Pairing: Previous Tyler Joseph x Reader, Unnamed OMC x Reader

Warnings: Angst, mentions of breakup, drunken behavior

Word Count: 1706

Author's Note: This is the first part of a two-part miniseries! That wasn't my original intention, but there were so many elements in the song that I wanted to include that it ended up being too long for a single fic. Also, I won't be posting links to the song since Tumblr is weird about that kind of thing, but this is based on December by Neck Deep (a really good song!) I hope all of you like it :)

"Come on, please... pick up," Tyler muttered.

He wished that he had brought a jacket with him when he went out to the bar. The mid-winter Ohio air was cold on his bare arms, and stumbling around plastered wasn't really helping his mission of getting back to the apartment in a timely manner.

"Y/N," he whined, staring down at his phone screen as if it would somehow make her pick up.

Her answering message played out into the quiet night.

"Hi, this is Y/N. I can't come to the phone right now, but leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

He listened as Y/N giggled at something that he had said in the background of the message before the familiar voicemail tone sounded.

"Hi," he murmured into the phone. "I know I've called a lot, but you haven't picked up."

Tyler was struggling to form words in his drunken state. Everything coming out of his mouth just felt wrong.

"I just wanted to tell you that I miss you. And I love you. Wait, maybe I shouldn't say that."

He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared down at the screen, squinting a little as he did so. His fingers looked a little bluer than normal. He wondered how long it had been since he left the bar.

"Um, sorry for calling," he slurred. "Bye."

He somehow managed to hit the end call button before slipping his phone back into his pocket. The street that he was on seemed unfamiliar and he had no idea where to go to get home.

His phone started to buzz in his pocket. Hoping it was Y/N, he quickly reached for it and answered. The idea of hearing her voice again was already making his heart flutter.

"Hello?"

"Where are you, man? My phone says you're on the other side of town."

"You're not Y/N," he sighed.

"No, I'm not," Josh answered. "Are you drunk?"

He scoffed, "Hardly."

"Just stay where you are, ok? I'm coming to get you."

"Ok."

It took Tyler a moment to register that Josh had ended the phone call. The world was spinning a bit more than it had been a moment ago, so he took a seat on the curb. A few flakes of snow were beginning to fall from the sky.

Josh pulled up against the curb some time later. Tyler wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there. Time didn't really feel real to him right now. Josh parked the car and hopped out.

"What are you doing out here?" Josh asked, grabbing Tyler's arm and pulling him up to a standing position.

"I was walking home."

"Where's your jacket?"

"Don't have one."

Josh sighed and pulled off his own sweatshirt. After a bit of struggle, he managed to get the sweatshirt over Tyler's head. Tyler rolled his eyes, but the blue tint to his lips suggested that he was probably more thankful for the warmth than he let on.

"Let's get you in the car."

Josh looped an arm around Tyler's waist and walked him over to the side of the car. He waited until Tyler was securely in the passenger seat and buckled up before he got into the driver's seat himself.

"Do you want me to take you home or should I bring you to my house?"

"She doesn't care about me, Josh," Tyler whined as he leaned his head against the window. It was cold, but he didn't care. "She just left me alone."

"Come on, Tyler," Josh said, giving his friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You're just drunk. You'll feel better in the morning."

"Yeah."

But Tyler knew that wasn't true.

The sunlight streaming in through the window woke you up on Saturday morning. Next to you, your boyfriend was still fast asleep, snoring softly. You took a moment to admire him before reaching for your phone and checking your notifications.

There were three voicemail notifications, all from Tyler. He had been calling you at least once a day for the last week, but you left every one of them unanswered. Tyler was a part of your past that you would rather not think about right now.

And yet, your curiosity was getting the better of you.

You slowly got out of bed and walked out into the living room of your little apartment. Your boyfriend's cat was sitting on the windowsill, basking in the morning sunlight. He turned to look at you as you walked into the room.

"Good morning, Pudge," you smiled at him.

You took a seat just below the window where the sunlight was pouring in. It was warm on your back, but you knew that it would be cold as soon as you walked outside. That was the weird thing about winter.

Your finger hovered over the voicemail for a moment as you debated whether you actually wanted to listen to what he had to say. For all you knew, he could be cussing you out and telling you how he had never loved you. Did you really want to risk ruining your memories of him with that?

You decided that your curiosity overcame your fear, so you hit the small play button next to the first message.

"Hey, Y/N. Um, I know you're in an entirely different state now, but if you're willing to talk about everything that happened, that would be nice. Uh, call me back... if you want. Bye."

You couldn't deny the way that your breath still caught when you heard him say your name. The decision to break up had been yours and you knew it had been the right call, but it didn't mean that you no longer had a place for him in your heart.

You hit play on the second voicemail.

"Hi again. I hope you're doing well in your new place. It's really cold in Ohio today. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I'd still like to talk, if you're up for it. Thanks. Bye."

His words had been a bit more slurred in the second message than the first one. You wondered if he had gone out; he had never been big on drinking while you were together, although he was known to do it from time to time. That would explain all the voicemails.

You listened to the last one.

"Hi. I know I've called a lot, but you haven't picked up. I just wanted to tell you that I miss you. And I love you. Wait, maybe I shouldn't say that. Um, sorry for calling. Bye."

You pulled the phone away from your ear and stared at the screen for a moment. Tyler was definitely drunk, there was no denying that. You hit play and brought the phone back up to your ear, just to make sure that you had heard him correctly. There was no way that he could have meant what he said.

"Good morning," your boyfriend smiled.

You looked up from your phone, hastily closing out of the phone app. He slowly walked over and took a seat next to you on the ground.

"What are you doing down here?"

"Just sitting in the sunlight and spending quality time with Pudge."

He reached over and brushed a strand of your hair out of your face, "Your face is bright red."

"Did you just expect to walk in here shirtless and not make me blush?"

He laughed quietly and leaned closer to you, "I suppose not."

You pulled him closer so you could place a gentle kiss on his lips. He ran his hands through your hair and deepened the kiss, but you pulled away shortly after.

"Breakfast?" you smiled.

His smile faltered for a moment before he answered, "Sure."

Tyler's hands were wrapped tightly around his mug of coffee as he sat in the window seat, looking down at the street below. Y/N had always loved sitting at the window seat. She would call out different cars that she saw to Tyler as he sat in the office, practicing piano or ukulele. He had never understood her fascination with it.

Now that she was gone, it was all he seemed to do.

He wondered what Y/N was doing now that she was off in some other part of the country. They had spent countless nights talking about their plans for the future, mostly places they wanted to go and things they wanted to see. Y/N had always loved the idea of watching a sunset on the West Coast.

He wandered into the office and grabbed his notebook. There were so many thoughts bouncing around his head that he needed to write them down somewhere. If he was lucky, it might make a good song once his head was clearer and he could actually begin to piece together melodies.

Tyler found that his eyes kept wandering towards the cars that drove past below. There was something almost relaxing about watching them whizz past, going about their daily lives. He thought he might be beginning to understand why Y/N had liked it so much.

His mind began to wander back to the night of the breakup. Y/N had brought it up out of the blue right after they finished dinner. He had tried to get her to tell him why, but she wouldn't. She eventually packed up all her things and left, leaving him frozen in place on the couch. He had spent the rest of the night thinking of countless things he had done wrong that might have made her leave.

When he went to see her a few days later, he was informed by her landlord that she had moved out and left the state. He had tried to get in touch with her since then, but she never answered his calls. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to get over Y/N. All he needed was some way to get in contact with her.

"That's it," Tyler smiled, immediately turning back to his notebook and scribbling down some lyrics.

I wonder if you'll ever hear this song on your stereo.