When the two of them got back home, Tyler was quick to start the bath- knowing how to make it perfect while Hoa stumbled and fell onto the bed, muttering about how her body was sore and in pain. Tyler chuckled silently to himself as he got the water at the right temperature, making sure to plop a bath bomb into the bubble filled tub before going to fetch the girl.

“I wasn’t too rough with you,” Tyler sat beside her, “was I?” His puppy eyes bore a hole through her entire being, her heart fluttered as she looked into his shiny emerald eyes- they were almost too pretty to be real- she gently placed a hand on his cheek and smiled softly as she shook her head before kissing him ever so sweetly.

Originally posted by zanephillips

“I’m alright, love,” she hummed as she stroked his cheek with her thumb, “I’m stronger than I look.” Tyler closed his eyes in bliss before he picked her up and carried her to the bathroom, setting her on the sinktop and helping the girl undress. Hoa pressed her forehead against his chest, he was warm. Once she was plopped into the tub the boy shortly joined her, the water was warm and sleep was pulling them in. This time Hoa was the one scrubbing the dirt and grime off of Tyler’s shoulders. Humming that faint tune, he was curious as to what the song was called- to be quite honest, even Hoa didn’t remember the name of the song. Nor did she remember the lyrics, only the tune and the way her mother and father would sing it to her and Quan when they were little.

Two birds on a wire.

“Hoa?” Tyler’s voice came out as a whisper, “Do you love me?”

“Yes,” Hoa responded, almost hurt by his question, “You know I do.”

One tries to fly away and the other watches him close from that wire.

“I love you too.” He smiled and leaned back, tilting his head up to gaze at her eyes. Black as obsidian, he felt himself getting lost in the warm pools of wonder, he felt safe with her and she felt safe with him.

He wants to as well but he is a liar.

Hoa was brave, something Tyler wasn’t and he envied that. She had the guts to do what had to be done even when she didn’t want to do it, she was stubborn- somehow he found a home in her, she was like a beacon of hope. When he was around her he felt at peace, the hyde felt at peace. The need to kill wasn’t as urgent or loud as it was before he met her, he knew he was a monster and a killer but for some strange reason she never saw him in that light. To her Tyler was warm, kind and gentle, he was innocent. 

He felt like he didn’t have to yell just to be heard, she would listen to him regardless. He found something he could treasure, something tangible, and he wasn’t going to let it slip through his fingers.

I’ll believe it all, there’s nothing I won’t understand.

“You look very comfy there, Barista Boy.” Hoa smiled, the steam fogged up the mirror in the bathroom. The smell of lavender was thick and lulling the two into a sense of security as they sat there, soaking in the bubbles. Tyler hummed in response while Hoa traced tiny shapes in the suds and foam that covered his body, she massaged his shoulders as she hummed a different tune. 

I’ll believe it all, I won’t let go of your hand.

Tyler sat up and directed the girl turn around so that he could wash all the sludge off her, she did as she was told; feeling the boy’s gentle and warm hands run over the length of her back. Feeling the bubbles slide off her skin as he scrubbed at every inch there was to scrub. Placing soft kisses on her back, the boy felt that he had gained something he had longed for, his heartbeat was steady and he felt all the rage that had been bottled up over the years just dissipate. The hatred he had felt for everyone at Nevermore just faded away.

Two birds on a wire.

“One says c’mon,” Hoa sang softly as the boy scrubbed her hair, “and the other says I’m tired.” There was something sad in her voice, something that conveyed she was almost on the verge of tears. Tyler pulled her close, he tried to read her thoughts but all he got was static- loud and cold static. 

The sky’s overcast and I’m sorry.

“Hoa?” The boy rested his chin on her shoulder, only met with silence, “Princess?” 

One more or one less, nobody’s worried.

“Tyler?” Hoa put a hand on his, squeezing gently as she started to shake, “Please don’t go.” The boy felt his heart drop as he heard her words. She was scared that everything they’d both worked for would just fall apart with a gentle breeze. Her eyes were laced with desperation and some kind of fear that would make you sad and scared to the point of bawling your eyes out. Behind her cold exterior there was a scared little girl, the Hoa that sat before him seemed different, as if this wasn’t his Hoa. It was as if she had seen a ghost, as if she had died years ago and all that was left was an empty shell.

Two birds of a feather

Say that they’re always gonna stay together.

Her eyes were empty, a stark contrast from how they were minutes earlier- bright and full of life. Tyler prayed and hoped that she would open up to him, tell him, cry, scream, anything. The silence was suffocating and he couldn’t escape for he loved her too much to run away.

But no one’s going to let go of that wire.

“He says that he will,” a tear fell from her eyes like moonlight, “but he is a liar…”

“Why are you doing this?” Tyler muttered under his breath, a wave of sadness hitting him like a tsunami, “Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong? What is going on inside here?” He brushed the girl’s bangs away from her face as he gained no response. The water was getting cold by now, the two rinsed off in silence without another word- it was painful for Tyler to bear. Did he do something wrong? Once the two of them were clothed, Hoa groggily dragged Tyler to bed with her. Choking on his words, Tyler pulled his hand away from hers, “Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?!”

Hoa stopped dead in her tracks, the boy’s words echoing and reverberating in her head. She only told him that it was getting late and they needed to sleep, bullshit. Tyler knew something was up and he wanted to get it off of her shoulders.

Two birds on a wire. One tries to fly away and the other

Watches him close from that wire

“He says he wants to as well but he is a liar…”Two birds on a wire, One tries to fly away and the other…