You, Ben, Ashlyn, and Aiden are waiting at the front of Ashlyn's house for Logan and the twins. You and Aiden are throwing a football back and forth. "You have a good arm [Y/N]" Aiden compliments. "Thanks. I used to play sports before I moved here" You inform. "What sports did you play?" Ashlyn's eyes peek over her phone. "Rugby and track were my main sports but of course, I did others for fun. Growing up I wasn't the kid to play on the playground. I played with the kids in the field and joined them in whatever they were playing" You explain, throwing the football back to Aiden who seems to be distracted. "Oh, the-" Aiden is interrupted by your warning but it's too late. The football hit Aiden in the face, "I'm sorry!". "All good!" He smiles, giving you a thumbs up. You chuckle at the blonde while turning to look toward where the snickering is coming from. Your eyes land on Tyler covering his mouth, trying to hide his laughter from when Aiden got hit in the face with the football.
"[Y/N], are you sure you should be throwing a football with your injuries?" Logan saunters over to you with his scooter. "It's just a scratch, plus I'm used to it" You smile. "Is that a good thing?" Taylor sweatdrops. "Depends on how you see it" You shrug. Tyler leans his bike on the side of the house followed by Logan's scooter. The seven of you make your way to the front door. "You guys should really wear helmets" Aiden glances over his shoulder at the twins. "Oh like you would," Both you and Tyler say, concomitantly. The two of you make eye contact before you look away. You feel a nudge in your side. You send a glare at the smiling blonde, who eyes Tyler in the corner of his eyes. He opens his mouth to say something but you beat him to it, "Say something stupid and I'll punch you". Aiden snickers and leans it closer, whispering, "It's okay to admit it". You feel the heat rise to your cheeks and you shove Aiden's face away from you, "Shut up".
Tyler watches as you shove a chuckling Aiden away with a pink hue on your face. "You didn't punch me so it must be true!" Tyler watches as Aiden laughs at you. Your face becomes a darker shade of pink as you send a punch to Aiden's arm, "I said shut up!". You're kind of cute when you're embarrassed but why are you? What were the two of you whispering about? Ashlyn enters the house first followed by you, Aiden, and the rest. "Mom? Dad?" Ashlyn calls out to her parents. "Kitchen!".
"Could you move any slower?"
"Yeah,"
You hear Tyler and Aiden bicker behind you. "Um... What are you guys doing?" Ashlyn raises an eyebrow at her parents. "Making a snack platter..." Her mom answers. "I see that... But why so much? You two can't possibly eat all that by yourself" Ashlyn says. "W-well you and your friends usually go straight to the graveyard to hang out" Ashlyn's dad trails off, looking at his wife. "But when you called, you said that all of you wanted to speak with us this time so... We made snacks to eat while we talked" Ashlyn's mom finishes. The three of them stand there eyeing each other before her parents start whispering to each other. You chuckle while walking up to Ashlyn, "Thank you", you say to her parents. "You're welco-" Ashlyn's mom's eyes widen seeing you, "What happened to your face?!". You sweatdrop, glancing over your shoulder. It was bound to be questioned sooner or later, your dad hasn't even seen this yet. "We'll talk about it later," Ashlyn says.
You sit in between Tyler and Logan on the couch as Ashlyn's parents place the snack platter on the coffee table. You're all distracted by Aiden, who's chewing obnoxiously loud. "Gross..." You mumble, a shiver running down your spine. "Dude" Tyler eyes Aiden with disgust. Aiden finishes with a burp and by that time you believe you lost your appetite. "So... What did you kids want to talk about?" Ashlyn's dad questions. "Oh right... We uh" Ashlyn pauses before she stands up. She stands behind a lamp, her shadow cast on the wall behind her. "Do you notice anything weird about my shadow?" Ashlyn holds up a braid that doesn't show in her shadow. You eye her parents who seem confused. "Well, not uh... Not particularly, no?" Her dad answers. You sulk over before you take in a sharp breath, placing a hand over your abdomen, quickly straightening up. "Are you okay, [Y/N]?" Logan places a hand on your shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine... Just too much pressure" You answer.
"Okay, what happened? Why are you so beat up, [Y/N]?" Ashlyn's dad asks. "I got in a fight" You answer. "More like set up" Tyler mutters. You glance at him before looking back over to Ashlyn's parents. "Fight? Set up?" Ashlyn's mom raises an eyebrow. You sigh, "The thing is... Logan has been getting bullied. That's how he got the bruise on his cheek. I decided to pick a fight with his bully. He got mad and had someone fight me instead. That person was too quick for me and self-defense wasn't helping me". "I told Logan that you guys could probably teach him some self-defense but he's a little too anxious to learn on his own, so we offered to learn with him. If you don't mind, could you teach them the basics?" Ashlyn explains, "Oh, [Y/N] also knows self-defense thanks to her dad. He's also coming over if you guys approve".
"I mean, I don't mind"
"Me neither... Sounds pretty fun actually"
"But are all of your parents okay with that? Well, apart from [Y/N]'s dad" Ashlyn's dad questions. The group falls silent. "Your grandma said she was okay with it that weekend I was practicing with my dad, right?" You turn to Logan. "I think so-". "Alright, well, just ask them first. I don't want drama from other parents when their kids start coming home bruised," Ashlyn's dad says. "Got it, thanks dad" Ashlyn nods. "No problem, Trooper,". The seven of you make your way to the graveyard, to the specific bus you all have been occupying. You lean over a seat, not wanting to sit because of the pain in your abdomen. Tyler is filling a medium-sized tank with water, "Don't you think it's ironic that we chose this place as our shelter because of the high wall, yet now we have to fortify those walls?".
"Yeah, well we didn't exactly predict that the phantoms could scale a concrete, thirteen-foot wall" Aiden answers. "We didn't choose it just because of the walls. We have various tools and materials here. There's an electric generator and we're able to bring items we need during the day because my dad owns it" Ashlyn adds. "You voted just the same as the rest of us did to use the graveyard, so stop whining," Ashlyn says, making you snicker. Tyler glares at you, "I'm not whining, just pointing out the irony". He rests his head on the empty gallon of water, "I'm still not sure it was worth the effort it took just to get here". Since you all wake up back at your homes, you're separated at first. So you needed a way to get everyone back together and to also find a safe place to stay, which is the graveyard.
"Well, we're here now, so let's just make the best of it and move on" Taylor speaks up. "Agreed" You nod, "Another benefit of the graveyard though is that we're able to set traps around the area during the day as well".
☾☾A MONTH LATER☽☽
You watch as Ashlyn's father kicks Tyler's foot from under him, making the boy fall. "Ouch," Ashlyn mutters as you snicker. Tyler shoots you a glare as Ashlyn's dad helps him up. He walks over to you, "It's not funny". "It's a little funny" You grin. Tyler rolls his eyes as he nudges you, "Like you can do better". "Really? Have you forgotten that I've been doing this longer than you?" You scoff, light-heartedly. "Show me then" He stands up. "You want me to teach you?" You raise an eyebrow. "Yeah". You stand up, "Okay, might hurt your ego a bit". The both of you walk over to the mat he and Ashlyn's father were using before. "It won't hurt my ego," Tyler says. "My daughter won't go easy on you now. She's sneaky that one" Your dad chuckles, standing beside the mat. Tyler glances at your dad before glancing over at you as you stretch. "Ready, tough guy?" You ask. Tyler huffs, "Yeah...".
You let Tyler be the one to make the first move but regardless if he does or not, you're going to beat him. With swift movement, you knock him to the ground. His head is trapped in between your thighs as you hold his arm. Tyler taps the mat and you release him from your grasp. Tyler doesn't know what to think. His head was just trapped in your thighs. He feels his face heat up thinking about it. "You okay, Ty? Sorry bout that" You chuckle, holding out a hand for him. Tyler takes your offered hand to get up, "Don't worry about it...". "I didn't hurt your ego, did I?" You lean closer to him with a smirk playing on your lips. Tyler swallows, becoming nervous at your closeness, "N-No". "Good" You back away from him and walk over to Logan. Tyler's eyes follow your every movement until an arm wraps around his shoulder. "I told you she was sneaky" Your dad chuckles. "Don't get any ideas, kid" His tone lowers to a whisper. Tyler's face explodes with heat, "I- I wasn't, sir!".
Your dad releases him with a chuckle, "I'm just teasing. Better treat her right, kid. Take care of my little girl when I'm not around". Tyler's eyes widen at your dad's words, "W-wait it's not like that..!". Little did Tyler know, you heard his conversation with your dad. "Dad! Stop teasing him!" You playfully push your father back. You turn to Tyler, "Sorry about him...". Bringing your attention back to your dad as you move him further away from Tyler. You look at your dad with sad eyes, "I guess I got my answer...". "I'm sorry, kiddo. You never know, maybe he's just intimidated by me" Your dad flexes his muscles, trying to lighten the mood. You give your dad a soft smile, "I don't think so but... It's whatever now. Wither it's one-sided or not". Your dad ruffles your hair, "Like I said. You never know... I have to go now, see you at home. I love you, [Y/N]". "I love you too, dad" You wave goodbye as you watch your dad enter Ashlyn's house with her parents. Over the month, you noticed you started to have feelings for Tyler. Once you finally admitted it to yourself, you fell hard. You ended up telling your dad and Logan about it. You're sure the others could catch on. Aiden somehow already seemed to know and he likes teasing you about it without letting the others hear him.
"That midterms joke was great" You hear Aiden laugh as you walk over to the group. "It wasn't a joke you idiot. They're next week" Tyler glares at the blonde before glancing at you. He notices your expression has changed from your earlier happy one, it seems sad now. Just before he can ask if you're okay Ashlyn stands up. "Ashlyn?" Taylor raises an eyebrow. The gingered-haired girl peeks behind one of the buses. "Did you hear somethin' again?" Aiden stands beside her, you on the other side. "I thought I did. It's just a bird though" Ashlyn sighs. "You got worked up over a crow?" Tyler questions. "It didn't sound like a crow. I thought it was a footstep" Ashlyn eyes the boy standing behind you. "Maybe you got it mixed up with your parents walking away?" Taylor stands beside Tyler. "Let's just finish setting up the traps..." You walk away, not wanting to be close to Tyler right now.