Warnings: Angst

Word Count: 1874

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

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"Ok, I'm off to my meetings. I shouldn't be home any later than four, and feel free to text me if you need anything. I love you."

Tyler bent over the back of the couch to give you a quick kiss before rushing off towards the door. You barely managed to get in an "I love you too" before it closed with a thud.

Your eyes lingered on the door for a moment, secretly hoping that Tyler would come straight back inside and announce that all of his meetings had been cancelled so he could spend the entire day with you. Two whole days with him hadn't been even close to enough time together after the month you had spent apart, even though you had known that this moment was coming. The Emotional Roadshow was only three short weeks away and there always seemed to be more details that needed to be ironed out as it drew closer. It was a routine that you had become familiar with over the years.

Deciding that you might as well use your time alone to be productive, you headed upstairs to start folding some laundry. All of Tyler's tour stuff had finally come through the wash and you were tired of looking at it piled in the corner of the room. At the very least, it would give you something to do for awhile and make Tyler happy whenever he ended up getting home. There was a reason he had been putting it off in the first place.

You switched on some music before piling all the clothes on the bed and starting to sort them into different piles. It was times like these that you really missed having Georgie around. Despite his rambunctious nature when he was younger, he always provided good company when you were feeling particularly lonely. Unfortunately, Tyler had been adamant that he didn't want any animals in the house, so when the two of you finally moved in together, Georgie went to live with Carter and Marenna. It wasn't the worst place in the world for him to be since they lived close, but you still often found yourself missing his company, especially since he had calmed down as he got older.

The folding went by quickly as soon as you got into the swing of things. Before you knew it, everything was separated by location and ready to be put into its proper spot. You decided to start with Tyler's shirts, since that was easily the biggest pile. With a couple tucked under your arm, you headed into his closet and opened the drawer where he kept his shirts.

You sighed as you got a look at the condition of his t-shirts. There weren't many that he had left behind, but the ones that he had were thrown all over the place, obviously never having been cleaned up after his last-minute packing frenzy. Deciding that it would be easier to start from scratch, you emptied out the drawer and shook out all the shirts so that they could be properly folded.

You had just barely started to fold the first shirt when something on the ground caught your eye. Tyler's messy handwriting was all over the back of what appeared to be a card, although you couldn't quite tell when it was half-buried in the shirts. Forgetting your task for the time being, you picked it up to get a closer look.

"You're kidding," you mumbled, your face slowly growing into a smile.

In your hand was a postcard from Columbus, Ohio, marked with the date that he had returned from his very first tour. It was the same postcard that he had claimed not to have because he thought you "wouldn't want a postcard from the place you lived". Curiosity quickly got the best of you and you flipped the card back over so that you could read whatever message he had left.

After all, his original intention had been to give it to you, right?

We're finally back in Ohio. It feels like I've been away for a lifetime. I can't wait to see you again and hear your voice. Man, I've missed your voice. And you.

I love you, Y/N. Sorry I never told you earlier.

You read it over a couple times, letting the words sink in even though you had already heard them a hundred times over. Tyler saying that he loved you - however that may be - never seemed to get old.

Once you were done looking over the postcard, you decided to tuck it back away where you had found it. Maybe you would talk to Tyler about it later and ask why he had chickened out at the last minute, although you were pretty sure you already knew the answer. The beginning of your relationship with Tyler was something that the two of you talked about often, and you were always remembering random stories and questions to tell the other; it wasn't as hard for you to think about that time now that you knew it all had a happy ending. Still, you found yourself wondering how you had managed to get so lucky sometimes.

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You watched as the clock turned to 5:15, still with no word from Tyler about when he would be home or why he was so late. The frustration and worry was really starting to set in, so you decided it was long past time that you did something about it. Grabbing your phone from the coffee table, you dialed Tyler's number, confirmed that the call went through, and brought the phone to your ear. Your foot tapped nervously against the coffee table as you waited for it to start ringing.

The phone only rang once before it cut off and you got sent straight to voicemail. Relief about knowing that Tyler was at least ok washed over you, but it was quickly replaced with disappointment that you wouldn't get a chance to talk to him. With a sigh, you tossed your phone down onto the couch and decided to try calling again in fifteen minutes if you didn't hear anything from him. Thankfully, your phone vibrated a minute later.

Tyler: Lots of things going wrong, meetings are going to take awhile, will probably be home late. Don't wait up for me. I love you

You clenched your jaw as you typed out a reply, trying not to let your emotions get the best of you. It was just one evening that you had to spend without Tyler, and it's not like it was something you weren't used to. It was better that they got things worked out now than having more meetings in the future, right?

Y/N: No worries, hope everything gets worked out. Thanks for letting me know. I love you too

Now that you had confirmation that Tyler wouldn't be home in time to have dinner with you, you decided it was as good a time as any that you made some food for yourself. Once again, you found yourself turning on music to try and fill some of the emptiness of the house. A familiar sense of loneliness started to wash over you, but you pushed it away. You had known from the start that time away from Tyler was just how things went between you two.

Even if he was supposed to have a break.

Half an hour later, you were settled on the couch with a drink and the food that you had made for yourself. Tyler's plate was wrapped in tinfoil and sitting in the fridge, waiting for him to have whenever he eventually got home. Part of you was still hoping that he would show up out of the blue in the next few minutes.

You opened up your favorite TV show on Netflix and picked up where you had left off the night before, sending another wave of loneliness over you. Everything about the night felt too much like Tyler was on tour again, even though in reality you knew he wasn't more than half an hour away.

That almost made it hurt worse.

You let yourself think about it a moment longer before pushing the thought from your brain and focusing on the TV show. Letting yourself mull over your loneliness was only going to make it that much more difficult. Besides, you had already survived a month without Tyler, what was one more night?

Your phone started ringing shortly after dinner. You practically lunged at it, hoping that it was Tyler finally calling you to let you know that he was on the way home. Although you had missed out on dinner together, there was still enough time for you to cuddle up during a movie and enjoy at least part of the evening together. Unfortunately, it was only Carter.

"Hello?" you answered, accidentally letting a little more disappointment slip into your tone than you had intended.

"Don't sound so excited to talk to me," he laughed.

"Sorry, Tyler's meetings are running late and I haven't seen him since this morning, so I thought it was him calling to let me know he was on his way home."

"Yeah, too bad it's just your dumb brother."

"Shut up," you laughed. "You're not dumb and I'm glad you called. I actually meant to call you earlier today, but I got distracted and forgot."

"Then it works out." You could practically see Carter's smile. "I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing."

You kicked your feet back up onto the coffee table. "I've been better. How are your last minute wedding preparations?"

"Hectic. Marenna's cousin called us the other day and started making demands about songs that we had to play, but the problem is that we sent the final playlist to the DJ a week ago."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes. You'd be surprised by how many crazy demands the guests try to make at our wedding."

"I can only imagine," you laughed. "Speaking of which, is there anything that I need to bring to entertain Max? Or do you have that handled?"

"We should have that handled, although I would make sure both you and Tyler are wearing clothes that are easy to move in. He just started learning how to run and he's surprisingly hard to catch," he laughed.

"Marenna was telling me about that the other day," you joined his laughter. "I'll make sure to pack a backup outfit in case I need it."

"Good idea. Anyway, you said you've been better. What's up?"

"Oh, you know, just frustrated that Tyler isn't here. Like, obviously I knew he would have meetings because tour is coming up, but we only had two days together. I was hoping for a little more time."

"Won't you have time in the coming weeks?"

"Yeah, but you know how it is. No amount of time ever feels like it's enough, especially when half of our time together is spent with Josh and a tour crew."

"Just hang in there, Y/N. He's only been back for a couple days, I'm sure things will start to balance out before long."

You sighed, "I really hope you're right."