Chapter Text
When Tyler comes to, he’s wearing clothes that aren't his. Despite this, the camo jacket and frayed dark pants are more than a familiar sight by now. That’s the first thing he notices.
The second thing is someone clearing their throat behind him, causing him to turn and see a long line of disgruntled faces. He’s groggy from the switch still, unsure of what’s happening, but when he faces forward again, he finally realizes he’s holding up the line to buy bus tickets. At a bus station.
He groans aloud before he can stop himself and quickly moves out of the way before anyone else can make faces at him, pulling his phone out when he’s several steps away.
It’s close to six now, still Sunday - so he’d lost several hours and had three missed calls from Josh. It rings again while he’s still gathering his bearings, but he answers immediately.
“Hello?” The exhaustion in his voice is evident even to his own ears.
On the other hand, Josh’s tinny voice through the phone speaker is a helpful anchor in his disorientation. “Clancy?”
“No, Tyler. I’m back.”
“Oh, Tyler!” Josh sounds relieved. “Welcome back. How far did he take you this time?”
“I’m at the bus station, the one next to Subway.”
Josh whistles. “That’s pretty far for him.”
By this point, they both know that Clancy would never leave without Josh so neither were terribly alarmed that when Tyler fronted again he found himself in a bus station. Besides, with a roll of his eyes, he reminds, “Yep, but not the first time.”
“Definitely not. You alright? Want me to come get you?”
Sometimes walking back home after his alters left him stranded somewhere gave him the time and space to collect himself, clear his head. But right now he could tell his body needed to readjust to being his own again, so Tyler sighs, shaking out the hand not holding the phone. “I’d appreciate the ride,” he admits sheepishly, “if it’s not too much.”
Tyler hated these little moments where he felt like a burden, when something as simple as getting home from work could go spectacularly wrong.
“For my fiancee? Anything.”
With those simple words, the weight lifts from Tyler’s shoulders for another day. It’s a choice Tyler has to make to believe Josh everyday, a choice he’s learned to make over the past several years, a choice that was tough at first, and slowly became easier as Josh proved it to him time and time again. Josh meant it- anything.
Tyler ducks his head, hiding his embarrassed smile, and fiddles with the band on his ring finger. “Subway for dinner then?”
“Deal. I’m barely getting out of work so it might be a little while for me to get there. Love you!”
“Love you, too. Drive safe.”
At Subway, Tyler has a brief scare where he can’t find where Clancy had stowed his wallet. In the inside pocket of the camo jacket, he discovers, since Clancy was paranoid someone would steal it from his back pants pocket. Tyler takes his sandwich tray and slides into a booth by a window, pulling up the notes app on his phone.
While he waits for Josh to arrive, he scrolls past all his previous entries, the ones detailing what he can piece together after his switches. Ever since his engagement to Josh, his switches had increased dramatically. Any big life change would likely cause an uptick in switching, his therapist had explained, but after expressing anxiety over potentially missing out on his own wedding, they were trying to more aggressively nail down his triggers in the hopes of lessening the frequency of his switches. Tyler had made his peace with not having any of his childhood memories, even if Josh disagreed with that choice, but it made him fiercely protective of his current and future memories. If all the alters could get on board, they would make so much more progress in therapy. Alas, all the entries so far were his, including this one that he taps into his phone now.
Sunday, about 5:45pm. Woke up at bus station in Clancy clothes.
Last known memory:
Chewing on his thumbnail, he pauses to think back earlier in the day.
Because it was a weekend, piano lessons started earlier in the morning, so he’d been awake at the same time as Josh which was a rare treat for Josh (not so much for Tyler who loves sleeping in). He definitely made it to the music academy where he worked as a teacher when his alters allowed him to. After three piano lessons, he’d headed home for lunch and…
Something on the way home had triggered Clancy into fight or flight. Or specifically flight, he supposes, since he ended up at the bus station. Clancy seemed to get a little farther every time, at least since their engagement a couple of months ago. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but he imagined it wasn’t good. Tyler is not looking forward to waking up in a different state one of these days.
He’s so lost in thought he doesn’t notice Josh’s arrival until he plops down in front of him with a huge grin adorning his features. Tyler leans over to plant a kiss on that beautiful smile, putting his phone away to ponder the dark recesses of his mind later.