Warnings: Profanity, minor sibling disagreement

Word Count: 1924

Author's Note: Hey! I'm going to be at the beach today and I hate answering comments/asks on mobile, so if it takes me longer than usual to answer your comments, that's why! Also The Hype music video? Loved it. Anyway, in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

*     *     *

You were going to do it. Finally. It was something you should have done a long time ago.

You were going to talk to a boy. One that wasn't Tyler, to be exact. And it was going to be fine. Better than fine, even. It might actually be fun.

There were a couple empty seats towards the front of the lecture hall, so you dropped your stuff onto one of the tables and called it good. You were close enough to see the slides without being so close that you felt like the entire class could see your laptop screen.

A boy sat down next to you a few minutes before class started. His light hair was sticking out from beneath his black beanie and his cheeks had turned a light shade of pink from the cold outside. The glasses he was wearing had slipped down his nose, but he was quick to fix them once he had sorted out all his stuff. He was cute, you had to admit.

But he wasn't Tyler.

"Um, hi," you said, hoping your voice was loud enough to catch his attention.

"Hi." His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, but relaxed again.

You completely blanked on something to say. If you were being honest, you hadn't really expected yourself to get this far.

"I know it's late in the term, but I figured I would introduce myself," you smiled. "I'm Y/N."

"Charlie," he said, returning your smile. "Nice to meet you."

"You too."

"So, what's your major?"

"Psychology. What about you?"

"History."

"That's really cool."

"Most of the time," he smiled. He had a nice smile. "Other times, you end up learning about ancient laws for a week straight."

"Oh yeah, that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun."

"Not at all. But psychology, that seems cool!"

He grabbed his laptop from his bag and set it on the table that you two were sharing. It was covered in tons of stickers, some of which were for bands that you also happened to like. Your plan was already turning out a lot better than you had expected it to.

"Your stickers are awesome!" you grinned. "Where did you get them?"

"My sister actually works for a print shop downtown, so she brings them to me every now and again. I could probably snag you a couple, if you wanted them?"

"Definitely."

Charlie was about to say something else when the professor grabbed everyone's attention. He made a face at you before opening up a document to take notes on, prompting you to do the same.

Yeah, this had been a good idea.

*      *      *

"Car! I'm home!" you called.

"I'm in the den!"

You kicked your shoes off by the door and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Sure enough, Carter was sitting on the couch playing video games yet again.

"Do you ever move?" you laughed as you joined him.

"Only when I have to go to work or someone made food."

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

You dug your laptop out of your bag and grabbed your psychology textbook. As tempting as playing video games with Carter was, you knew there were more pressing things that needed to be attended to.

"How was school?" he asked.

"Fine. I talked to a cute boy in my history class today."

"Oh, did Tyler enroll in school again?"

"Hey!" you said, lobbing a pencil at him. "Shut up."

"Sorry. So you talked to this new guy?"

"Yeah, and he seemed really cool. His laptop was covered in stickers."

"Oh wow! Stickers!" Carter said sarcastically.

"And he gave me his number."

"You should have led with that. A number is way more exciting than stickers."

"I guess."

"Alright, what's the catch?"

"What do you mean?"

Carter paused his game so that he could shoot you a look, "Come on, Y/N. You haven't spent the last ten minutes absolutely swooning over him which means that something is stopping you from falling head over heels for this dude. Does he talk too much? Are his pants too short? Hit me with it."

Sometimes you hated that he knew you so well. Still, you decided to lie.

"There's no catch. I just barely know him."

"There is too a catch."

"Is not."

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Y/N, you're a terrible liar."

"Fine. Maybe there is."

Carter sighed, "Just tell me."

"Well, I mean, he's not-"

"Tyler," you finished in unison.

"Yeah," you muttered.

"Are you really still on that, Y/N?"

"Man, if only I had a dollar for every time I heard that."

"It's a serious question."

"Yes, I'm still 'on that'," you said, doing air quotes.

"Why?"

"What do you mean why, Car? It's not like I can help it."

"Y/N, you've liked him for - what - five years now? Surely something could have been done to help lessen those feelings a bit."

You chewed on the edge of your lip. Carter was usually super understanding and helpful, but apparently today he just felt like being an asshole. In that case, you decided to deal him a taste of his own medicine.

"Is that why you're still moping over Marenna breaking up with you six months ago?" you muttered.

"Hey! That's different. Marenna and I dated for five and a half years. You know, as in actually dating?"

"But it's been six months, Car," you mocked his tone. "Don't you think something could have been done to help lessen those feelings a bit?"

"God, Y/N, we're not talking about that right now!"

"Are you actually going to listen to what I have to say, then?"

"Yes, fine," Carter said, but he had gone back to playing his video games already.

"It's just," you paused as you tried to think of what you actually wanted to say. "Tyler is one of a kind, you know? Nobody has ever quite understood me the way that he does."

"Have you ever even given someone else a chance to understand you like he does?"

"Well-"

"Because I would argue that I understand you almost as well as Tyler does."

"Yeah, but you're my brother. That doesn't really count."

"Sure it does. Plenty of my friends don't know shit about their siblings."

"I guess you're just special, bud," you said, lightly poking Carter with your foot.

"Get your gross sock away from me," he laughed, giving your leg a light shove. "The point that I'm trying to make here is that other people can learn to understand you, you just have to give them a chance."

"I'm going to try. Trust me, I'm just as tired of dealing with these feelings for Tyler as you are with hearing about them."

"Are you going to actually make an effort with this Charlie guy?"

"Maybe."

Carter turned to look at you, "I think you should."

"And I think you should try to win Marenna over again."

"I'm trying, Y/N. I really am."

"Why did you break up again?"

"It was dumb," he sighed. "I just bottled up a lot of my feelings again and then it all came out during a stupid argument. I should have just talked to her when the issue first popped up."

"Yeah, you're not very good about that."

"Thanks for the reminder."

"Anytime, bud."

Carter shook his head and immediately let out a string of curses as someone killed him yet again. You tried not to laugh too hard at his over-the-top reaction, knowing that it would only piss him off more.

"Hey, Car?" you said.

"What?"

"Thanks for talking with me. It actually helped me a lot."

"I may not be good at dealing with my own feelings," he smiled, "but I sure as hell am good at dealing with other people's."

"Ok, moment is gone," you laughed.

*      *      *

You grabbed your phone from the bathroom counter and slowly shuffled towards your room. The night was still young, but you were tired and looking forward to spending the next couple hours in bed and enjoying your freedom. Charlie had texted you about an hour ago, and the two of you had shared some nice conversation in the time since.

Charlie: I'm actually from Washington, but Ohio had a better history program than any of the schools in my area. Are you from around here?

Although you were enjoying talking with Charlie, you couldn't help but feel that conversation was a little boring. Sure, you had only started talking today so you still had to get through all of the introductory questions, but even his answers were bland. Tyler always had such interesting answers to even the most basic of questions.

Tyler. It seemed that despite your best efforts, he had still found his way into your thoughts again.

Y/N: Yeah, I am! My dad works for a big company downtown so I've always lived in or around Columbus. My mom is also from around here so there was really never any reason for us to move since my family is close.

You sent the text and tossed your phone down on your bed while you waited for a response. In the meantime, you decided to go on Tumblr and see what new stuff had been posted since you last checked in. There were a few good posts that you decided to reblog, but you didn't get far before your phone vibrated with a notification.

Charlie: That's super cool! Ohio is a pretty cool place, from what I've seen so far. I'm definitely thinking about staying here over the summer just to see what it's like!

You groaned and fell back onto your pillows. Charlie was really nice, from what you could tell, but he also had the tendency to make things all about him. It felt like you could barely get a word in about yourself before he switched it back to him.

Y/N: Columbus during the summer is the best! I would totally live here, if you get the chance. There's a ton of cool things to do that you don't really get an opportunity to during the colder months.

Fed up with the one-sided conversation, you decided to text someone that you knew wouldn't let you down. This also just so happened to be the same person that you were supposed to be getting over your feelings for.

Y/N: Bored out of my mind. Entertain me!

Your phone vibrated hardly a minute later, making your stomach fill with butterflies. To your disappointment, it was only another text from Charlie.

Charlie: What kind of stuff happens? I'm always down for new adventures!

"Oh, Charlie," you sighed. "If only there was some way for you to find out what kind of summer activities Columbus has!"

You set your phone on your stomach and stared up at the ceiling, just waiting for the moment that Tyler would text you back. He was usually pretty good about responding in a timely manner.

Sure enough, your phone vibrated a short time later.

Tyler: Want to hear about this prank I'm pulling on Josh?

Y/N: Obviously! :P

Tyler's single text had already made you smile more than any of Charlie's poor attempts at flirting with you. There just wasn't a competition between the two of them: Tyler won by a landslide. You bit down on your lip as you read Tyler's text, detailing his plan to prank Josh.

So much for your attempt to get over him.