IM SORRY IM SORRY IM TIRED IM SORRY

ALSO MY FRIEND GAVE ME THE OPENING LINES

I SWEAR THOSE TWO WORDS MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF HER VOCABULARITY XD

Feel

Ch 5: FLESTER HAT. END OF STORY.

Approximate Reading Time: 4 min, 27 sec

"Where are we going?"

"Your mom."

"What?"

"Nothing. We're going to the general store."

"Why?"

"We're going on a trip, Ryan."

"Oh, right! What do we need for the trip?"

"Notch apples, a sword for you, and whatever else you want."

"Woah, a sword? Like, like the kind we used to fight wars with!? Hmm. Do they still sell those?"

"Yes, Ryan."

"Are you sure you're all right enough to go on a trip, Tyler?"

"Yes, I'm very all right, Ryan."

"I'm sorry my friends tried to hurt you," he pouts, and I swallow hard and look down. "They wouldn't listen. But you never actually got hurt, so why were you crying?"

"I..." I'm not good at handling that many people crowding around me. I can't bear it when the memories inevitably come flying back. I know they didn't hurt me but I'm hurting all the same. "I don't know, Ryan, I just do that sometimes. Maybe something got in my eye. Look, we're here!"

He forcibly lights up as we approach the store, and I barely manage a smile. "Hey, Tyler, is walking into a general store different from walking into a chocolate store?"

"Not really. I suppose you wouldn't be as happy," I say, and his smile droops. "No, no, but today it's okay because we're getting ready to go on a trip." His smile widens again.

"Where's the fruit section? Can I pick my own sword? Can I get a silly hat?" he asks, bouncing up and down as we enter the store.

"I- what? Sure, whatever. Meet me back here in half an hour." He darts off down the aisle, and I sigh. Oh, dear.

☼☼☼

"Look what I got, Tyler!" he shouts about thirty minutes later, and I smile when he shows me his multi-colored, light-up flester hat. "Do you like it?"

"I love it, Ryan. Ready for checkout?"

"Yes, yes!" The boy jumps up and down a few more times and then shoves five random items into our cart. Well. All right, then.

After an interesting check-out session that involved Ryan yelling at the self check-out machine just like I taught him to, we're on the road back to Hazelnut Forest. "Are we really going to your house, Tyler?"

"Indeed, friend."

"Oh my gosh, oh my Notch, oh my gosh, I thought you were kidding! I've never been to your house, you never let me over!" He squeals, faking his excitement surprisingly well.

"For obvious reasons," I mutter, but he doesn't catch it. Good. I didn't mean it. "We're actually meeting two of my other friends there. They're going on the trip with us - actually, we're going with them."

"I'm not the first friend of yours to visit your house?" he asks, putting on his second pouty face of the day. Sigh.

"Well, the others came uninvited. You're the first one I'm inviting," I say, and the obvious emphasis I put on the word convinces him that he's still my best friend, which is enough to make him start jumping around again.

"Yay, awesome! This is gonna be so much fun, I can't wait!"

"You bet."

Okay, so maybe I'm not as excited as I should be? But I'm worried. And I keep telling myself that I'm only bringing Ryan along for physical protection, but, if I'm being honest, I need him emotionally as well. Despite his inability to actually Feel, he at least understands my feelings. And I'm so afraid that something will come up on our "trip" and I'll just freak out and collapse again, and... I need Ryan there.

So Sky and Ty are gonna have to deal with it.

"It's creepy," Ryan comments, voice filled with awe as I lead him through my amazing forest. We have to stop at every tree with a name carved into it, meaning we stop every few seconds. When I was younger, I would come out here and carve the names of my Before OTPs into tree trunks.

"It is," I agree, because hardly any light gets through the leaves, and the river is glistening in a scary way, and I just tripped over something that moves. Yay. Ryan catches me before I can fall, I shoot him the required smile before taking the lead again. "Here we go, right into this opening. See, follow the path - there, it leads right to my front door. Pretty neat, huh?" The clearing in which my house was built is beautiful, to be honest. The sun makes this little patch of the forest glow, and the clearing itself is almost a perfect circle. The grass is all a very, very healthy green despite my refusal to water it or care for it in any way, and there's a very small pond to the left of the house.

No Nutella trees.

Shame.

"Welcome," I say dramatically as I fling open the door and motion for him to step inside. His jaw drops as he enters, and I silently praise his acting. He's a lot better than the other Blanks.

"You live here? Woah, you live here! And you eat here and you sleep here and you Feel here, cool!" he babbles, nearly tripping over the coffee table. Hmm, I really should move that.

"Yessir," I reply, setting down my backpack and our few shopping bags and placing some of the crap into my backpack. "Here, take your sword and put it somewhere convenient."

"Are we actually going to need it?"

"Quite possibly."