Meet Me at Midnight | Tyler x Reader | School Bus Graveyard

| Ep 11 |

After a couple more games, we put the cards away and I watch Taylor yawn, stretching her arms out above me. I lean my head back to glance up at her and I give her a soft smile,

"Sleepy already?"

She shrugs and pats my head before standing up from the armchair, "Just a bit. I guess winning so much can get pretty exhausting."

"Hey!" I chuckle as I lightly hit her shoulder once I stand up as well, "We totally went easy on you!"

"As if. You've always sucked at card games. Like that one time when you and Tyler-"

"We don't need to mention that game. I was just uh- having a bad day!" I make up a lie on the spot. We both giggle and then I turn to the other girl sitting on the couch. She was caught up in a book and I let her know we were going to bed.

"Night, see you in the morning." Taylor waves at her and we both enter the room.

I raise my brow, not expecting to find all of the lights still on. I thought Ashlyn was asleep already. I step in and walk around Taylor. I nearly jump out of my skin when I stare down at the floor, where Ashlyn was in the middle of some freakishly flexible pose. She was folded like a taco, yet seemed so comfortable.

I watch as she untangles from her pose and holds a nonchalant expression, "Ah, sorry. Are you ready to go to sleep?"

"Jesus, Ashlyn. Um, yeah. Sorry, we thought you were asleep." I say, still startled from what we walked in on.

Taylor leans against the doorframe, placing a hand over her chest, "You're pretty flexible, though. Do you do gymnastics or something?"

Ashlyn slouches her shoulders and mutters, "I do ballet."

My ears perk up at this. I never get the chance to learn about her personal interests, so I am going to try my best to remember this.

"Really? That's pretty cool!" Tay smiles, sounding genuinely intrigued too.

"I guess."

No one speaks for a long minute, creating an awkward atmosphere. I scratch the back of my neck before filling the silence, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom really quick."

I slip out of the room and head into the bathroom, switching the light on. I am blinded for a moment before adjusting to the lighting. I stare at my reflection for a moment, surprised at how good my hair looks this late. I snap out of my self-centered thoughts and turn the faucet on. I watch as the cold water runs down and splashes my face with it.

I jump up when I feel my phone start to vibrate in my pocket. I answer the call without glancing at the caller ID.

"Y/N?"

"Hey, Ty," I recognize his voice immediately, "Everything okay?" I ask, putting the phone on speaker to check the time; 11:43 pm.

"Yeah, I was just trying to check in on Tay, but she wasn't picking up." I hear him say, his voice sounding slightly muffled like his face was buried in something. He must be in bed already.

I turn the faucet off so there wasn't too much noise in the background, "Oh, yeah, she's okay. She might be asleep already."

Tyler hums into the phone, "Alright, thanks...Wait, you're not in the same room right now?"

I shut the bathroom lights off and walk out, closing the door quietly behind me to not disturb the roommate sleeping on the couch in front of me,

"No, I was in the bathroom."

"Don't tell me you answered my call on the toilet." I hear him groan in disgust and I laugh quietly.

"No, you idiot," I smile, leaning into the phone as I talk, "I was just washing my face."

I hear that familiar chuckle on the other end, "Right, sorry. Well, I'll let you go. Ben just walked in. He probably wants to sleep. Yeah, he just nodded."

I laugh and then perk up, "Oh, say hi to him for me!"

I then hear his voice sound a little distant, most likely passing on the message to him right now,

"She says hi. No, not Taylor. What?!- No, Ben! It isn't even like that-," A few seconds of silence pass and then I hear a sigh on his end, "He waved."

I smile and raise the phone up to my ear, "Alright, goodnight, Tyler. And Ben!"

He hangs up first and I walk back into the bedroom. The lights are off and I make my way over to the bed I'm sharing with Taylor. The room had a queen and single bed, and Ashlyn called dibs on the single. I was more than happy to share a bed with Tay, especially since she is such a still sleeper. It's me who's very active in my sleep, but she never minds.

I silently slip in the bed on the empty side, tossing and turning until I was comfortable. I end up staring up at the ceiling hopelessly, wishing I had taken those melatonin gummies Logan packed. I lay still like this for several minutes until I drift off to sleep.