By the time he made it home, the sun was just starting to rise. He made it into the house without being spotted by anyone, just in time for Skylar to come waltzing into the kitchen. His eyes locked on Tyler as soon as he closed the door, a small, confused expression on his face. “What are you doing?” Skylar asked, slowly moving toward his brother.
Busted. “I…went out,” he answered honestly. “I was going crazy in here, Sky. I just needed some air.” Moving closer to his brother, Tyler felt the familiar ache in his chest when he wasn’t around Skylar disappear. But he could tell Skylar was upset. “Please don’t be mad. I just went to the cemetery. I wanted to see if they’d done anything about my grave. They refilled it with dirt. No one would even know there had been a disturbance, as Ronnie referred to it as.”
Deep down, Skylar knew he shouldn’t be mad. But going outside was a risk. Tyler should have known better! He was always the one who didn’t make stupid decisions. He was the one who thought things through. “Did anyone see you?” he asked, panic swirling inside him.
“No,” he answered. “Not…really.” Before Skylar could ask for clarity, Tyler unloaded. “I met Venus. She came out of the woods like she lives there and she started talking to me. We went on a walk through the forest and she just…understands me, Skylar. She’s like me! I read about it in her research that she gave you. She hung herself when she was younger and her friend brought her back from the dead!”
Again, Skylar frowned deeply. Venus – she had been the one who showed Skylar the ritual to begin with. And now she was meddling in Tyler’s life? That didn’t sit well with him. Why was she still inserting herself in their lives?! “You met Venus? Are you okay? Did she hurt you? She didn’t try to make you do anything you didn’t want to do, did she?”
Unsure of where his brother was going with this, Tyler quickly shook his head. “No, Skylar, she was fine,” he assured his brother. “She was actually very helpful. She actually has a cabin in the woods where she and her wife used to live. But…her wife died, so she doesn’t really use it anymore.” Moving closer, closing the gap between himself and Skylar, Tyler pulled out the key she had given to him. “She said we can stay there so Mom and Dad don’t find out about me. It’s the perfect solution, Sky!”
This plan was far from perfect as far as Skylar was concerned. “She just handed over a set of keys to a cabin in the middle of the woods?” he asked, skeptical. This wasn’t like Tyler. He was usually the more level-headed of the two of them. He was acting more like Skylar would have. “And you don’t see anything wrong with this? What if she has another set and she wants to just lure us out there and axe murder us in our sleep?”
He didn’t understand why Skylar was fighting back. “She isn’t!” he assured his brother. “Why would you even think that? It makes no sense for her to give you the exact playbook to bring me back just for her to lure us into the woods and kill us both. C’mon, let’s be real for a second! She’s just trying to help.”
And that’s the part that wasn’t sitting well with Skylar. “Why, though?” he asked. “Why does she care where you stay? And why offer you a cabin in the woods? Isolated from everyone around you?”
“Aren’t I isolated from everyone around me now?” Tyler snapped back. He could see the hurt on Skylar’s face, but he needed his brother to understand this. “You’re the only person I see now. The only person I even care to see. Mom and Dad aren’t going to stay on their cruise forever – you said it yourself. We need somewhere to go when they come back. Well…I found it. We can go stay in this cabin. Just you and me. Exactly how it is now.”
Skylar hated it when his brother brought up the fact that he was alone. Sure, he wasn’t really allowed to leave the house now and no one knew he was alive, but this was temporary. As soon as school was over, they were going to move away and Tyler could have a normal life again. But he could see that it was wearing on him now. “Okay…listen, I’ll think about it. I don’t really like the idea, but we’ll keep it as an option. We still have some time before Mom and Dad get back. Let’s just keep an open mind, okay?”
“My mind is always open,” Tyler assured his brother. “If we don’t come up with a better plan, we’re going to live at the cabin together, right?” He needed his brother to agree. He needed to know that they had a plan for when their parents came back. Because leaving Skylar was absolutely not an option.
Slowly, Skylar nodded. “Yes, we can stay there if we don’t have another option,” he answered. But he was going to make damn sure they had another option. He hadn’t trusted Venus when she gave him all of that research, and he sure as hell didn’t trust her now. And coming after his brother? Who the hell did she think she was?! Skylar wasn’t going to let her manipulate Tyler. “I gotta get to class. I’ll be home later, okay?”
The last thing he wanted was for Skylar to leave again. But he knew it was wrong to ask him to skip class. “Okay,” he answered finally. “I have class, too. You wanna help me with my homework again tonight? You really seemed to relax last night.”
As he pulled his backpack over his shoulder, Skylar chuckled. “You’re going to need to do another massage tonight?” he asked. “Your teacher doesn’t trust it the first time around, or does he like to just hand out repetitive assignments?”
Being that it had nothing to do with his assignments, Tyler didn’t really have an answer. “Uh…I don’t know,” he answered with a shrug. “I think he just wants to make sure we hit all of the muscle groups before he’ll give us a passing grade.” It sounded good in theory at least.
Without much thought, Skylar shrugged. “I guess so,” he answered. “It’s not like Coach isn’t going to kick my ass at practice again.” Leaning over Tyler, Skylar snatched his cell phone off the counter. “It’s a date. After dinner, though. And don’t put me to sleep tonight. I have to email your teacher so you can get your assignments graded.”
A wide smile came to Tyler’s face when Skylar agreed to another massage. “I won’t let you fall asleep tonight,” he assured the other man. “You can sit up for this one. I’ll focus on the muscles in the front of your body instead of the back.”
After another mumbled agreement, Skylar headed out the door. The ache returned almost immediately, but Tyler pushed the thought from his mind. He was going to get to touch Skylar again tonight. And honestly, that was all that mattered right now.
**~~**
“Skylar!” Jessie shouted as she jogged toward him in the parking lot. A jolt of hope shot through her when he stopped and waited for her to catch up. “Hey, how are you?” she asked, eyes searching his face for any indications of how he was feeling. They hadn’t really spoken since the night he ditched her in the dorm room just as things were getting hot and heavy.
When Jessie got close enough, Skylar wrapped his arm around her, smiling softly. “Hey,” he greeted, leaning in for a quick peck on the lips. “I’ve been good. Why?” She was acting weird. Not that Skylar could really blame her. They hadn’t had a chance to catch up after he’d left her in her dorm room after Tyler had texted him.
Shrugging, Jessie answered, “No reason, really. Just…haven’t really seen you around too much since last weekend.” Skylar didn’t seem like anything was wrong. He was acting like his normal self. But he’d been ignoring her texts and basically dodging her, so she wasn’t sure of anything.
Skylar pulled Jessie just a bit closer as they started walking toward the school together. “I know,” he answered. “Coach has been kicking my ass with practice. He has this new workout regiment that is almost three hours long. And then he wants me to practice on top of that. I’ve just been going home and crashing right after.”
While that sounded absolutely reasonable, that didn’t explain why he hadn’t been messaging her back. There had been multiple text messages that had gone unanswered. That wasn’t like Skylar. He always responded to her within a few hours. “Oh,” she mumbled. “It’s just…you haven’t been responding to my texts the last few days.”
Now, it was Skylar’s turn to frown. “I haven’t gotten any texts from you,” he explained. “Honestly, I thought you were mad at me about last weekend, so I was just giving you some space.”
Again, Jessie frowned. “What?” she asked, shaking her head. “No, I haven’t been mad. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. I’ve texted you like…five times since Friday night. I wanted to make sure everything was okay after you rushed out of my dorm room.”
Five times? “Are you sure?” Skylar asked, reaching into his pocket with his free hand and pulling out his phone. He brought up their text thread, showing Jessie that there were no messages from her since Friday afternoon. “That’s weird…” he muttered, scrolling again like he’d missed something. “Nothing came through on my end.”
Seeing the phone for herself, it was very clear that Skylar wasn’t lying. Not that Jessie thought he’d lie to her. “That is really weird,” she muttered, mimicking his actions and pulling her phone out to show him her text thread. “I’ve been really worried about you. I thought something was wrong.”
The text messages were staring back at him, absolutely impossible to deny. Sure enough, Jessie had been trying to reach him since Friday night. But nothing had come through on his phone. “I’m sorry, baby,” he apologized, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I didn’t realize you were trying to get a hold of me. If that happens again, call the house, okay? The ringer is usually loud enough to wake me up even if I’m sleeping. Or just blow up my phone until I answer.”
With a small nod, Jessie tossed her phone back into her purse and allowed Skylar to lead the way into the university. Much like he’d done every day since they started dating, Skylar walked Jessie to her first class, dropping a kiss on her lips before he headed off in the direction of his own classes. As he turned to walk to his own classes, Skylar pulled out his phone once more, glancing at the empty thread as if something wasn’t sitting right. Then, he shook his head and shoved the phone back into his pocket, forgetting about the technology glitch.
**~~**
When he walked through the door, the smell of French Toast wafted over him. At least they had a delicious meal waiting to be eaten. That was going to make this conversation a lot easier to have. A wide smile came to his lips as he walked toward the kitchen, nodding at Tyler in greeting. “Breakfast for dinner?” he asked as he slid into the chair on the breakfast nook. “I can live with that.”
“Good because I made them with extra cinnamon just like you like them,” Tyler boasted as he plopped another piece out of the skillet and onto the plate that was already stacked pretty high. “How was practice?”
Tossing his bag onto the floor beside him, Skylar shrugged. “It was okay,” he answered. “Coach is still riding me like crazy. At least for now. But once the scouts come to the first game, I think he’s going to cool it down a bit.” Grabbing a piece of French Toast, Skylar took a big bite. “He wants me to eat more.”
A small chuckle escaped Tyler when his brother started eating. “Of course he does,” he mumbled as he tossed the last piece into the skillet. “Makes sense if he is going to continue to ride you so hard.” He still hated that his brother was being subjected to this unsafe workout regimen, but at least it gave him a reason to touch Skylar. And he wasn’t going to complain about that. “Guess you’re still pretty sore, huh?”
Absently, Skylar shrugged once more. “Not really,” he answered. “I took one of those showers you like so much and I think the heat seeped into my muscles.” Smirking up at his brother, Skylar teased, “You better be careful. I might start stealing all your hot showers.”
Now, it was Tyler’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, I’m so scared,” he assured the other man. “Do you want whipped cream on these?” He couldn’t help but laugh again when his brother asked him if that was even a question. Honestly, no, but he wanted to check with the new crazy shit the coach had Skylar doing.
Once he had three pieces of French Toast and a large dollop of whipped cream on a plate, Tyler handed it to Skylar before he got his own food. “How was class today?” he asked as he took his seat next to his brother and started digging into his own food.
Again, Skylar shrugged. “It was okay, I guess,” he answered. “Mr. Gavin assigned me a shit ton of reading to get done before next class. He apparently is going on a trip and he will be cancelling class for a week and a half. Something about a death in the family. Which, sucks…but he could have given us a break, too, you know?”
Tyler knew how much his brother hated reading. “Yeah, well, it shouldn’t be too bad, right?” he tried to console. “Isn’t he your Abnormal Psychology professor?” When Skylar nodded around a mouthful of food, Tyler’s brows knit in confusion. “I thought that was supposed to be your elective throw away class. Isn’t that what you called it?”
Nodding, Skylar swallowed. “I thought that’s what it was!” he answered. “And he usually doesn’t even give us homework. But since we’re not going to be in class to talk about the chapters, I guess he wants to make sure we’re actually doing the work, or something.” Sighing, he muttered, “It’s going to really cut into my sleep.”
If Tyler could have read the chapters for him, he would have. After all, it wasn’t like he needed the sleep these days. But that twin telepathy people always talked about wasn’t actually a thing. Tyler couldn’t read something and Skylar would just automatically know what it was – they were two separate people. “At least it’s only for a little bit,” he smiled, trying to bring his brother’s mood up. Skylar seemed down. “Is everything okay? You seem…upset.”
At the mention of him being upset, Skylar stopped chewing for a moment. Honestly, he thought he’d been hiding it pretty well. He’d wanted to wait until after dinner, but since Tyler was bringing it up, now was as good a time as any, he supposed. “It’s nothing, really,” he answered with a shrug. “Just…Jessie was kind of upset today. She’s been trying to get a hold of me all week, and her texts haven’t been coming through. I just…hate it when she’s hurting.” Pushing his food around, Skylar continued, “It’s even more upsetting that she’s worried about me. And that’s why she’s upset. So…I guess I feel responsible.”
When Skylar mentioned Jessie, Tyler’s mood immediately dropped. Of course she was going to interrupt their time. “Oh, that’s really weird,” he answered dismissively. “Maybe your phone is messing up. Technology is only good when it works.”
Although his phone was new, Skylar assumed that it was still a possibility the phone could be glitching. “I guess so,” he muttered. “I just hated seeing her so upset. She thought I was avoiding her and that she’d done something wrong. It sucked. And then after last weekend when I rushed out on her, I think she’s just feeling insecure. I wish there was something I could do for her.”
“You could tell her that I’m back,” Tyler suggested. “Then maybe she wouldn’t need to check in on you so much. She never did before I died. She knew that when you weren’t answering your phone, you were busy with me.”
The thought had crossed his mind. But then he remembered that she’d freaked out when he suggested it before he’d followed through and he changed his mind. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Skylar answered with a shake of his head. “I kind of told her that I was thinking about it before the full moon, and she didn’t take it well. I think it’s best that she doesn’t know.”
Of course she hadn’t taken it well. Because with Tyler in the picture, she can’t have Skylar all to herself like she wants. “Well, then I guess I’ll just keep being your dirty little secret, then,” he teased, bumping shoulders with Skylar. “Now eat up so we can get to my homework before you fall asleep.”
Shit! Skylar had completely forgotten that he’d promised to help with Tyler’s homework again tonight. He just wasn’t in the mood, honestly. His head was reeling because of the little fight he’d had with Jessie, and he just wanted to eat his dinner, watch a movie, and crash. “Ty, can we postpone the homework thing?” he asked, biting into his bottom lip as he sheepishly glanced at his brother. “I know I said I’d help you, but I am just beat. The last thing I want to do is write an email to your professor explaining how well you did with your muscle groups.”
He could already see his brother’s mood dropping. “But hey, we can camp out on the couch and watch a movie!” he suggested, trying to get that hurt look off Tyler’s face. “Then the weekend is coming up and I can help you with your homework all you want!” Sighing, he bumped elbows with his brother. “I just don’t want to get you a bad grade because I slacked off, okay? Please don’t be mad at me?”
Tyler’s expression fell for only a moment before he forced a smile back on his face. He couldn’t let his brother see how disappointed he was. Did he want to run his hands all over Skylar’s body tonight? Absolutely, he did. But he didn’t want to force anything. Obviously, Skylar was moving this new aspect of their relationship along slowly for a reason. The last thing Tyler wanted to do was spook Skylar and make him pull away. “Yeah, it’s fine,” he assured the other man. “I’m not mad. Promise. We’ll definitely do it this weekend. I mean, the project isn’t due for a while, anyway. It’s not like I’m going to be cutting it close, or anything. It’s all good.”
A wide smile came to Skylar’s lips when Tyler assured him that it was fine. “Great! Now c’mon and eat up!” he chirped happily. “I’ll let you pick the movie again. Just be gentle. I’d like to stay away from those chick flicks as much as possible, alright?”
“Hello?” Skylar croaked groggily, eyes blinking a few times to clear his vision as he stared at the clock. It was only midnight, but it felt like it was so much later. He and Tyler had settled on a few episodes of The Walking Dead before he’d called it a night and gone to bed. The sound of his phone buzzing next to his head had dragged him from his sleep. Though when he heard Jessie’s voice on the other line, he couldn’t be too mad.
She knew it was late. But after their little semi-fight today at school, and having been feeling like she and Skylar weren’t in a good place nearly all week, she just needed to hear her boyfriend’s voice. “Hey baby, I’m sorry, did I wake you?” When Skylar tried to act like she hadn’t, she rolled her eyes and chuckled softly. “You sound like I woke you up.”
Although she couldn’t see him, Skylar shook his head. “No, I was just dozing off,” he lied, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
Jessie turned so that she was lying on her back in bed, pulling the covers up to her chest. “Yeah, everything is fine,” she answered. “I just wanted to hear your voice. I missed you.” Honestly, she had hoped that Skylar would invite her over tonight, but when he hadn’t she didn’t push the subject. After all, it wasn’t the same if someone had to tell you to invite them over.
Running a hand over his face, Skylar tried not to fall asleep while he was on the phone. He felt like he hadn’t slept in days. The coach was riding him so hard that he was exhausted more often than not. He was going to enjoy his weekend off, that was for sure. “Yeah, I missed you too,” he answered. “Sorry, Coach has me on a pretty tight schedule these days preparing for the scouts. But we should grab dinner after class sometime next week.”
Next week – that seemed like so far away. “Well, why wait?” Jessie questioned. “Do you have any plans this weekend? My roommate is throwing some kind of weird party. She invited me, but if I had better plans, I wouldn’t have to go.”
He could hear the suggestion in Jessie’s voice, but he couldn’t allow himself to entertain it. He’d already made plans for this weekend, and there was no way he could blow off his brother. “I can’t this weekend,” he apologized. “I already have plans with Tyler.”
Immediately, he realized his mistake when Jessie repeated the name back to him. Quickly, he sat up in bed, the blankets bunching at his waist. Panicked, he could feel his heartbeat kick up. “Yeah…I’m going to his grave this weekend,” he tried to correct his mistake. “It’s been a while with school and everything. I just want to make sure his headstone got there and nothing went wrong. I don’t want Mom and Dad to come home and have to deal with any mistakes.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. If he hadn’t been listening for it, he would have missed the barely breathed oh from his girlfriend. Skylar exhaled slowly, his heartbeat starting to settle. “Yeah…I just–” He stopped mid-sentence.
Something about the room seemed off. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t obvious. It was just…wrong. Like the air had shifted and then didn’t shift back. The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention, Skylar getting the feeling that he was being watched.
His eyes squinted in the dark, peering into the hallway, but he couldn’t see anything. Just the dark, stillness of the house this late at night. Hearing Jessie say his name on the other end of the line, Skylar licked his lips, dragging his focus back to their conversation. “Yeah, I’m here,” he answered. “Look, I gotta go. I’ll see you at school on Monday. Goodnight. Love you.”
He ended the call before Jessie said anything else, dropping the phone onto the bed beside him. He was met with the silence in the room. Only, it wasn’t just silence. No, he could hear breathing. It wasn’t his. It was slower. It was close, but not close enough to be his own. His eyes ticked to the corner of the room, watching as the shadows separated.
For a split second, Skylar thought that watching a show about the end of the world and zombies had his brain playing tricks on him. But then bright blue eyes caught what little moonlight filtered through the curtains in the otherwise dark room. Skylar went still. “Tyler?” he breathed, barely trusting the sound of his own voice.
The figure didn’t answer right away. It just stared at him. Almost like it could see right through him. Skylar swallowed thickly, unsure if his mind was playing tricks on him. “What are you doing here?”
When Tyler didn’t answer, Skylar hesitated. The silence was deafening, stretching just a little too long. He shifted slightly on the bed, the blankets slipping from his waist as he leaned forward just enough to get a clearer view of the corner. “Ty?” he tried again, softer this time.
It was definitely his brother. He was wearing light gray sweatpants and a black tank top. It was familiar – exactly what he’d been wearing to bed since he came back. It was normal. But something about him wasn’t.
Skylar’s eyes stayed locked on him, waiting for Tyler to make a move. His posture was the same as it had been so many times before. Even his expression was the same. But the stillness – that’s what was giving Skylar such a sense of unease. It was almost like Tyler was in a trance, just waiting for something to pull him out of it. “Everything okay?” he asked, head tilted to the side to observe the other man.
Tyler didn’t answer the question. His mind was too busy racing. His thoughts were on one thing. Jessie. Of course it was Jessie again. It was always Jessie. She was always in the way. Always pulling at something that didn’t belong to her anymore. Something that should have been his already.
His jaw tightened as he stared into the darkness a moment longer as if the room might offer him an answer he would accept. It didn’t. He turned slowly, but he didn’t leave right away. He just put a bit of distance between the two of them. Just enough to stop him from doing something he couldn’t explain later.
This wasn’t right. It didn’t make any sense. Skylar had chosen him. From the moment he’d run that iron blade over his skin, Skylar had chosen Tyler. There was no version of this life where that didn’t matter. No version where Jessie should still be part of anything.
Slowly, Tyler exhaled, forcing the thought into something he could carry instead of act on. “It’s fine,” he assured his brother. “I just heard you talking and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” With that, Tyler left the room, his footsteps descending down the stairs and leaving Skylar alone in the dark once more.