Chapter Twelve

- 2 WEEKS TIMESKIP -

Bryce turned to hear a loud honk noise, before the car screeched to a halt. He scrambled out of the way and looked around at his surroundings. He was back on earth!

"Bryce?"

He turned back around to the car.

"Bryce! You're back!"

Owen jumped out of the car and hugged Bryce. Bryce blinked, but soon hugged Owen back. Owen let go of Bryce, then opened the door to the car.

"Hop in!" Owen smiled.

Bryce slowly waked up to the car, his legs shaking. He picked Texty up from the car seat and got in the car.

Owen looked over at Bryce, and smirked. Bryce opened up the laptop.

"hi bryce"

"Texty, don't tell him." Owen stifled a giggle.

"Tell me what?" Bryce questioned. Owen didn't respond. "Tell meeeeee!" He whined. Owen still didn't respond.

Liam opened his eyes after he heard Texty's jarring text-to-speech voice from the computer.

"hi bryce"

L: waitwaitwait bryce?

T: yea bryce

L: uhh i'll be right back

T: you dont have anywhere to go, you know you cant swim

"Uhh, Owen, what's happening?"

"I'll let you figure that out yourself."

Liam stared at the computer.

B: texty u good? ur talking to urself

T: no im not

"Has she already gone insane?"

T: hey i can hear you yknow

B: well i can see you talking to yourself

T: technically i cant talk so i would be typing to myself, which im not doing

B: you clearly are

T: hehehe

B: STOP IT SMUG ASS BITCH

L: bryce?

B: texty?

T: liam?

Bryce stared in confusion at the computer.

T: hey i just thought we were saying each others names

B: liams not here tho

L: uhhhhh

"owen can i tell him yet"

"Nope. He'll figure it out."

Bryce stared at Owen, his face stern.

"Owen, what's going on?"

Owen giggled.

L: bryce

B: yes?

L: its me

B: yeah i know youre you but like what arent you telling me

L: no, bryce, its me, liam

B: ...

"I swear to god- Texty, this isn't funny."

"what did i do"

"Texty, I know you know that I miss him, but Liam has no access to this computer, he's in a coma."

"and thats where youre wrong"

"What?"

"he does have access"

"How? He's in a coma."

"yeahh but he still has access"

"What?"

"its complicated"

L: is bryce still there?

T: yea he just a lil confused tho

L: i would be too, if he was the one in a coma

B: wait so youre actually liam

L: mhm

B: WHAT

L: yup

B: TEXTY WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME

T: i did, just now

B: stfu

L: so, uh, didja miss me?

B: ...

i mean not really

L: you didnt?

B: nope

L: oh

uh, im gonna go for a bit

"wow good job bryce"

Bryce frowned. "I didn't know what to say!"

"certainly not that!"

"I don't even know if he thinks we're friends or not!"

"well evidently he does!"

"He was mad at me before he was fucking struck by lightning!"

"you know he cares about you! he misses you a fuckton! i would know, owen and i have been talking to him for fucking weeks! he went across the fucking country to find you, he sat in front of your door for a whole night, hell, he even cried multiple times when we were talking to him! he obviously wants to be your friend! i cant believe i have to lecture you about this! i thought you would maybe be able to tell that he did!"

Owen stared at Bryce, half scared, half worried. Bryce was silent. Owen looked back at the road.

"Uh, we're here."

Bryce shut Texty and got out of the car. "Do you have my keys?" Owen didn't say anything, but simply handed Bryce his keys. They both walked silently into the apartment, with Owen holding the laptop.

Bryce sat down on the couch. Owen hesitantly sat down next to him. "So, uh..." Owen tried to start conversation. "I know you're wondering about what happened in the car." He closed his arms and crossed his legs, looking down at the floor. "Yeah..." Owen looked to his side and clutched his knees tightly.

"Well, Liam asked me if I missed him." He began. Owen looked over at Bryce, but Bryce still stared downward. "Mhm?" Owen prompted Bryce to continue. "...and I told him that I didn't." Bryce said. "What? Why? Why would you do that? You were bawling in the hospital parking lot, inside the hospital, and probably even in the plane!"

That got Bryce to look up at Owen.

"He... told you about the plane?"

"Why didn't you?"

"I barely knew you, Owen."

"Maybe you barely know Liam."

"...I said that because I didn't want to seem weak."

"What?"

"I usually seem all stern and serious, and I'm not usually emotional. I knew that he thought I was like that, and I didn't want him to think I'm weak or anything."

"Well, you obviously made a mistake. Maybe you can talk it out with him."

Bryce looked back down at the ground. He sat down at the table and opened the laptop. He took a deep breath before smiling at the computer, assuming Texty would see.

"oh. hi, bryce."

"Texty, I just want to talk to Liam."

"alright, but don't expect much conversation from him."

Liam knew Texty was talking to Bryce.

B: liam?

Nothing.

B: liam, please

Nothing.

B: i know youre there.

Nothing.

Liam was being awfully stubborn, but it was warranted. Since he didn't respond, Bryce decided to scroll up to see what Owen and Texty had talked to him about in the past few weeks.

owen?

yes?

do you think he misses me?

of course he does, he really cares about you yknow

oh, i thought he hated me lmfao

nah he was crying

wha

he was crying when we were in the hospital

oh

He scrolled a bit more.

wanna listen to some music?

sure

ooh this song is really good

i've never heard it before

lol i have

you have?

yeah, but why have you

what

i mean, everyone i've met who likes this song has mental problems lol

well i dont

mhm sure

texty can you stop making this confusing idk whos typing

aight im dippin bye

you good, liam?

yeah, i just miss him

Bryce stared down at the computer. His thoughts became static and his head pounded in pain. He rubbed his eyes, but before he knew it he was crying again. He covered his face to keep Texty or Owen from seeing him cry.

"Bryce?"

He continued crying.

"Bryce?"

He tried his best to wipe the tears off his face, but they just kept pouring down. He rushed himself into the bathroom, legs shaking, and locked the door shut behind him.

Owen walked over to the door and sat down.

"We can talk, if you want."

"..."

"It doesn't have to be about Liam, if you dont want it to be."

"..."

"Bryce, I know you can hear me."

"..."

"Alright, I guess we don't have to talk if you don't want to."

Owen got up and laid down on the couch, about to fall asleep, but just then, Bryce opened the door.