's there?"

I nearly laughed at how scared Tyler sounded, but I kept playing the instrument like nothing had happened.

"Josh I thought you went to the store with Jenna to get food for Lila..."

Tyler's voice trailed off as he rounded the corner and saw me. There was a bat in his hand, which immediately fell to the ground. He came hurtling towards me.

I smiled and put down the ukulele and opened up my arms. We embraced and I felt safe and sound, his hugs had always made me feel that way.

We let go and looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Tyler spoke up first.

"Oh my gosh I missed you so much, Lila. Why are you here so early?" He said, a wide smile on his face.

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my keys.

"Guess who got their driver's license?"

Tyler squealed like a twelve year old and squeezed me again.

"Ohmygosh I'm so happy for you! Oh and you can see us whenever you want!" He spoke excitedly.

I laughed and nodded my head.

"Yeah! Isn't it exciting!" I said with enthusiasm. Tyler quickly agreed by nodding his head.

After the excitement was over, I went and got my stuff out of my car and brought it into Tyler and Jenna's house. I would be staying in the guest room which I had practically decorated to be my own.

I came back downstairs and saw that Jenna and Josh had come back. I squealed and ran to Josh, who had been in the kitchen talking to Tyler. I crashed into him and hugged him tightly. He chuckled and hugged me back.

"Oh, so I don't get a hug? I see how it is." I hear from behind me.

I let go of Josh and turned around and embraced Jenna. She laughed at how quickly I had responded to her remark.

The door had opened again to reveal the one and only Debby. I smiled and jumped excitedly when I saw her. We ran and embraced each other like a couple on one of those stupidly good chick flicks you can find on Netflix.

"Hi!" I said, my voice rising two octaves.

"Hiii!" Debby responded. Everyone else chuckled, and started to prepare dinner.

It wasn't long before the meal- pork chops and mashed potatoes with corn- was finished. Josh and I set the table and Jenna came out with the food, and set it on the table also. We all sat down and ate. The conversation was light and easygoing, and there were a few times where we all laughed so hard our faces turned red. I had missed this.

Jenna had made strawberry cheesecake earlier that day. It was obviously delicious and I would definitely eat the leftovers in the middle of the night.

We gathered in the living room in front of the TV. It was my choice of what movie we watched, and I obviously chose Thor: Ragnarok because it's one of the funniest Marvel movies in existence. We all got situated with blankets and popcorn and watched the movie.

Soon, the movie was over, and everyone had trudged to their respective rooms.

I, (being the insomniac I am) was still wide awake. I tip toed back downstairs and grabbed the shortcake from the fridge, and tip-toed my way back to my room.

I flopped on my bed, being careful not to ruin the bedsheets. I then pulled out my phone before starting to eat the dessert. I went to Instagram.

I sometimes do this weird thing where I'll go through my account. Normally I didn't go very far back, but tonight was different.

I went back to when I had bought the tickets for the twenty one pilots concert. I smiled at how excited I was to go.

I went to a few weeks later to when I was in the hospital the first time. I had posted a picture of Tyler, Josh and I. I remember the exact conversation we had.

"Tyler, Josh?"

The mentioned boys looked up from their phones.

"I never got a picture with you guys."

They both smiled and chuckled. Tyler shut off his phone and stood up from the couch. He walked over to the bed, Josh following. The brunette grabbed my phone and took a picture of the three of us.

I smiled and thanked them when Tyler gave me back my phone. He surprisingly hugged me.

"You're welcome, sweetheart." Tyler said easily.

"Of course Lila." Josh responded with a genuine smile.

I smiled really wide. I felt a sense of belonging and love in my heart, and I knew I would cherish that moment forever.

I posted the picture with the caption: finally got that picture lol

My eyes watered a little at the memory.

I kept scrolling through my account looking back at all the memories over the past four years.

I knew I had grown and evolved since then, both mentally, and physically. My mental health was a million times better, and I was allowed to enjoy life when I finally accepted the help I was offered.

From all the crazy secret girl stakeouts with Jenna and Debby, to finding out my sexuality, to music, to finding love, I had learned one thing: Love can come in many different shapes and sizes. And it changes with time.

My crazy, ongoing life had taught me things that I didn't even dream about.

And it all started with a moment in time.

• • •

A/N: this is the end! thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate it. im sorry if it sucked, or if it just didn't make any sense whatsoever. And i hate that i had to end it so quickly, but there was no way i would've finished this if I hadn't just ended it now. ive found that i prefer short stories, or stories where i know exactly how many chapters I'm going to write so I'm not so stressed. It was cool to write this. Also, it would be awesome if you checked out some of my other stories like they say the ocean's blue and let the water wash away, and especially my poetry/concept book: im insignificant. It would mean the world to me if you guys read those. anyways, have a good day/ night.

as always, stay alive, its worth it, i promise

-soapy <3