𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛; byler

t w e n t y- s e v e n

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"will!"

it took them less than a second to notice him, and it took max approximately five seconds to run towards him, relief washing the distress off her face.

jane stayed seated, mouth hanging slightly open, as her girlfriend gave will a huge hug. will wrapped his arms around her tightly, hugging her as if they were long lost friends. he let his face get lost in her hair, so that all he saw was orange, all he smelledwil was that salty beachy scent that always lingered on her. just a few seconds with her, and he was already starting to feel better.

"holy fuck, will. we were so worried!" max said, the two of them still hugging.
"something tonight seemed kind of off so we went looking for you in the pairs theater, you weren't there... is everything okay-?" jane started. as she was talking max finally let go, stepping back, and jane's speech was interrupted by a sudden gasp.

it took will a second to remember the monstrosity that was his face. 

"what the actual-" max said, her voice low and breathless all of a sudden. jane was now heading towards will as well, a frantic expression on her face.

"it's okay," will said quickly, almost an instinct at this point. he tried a smile, but even without seeing himself he knew the expression did not give the calming effect he had hoped for.

"no, actually, it's not okay. it's very far from okay," max exclaimed, her eyes furious once again.

"will, oh my god," jane said,  putting her hand to his cheek slightly. her hand was gentle, but it sent such a strong pain through will's face he couldn't help a wince. jane hurried to drop her hand in response.

"sorry, sorry," she said, "i didn't mean to- but i-" she seemed at a loss for words. 

he didn't know what to say, his eyes darting on the floor as his cheeks flushed red. he didn't like being the topic of conversation, and though he knew it was a stupid reason to give up going home suddenly seemed attractive again. he managed to swallow the urge to run down, but couldn't get the red off his cheeks.

"is it- is it tyler?" jane asked, voice tender, keeping her compassionate brown eyes at level with his.

silence. the impulse to lie, to blame a fall for his messed-up face, bubbled in his throat. it was physically hard, almost impossible, to slowly nod.

and then it was silent again.

"that son of a bitch!" max yelled out suddenly. everything in her body said anger: her hands clenched, her eyes practically matching her fiery hair in their anger. she looked like she was a second away from marching out the restaurant and beating tyler to a pulp. 

jane, on the other hand, looked more... shocked. sad. he could see all this emotion well up inside her big eyes- and it was so like what he was feeling it made him want to cry. but he didn't- not now, because he was pretty sure if he started crying he would never stop.

"sit down, i'll get you some ice, we can talk about it," jane offered: but though he knew well, will didn't want to talk about it... not with them. not right now. he shook his head.

"i want to make it stop. where do i go to make him stop?" he asked, and he hated how much his voice quivered.

jane and max exchanged looks, once again seemingly having a whole conversation with their eyes.

"i can beat him up for you," max offered after a second, and she looked so serious will couldn't help a shaky chuckle.

jane nudged her girlfriend, sending her the death stare. "there are options, will. you can go to his parents, you can go to the police, maybe to the wheelers?"

"or i can beat him up for you," max muttered under her breath, so low jane didn't hear.

"i think i want to go to the police," will said. speaing truthfully, he knew that's where he wanted to go. it may be horrible, but he didn't want to go anywhere near tyler's house- and he didn't want to go to the wheelers. the wheelers meant mike...

and in any case, the police seemed like the fastest way to make it stop.

"police it is," jane said, "so just sit down, let me bring you some ice, you can get some sleep and tomorrow morning-" but will cut her off.

"no!" he exclaimed. tomorrow would be too late. 

"i- i think i need to go now."

jane opened her mouth to protest, but max seemed to understand. she put her arm on jane's shoulder, and grabbed will's hand in her other one.

"now it is. let's go."

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the police station was a tiny building behind an Italian restaurant. it was off-white, surrounded by a neglected graden- well, maybe garden was an overstatment. all it was were a few beds of faded blue-and-purple flowers, and a single huge oak tree. it looked more like someone's house than a police station- but the police car parked by one of the sides assured him they were, in fact, in the right place.

max's hand still grasped his tightly, and he was thankful for it. he didn't look back, he didn't look at the girls standing at both his sides, the girls he knew were focused intently on his face. so he kept it blank, he kept his walk certain even with the trembles threatening to turn his legs into butter. he walked through the dying flowers, past the tree...

and pushed straight through the double doors, the steps of the girls at his sides making him feel safer than he had felt in a long time.

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𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐𝐧𝐝. 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟖 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬.

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬: ahh the chapters have been kind of short lately idk why. anyway the next chapters will be much better i promise!!