Warnings: None

Word Count: 1973

Author's Note: I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has shown the series support so far! It means the world to me, considering how hard I've been working on this series :) Enjoy chapter one!

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You grabbed your bag from the passenger seat and pulled it into your lap before flipping down the visor to check your teeth one last time before walking inside. Spending the evening doing homework wasn't exactly your preferred way of passing time, but at least Tyler had offered for you to come do it at his apartment. It was better than being stuck at home, at least.

You didn't bother knocking as you reached his door. He had given you a key as soon as he had moved in, claiming that he would probably lose his in a week and need you to come rescue him. It had only taken him two days to lose them.

"Hello!" you called throughout the tiny apartment.

Tyler spun around and pulled his headphones down around his neck. He smiled once he realized that it was just you entering his apartment.

"How was school?" he asked as you collapsed onto the couch.

"Boring. The stuff we went over in psychology was just a repeat of what I learned last term and my history class was," you paused as you searched for the right word, "mundane."

"Did you learn that in class today?" he laughed.

Tyler tossed his headphones down on top of his keyboard and joined you on the couch. You had already covered his coffee table in all of your school stuff. He began to grab at papers, flipping through them idly.

"Hey!" you said, snatching them out of his hand. "You're going to get these all mixed up."

"Sorry, I was just seeing what I'm missing out on."

You smiled and shook your head, thinking back to the term that you and Tyler had spent at college together. From the beginning, you could tell that he was out of place in the education scene. His heart had always been with music and when he dropped out to pursue that, you knew it was the right call.

"Lots of exciting stuff," you said, grabbing the textbook you needed.

Tyler stood up and wandered off towards the kitchen. You watched him walk, idly letting his hands trace along the edge of the counter. Your mouth started to curl into a smile, but you wiped it away and turned back to your textbook. Homework. That was your focus right now.

It only took two sentences before your mind was wandering back to Tyler again. You pulled your lip between your teeth and chewed nervously on it, cursing yourself for allowing yourself to feed into these emotions still. Four years had passed since the truth or dare incident, and yet the crush you had then still resided within you now. At this point, you were pretty sure you would be in love with Tyler forever.

"Dinner?"

"What?" You had only registered that Tyler was talking by the time that he had reached the end of his question.

"I asked if you wanted dinner. I was going to eat earlier, but then you said you were on your way over so I decided to wait."

You shifted your laptop onto the coffee table and rotated so that you could rest an arm on the back of the couch, figuring that this conversation warranted your full attention.

"Sure, what should we get?"

"Well, we could make something here."

You made a face.

"Or go to the thai place down the street that we like?"

"Better answer," you grinned.

"If you call it in, I'll run down and get it."

"Deal."

Tyler wrote down what he wanted on a post-it note and handed it to you. You jotted down your own order - just so that you wouldn't forget it while on the phone - and dialed the thai place. Honestly, you were surprised that they didn't recognize your voice alone based on the sheer number of times you and Tyler had ordered from them.

"Fifteen minutes," you said, tossing your phone down on the couch.

"Fifteen minutes," Tyler quietly repeated as he messed around on his phone.

He walked back into the living room and collapsed onto the couch, sending most of your papers flying. You shot him a look as you quickly gathered them back up and tucked them into their proper folders where they wouldn't get messed with by Tyler.

"How's the music going?" you asked. Next to you, Tyler had grabbed one of your highlighters and was spinning it around his fingers.

"It's going. The new guy, Josh, he's been a really big help in writing the music. I think we're going to be able to get the album out in a week or two."

"Already? That was fast."

"We just need something to get attention. If we sit around waiting to make the perfect album, we'll never put anything out."

You reached over and grabbed the highlighter that he was twirling, "That makes sense, but you should still be proud of what you create."

"I am, don't worry."

You finished typing up a few notes before turning to Tyler.

"So this guy, Josh, he's cool?"

"Really cool," Tyler nodded. "We've only been working together for a couple months, but it feels like I've known him for a lifetime."

"He's not replacing me, is he?" you laughed, hoping it would hide the nervousness in your voice.

"No. I don't think anyone could ever replace you, Y/N."

Tyler reached over and gave you an affectionate punch in the shoulder. You retaliated by tossing a highlighter at him, but he simply caught it and proceeded to twirl it around his fingers again.

"That's what I like to hear."

You hated that there were butterflies in your stomach from such a simple statement. All Tyler had said was that Josh wouldn't be taking your place, it's not like he had just confessed his love to you. There was no reason for you to be getting so worked up over something so simple.

"Are you doing psychology homework?"

"History."

"What are you reading about?"

"Well, I would be reading about Ancient Greece if I didn't keep getting interrupted," you answered. Tyler pursed his lips, but they were still curved up into a smile.

"Hey, in my defense, you accepted my offer to come do homework over here."

"I wasn't anticipating being so distracted."

"Y/N."

"Yes?"

"How long have you known me?"

"Seven years."

"Exactly, so what made you think that I wasn't going to distract you?"

"Hope," you laughed.

Tyler shook his head and set your highlighter down among the rest of your study materials.

"I need to go pick up the food."

"Have fun," you called after him.

"No promises."

He shut the front door behind him, leaving you in his silent apartment. Normally you would have offered to go with him to avoid this very situation, but since it was the first moment of peace you had since arriving, you took it as a blessing rather than a curse. The more homework you got done now, the more uninterrupted time you could spend together later.

"I'm back!" Tyler announced, holding up a white plastic bag in one hand.

"How was your trip?"

He muttered something unintelligible under his breath as he pulled your orders out of the bag. While he did that, you stacked your things up into a neat pile so that the two of you would actually have room to eat. Tyler's apartment was too small for a proper dining room table, so the couch had to take its place.

"Want to hear about my trip?" Tyler groaned as he sat down on the couch. He passed your food and a fork to you.

"Indulge me."

"So I get to the thai place, no problem. There was like one lady in line in front of me, which is fine, but then she spent an entire five minutes ordering. Five minutes! When I finally got up to the counter, I was like 'Pickup order for Joseph', paid, and was out of there in two minutes flat. It was all so unnecessary," he mumbled as he stirred up his noodles.

"But you're back now!" you smiled as you did the same.

"Now we get to enjoy delicious food and good company."

"Exactly."

You watched as Tyler struggled to get his noodles to stay on his fork. He tried three times before finally getting fed up and sticking something else with his fork. His cheeks turned a light shade of pink as soon as he noticed you watching the whole ordeal.

"They were slippery," he muttered.

"I noticed."

"Oh hey! I had a question for you."

Your heart started to beat a little faster as your mind filled with millions of possibilities. It was one of the reasons that you hated open-ended questions, there was too much room to worry.

"What?"

"Your brother is still living at home, right?"

Your heart rate seemed to slow back down to normal in an instant.

"Yeah, but he's looking for a place. Why do you ask?"

"Josh and I are planning to play some shows in the next couple months, and it would be great if he could help us with loading and setting up at a couple of them. I'd give him free tickets for the show, since I know he's into music."

"Why can't I help?" you asked.

"Do you want to?"

"Well, maybe not, but I'm capable!"

"Y/N, I remember high school gym class. You're not fooling me."

"Hey! Not all of us were basketball stars like you."

"Most three-point shots during a single season in the school's history," he grinned.

"Yeah, and you won't let me forget it."

Tyler smiled and took another bite of his food. You took a moment to admire the dorky grin on his face before pulling your gaze away, afraid to stare too long. Even though Tyler knew about your feelings for him, you tried not to make it blatantly obvious. Part of you was still afraid that one day he would decide it was too much and end your friendship.

"What are you thinking about, Y/N?"

You needed a lie. Fast.

"All the work I have to do. It seems never ending," you said, making a face for extra emphasis.

Tyler nodded towards your pile of schoolwork, "Looks like it."

"And that's not even all my stuff."

"I don't know how you do it."

"I could say the same thing about you and music."

Tyler opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and pressed his lips together. His eyebrows furrowed for a moment before they relaxed again and he let out a sigh.

"You have a point."

"Shocking, I know."

The two of you made a bit more conversation as you finished up your dinner. As soon as you were done, you got back to work on your homework. If you wanted to stay on top of your work, you couldn't let Tyler distract you from getting anything done. Of course, he wasn't going to make that easy.

"Don't you have something better to do than messing with my stuff?" you laughed as he began to juggle your highlighters.

"I'm a musician."

"So?"

"No, I don't have something better to do," he laughed.

You grabbed the highlighter that you needed from midair and used it on the passage that you had just read. Tyler decided that he had had enough of his game and got up from the couch, leaving your school supplies in his wake. He wandered around the living room for a moment before settling down at his piano.

"Do you mind if I play?"

"Not at all."

"I might sing too."

"That's fine, Ty."

"Ok," he said, giving you that all-too-familiar goofy smile.

You bit down on your lip to hide the smile that was beginning to form. This boy was going to be the death of you.