"Hey babe… I just woke up. What's up?" Troye's groggy morning-voice greeted Tyler on the other end of the phone. "Listen," Tyler began, then paused; thinking of what he would say next. "Troye, have you turning on TV yet today?" "No, what's going on? Something exciting?" "Um…" Tyler was at a loss for words. "I'll turn it on now. Gimme like two seconds." Troye grabbed his remote and turned on the television. "What channel?" "The news channel." "The news channel? Are you on the news? Again? Why don't you sound happier?!" Troye finally switched the channel. A tragedy has come upon California in the Los Angeles area, all citizens are asked to stay indoors and find a place of sturdy shelter, if you are outside or in a car, please exit and carefully move to an evacuation area. Troye's eyes darted back and forth on the screen, reading the scrolling message that kept saying, "Breaking News! An 8.6 earthquake strikes California!" "Baby, what's going on?" Troye swallowed and tried to compose himself. "Are you safe? Are you okay? Please tell me everything is okay. Please." "Troye, I'm on the freeway." Troye's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Get off! Get off the freeway! Run! What the hell are you doing talking to me when you could be getting to shelter?!" "I'm running, Troye. Listen." Tyler pulled the phone away from his face and held it out. You could hear the wind blowing past him as he ran, and panicking, screaming people in the background. "Oh. God. Get off the phone with me." "Why the fuck would I do that?" Tyler was breathing heavily as he ran. "So that you have a better chance of NOT DYING Tyler!" "Troye. I am not going to die, calm down. I'm getting off this bridge, and I'm making my way to somewhere safe." "I can't handle this. You can't leave me. You need to be okay." "TROYE, I'M GOING TO BE FINE. Please stop overreacting!" "Overreacting? Overreacting?! You just aren't reacting enough! Why don't you care?!" "Troye, I am panicking so much on the inside. I am trying to have a conversation with you without sounding mad." "Are you off the bridge?" "Almost." "Is the bridge shaking?" "No shit the bridge is shaking. Can't you hear everything that's going on around me?" "Barely." "Okay well there is a building that should be safe right near here." "How close is it?" "About five minutes." "Five minutes? Do you know how much could happen in five minutes?" "Of course I know what could happen. But I also can't change how far away it is. So I'm sorry." "No, don't be sorry… Just... try and get there as quickly as you can." "I'm doing that right now. I'll call you when I get there." "You'll what?" "I-will-call-you-when-I-get-there." Troye was freaking out. "You'll get there, right? You'll get there and be safe? Then nothing bad will happen to you?" "I don't know, Troye. I can't predict what will happen. But If I get there, I will call you." "If you get there?! Why wouldn't you?! You need to get there!" "I promise you I will try my hardest to get there. I'm clutching the side of a bridge that's about to collapse under me." "About to collapse under you?! No… No. Get off of there!" Troye was shaking with anxiety. "I - am - trying - Troye. Goodbye." "Wait! Wait. Don't hang up yet." "What?" "I don't know if I'll ever be able to talk to you again, so-" "Troye, don't be so cheesy. Not right now." "Tyler, I am not being cheesy." Troye said sternly, then gathered himself. When he opened his mouth, his throat practically closed and he started getting choked up. "Troye, get on with it, please." "I love you." "You too." Tyler hung up the phone. Troye couldn't comprehend what was happening. And why did Tyler hang up on him so quickly? He didn't even sound like he meant it, either… "Mom! Come in here!" Troye yelled. He had tears in his eyes. Laurelle walked into his room and looked at him. "What's wrong?" "Tyler… Tyler…" Troye bursted into tears. She went over and sat on his bed and hugged him. She was confused and also concerned. "Tyler what? What's going on with Tyler?" "Look." Troye pointed to the TV. The sound was muted but you could still see the scrolling sentence across the screen, informing you about the earthquake. "Oh no. That's horrible." Her eyebrows furrowed as she frowned. "Should we tell everyone?" "Not yet, he's going to call me back when he gets to shelter." "He's not even in a building? And you talked to him already?" "No. And yeah." Troye grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. The earthquake is going into full effect. You can see that nearer to the coastline more damage has been done, buildings have collapsed inwards and everything is a havoc. Everyone should send their prayers to the people suffering through this catastrophe right as I speak, may they make it through this. "Oh my god…" Laurelle said. Troye was silent for a second. "Yeah…" "I just want him to be okay, ya know?" "Yeah, I know." She rubbed his shoulder. The phone rang and Troye immediately picked it up. "Hello?!" Troye said frantically. He 'shooed' his mom out of the room. "Hey, it's me." Tyler said on the other side. Troye clutched where his heart was in relief. "Oh thank god. I was so worried! You're good now, right? You have nothing to worry about?" "Well, Troye…" "No. Please tell me nothing's wrong now." "Other than the ground shaking below me and things falling off shelves? No. Nothing's wrong right now. But I'm in a building with multiple floors and I'm on the bottom floor. And I'm packed in here with at least several hundred other people." "Oh, jeesh… So you're okay though, right?" "I guess." "Why do you guess? Why aren't you sure?" "Why am I not sure? Because this is an 8.6 on the richter scale. That's why I'm not sure. This is a major earthquake, Troye. And I don't know what's going to happen. I'm surprised I'm still getting a signal. Everything is moving. I am really scared, honestly. But I'm just trying to contain myself. I don't know if the unexpected is going to happen and-" the phone cut-off. "Fuck!" Troye screamed. He immediately called Tyler back. The suspense as the "b-rrrriiinnnngggg! b-rrrrrriiiiiiinnnngggg!" continued on the other line killed Troye. It finally stopped ringing. "Hello?! Hello?!" Troye shouted into the phone. "I'm here, it's fine. The phone just lost connection for a second." "Oh, g-good." "Are you watching what's going on on TV?" "Yeah." Troye once again turned up the volume. Horrible news! The aftershocks of California's earthquake are not only shaking the ground now. They have caused the soil in some areas below buildings to liquify and the houses are sinking into the ground. People are running out of their homes, gathering as many items as they can to keep as their houses get destroyed. Larger buildings with multiple floors have started pancaking, an effect that has the top floors crashing onto the lower ones and annihilating the whole structure. "Tyler, tell me that where you are is not sinking into the ground. If you even have the feeling that something bad like that is going to happen, I want you to run out of there and get somewhere safer." "Troye, as much as I'd love to take your advice, there is nowhere safer around here that I won't die trying to get to." "Is there multiple floors in the building you're in?" "...Yes…" "Oh, god." "I don't want it to collapse onto me either." Troye stared across the room. He was looking at a picture of him and Tyler with wide eyes. They started watering. "Tyler," Troye's voice cracked because he was about to start crying. "Baby, please don't cry. Everything's okay. It should stop soon." "Tyler, we both know it isn't going to stop soon." Tyler gulped nervously. "So can you laugh into the phone?" Tyler's eyes widened. "Laugh? At a time like this? Why? Everyone will think I'm going crazy!" "Tyler, laugh into the phone. For me. Please." Tyler laughed his normal happy laugh as best he could into the phone. A few people turned to look at him, but he just ignored them. Troye smiled with tears brimming. "Thank you." "You're… welcome." "I'm gonna call in everyone, okay?" "Um, okay." Troye moved the phone away from his mouth. "Mom! Dad! Steele! Sage! Tyde! Come in here!" Troye put the phone back. "They're coming." He pulled the phone away and put it on speaker. Everyone started walking in. "Is Tyler okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine for now." said Tyler. "Oh, hi!" "Hey." "Did mom tell you?" Troye asked. "Yeah, she did." They all said simultaneously. "Can I go first?" Tyde asked. "For what?" "Talking to Tyler." "Sure." Tyde walked closer to the phone and sat down next to Troye. "Hey, Tyde." Tyler said. "Hey, Tyler. I just wanted to say that you're a really good person and really funny. I've noticed that Troye loves you a lot, and we all think of you as family. Right everyone?" "Right." They answered. Sage walked up. "Hi, Tyler. Look… I know I don't know you very well, but as far as I know you're super great. I've enjoyed knowing you for the amount of time that I have. I agree with Tyde also, you're all Troye ever talks about. If he isn't talking to you or with you, he wants to be. I know your long-distance relationship has been hard, but I just wanted to make sure you knew all that." Troye was blushing a little. "Look, you all seem like you're saying your goodbyes to me. I'm going to be fine." "We're doing it just in case." said Steele. "We want you to be okay, we really do. But if you aren't, we want to talk to you before anything bad happens. We want you to know the things we're saying to you. I got to hang out with you, and honestly; you're a really cool guy. I think you're amazing and a great boyfriend for Troye. He deserves you and you deserve him. I wish we could've hung out again, if anything happens; I'm not saying it will; but I just wanted to let you know you really are an awesome person." Laurelle stepped up to the phone. "I heard what was going on before anyone else. I was devastated. I really hope you'll be okay. I wanted to tell you that I completely approve you being with Troye and I wish I could've gotten to know you better. But maybe I will be able to! So at least that's good. I'm really happy you are in our lives and we all love you very much. I think of you as one of my own." Shaun came to talk. "Hey, so you know how much I've always shipped you and my son," he laughed a little, "and so when you two actually started going out I was really happy for Troye. I'm glad that he chose you and you chose him to date. You two are perfect and no matter what happens, 'Troyler 5eva.' I wish you the best of luck, and; in all seriousness; I do enjoy having you in my life as well as my families. I'm happy that Troye met you and you became really good friends and then boyfriends. I would never want anything bad to you and I'm very broken-down about what's going on." "Thanks, Mr. Mellet." "Shaun." "Thanks, Shaun." "Okay, well can I have some 'alone time' with Tyler now?" Troye took him off speaker. "Can we say bye first?" "Yeah, sorry." Troye put Tyler back on speaker. "Bye, Tyler!" Everyone yelled. "Bye guys. Not forever though, I promise." "Of course." said Laurelle. "Well, we're going to go now." "See ya." said Tyler. Troye took him off speaker again and waited for everyone to leave. Steele closed the door behind them. "Look, babe, everything will be okay. The earthquakes been going on and off for a while now, anyway. The aftershocks are going to keep going, though. I wish I could've gotten my stuff from my house. I have nothing. Oh my god. What if my house is gone? Dammit! Ugh!" Tyler started getting choked up. "I'm so sorry baby…" Troye paused. "I wish I was there, I wish I could help!" "Honey, you do not wish you were here. I don't want you here. And not because I don't want to see you, I don't want you to have to go through what I am." "I still wish I was there. At least I could be with you instead of on the phone, thousands of miles away from you." "Babe…." Tyler couldn't speak for a second. "Babe, I feel shaking. A lot of it. But a force moving towards me, not an earthquake aftershock. Baby, turn on the volume on TV. Now." Troye started panicking. He didn't want anything to go wrong. He was clutching onto his phone in one hand and the remote in the other. He unmuted the television. The news was not something he ever wanted to hear. Massive Tsunami caused by the earthquake that has affected California, in the United States. Gigantic 30 foot waves are crashing into and destroying buildings, everyone please go as far inland as possible away from the Pacific, this wave is going very far and damaging a lot. Tears started flowing down Troye's face and his jaw slacked. "Baby, what's going-" Tyler stopped speaking. He heard someone call out behind him. "TSUNAMI! EVACUATE! EVACUATE! IT'S A TSUNAMI COMING OUR WAY!" Everyone started screaming and panicking. "Babe! I'm running! I'm getting out of this building! Don't worry!" "Baby. Stop running. I don't want you to have to do that when the wave will catch up to you anyway." Tyler stopped in his tracks. "Wait, what?" "RUN!" People passed by Tyler quickly. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" They screamed at him. "I wanted you to stop. I want to talk before it happens." "This isn't the time for a casual talk, Troye! I need to go! The wave is coming!" "Then go, if you believe you have a chance. Do you think you do?" "No, Troye! No I don't! Does that mean I should just give up?! That's what you think I should do?!" "Run if you want to." Tyler started running again, he didn't think he had any chance of escaping the enormous wave by now. He quickly stopped and the wave crept closer, it was almost over him now. "It's almost over me." Tyler started to cry. Troye couldn't deal with what was happening. He was trying to hold back from screaming. "I love you so much, Tyler." "I love you. I have always loved you. I will always love you." "Baby, don't leave me!" "I'd never want to leave you." "Tell me I'll see you again!" "Babe, I will always be with you. Tell everyone goodbye for me." Troye couldn't contain it anymore. "I love you! I love you so much!" he screamed. The wave crept over Tyler. This was the end. "I love you too, bae." "No! Tyler…" the call was dropped. Troye blew up with emotion. "No! No! I LOVED HIM! WHY?! NO! AHHHH-hhh…" Troye stopped screaming for a second and really realized what had just happened. He grabbed a pillow and held it tightly in his arms, wailing at the top of his lungs. You could hear his heart-breaking cries all throughout the house. Troye felt pain everywhere. He clutched his chest and realized he was hyperventilating. He couldn't stop. He tried to calm himself down but nothing would work. Breath he told himself, but he kept going, his vision blurring and his hearing getting faint. Laurelle and Shaun debated on whether or not to go directly into Troye's room when they heard him balling his eyes out; they came to the conclusion that they should let him cry. They already knew what had happened and their hearts fell to their stomachs. When everything went quiet for a minute or so they chose to knock on his door. "Troye?! Are you okay? What happened?" There was no answer. "Troye, I know you're devastated. Please just speak to us." Still quiet. "We're coming in, Troye." Laurelle opened the door with Shaun behind her. She was astonished when she saw Troye laying seemingly lifeless on his bed with his eyes closed. He had passed out. "Troye? Troye!" They rushed over to him. He finally opened his eyes, partially. Peering at his mom and dad, all he could mutter was, "He's… gone." There was a pause of silence. "W-We know." She managed. "I… loved him." Shaun looked down. Laurelle looked at Troye with saddened eyes and said under her breath, "We know." She smiled a crooked smile and tears ran down her face. "I loved him." "I know." she whispered. "I loved him. I loved him. I loved him." Troye started shaking back and forth. "I loved him. I loved him. I loved him!" He weeped and screamed out in emotional torment. "He was my everything!" Troye shrieked. He buried his face in the bed. His parents left his room. They wanted to give him his time to grieve, hoping he would cry out all the tears. But the tears never stopped flowing. And he turned…. lifeless, in a way. Troye woke up. Dried tears were on his eyes. He had no strength to get out of bed. It was seven p.m.; he had slept through the whole day. He just sat there. He reminded himself that he couldn't pick up his phone and call Tyler. Because Tyler was dead. And all he wanted to do was have him back. And see him smile again. And lay with him again. And kiss him again. But those things… they would never happen again. He didn't eat. He just slept. Then woke up. Then cried. Slept, woke up, cried; and then did it all over again. He hadn't had a bite to eat in two days. Laurelle kept coming in with food for him to eat but he insisted he did want it. Not by talking, but by simply limply lifting up his hand and shooing away the plate of food, implying he wasn't hungry. But he was starving. He was beyond hungry. But he had no will to even use his hands to feed himself. On the third day he almost passed out from hunger. He had multiple missed calls from people, leaving messages talking about what happened to Tyler. They all sounded on the verge of crying. What they didn't know was how much of a mess Troye was. They didn't know that at all. Laurelle told him that if he didn't eat they would have to take him to the hospital to get nutrients injected into his bloodstream. He ate the bare minimum of what she brought him. Then a half-hour later he threw it up. He was going in and out of reality. He couldn't function correctly anymore. The last thing he remembered before he closed his eyes was his mom and dad running in with looks of panic on their faces. He felt bed-sheets different from his own and a sharp pain in his arm. "Hey, you awake?" "Hm? Yeah…" Troye responded. He opened his eyes slightly. He was at the hospital. "Oh…" "Yeah… You… passed out after you threw-up all the food you ate. We needed to take you here." "How long am I going to be here?" "Until you can eat again." "But…" "You need to eat, Troye. I know it's been horrible recently. It has been for all of us. And I know, especially for you. But have you thought about how Jackie must feel right now? She escaped the earthquake. Tyler talked on the phone with her for two minutes in the middle of it all and said "I love you, queen," as his last words to her and then hung up. I called her yesterday when you were sleeping." "I completely forgot. I feel so bad now." "Don't feel bad, it's not your fault. Just rest, you're getting food pretty much put into your body by a needle now." She grabbed a hold of Troye's hand and squeezed it, smiling very little. Troye drifted off to sleep. "C'mon, kiss already! Korey insisted. Tyler and Troye were celebrating; everyone was celebrating. They had just hit 500,000 dollars raised for the Trevor Project. "Do it." Connor said. "You know you want to." "But I'm a lady!" Tyler replied. "Don't even pull that shit." said Korey. "Okay, fine." Tyler sighed. Troye was nervous and he really wanted to just do it already. Tyler put his arms around Troye's neck. Troye was taller, so he should've leaned in first. But Tyler pulled him down with his eyes closed. Troye's eyes were wide open; he never thought this would happen. He wasn't prepared for it either. Troye's lips touched Tyler's. He smiled into the kiss and Tyler felt it and smiled too. Korey and Connor were jumping up and down. "Wooh!" they yelled together. Troye put his arms around Tyler's waist and Tyler pulled away from the kiss. It was practically just a peck. "Everyone's freaking out on the chat." Connor pointed out. "Congrats. That's now probably been gifed and recorded to be forever on the internet." Korey stated. Troye didn't want to let go of Tyler. Tyler didn't want to either, considering they were both just looking at eachother, not paying attention to anything else going on. Tyler moved his hands from Troye's neck to the back of his head. He stroked his fingers through Troye's hair. Connor and Korey left the livestream on but backed out of the room quietly. Troye decided to go for it. He leaned down and closed his eyes, except this time he parted his lips. Tyler did the same. It kept going, the twists and turns of their heads. This was far from a peck. They were sensually kissing on the livestream. Troye moved his hands on Tyler's waist up his shirt and onto his back. He then moved them around to the front, onto his chest, where he moved his hands up and down. "Mmm.. hm…" Tyler moaned. He grabbed the back of Troye's shirt and pulled it up to take it off of him. Then Troye remembered they were broadcasting live. He pulled his hands out of Tyler's shirt immediately and ended the make-out session by pulling away. "Ah…?" Tyler questioned Troye's actions. Troye simply pointed to the computer to remind Tyler they had been seen that whole time. The chat was filled up with everyone saying 'OMFG' and 'TROYLER IS REAL' multiple times in a row. "Uhm, we'll be back on in a few minutes." Troye said, and turned off the broadcast. Troye turned around to look at Tyler. "Now everyone is convinced Troyler is real when it really isn't." Tyler strolled over to Troye and hugged him. "Why can't it be?" Troye jolted upwards in the hospital bed. "TYLER! TYLER! COME BACK! DON'T LEAVE ME-" "Shh, Shh, sh… Everything's going to be okay. It's okay…" All of Troye's family jumped out of their seats when he screamed. Troye leaned back down and put his head on the pillow. He turned to face away from everybody, but the IV drip in his arm pulled so he had to lay facing up. The tears he shed poured down the sides of his face and soaked the pillow. He didn't want to close his eyes because he knew he would dream about Tyler more. He tried to relax and close his eyes after an hour of keeping them open and staring up at the ceiling. He shut them and a picture of Tyler immediately came into his head. He opened his eyes again. He assumed his family was still awake. "You know how much I loved him, right?" Troye uttered. "How much?" Sage answered. "He was my everything." "Your everything ruined your life." Troye didn't expect this response, but answered in the same tone as before. "It's because he was my life. And he's gone." "You shouldn't have let it affect you this much." "My everything was taken away from me, and you expect me to be fine?" "No… I just didn't think it would come to this." "Me laying in a hospital bed? Getting tube-fed because I don't have the strength of will to eat on my own? My day getting filled with a schedule of simultaneously crying and sleeping because that's all I can do having his face plastered on the inside of my mind? Is that what you thought it wouldn't come to? Because it did." "I…" "Don't apologize. I don't need sympathy. I lost the person I love more than life itself. I don't know if I'll ever be truly okay again. But give me time. I can only hope I'll eventually get better." "..." Sage didn't answer. She just hung her head down. "I'm gonna try to go to sleep again." Troye grabbed a pillow and squeezed it tightly in his arms, pretending it was Tyler he was holding. "Troye?" Troye opened his eyes and blinked. "Mhm?" "The aftershocks have been slowing down and have become minor." "Okay." Troye closed his eyes again. "Don't you care?" "Eh." "...Jackie's planning a funeral." Troye opened his eyes fully and turned quickly to face his mom. "Why the fuck would you tell me that?" Troye's eyes started watering. "I thought you should-" "I'm not going." He turned away from her again. She didn't want to say anything so she just walked away. She sat back down in her seat across the room. Troye glanced down at his hand. "Where's the ring?" "We figured-" "You can't figure anything. Where is my ring?" "It's at the house, okay? And we figured you wouldn't want it in the hospital. It could get lost or something." "Can you get it for me, then?" "Are you sure-" "I need it." Shaun got up before anyone said anything else. "I'll go get it." He went to walk out of the room. "Wait!" called Troye. "Can you get my picture of…" Troye couldn't say Tyler's name. "You and Tyler?" "... Yeah." "Sure." "... Thanks." "Welcome, son." His dad handed Troye the ring. Troye put it on his finger. Then he handed Troye the picture. Troye held it in his arms, gripping it tightly. He looked at his ring finger. How the ring was placed on his left hand. He brought the ring to his mouth and kept it there with his lips touching it. "I loved you baby."