(How are you?)
“Of course I want to stay! I didn’t come back because I couldn’t remember anything after that night. You were gone from my memory and I regretted leaving every second of everyday.” His voice broke and tears streamed down his face. “You tried…you tried to kill yourself? Oh..my god..” Tyler sank to the floor, not looking at her. “I’m so sorry…”
(I’m great! At my friends house, we had a sleepover
You?)
She was crying again, the wetness staining her cheeks. Hold me, she wanted to say to him, I need you to hold me. But she just nodded and looked away. “I thought you were dead. When— when you didn’t respond. Either that or the demon had full control. I thought—“
(Ooo that sounds fun. I'm pretty good)
"I would never leave this Earth without being able to see you one last time.." Tyler responded weakly. "That was the only thing keeping me from giving up." He said, looking up at her.
Macha tried to mop up the tears from her cheeks, but they just kept coming. “We had a— we had a funeral for you,” she told him, her hand pressed up against her mouth. “Me and Raf. When I— When I was up on the roof, about to jump, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I thought it was you.” Her fingers toyed with the edge of her sleeve, as if she was debating pulling it up. “Three hundred and seventy-nine cuts. One for each day you were away.”
(I’m glad you’re good :)
We just ate pancakes)
(Yummmm)
“I thought it would be better if I wasn’t here..I’ve always thought that..” Was the only thing he could say at that moment, guilt and pain crushing him.
“You thought wrong,” she said miserably, daring to look at him again. “I was alone in this big, empty house. I had to look the police in the face and lie. I had to organize a funeral with nothing to bury.” She inhaled shakily, wiping again at her tears. “Do you remember my name?”
Tyler glanced up at her briefly before looking back down. “You don’t deserve this..what I’ve been putting you through..”
“Tyler. Do you remember my name?” she repeated, squeezing her eyes shut. It wasn’t supposed to be like this…
“Of course I do, Macha..” Tyler whispered, looking up at her.
Macha opened her eyes again, a rush of hope flooding her body. She swallowed and came forward, kneeling down in front of him. Hope was dangerous— of course she knew that. But she allowed herself to reach out with one hand and cup his face anyways. “Stay here with me. Please.”
“Really?” His eyes widened slightly, hope forming deep inside him.
She didn’t smile, only brushed her thumb over his cheekbone. “Of course.” Her voice broke on the last word.
“No more cutting, okay? And you’re going to eat more.” Tyler said quietly, taking her other hand in his and looking down at it.
Macha knew that she couldn’t keep either promise, but she made it anyways. “I’ll try.” And suddenly, the tears were rushing back— because this was Tyler, and he was alive, and he wanted to stay. “Hold me,” she asked him weakly, “Please.”
“I’m never leaving you again. I promise..” He whispered, pulling her into his lap and wrapping his arms around her gently.
Macha broke down in his arms, clinging to him like her life depended on it— and maybe, it did. “I missed you,” she sobbed, “Every day.”
“I missed you too..it’ll be okay..eventually..” He said, hugging her a little tighter and stroking her hair gently.
“I can’t promise you— I can’t promise you instant recovery. It might take a while to go back to the way we were…” she told him when she had calmed down enough.
“I know..I never expected you to forgive me for leaving..but it’s a start..” He replied softly.
Macha didn’t answer for a long time. When she finally spoke, her voice no longer trembled. “What are we going to tell the police?”
Tyler sighed, his shoulders slumping a little. “I don’t know. But let’s not worry about that now. You need sleep.”
"I'm fine," she told him, then immediately winced. He hadn't been in the house for fifteen minutes, and she was already lying to him. "I mean– I'm not sleeping now that you're back. I want to know where you've been."
"No, you are sleeping now that i'm back. I'm not going to tell you anything tonight. It's late and everything is still kind of blurry inside my head right now." Tyler said, pulling away a little so he could look at her.
"I will sleep, just in a bit. Tyler, I've waited a year. Please. You owe me an explanation of where you've been." Steadying herself, she met his eyes. "Are you hungry? I'll make you something to eat."
"No i'm not hungry. I was..I was in a city, about five hours from here, I can't remember the name right now." Tyler said, leaning his head back against the wall.
Macha exhaled slowly. "The police were looking for you. How did they not find you?"
"I don't know..it took me a while to get there..I didn't realize I had gone so far until a couple days later when I remembered what had happened.." Tyler replied, closing his eyes and sighing deeply. "I found my wedding ring but had no memory of ever getting married. Everything was so messed up.."
Macha took his hands in hers again and gripped them tightly. "I'm sorry…" she whispered, her words carrying weight. "Where did you go from there?"
"I stayed there. I was afraid to leave because I might just end up farther away from you." He didn't continue, lost in his thoughts.
