Tumblr prompt: Three teens are home alone in 1965. A storm hits. The power goes out. Something starts moving in the basement. One of the three teens should be disabled somehow
Note: This is super long, as it is at over 5000 words. This is also the Halloween special this year, so Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you enjoy this one-shot!
Pairing: McTyVan
The doorbell rang, which prompted the two boys inside to jump up and run to the door. One of them nearly slid into the door, but stopped himself by grabbing onto the doorknob. "Tyler, you're going to hurt yourself if you do that," the other boy snorted, nudging Tyler out of the way.
Tyler rolled his eyes, "Shut up, Evan and let the poor boy in, will ya?"
"I would, but you're blocking the door."
Tyler took a step back, letting Evan actually open the door.
The boy standing there jumped as the door swung open almost violently. "Bryce!" Evan practically yelled, pulling the boy in and giving him a big hug. Bryce tensed up, not used to such physical contact in such little time with someone he didn't know that well. He had only just met the two when he had moved into their neighborhood recently, and the two boisterous boys had took him under their wing almost immediately. It was weird for Bryce, having such energetic friends. Actually, it was weird for him to have friends in general.
He only knew bits and pieces about the two boys themselves: Evan was Canadian and played some sort of sport (not that Bryce was surprised; the boy could probably bench press him, even though he was shorter than Bryce. Then again, anyone probably could bench press him. He was practically a stick), and Tyler apparently had some sort of disability that Bryce didn't know about. Bryce figured it was a rumor, since the only thing that seemed to be wrong with Tyler was his mouth and his temper that always got him in trouble.
After Evan had hugged him, Tyler ruffled his hair and hugged him too. He wasn't expecting Tyler to be a hugging kind of guy, but then again, Tyler didn't seem like the type of guy that seemed to be friendly, yet here he was, acting like he had known Bryce for years, when in fact it has been only about a month. It was almost unsettling for Bryce, but he managed to smile at the two. "So uh, what exactly are we doing?"
"Eh, I was thinking we could just hang out here and maybe watch some TV or something. You good with that?" Bryce nodded maybe a little too fast. He didn't mind doing either of those things, but he still had the fear that they were going to turn him into mush if he didn't agree to what they said.
Both smiled at him and grabbed his hands, pulling him into the living room. Evan turned on the TV and turned to Bryce and Tyler. "I'm gonna go change and get a drink, you guys want anything?"
Tyler snorted, "What, are you going to change into your hockey uniform to impress the guest?"
Well, Bryce now knew what sport Evan played.
Evan rolled his eyes, "No, idiot. I'm actually going to put on a tank top and some shorts, thank you very much. Bryce, you want a drink?"
"You're not gonna ask me?" Tyler asked, cutting off Bryce before he could speak once again.
"Tyler, you know where the drinks are, so shut up. Bryce, do you want anything?"
"Do you have an soda?" Bryce asked quietly.
"I think we have some Coke in there if you want one."
"That would be nice, thank you." Evan smiled at him and left.
"Aww, you're so cute with your manners and whatnot," Tyler cooed, smiling and pinching Bryce's cheek. Bryce flinched and grabbed Tyler's hand as an instinct, pulling it off. Tyler chuckled and plopped down onto the couch. He motioned for Bryce to sit next to him. Bryce slowly walked over and sat next to him, but made sure to put some space in between them. Tyler saw and scoffed at he rolled his eyes. He swung his legs onto the couch, laying them on top of Bryce's legs. Bryce looked over at Tyler. Tyler was fixated with what was on TV. Bryce would have asked for him to move his legs, but the fear of getting clobbered to death - or maybe squished to death in this case - was still there, so he kept his mouth shut and tried to ignore it.
"Tyler, get your legs off the poor boy, you're probably squishing him to death." Bryce jumped at Evan's voice. He had just gotten used to the silence, but Evan ruined it. Not that Bryce minded, really. He just wished he had a warning beforehand (though if he was being honest, he would probably still have jumped. He was just a jumpy child for some reason).
Tyler rolled his eyes again and took his legs off of Bryce, looking behind the couch where Evan was. He whistled suddenly, "Damn, Evan, who you tryin' to impress here?" Bryce finally looked back to where Evan was.
Evan was wearing exactly what he said he was going to wear: a tank top and some shorts. Except the tank top was pretty tight looking, and the shorts were not only shorter than what Bryce expected, but they also looked snug on him. Bryce felt his cheeks flare up for no apparent reason, and he gulped. He was suddenly very thirsty, too. Thank god Evan had gotten him that Coke.
Evan tossed the can to Bryce, who almost dropped it. He stumbled with opening it, but eventually got it. His hands were shaking, which never happened. He wondered if he was getting sick. It would be weird since he almost never got sick, but it was the only explanation he had.
Evan sat in between Bryce and Tyler. He grabbed the remote and changed the channel to some sports channel that was playing hockey. Tyler scoffed and snatched the remote from him, changing the channel to something else. Evan frowned, "Hey, I was watching that."
"Well, me and Bry don't want to watch your shitty sport."
Bryce looked over at them when he heard what Tyler had called him. Bry? He had never heard anyone call him that before. He almost liked it for some reason.
The TV show was now forgotten, as Bryce watched his...friends (he still wasn't used to calling them that) fight over the remote.
Evan was practically climbing on top of Tyler to try and get the remote that Tyler was holding out of his reach. This gave Bryce the perfect view of his ass. Bryce felt his cheeks practically burst into flames as he eyes wandered over the scene in front of him (but not without Bryce staring at Evan's ass for a little longer than what a normal person would do). Eventually the two were practically wrestling on the couch, the remote tossed aside. Bryce brought his legs to his chest, trying to get out of the way. But he continued watching the two, almost entranced.
The wrestling match ended with Tyler pinning Evan onto the couch, holding his hands above his head. Both were panting and sweating, and grinning at each other, and before you knew it they were laughing too. Bryce bit his lip. He didn't know what it was about the way the two in front of him were situated, but it made him feel hot and weird.
Tyler got off of Evan and pulled him up. They both looked at Bryce, who was still staring at them. Evan frowned, looking concerned. "Bryce, you okay? Your face is pretty red."
Before he could answer, Tyler snorted a laugh. "He's probably just concerned about us, who just wrestled for a remote for like, half an hour." Evan smiled and laughed, the concern now gone.
"Just say something if something's wrong, okay?" Bryce nodded and swallowed. He still couldn't get that image out of his head. He felt dirty for even thinking about it.
The phone rang, bringing all three boys out of their thoughts. "I got it," Tyler called, getting up and going to the phone.
A minute later, Tyler came back. "Who was it?" Evan asked.
"It was my mom, she's leaving the house for something so I have to either go back home or bring Kino here. You're fine with that, right?"
Evan nodded, "Yeah, that's fine. Take Bryce with you, too. Just so he can see Kino first hand." Tyler chuckled and turned to Bryce.
"Well, come on then. It won't take long, my house is just down the block." Bryce got up from his spot on the couch and followed Tyler to his house.
Outside, the wind was picking up a little bit. Bryce didn't bring a jacket, but he sure as hell wished he did. Tyler noticed Bryce shivering out of the corner of his eye. "You cold? Actually, scratch that, you're definitely cold. When we get to my house I'll hand you one of my jackets, okay?"
Bryce almost nodded instantly. Tyler chuckled and stopped in front of a house (presumably his house). Tyler grabbed the doorknob and looked at Bryce, looking worried suddenly. "You're not allergic to dogs, are you?" Bryce shook his head. Tyler sighed with relief, "Oh thank god. Because Kino is one big dog who loves everybody." He proceeded to open the door.
As soon as he did, Bryce heard a howl, followed with nails quickly scraping against tile. A Dalmatian came running towards them and practically jumped onto Tyler. "Kino! Get down," Tyler laughed, trying to avoid all the licks Kino was giving him. Kino got down and then stood in front of Bryce, wagging his tail wildly. Bryce smiled and pet the dog, who then tried to lick his face. Bryce giggled and pushed Kino's face away, but continued petting him. Kino was now calmed down at this point, as his tail wagging slowed down.
"Bryce, catch!" Bryce looked up and barely caught the jacket that was thrown at him. It almost scared Bryce, hearing Tyler's voice. One second Tyler was next to Bryce and the next he was across the room.
The jacket Tyler had thrown at him was way too big for him (Tyler was practically a giant; all of his clothing would be too big for Bryce. Bryce began to wonder how it would look on Evan). He slipped it on. If he tried, he could probably fit his entire body in the jacket with some extra room. Tyler chuckled at the sight, almost cooing at how cute Bryce looked.
Instead, he called his dog over and put the leash on him. Kino pulled at the leash excitedly and barked, desperately wanting to go for a walk. "Calm down Kino, we're only going to Evan's house." Kino stopped trying to walk forward and looked back at Tyler, his tail wagging at full speed. Tyler pet him before walking back to the front door. He looked up and frowned. "Looks like we're getting a storm today. We better hurry before It starts raining." Bryce nodded and hurried out with Tyler.
Once they were outside, Bryce felt the wind blowing against his face harshly, followed by a raindrop on his head. A crack of thunder was heard, and then the rain really started. "Shit! Come on Bryce, let's go!" Tyler grabbed Bryce's hand and began running. Bryce almost couldn't keep up with Tyler, but with Tyler's grip, he stayed right behind him.
They made it to Evan's house soon, but they were kind of soaked. Tyler made it inside, undoing Kino's leash with one hand while the other was still holding on to Bryce's hand. Bryce didn't know why Tyler was still holding his hand, but he kind of liked it for some reason.
Once the leash was off of Kino, the dog bolted to the hallway, running into one of the rooms. A loud laugh was heard, which Bryce recognized as Evan's. Tyler pulled Bryce to what looked to be Evan's room.
The room was filled with lots of hockey posters and other items pertaining to the sport. Evan was sitting on his bed, petting Kino. He looked up and laughed a little. "I guess the rain got you guys, huh?" Tyler just rolled his eyes. Evan finally looked at Bryce, and his smile widened. "Aww, Tyler, you lent Bryce your jacket? He looks so cute like that," he cooed. Bryce blushed and unknowingly squeezed Tyler's hand harder. He only realized it when Tyler squeezed back. Bryce didn't know if he did it on purpose or not, but either way he was blushing even more now.
"Alright!" Tyler yelled, causing Bryce to jump. Evan just rolled his eyes and looked up at Tyler, waiting for what he was going to say. "I'm getting hungry. What do you have, Evan?" Evan rolled his eyes again and got up. He squeezed between Bryce and Tyler to get through the door, which caused the two to let go of each other's hand. Bryce's hand felt cold now. He shoved it into the jacket pocket and followed Evan and Tyler into the kitchen.
Evan opened up the fridge and looked through it. "Let's see, we have-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the lights flickered, and then went out. Evan cursed under his breath and shut the fridge door quickly. "There goes my snack," Tyler grumbled. Evan blindly searched through the drawers, eventually finding the flashlights. He handed one to each person after he turned his on.
"We'll have to use these until the power comes back on, and I don't know when that will be." Tyler excused himself to go find Kino, who was probably still in Evan's room.
Bryce hated and loved thunderstorms at the same time. He loved them because he loved the sound of rain, no matter how hard or soft the rain was. He hated them because he hated the thunder. It scared him everytime, no matter how loud or how low it rumbled.
There was another loud crash outside which caused Bryce to jump. Evan had his flashlight pointed at Bryce, so he caught it. "Bryce? You okay?"
Bryce swallowed and nodded, "Yeah, I-I just don't like the sound of thunder, that's all."
Evan frowned and pulled Bryce closer to him. "Hey, if you're scared, you can stick with me, alright?" Evan was really close to Bryce. Really close.
Bryce gulped and nodded, feeling the blush rise back up to his cheeks. Evan smiled at him. Neither of them spoke. Bryce could swear that Evan was leaning forward. He didn't know what to do. Should he lean forward too? Lean back? Stay where he was?
"I got Kino!" Tyler yelled from somewhere in the house. Bryce jumped and Evan seemed to lean back, but he lightly grabbed Bryce's arm. "Alright, bring him into the kitchen!" Evan yelled back.
Soon Tyler appeared with Kino happily wagging his tail behind him. "Sorry for the long wait, Kino had gotten under the bed." Evan just nodded.
It became silent, with the three awkwardly standing in the kitchen. Tyler opened his mouth to say something, but shut it after hearing something. It sounded like a muffled groan. Where it came from, he didn't know.
"Did-did you guys hear that?" Bryce whispered.
"That groaning sound?" Evan whispered back. Bryce nodded.
"Tyler?"
"I heard it too. I don't know where it came from, though."
They heard it again. Bryce grabbed onto Evan's arm, looking around in the darkness.
"I think it's coming from the basement," Tyler whispered, shining his flashlight on the door that let down there.
"What?" Evan walked over to the door and put his ear against it. He pulled back quickly after a couple of seconds. "Yeah, it's definitely coming from down there." Tyler began walking toward it, but then Kino began growling. Tyler turned around and Kino stopped. He turned slowly back to the door, and Kino began growling at it.
"What's wrong with Kino?" Bryce asked quietly. He was almost shaking at this point.
"I have no idea, I've never seen him like this," he admitted.
"If Kino thinks it's bad, then it's probably really bad."
"Maybe. Evan, what's down there anyways?"
"Just a bunch of old tools and some other stuff. My dad used to work down there, before he moved all of his stuff in the garage. He doesn't allow anyone to go down there anymore."
"Why not?" Bryce asked.
"He said something about there still being stuff from his old workshop down that that we could hurt ourselves with or whatever, I don't really know. All I definitely know is that he locked that door and told me not to go in there."
"Wait, he locked it? Does that mean that we can't go in?" Tyler asked, almost sad. He wanted to go on this little "adventure", or whatever you would call it. It gave them something to do, since they couldn't watch TV because the power was out. In this case, his boredom had overpowered his fear by a lot.
"I mean, I'm pretty sure it's locked. You can check if you want." Tyler shrugged and put his hand on the doorknob. He flinched at how cold it was and almost pulled away.
Kino started going nuts, barking like mad. "Kino, shut the hell up!" Tyler yelled. Kino stopped, but continued to growl. Tyler was able to turn the doorknob all the way. He looked over at Evan, "I thought you said this was locked?"
"I swear that was locked this morning. I even checked it."
"Why'd you check it?" Bryce asked. It just seemed odd to him that Evan would check the door if it was always locked. Unless someone was going in without then knowing it, which is even odder.
"My mom makes me check every morning. She's kind of scared of the basement for some reason. I mean, I've never been down there, but she has, so I don't know why. It's probably just because it seems so eerie."
Tyler finally opened the door fully, swinging it open so fast that it slammed against the wall and bounced off. "Jesus Tyler, don't break the door," Evan said, walking up to it. Bryce followed, stopping behind Evan and peering into the dark staircase that led down. Kino instantly stopped growling and whimpered before running to another room.
"Should we really be going down there?" Bryce asked with a shaky voice. He didn't like the look of that basement at all. The situation reminded him of a horror movie. Which if this was a horror movie, that meant that they were probably going to die if they went down that. The thought of dying to some monster in the basement made Bryce even more scared of it. He couldn't help his childish mind; if he tried to push it down, he'd just end up with nightmares that would plague his mind for weeks - maybe even months - on end. He shivered at that thought.
Another groaning noise came out of the basement, louder than before. Bryce gulped. Evan and Tyler's eyes widened. They all looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Well, until Tyler spoke up.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna go down there and see what's making all the racket. You can come join me if you want." He stepped down onto the first step. Bryce gasped and grabbed onto his arm, stopping him from going any further.
"Tyler, wait!" Tyler turned around and lifted an eyebrow at him. "What if you get hurt down there?" He felt more scared for Tyler than anything. His mind went back to the horror movie idea. He felt like one of, if not the only, girl in the movie, begging for her lover to not go down to the basement, where his demise awaited him.
Tyler shrugged Bryce's hand away, but smiled at him reassuringly. "I'll be fine, I promise. If anything happens to me - which nothing probably will - I'll holler. That sound like a good plan?"
Bryce bit his lip and rubbed his arm, "I just don't think you should go down there alone..."
"I'll bring Kino with me. Kino! Come here boy!" He whistled and called, but Kino never came. He sighed and looked back at the two. "Well, if he's not coming with me, then I guess so have to go alone-"
"I'll go with you," Evan offered.
Tyler scoffed, "Yeah, and leave Bryce alone up here? I think not."
"Well, he doesn't want you to go down there alone, and since you're so hot-headed, you're not going to just not go down there. Besides, he has Kino with him."
"Kino ran off to god knows where, and Kino is a dog, not a person! They have different comforting affects!"
Bryce almost wanted to be Kino in that moment, running away and probably hiding from everything. He didn't like arguements, especially between his friends (he finally accepted the term to describe the two. That meant a lot in his book). But he wasn't Kino, he was Bryce. And if he didn't do something fast, a fight might break out or something, and he definitely did not want to pick a side. He liked them both equally, and wanted to keep it that way.
"How about we all go?"
Tyler and Evan stopped arguing to look at Bryce. They both sported surprised looks on their faces. "Bryce, are you sure about this? I mean, you don't have to go down there if you don't want to," Evan said, putting a hand on Bryce's shoulder and looking him in the eye. Bryce pushed off Evan's hand and smiled at the both of them.
"I'll-I'll be fine, trust me. As long as you two are with me, I'll be safe." Evan and Tyler looked at each other and seemed to relax. They turned back to Bryce and smiled at him.
"As long as you're okay with it," Tyler said. He grabbed Evan's hand, and Evan grabbed Bryce's hand as they walked down the stairs. The sound of something groaning filled their ears, echoing throughout the room. Bryce squeezed Evan's hand tightly, already regretting his decision. I should have stayed up there with Kino, he thought. But they were already halfway down the stairs, and Evan's grip on his hand was tight.
When they had made it to the ground floor, Tyler shined his flashlight around. "Jesus this place is big," he commented.
"I don't remember it being this big..." Evan admitted, turning his own flashlight on and looking around as well. Bryce took out his flashlight and turned it on, only for it to flicker and die. He frowned and smacked it a couple of times with no result.
"My flashlight died," Bryce groaned, shoving it into the jacket pocket.
"Shit, really? You must have gotten the bad one. Come here," Evan called, shining his flashlight over to Bryce. Bryce followed the flashlight and grabbed Evan's arm.
Bryce and Evan were on the other side of the room when they heard Tyler curse loudly, followed by a loud thump. "Tyler!" They both yelled, turning and finding him with their flashlight. Tyler was laying on his back, groaning. They rushed over to him.
"What happened?" Bryce asked, kneeling down.
"MS," Tyler mumbled.
"What?"
"Multiple sclerosis. His legs pretty much just shut down every once in a while, and he's got to relearn how to walk," Evan explained.
Bryce's eyes widened, "Relearn how to walk? Is it painful?"
"No," Tyler said, catching their attention. "It's just annoying."
Before anyone could say anything else, they heard another groaning noise. It was the loudest it had been since they heard it. Evan used his flashlight and shined it around, trying to find where the source of the noise was. The light went past the far corner of the room, but then quickly returned. They couldn't make it out, but there was something there. "What is that?" Bryce asked, his voice starting to shake, as well as his entire body.
Evan squinted at the spot, "I have no idea."
"Can one of you explain to me what the fuck you see? I can't exactly sit up, you know," Tyler said loudly.
"There's something in the corner of the room, but we can't make out what it is," Bryce said.
"Which corner? The one closest to us?"
"The exact opposite."
The thing groaned again, and Evan's flashlight flickered for a second. "Did... Did it just... Move?" Bryce gasped.
"No, no it couldn't have, could it?" Even though it did seem closer, Evan didn't want to admit that. He didn't want to scare them even more (well, more like he didn't want to scare Bryce even more. Tyler was more pissed and confused than anything).
The thing groaned again, Evan's flashlight flickered again, and this time he couldn't say that it wasn't closer; he could now see what it looked like. "Evan," Bryce whispered frantically, "we have to get out of here, now."
"What's going on? What's happening? Don't leave me in the dark here, guys," Tyler said. He sounded worried, almost scared.
"That thing, it-it keeps coming closer. We need to go."
"What thing?"
"It's-it's-" Bryce took a deep breath and looked down at Tyler. "I don't know."
Tyler saw the look of fear in Bryce's face and knew he wasn't joking (although Bryce didn't seem like the type of person to joke around about stuff like that, or even really joke around in general).
The thing groaned and got even closer to them. "Come on, let's get out of here," Evan said quickly, not taking his eyes off of whatever was in front of them.
"How are we going to get Tyler up?" Bryce asked, motioning to Tyler's legs.
Evan took a deep breath, "We're just going to have to carry him."
The thing groaned once again, and now a pungent smell hit their noses. "Oh god, what is that?" Tyler asked, covering his mouth and coughing.
"That's whatever is coming towards us. Bryce, get on one side of Tyler and try to sit him up."
Bryce did as he was told (although he felt as though his arms were going to fall off. They were definitely not meant to carry someone), and him and Evan managed to sit him up. Tyler caught sight of the thing and his eyes widened. "Oh, fuck, we gotta go."
They couldn't pick Tyler up all the way with his legs being dead weight. Evan stuffed the flashlight in his pocket, making sure to remember where the stairs were before helping Bryce. They managed to drag him to the stairs, but they had to put him down to rest.
Evan held out his flashlight to find the creature. When he found it, it was facing them, and it was definitely closer. "How'd it get so close already?" Bryce whispered.
"I don't know, and I don't really care at this point. All I do know is that we need to get up-"
The thing started moving towards them. Not just it moving whenever Evan's flashlight flickered; it was physically moving toward them.
Bryce panicked and tried to hurry up, but ended up tripping over the stairs and twisted his ankle. He hissed in pain and bit his lip, hot tears threatening to fall down his face. "Shit Bryce, you okay?" Evan asked. He hoped to god he was okay, because if he wasn't, they were fucked.
Bryce nodded, "Yeah, let's just keep going." He winced every time he took a step, but he wasn't about to cause their deaths. Even though he could still walk, it caused them to go up slower. The thing almost seemed to gain speed because of this. Luckily they had left the door open, so they could easily get out.
When they had gotten to the top, they practically dragged each other out the door and onto the kitchen floor. They all panted before looking at each other and laughing. None of them knew why it was so funny; it just was.
They stopped laughing when the groaning was louder than ever. Bryce sat up and shrieked. The thing was somehow already at the top of the steps, crawling out of the door. Evan got up quickly and tried shutting the door on the thing. But the thing was strong and was able to hold the door at least a little bit open. Evan pushed his entire weight on the door, and yet it wouldn't close. Bryce eventually began to help as much as he could with his twisted ankle, but even then the door wouldn't close. It actually seemed to open even more with Bryce's weight.
Suddenly, growling and barking was heard, and Kino ran into the room, snapping at the thing. The thing hissed in horror and tried swiping at the dog once it got one of its hands through. Kino bit the hand and pulled, still growling. The thing shrieked loudly in pain. The shriek was high-pitched and hurt everyone's ears. Kino pulled the arm off of the thing, and the thing retreated back into the basement. Evan and Bryce fell and closed the door shut. They heard the familiar click of the lock being turned. Bryce tried the door, but it was locked. He slid down the door, shaking and on the verge of tears. Evan pulled him closer and kissed the top of his head before crawling over to Tyler. "You okay, Ty?" he asked quietly. Tyler opened his eyes. He looked tired and he felt tired. He nodded.
"As long as Bryce is okay, I'm okay." Kino dropped the hand and ran over to Tyler, whining and laying his head on Tyler's chest. Tyler smiled and scratched behind Kino's ear. "You did good, boy. You did good." Kino walked behind Tyler and tried getting his head under Tyler's back. Tyler tried to lift his torso up with his hands, but fell back. Evan and Kino helped him sit up. Evan pulled Tyler back to the counter so he could sit up against the cabinets. Kino laid down with his head on Tyler's lap. Tyler pet Kino again and looked up at Bryce, who was staring at the ground. "Bryce, come here." Bryce looked up slowly at Tyler. He looked as though he had been trying not to cry.
Tyler felt bad for Bryce. Actually, everyone felt bad for Bryce. Here he was, this awkward kid who had just met these two kids just a month ago, and he's already been getting fucked over. He didn't deserve any of this; nobody did. Tyler was surprised that he hadn't had a mental breakdown yet.
Bryce sniffed and slowly crawled over to where Tyler was, wincing because his leg still hurt. He then burst into tears, sobbing loudly and hugging Tyler is hard as he could. There it was; his breaking point. Tyler was wondering when that was going to happen ever since they had gotten down into the basement.
Tyler hugged back tightly. Evan hugged him too. Even Kino joined, although he didn't exactly "hug" Bryce. He just licked Bryce's face until Bryce had stopped crying.
When Bryce had stopped sobbing hysterically, he forced himself to pull back from the hug. A few tears still ran down his now red face, but he forcefully wiped them away. "Hey, Bryce, look at me," Tyler said, reaching up and grabbing Bryce's face. Blue eyes met blue, and Bryce's heart began beating fast again. "You're alright now, you understand? You're out of there. You're fine. Now calm down and stop crying." He pulled Bryce down and kissed the top of his head, much like Evan did earlier. Bryce grabbed Tyler's hand, and then grabbed Evan's hand. He held onto them tightly as he settled himself in between them before dozing off.
All that had happened was behind him now; now, he was being comforted by the two boys that he was now extremely grateful for.