sorry if this is edited poorly im exhausted and it's almost midnight and I've been on the road all day hopefully I can type another chapter tomorrow. Until then ||-//

Jenna

"I'll be there in about three minutes," Josh says from the other end of the phone.

"Okay," I reply, grabbing my purse from where it's hanging on my bedpost. "Are you picking Ty up before or after me?"

"After," he replies.

"M'kay. See you in a few."

"Bye."

I walk into my bathroom, checking my hair and makeup in the mirror. It's been about two or three weeks since Tyler's suicide attempt, and now we're taking him to a recovery center. He doesn't want a big farewell party, so it'll just be Josh and me saying goodbye.

I turn off the bathroom light and jog down the stairs. "Josh is almost here!" I yell to whoever will hear me.

"Okay, stay safe! Send Tyler my love!" Mom calls from the kitchen.

"I will!" I reply, opening the front door. I sit on my porch steps, waiting for Josh to arrive. I stand up as I see his car turn into the distant intersection at the end of our street. Stepping out to the curb so he doesn't have to go through the hassle of pulling in, I stick out my thumb like a hitchhiker. I see him laugh behind the wheel as he slows to a stop. I climb into the passenger side.

"Your blue hair is cooler than me," I joke. He dyed his hair last week after keeping it bleached for a bit.

He shakes his head. "Nah, you're a pretty cool chick. Your coolness would give my hair frostbite." I laugh, then take a deep breath.

"Wow, two weeks without Tyler. Do you think I can do it?"

"It would've almost been the rest of your life without Tyler if you hadn't got to him when you did."

I freeze, his comment piercing my heart. Tears build up behind my eyes.

His face pales. "I shouldn't have said that." He runs his hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry, I'm such an idiot. Yes, I think you can go two weeks without him. If you can't, you can always call him or talk to me. Gosh, I'm so sorry for saying that. I don't need to upset you."

I sniff. "It's okay. You just made me realize how vital it was that I got to him when I did."

We fall silent as he turns onto Tyler's street. The small, brown-haired boy is already standing on the curb with a suitcase beside him and his ukulele case in one hand. Josh pulls up and parks. We both climb out.

"Hey Ty," I greet, hugging my boyfriend. "You all ready to go?"

He shrugs, pulling away to hug Josh. "I guess as ready as I'll ever be."

I smile and grab his suitcase, setting it on the floor in the back. "Do you want to sit up front with Josh or just chill in the back?"

"You can sit in the back with me," he replies softly.

"Okay."

"No making out. I have a rear-view mirror," Josh says, pointing a finger at us.

I roll my eyes. "Yes, Dad." We laugh and climb into his car. Tyler immediately grabs my hand as soon as we buckle our seatbelts. I give him a small smile.

Silence fills the cab as the miles pass. The recovery center is on the other side of Columbus, so it usually takes a few extra minutes to fight through early-morning traffic. Josh tries to stay on the outskirts of town to avoid most of it. Tyler and I look at him in confusion when he pulls off of the main highway.

He glances at us in the mirror. "I figured we could go to Taco Bell before checking you in."

Ty smiles. "Thanks, bro."

Josh navigates to the nearest Taco Bell and parks close to the building. He pays for the three of us as Tyler and I find a table by the front windows.

"You don't look too excited about going to the recovery center," I state.

He shrugs. "I'm not sure how much I want to be there."

"The people there will try to help you get better. You just have to work with them. Could you try, for me?"

"I guess I can," he says, glancing at me.

I smile just as Josh comes to the table with our drinks. He passes the Pepsi to Tyler and the Dr. Pepper to me, then takes a sip of his Sprite. "Did we all order breakfast burritos?" he asks. We nod. "That makes things easy."

I stand up and get our food when the cashier announces our order, then return to our table. We unwrap our steaming food.

"Thanks for this, guys," Tyler says.

"Anything for you, bro," Josh replies. "It beats the bland cafeteria food you'll be eating these next two weeks."

"True."

I stare at Tyler—who sits across from me—for several minutes, trying to take in every inch that I'll be missing. I took this for granted before, which I regret because I was so close to not seeing him again. I examine his fluffy hair, his matching brown eyes, the slight stubble on his cheeks and chin, his muscled-but-not-too-muscled arms, his chest. He raises an eyebrow at me when he looks up from his half-eaten burrito. I blush and shift my gaze to a nearby picture. I can see him giving me a once-over in my peripheral vision and turn redder.

"Staring is rude you know." He smirks at me, his gaze burning into my face.

"Not if it's for a good reason," I fire back, returning his smirk.

He raises an eyebrow. "And what reason is that?"

"Well, I'm not going to see you for two weeks, so I just wanted to take you all in." I rub the back of my neck and push a stray strand of hair behind my left ear.

"True, true," he reasons.

"Are we ready to go?" Josh asks.

Tyler and I look at each other. He shrugs. "I'm going to end up there either way, so we might as well get going."

The three of us stand up, throw away our trash, and then head back to the car.

Tyler

"This is it, Ty," Jenna says, rubbing my back. Josh parks in front of a large, gray, two-story brick building. I take a deep breath. Two weeks. I promised to give treatment a try for two weeks. I'll get through this.

Yeah, sure you will, just like how you got through your suicide attempt.

I let out a huff of air. The voice has only gotten worse since my failed suicide attempt. It's angry that we were caught.

Jenna interrupts my thoughts. "I'll get your suitcase."

I nod and grab my ukulele case. I swear, if I'm not allowed to have it with me, then I don't know how I'll survive these two weeks.

"Oh, one more thing," Jenna says. She reaches into her purse on her side and pulls out shiny black fabric. "Josh gave this to me. I figured you'd want it back." She holds out the material. I unfold it. My skeleton hoodie!

I smile. "Thank you."

"No problem."

The three of us climb out and shut the car doors, then start our walk to the front of the building. The grounds are well-manicured and neat, the hedges and other plants a relaxing shade of emerald from the upcoming spring.

Josh holds the door for us as we walk into a hospital waiting room type of lobby. A young woman with dark brown hair and glasses sits behind a desk at the side of the room. I read her nametag. Alaina.

Alaina smiles at us. "Are you checking in someone?"

Jenna nods beside me. "We have a place reserved for Tyler Joseph." She gestures to me.

She nods. "ID please?"

I pull my driver's license out of my pocket and hand it to her. She gives me some papers to sign. "You'll have to give your bags to the nurses so they can check them. There are also no phones allowed here. I'll give you two the hospital's phone number." She looks at Jenna and Josh. They nod, and she hands both of them a business card. She leans over and presses a button on the desk phone. A pair of nurses appears a minute later to take my bags. One stays behind empty-handed. I assume he will be my escort.

I turn to my two best friends. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys in two weeks."

Josh hugs me. "See you, bro. I'll call as often as I can." I nod, then open my arms for Jenna.

Her hug squeezes the air from my lungs. "Can't breathe," I pant.

She loosens her grip a little. "Right. Sorry." She looks at me. "This will be the longest I'll go without seeing you. Please get better for me." She kisses me quickly.

"I'll try," I reply. She nods and breaks our hug. The male nurse walks over to my side.

"Well, I guess I have to go," I state. The nurse places a hand on my shoulder and guides me toward a door beside the reception desk. I turn back and look at Jenna and Josh's faces again before stepping through the threshold. I mentally sigh as I think about being unable to see them for two weeks. Then, I turn and step through the doorway to my temporary new home.