` top of the world

[tyler durden.]

That was it. It was all over now. For years, she had been working, putting other parts of her life on hold and trying to make it. Today, that was all over. Today, she had nothing left to work toward. He life was hers once again. For the past four years, Tyler Durden had been working her ass off in college. Sure, she had been to her fair share of parties upstate with the few friends that she had made and had had a hell of a good time with it, but she wasn’t a slacker. Tyler had barely managed to pass some classes in high school, not caring to apply herself and work as hard as she should have. She had floated by, doing what she had to do to stay in her grade and graduate with all of her friends. In college, she had really cracked down and hit the books. She had worked, she had studied, and she was finally done with it all. She had taken her last final two days ago, and the professor had posted the results online. Tyler had been so nervous. It was math, and she just wasn’t good at math. The girl could count out any piece of music that you threw out her, subdividing in her head and making it all seem easy. She was nearly fluent in French, and had taken a psychology class that had really expanded her way of thinking and understanding why people did some of the things they do. She had accomplished so much, but she was still horrible in math. She’d been taking basic college math courses all four years, and had struggled through each of them. If she failed that final, it meant summer courses for her and having to wait to start on the job hunt. If she passed, it was really over. When Tyler had pulled up the internet page, she had almost lost all courage. The idea of having someone else read it for her had crossed her mind, but in the end she found the strength and turned her pretty little head toward the screen. C-. She had passed, and she was done! She would be graduating, and it was all finally over with. School was now officially behind her, and the rest of her life could begin.

The first thing that Ty had done was scream and dance around her apartment. After that, she was on the phone, calling her parents to tell them the good news. They had been thrilled, and had asked for dates and times concerning their daughter’s graduation from college. They wouldn’t miss it for the world, they said. They were going to fly to Seattle to see their baby girl on her special day. It was all too amazing. When she had finally gotten off of the phone with her parents, Tyler called her friends next. Sydney was first on the list, followed by Brit, Tish, and Hunter. Everyone had been happy for her, all obviously hearing the excitement and the sound of relief in Tyler’s voice. She said that she would get them information about the graduation and all that later. She was so ecstatically happy, hardly able to stay still for more than a few seconds at a time. Tyler was normally a happy, peppy girl anyway, but this was Tyler on overdrive. This was beyond what anyone had seen her for a long time. Yet, there was really no one there to see her. Tyler had made her calls, but she was still all alone in that apartment, sharing her victory with no one. Well, that just wasn’t going to cut it. Ty had just done something amazing, and she was damn proud of it. She wasn’t about to spend her evening alone in the oversized apartment, playing round after round of Guitar Hero against herself. No, she was going somewhere. She didn’t want to go out and drink and party with people that didn’t matter, but all of her friends that she had just called had sounded busy. They all had their own lives to live, but Tyler wasn’t going to put hers on hold just because none of them were available.

Ty wasted no time at all in getting herself ready for an outing. She hit the shower first, singing along to her shower radio and nearly falling as she attempted to dance at the same time. After drying off, she slipped into her bathrobe and sauntered into her bedroom, then to her walk in closet. Her choice of clothing that day was simple. Nothing fancy. She put on a pair of slim fitting jeans with a beige baby doll top. Once her long, dark brown hair was dried, she let it hang loose to fall down around her shoulders. Ty was a pretty girl, one of those girls that most wondered why she even bothered with makeup, but she still did. Not a lot, but she didn’t like to venture out without her eyes being accented just right or without some blush on her cheeks. She tried not to be too vain about it, not wanting to be one of those girls that was constantly checking their face and having to fix it if one little thing wasn’t exactly perfect. But, she was a girl, and she had her girly moments. Today, she rushed through everything it seemed but did it all very well. After picking out a pair of shoes and making sure she had everything in her purse that she might need, Tyler got the hell out of her apartment and headed out into the city of Seattle. She was going to drive for once. Tyler usually avoided that, what with the soaring gas prices and the crowded city streets, but today she had no idea where she wanted to go. If she drove, it would be easier to figure it out and to stop once she got there. Plus, there would be a way for her to get home without having to ride in a taxi with some old man that stared at her in the rearview mirror, or ride on a bus with an old man that did the same. This was safer, and today it was much more practical. Imagine that.

Traffic on the streets really wasn’t all that bad. A lot of people were riding buses, carpooling, and finding other means of transportation thanks to those gas prices. Seattle was one of the cities that saw that trend the most recently, and Ty was a little thankful for it. Though, with the extremely good mood that she was in, she highly doubted that even traffic could dampened her spirits. Not even the constant rain and cloudy skies that the city saw could do that. Ty had grown up with it, but had grown to appreciate the sun in the years that she had spent away from the city. Even so, she liked a good rainy day. It was drizzling lightly as she drove, nothing that she and her windshield wipers couldn’t handle. Tyler hadn’t known where she was going when she had gotten in her car, but the more she drove, the more she knew where she was headed. She ended up on the street that the Trents lived on. Maybe she could drop in to see Marion, Rob, and Hunter. Only, as she drove up, no one appeared to be home. Of course. Marion and Rob always had somewhere to be. That’s why their sons had gotten into all the shit that they had back in the day. Tyler kept driving, Anna Allan’s house coming up next. Tyler didn’t know Anna well enough to drop in on her like this, but it was always an option if Tyler ended up circling the city too many times without finding a place to stop. That wasn’t going to be a problem, though. Neither of those two houses were where she wanted to go. Zach Cool lived in a house just a little ways down, and it wasn’t long before Tyler was pulling her car into their short driveway beside their own family vehicles. Ty didn’t know if Zach himself was going to be there or not, but either way, she was glad to be there. She had been meaning to stop in and say hello every since she had been back in Seattle, but hadn’t gotten the chance yet. Now she did, and she didn’t waste a second.

Tyler got out of her car, running to the safety of the porch to avoid the rain that had picked up from the earlier drizzle. It might not have been a bad idea to have worn a coat, but Tyler hadn’t thought that far ahead. Good thing she hadn’t ended up someplace where she was outside. She straightened her hair, rang the door bell, and then stepped back as she waited for someone to answer. She allowed those dark eyes of her to look around, looking at the porch and feeling the familiarity of this home settling in over her already. Zach was living with his parents for the time being, though he was this close to getting his own apartment. No matter where he lived, this was always going to be his home to Tyler. This is where they had met up so many late nights when they had been up to nothing good. This is where she had come so many times to tell him her problems, or more or less bitch and complain to him. Zach had always allowed her to vent it all out, and sometimes she even got supper with his family. There were a lot of good memories here, along with a few bittersweet ones. She had been at this house when she found out Jared had died. This was the porch she had stood on when she had told Zach goodbye nearly three years ago, which was by far one of the hardest things she’d ever done. The good memories where what stuck out in her mind as she stood there now, though. Nothing was going to tear her down today. That was something that was simply impossible.

zach ,

[ sorry that it took so long .. and that it sucks out loud.. ]

[→ zach cool]

Zach's life had been crazy lately. he had finally gotten around to telling his parents that after almost 22 years of living together, he was moving out. They'd been a little upset, which was to be expected, but they were proud of him at the same time. Their only request was that he spend a little more time at home so Nick and Beth would be able to spend some time with him before he left the house. It was a reasonable enough request, so Zach was waiting for the twins everyday when they got off of the bus for the past week. It was a lot like old times except there was no Sara. Zach had actually missed spending time at home. He hadn't really missed Maria's nagging, but she had kept it to a minimum for him. He could tell that she was really glad to have him around again. Probably because she liked having the help with Nick and Beth, seeing as she no longer had to schedule her work around their school schedule. Zach didn't mind helping out with them as much as he had used to. They were still his little bother and sister. Sure, they could still be a pain in the ass, and it was still impossible to control them, but that didn't mean he had missed them any less.

Today was no different than any other day this week had been with the small exception that the twins were getting out of school early because some of the older kids were having exams. Eric didn't have a flight until Monday, and Maria had gotten out of work early after a meeting early that morning. Maria was shuffling around the kitchen, chatting with a friend from the twins school as she baked cookies in preparation for the demons arrival at home. Eric was lounging in his favorite chair in the living room, watching a DVD because nothing good was on cable. Zach was lingering in the dining room with a stack of papers in front of him trying to organize some of the expenses for the bar. Usually he'd do it on the computer, but first he wanted to get everything in order before he plugged it into the program. He'd never out that much energy into something like this before. They still needed to hire a permanent person for their finances. So far they had managed, but they were starting to get in over their heads.

The rain pattered against the windows, playing a gentle song that put Zach at ease. He loved the rain. He'd lived in it for all his life. Sure, the sun was nice every once in a while, but Zach would pick rain over it any day. The musical chime of the doorbell seemed to ring in symphony with the rain. Zach looked up from the papers. At the same time, Maria peeked out from the kitchen. Eric didn't seem to notice at all. Maria's eyes caught Zach's as she said, "Could you get that, Zach?" He shrugged as he stood and headed to the front door to see who had come to pay the Cool family a visit. He opened the door, and his pretty blue eyes met Tyler's deep brown ones. She was dressed simply, much like Zach, who was wearing an old pair of jeans and a stretched out T-shirt. She had to look a lot better than he did, though. Tyler always looked good, even with drops of moisture making random dark spots on her shirt. Zach's mouth had already formed a wide grin as he looked at her for a few moments longer. "Hey," he said. "You're wet." Way to state the obvious, Zach.

He stepped aside and gestured for her to come in. He couldn't have her standing in the rain when the house was so warm and dry. "Come on, get in here," he instructed her. After she had stepped inside, he closed the door behind her. He heard his mother's voice emerging from the kitchen. "Who was it?" She appeared in the doorway and froze as her eyes fell on Tyler. She fell completely silent as she stared at the girl who had, at one time, seemed to live in the house with them. She vaguely remembered Zach mentioning that Tyler Durden was coming back to town, but seeing and hearing are two completely different things.

Once the shock had worn off a smile wider than one Zach had seen come on his mother's face in a while made her face glow. "Glordia, I'll have to call you back." She pressed the end button on the handset and set it on the counter before making her way into the small hallway where Tyler was standing to gather her up in a tight hug. "Oh my God, it's Tyler Durden," she said. The hug seemed to last forever even though it was only several seconds long. Once she released Tyler from her death grip she took a step back to look at her. "You look so pretty, just like you did last time I saw you." The look on Maria's face really was one of pure joy. Tyler really had become like another daugher to her, just like Kade had become like another son. "It's been too long," she told her, and you could tell by the tone of her voice that she really meant it.

Maria glanded into the living room to see Eric still half asleep in his chair. "Eric, look who stopped by." The sound of his wife's voice seemed to wake him from his daze. He sat up and glanced into the hallway. Once he saw Tyler, he was on his feet and grabbing her into a bear hug."Tyler. Haven't seen you around here in quite a while." He let her go and beamed at her. This girl had always been kind of special to him and held a certain place in his heart. This was the girl that made Zach happy. He noticed a change in his son whenever Tyler was around. He let her go and stepped back nec to his wife, taking in the stunning young woman in front of him. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

Zach made his way to Tyler's side again and smiled at his parents. he knew how much they liked her, and it was nice to see them so excited over seeing her again. "Come on, let's sit down," Eric suggested, leading the group into the living room so he could sit in his comfortable chair again. They all sat in various places around the room with the exception of Maria, who quickly dismissed herself to pull the cookies out of the oven to cool. The DVD was put on pause so full attention could be focused on Tyler. Zach saw her almost every night, and they'd been able to reconnect without issue. Zach figured since he got her every night, he'd let his parents have a go at her. He almost felt bad, not knowing exactly what kind of questions his parents might have in mind, but he figured that Tyler had known them long enough to not be caught too off guard by any of them.

[/blockquote]

[tyler durden.]

Well, if that wasn’t unpleasant. Tyler should have put a little bit more thought into that coat idea. It would have helped to have it with her. She wasn’t a girl that got upset if she got a little wet. People like that just couldn’t live in this city. Tyler was, on the other hand, a girl that seemed to get chilled very easily. The wind was picking up a little, and it was blowing the rain right in underneath of the porch roof and onto the brunette girl after having rang the doorbell of the Cool house. Long sleeve probably would have been enough to save her, but of course her arms and shoulders were bare in the top that she had chosen to wear. Oh well. Nothing was going to make her lose that smile off of her face, not even being a little chilly and getting rained on. Today was a damn good day, and the rain wasn’t going to spoil it. Though, if no one answered soon, she’d pick up her annoying little habit and press the doorbell until someone opened the door. Ty wasn’t impatient most of the time, but she liked to press the doorbell button over and over, especially at the homes of Zach and Kade where the parents were all too amusing to see as they opened the door, trying to deter her from pressing it again. Rob had actually disconnected their doorbell once as a mean little trick to play on Ty, leaving her out there pressing the button with no sound coming from it. It was funny then and funny to look back on, but still mean. Luckily, the girl didn’t have to resort to that kind of thing today. She heard movement from within the house, and moments later, the door was being opened by none other that Zach Cool himself. She smiled up at him, noting that wide grin that had already formed on his lips. It was funny how neither of them said anything at first, most people usually at least saying, “Hello,” to one another. Ty just figured that they didn’t need to say things like that, because they usually didn’t. No, their meetings always started pretty informally.

Like how he had just started them off, for example. She was wet? Really? Tyler gave him a playful glare. Leave it to Zach to point out the most obvious thing in the world. He stepped aside and gestured for her to enter, instructing her to do so as well. ”Yes sir,” she said, her own little way of mocking him but doing it in a playful way. Once in the house, Tyler instantly felt warmer, and that only brightened her mood that much more. She could be happy in the cold, but she was much more happier when she was in a comfortable temperature. Not only that, but just being inside of that house again was enough to make her want to bounce up and down with happiness. It seemed that Ty’s parents had been busy a lot of the time when she was younger, not getting home until late at night or sometimes they just left for a few days at a time. Those were the times that Tyler sought refuge in the homes of her friends. She spent the nights with Vivian mostly, but both of the girls spent a lot of their evenings at either the Trent or the Cool household. Tyler not only had her family, but she had been adopted into three other ones, and that was really more than any one person could ask for. Somehow, though, Tyler had managed to get closer to Zach’s family that she had with the others, even Vivian’s. She didn’t know what it was, but that’s how it had been. She had loved coming over to this house even if Zach wasn’t there just to sit and chat with Maria, or go and sit in the living room and watch TV with Eric when he was home. This was her home away from home, and the people that lived here were all considered to be a part of her extended family. She hadn’t realized that she hadn’t been here in so long, and really wished that she hadn’t stayed away like she had. But, that was a song that was sang and over with. She couldn’t take it back, but she could make it up to them somehow. Today would be the start of it. She saw Zach all the time, but she would make time to see Maria, Eric, and the twins as well.

Tyler had been about to turn around and say something to Zach, but then she heard Maria’s voice from the kitchen and turned her head to look that way. Maria was standing in the doorway, and looking at Tyler like she was looking at a ghost. Ty smiled a cute little smile, and waved one hand at her second mother. It was kind of amusing, seeing how stunned Maria actually was to see Tyler there. It was also amusing to hear Maria pretty much brush off her friend that she was talking to on the phone and hang up on them. Then Maria was moving toward her, and took Tyler up in a tight hug once she was close enough. Tyler hugged her back, really loving this woman. How could she have not spoken to her in two years? God, Tyler had really messed that part of her life up, but she was still in a happy little mood and determined to set it all right. Maria didn’t seem to be holding any grudge against her, and that was great. Ty couldn’t imagine how heartbreaking it would have been if that had been the case. Yep, it was Tyler Durden all right. ”In the flesh,” she replied with a little grin, speaking as much as she could as she was held in a rather tight hug then. Maria let her go, taking a step back and looking her over. Ty really felt awkward when people told her that she was pretty. It wasn’t that she didn’t think that she was, or that she didn’t take compliments well. It was more that she didn’t know what to say to it. Sure, if a man was telling her, she could come up with a flirty little line to say back, but when people were saying it to be genuinely nice like Maria was, it was a different story. Maria didn’t give her a lot of time to think about it, though, as she said next that it had been too long since they had last seen each other. Of course it had been too long. It had been nearly three years, give or take a few months. ”It has been,” was all that Tyler said, her smile not fading a bit. This was so wonderful, being here like this again. No matter what happened, she doubted that she would be able to stop smiling for long.

Maria then looked into the living room, Tyler’s dark eyes following until she spotted Eric, looking quite comfortable in that chair of his. It wasn’t until his wife spoke to him that he seemed to be even remotely aware of what was going on around him. That was yet another thing that Tyler found amusement in, but Eric wasn’t in that state for long. His eyes had found Tyler in his home, and he was up on his feet in no time, moving toward her and taking her up in a hug much like Maria had done only moments before. Only, this was a bear hug, and Tyler was a very little person. She was used to it, though, this being how he had always hugged her and how her father tended to do it too. It sometimes felt like her ribs might crack, but she loved how close they held her and how kind and loving they were. This is what she had missed the most. She heard him say something about how it had been a long time, but she didn’t comment on it. Ty stayed where she had been stopped as Eric let her out of his grasp and stepped back next to Maria. To what did they owe this pleasure? Well. ”I’ve missed you guys,” she said, looking at Eric, then to Maria. Zach moved to where he was beside of her, and she glanced at him, flashing him a little smile before looking back to his parents. ”I was in that big apartment all alone, and I decided that I needed to go somewhere. This is where I ended up.” She really couldn’t tell it any truer than that. That was exactly how it had happened. It was then that Eric suggested that they all go sit down, and then led the way into the living room. Tyler followed suit, and made herself comfortable on the couch. She could smell the cookies that Maria was pulling out of the oven, and secretly hoped that she would be able to snitch one or two of them later when they were cool.

The movie that had been playing on the TV had been paused, and Ty knew that meant that they were wanting to talk to her, that their full attention was going to be on her. Did she mind, not at all? She wasn’t shy, and with these people she had no reason to be. Maria and Eric had been her second set of parents. She had told things to Maria that she hadn’t even told her own mother. There was absolutely no reason at all why she would feel uncomfortable there with them. But, before she became the center of attention, she wanted to know a little more about them. Yeah, she was super excited to tell them about her graduation, but she could wait for a little while and bring it up like it was no big deal. That was typical Tyler style. ”So how have you guys been?” she asked, directing the question at Zach’s father, still with a smile on her lips. ”I see Zach all the time, but he’s neglected to keep me up to date with his family.” She glanced over at Zach for a second before looking back to Eric. Zach hadn’t neglected it all that much. It was just that when the two of them were together, they were usually talking about any random thing other than family. Ty had asked a few times, but it often led to another topic, which took the conversation in a different direction entirely.

[→ zach cool]

Zach had almost forgotten how close his family was with Tyler. He wasn't the only one who had missed her when she was gone. It was almost funny how even after all this time nothing had really seemed to change between any of them. They were still all comfortable around each other and they had welcomed Tyler back into their lives as easily as they'd welcome back a long lost daughter. She was still Tyler, still the girl that Zach had been best friends with though out his middle school and high school career. When they weren't getting in trouble they had spent more of their time split between Kade's and Zach's houses. They hung out at everyones house, but Marion's motherly strictness and obsession with cleanliness for everyone who entered her humble abode and Maria's addicting baked good kept them coming back there more often than anyone elses. As a result it seemed that Zach's and Kade's parents became like parents to all of them. Of course, Marion and Robert had been dealing with Zach since the boys had met on their first day of school all those years ago anyway. Zach was sure that when he entered middle school his parents weren't expecting to unofficially adopt two girls into the family in addition to the Trent brothers, but that was pretty much what ended up happening. They had all been there through the hard times. They'd watched the twins grow up and Sara get worse. They'd had such a big support system that it was hard to believe so many people could care about what happened to one particular family. It was like the size of the cool family had multiplied when Zach turned eleven. None of the members of his family had minded having the company around, and they came around so much that it was almost strange not to have the four hanging out in the kitchen or living room. Maria had gotten used to coming home to a house full of teenagers just hanging out, sometimes causing a little trouble, but for the most part they were pretty good around the house.

The twins had grown up closer to Tyler and Kade than they were with their actual sister. Still, it had been quite a white since they had seen Tyler, and no one knew if they would recognize her after such a long time. They saw Kade all the time, and tormented him and Hunter whenever they saw them. They thought of them as their uncle because they were around so much. It made sense. The two families were so close to each other that even the twins, who made a mess out of everything knew the rules of Marion's house were strict and if they were broken there were harsh consequences. The Cool household was never as clean as the Trent household. It never had been. Marion was strict about everything being in it's place and keeping things clean. Maria was more laid back about it ever since the twins had been born. She expected messes with the two of them around. Zach had made his share of messes when he was eight, and he was just one kid. Twins meant double the trouble, double the messes, double the clean up time. Zach usually had to help in this process when the twins were younger, but as they got older Maria was getting more strict about them cleaning up after themselves. It must have helped to have Zach and Sara before them to know when was the right time to in force these kinds of things. The twins had a lot of older people to look up to throughout the years, whether it be Kade or Zach or Vivian or Tyler. They'd all been around for his childhood. Breaking the news to the twins that 'Aunt' Vivian was gone was nearly impossible. Their little faces hadn't understood, and they didn't know why she wasn't around anymore until they saw Cooper without mom. Then it had become impossible to not to tell them what exactly had happened. That had been almost three years ago now, and it surprised Zach when they were lying in bed and sometimes mentioned something that happened when they were three or four involving Vivian or Tyler since they hadn't seen them in so long. Still, that didn't necessarily mean that they would recognize Tyler if they got the chance to see her, which was bound to happen eventually. Based on Tyler's timing, it might happen today. The kids were due home any minute now.

Eric was getting comfortable on his chair when Tyler spoke to him, and he gave a playful mocking glare at Tyler when she mentioned that she saw Zach all the time. "I guess you didn't like us as much as we thought," he teased, but it knew that she had and time simply hadn't permitted it, or it wasn't the immediate thought that came to her mind. They couldn't blame her, of course. She was in school, and moving took a lot of effort. He took a moment to reflect on her question. Not seeing someone in two years was a lot to tell them, and at the moment he was trying to organize the important parts from the trivial ones. Finally he spoke, reporting on a couple of the major things that had happened in the past years. "Let's see. Maria got a major premotion a few months ago, almost doubled her pay, so now she can work less and be around the twins more. I haven't been doing too much, just flying and scoping out any good movies I can find. If you remember Jack Nickels, he passed away last year when his plane crashed. It was pretty hard for everyone at the airport to lose a piolet, but we could only be glad that he wasn't flying a commercial liner, because that would have been just terrible." Jack Nickles had been one of Eric Cools best friends, and he'd hung around the house a lot back when all of Zach's friend had used to come over. "Zach's been pretty busy, working his ass off on the bar," Eric grinned as Maria entered the room again and took a seat in one of the other chairs in the room, leaning forward and listening to the conversation. "Don't think I've seen him that determined about something like that in a while. Nick and Beth are doing great. They like to get into a lot of chaos around here, but they're getting smarter and smarter everyday." "I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Zach mumbled. At the mention of her twins, Maria's face seemed to glow. "They started learning multiplication at the end of the year for a preview of what was going to come in fourth grade. Nick is so good at math," she told Tyler, still gushing. Maria was proud of all of her children, and they meant the world to her. She took any chance she could get to talk about them. "He takes after me," Zach joked.

As if they had been summoned, the noise of the front door opening caused them all to turn their heads to see the twins racing into the house, backpacks still on their shoulders. Nick and Beth ran into the house, not bothering to close the door behind them, and straight into the living room to jump on Eric. "Hi, daddy!" they both screamed, not seeming to notice Tyler sitting just a couple of feet away. Eric gave them a bear hug and said, "Hey guys." Maria's soft voice came next. "Nick. Beth. We have company." They both looked up to see Tyler seeing there, and they paused for a moment. Depending on the company, they could act in a variety of ways. When it was Kade or Hunter, they'd still be crazy. When it was one of mommy or daddy's friends from work, then they had to be on better behavior. From the look on their faces, they obviously didn't know how to react to Tyler. They climbed off of Eric and looked at Maria for some guidance. Zach was the one who decided to jog their momories a little. "Do you guys remember Tyler?" The name seemed to strike a lightbulb in Beth's face, and Nick's soon after. They both looked at Tyler for a few moments, still not seeming to know what to do.

ooc , done! sorry it took so long. :[

[tyler durden.]

Tyler had been born an only child, though she couldn’t really remember ever feeling like one. Maybe in the beginning she was a little lonely from time to time, having to play games by herself when her parents were too busy. But, then kindergarten had started, and Tyler met Vivian. It started out that the two girls hated one another, both wanting a turn on the swing at recess but neither willing to wait behind the other. It resulted in a fight, which at that age was just a struggle to the ground. They were sent to the office, but by the time that the girls were done being told that they had to wait their turns and that they weren’t allowed to fight, they were best friends. After that day, they had been pretty much inseparable. Vivian had been born an only child as well, but neither of the girls were given a lot of room to feel sad about it or lonely. When Tyler wasn’t over at Vivian’s, Vivian was at Tyler’s. They grew to be more like sisters than best friends, with the only exception being that they actually liked each other where real siblings seem to only tolerate one another at times. Tyler had other friends too, but Vivi was her closest. As long as Ty and Viv had one another, the girls knew that they were going to be okay. But, that changed when middle school had started. In a good way. Tyler and Vivian met up with the likes of Kade Trent and Zach Cool, and after that their lists of dependencies grew. Not only did they need one another, but they needed their boys as well. Zach and Kade became like brothers to Tyler in the sense of being as loyal and caring as siblings (or most of them) are. They were a tight knit little group that really didn’t need to be involved with a lot of other people. As long as they had one another, they were good to go. Ty had trusted all of them with her life, all her secrets, all her fears. They were the ones that she had taken to be her family, and each of their families too.

That’s what Tyler was beginning to see more clearly now as she sat in the Cool living room. She hadn’t really thought about this much before, her being a part of this family. She had grown up with Maria and Eric, and she guessed that the best way to put it was that she had taken it for granted. It had just been how everything had worked. After school, they would all pick a place to go, and that’s where they went. Sometimes, it wasn’t to one person’s home, but out to a place that they probably shouldn’t have gone to begin with. Though, a lot of the time, they would gather at a home first before venturing out to get into some trouble. Being around Rob and Marion, Kathy and George (Vivian’s parents), and Eric and Maria was just natural as breathing. They didn’t go to Tyler’s often, and when they did her parents were rarely there. Anyway, those other parents were like Ty’s parents too. She had been born to just one mom and one dad with no siblings, but here Tyler sat in a room with her other mom and dad and a best friend that had first been a brother to her, and then had evolved into something more. This was yet another vital piece that Tyler had cut out of her when she had left Seattle, and she was more than glad to have it back again. They were treating her as if she had never been gone, and that meant a lot to her. They were still her other mom and dad. Zach was still her Zach. They were all like they used to be with only one difference. Tyler wasn’t a little girl anymore, or a teenager that just showed up at the house at random. She was a grown adult, one that these people had had a hand in creating. It was a little different now, but Ty couldn’t say that it was bad.

Eric was still teasing her, which would have made her feel right at home if she hadn’t already been feeling that way. Not like them as much as they thought? She sent him a look that clearly spoke, “Oh yeah, that’s it,” but didn’t speak. He was trying to find an answer to her question, and she would let him instead of distracting him with a quick comeback. Plus, she really did want to hear what was going on in their lives. She had thought that she had been getting back in the loop, what with catching up with all of her old friends and all. Too bad that she had forgotten that there were more people attached to it than them until recently. Well, it wasn’t so much forgetting, but rather an out of sight, out of mind kind of deal. But you get the point. Tyler was glad to hear of Maria’s success. Everyone needed to catch a break every once in a while, and Maria Cool was one that needed it if anyone did. She was like Super-Woman or something in Tyler’s opinion. Ty really didn’t see how mothers like Maria managed everything that they did. The very idea of it terrified the twenty-one-year-old girl whenever she thought of her future and what might come with it. How the hell was she ever supposed to do something like that? Not that her thoughts were on this track as Eric spoke. No, Tyler was giving every ounce of her attention to the man as he told her that Maria was able to be home with the twins more now that she had gotten the promotion at her job. Once again, Super-Woman. Ty grinned as Eric admitted to watching movies. She really couldn’t tell that he was an avid watcher, what with the DVD paused on their TV and all. Flying, though, was another idea that Ty thought was terrifying. She didn’t care to get on a plane most of the time, but she had her moments where it was just too much and she came this close to having a breakdown.

When Tyler had thought that absolutely nothing could ruin the high of graduating college, she hadn’t thought that Eric was going to tell her that Jack had died. Her smile dimmed automatically, her eyes filling with sorrow. Tyler knew Jack was one of Eric’s best friends, and a guy that had been around a lot of those evenings that the teens had decided to hang out at the Cool residence. Tyler had always been bright, bubbly, and friendly and hadn’t been shy about talking to Jack when he was around. He’d been a good guy, and to hear about his passing was like a dagger to the heart. Ty wished that she had known. She could have tried to come to the funeral, or at least sent flowers. Anything. But, there really wasn’t anything that she could do about it now. She readjusted how she was sitting on the couch, bringing her legs up underneath of her. Tyler wasn’t good in situation like these, never knowing the right words to say. With death, there really are no right words, but Ty was especially bad about it. It was after Jared’s death that she’d been so at a loss that she had slept with Hunter. After Vivian had died, Tyler hadn’t said much of anything but had fled upstate instead. Now, the only good choice she saw for herself was to sit there and keep her pretty little mouth shut and to just look sympathetic. The last thing she wanted to do was say something inappropriate. She thought that Eric knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t have meant anything by what she happened to say, but still, she didn’t want to do it. So, she’d sit there and look pretty. Something that she could almost always do without really thinking about it. Thankfully, Eric didn’t let the conversation stay on that topic for long and kept it moving, taking Tyler back in a comfort zone where she didn’t have to watch what she said or what kind of emotions played out on her face.

Eric was talking about Zach now, and Tyler flashed him another look. The smile returned to her face as she did, but her gaze was soon replaced to Eric. He was right. Tyler hadn’t seen Zach so dedicated to something in a long time. She hadn’t been around for a few years, but even back when she was around steady, it hadn’t been like that. They had all been the devil-may-care types, laid back and easy to get along with. Whenever they were determined to do something right and well, though, they were hard workers and did whatever it took to do it. It was a group characteristic, one that was shining through in Zach and Kade now as they had opened Jared’s and were doing so well with it. Ty could see why it was a little more shocking to see from Zach, though. Kade had grown a lot as a person. He had more responsibilities on his shoulders, and he had worked damn hard to make ends meet and put a life together for himself. Zach hadn’t had an obstacle like parenthood thrown at him, so he hadn’t really had to grow up so quick. He had grown too, though. He wasn’t like he used to be; Tyler had seen it the first night that she had been back in the city and had met him at Jared’s. Not that it was a bad thing. Everyone had to do a little growing here and there. It’s what gets us from one point in our lives to the next. Tyler was proud of both of the boys, and she had no doubt in her mind that Eric and Maria were proud of them too. It was a pretty big deal, being successful business owners at their young age. Of course, it was a bar, but it was a damn good bar that was competing with a lot of other ones in the city. That was certainly something to be proud of.

Next up was a spotlight on the twins. Zach and told Tyler some things about Nick and Beth, but mostly that they were hellions and that they had somehow managed to glue a bucket to Hunter’s head at one point. Tyler would have loved to have seen that one, but at the same time she was a little fearful of what the twins had become. If they could overtake three grown men, then there had to be something wrong. Even Eric admitted that they went along with chaos, and Tyler had to laugh a little at Zach’s comment made on them getting smarter. It sounded like the twins were already pretty smart if they could take control like they did. Getting smarter might not be a good idea. Tyler could definitely see Zach’s reasoning on that one. Maria jumped in on the conversation then. The twins were learning multiplication tables, something that Ty had trouble with herself if she didn’t have a calculator right there to assist. She was sure that she had known them all by heart at one point, but she had gotten spoiled with the calculator. There were times when she had trouble with simple adding and subtracting when there wasn’t one around. Just another reminder that the younger generations are depending too much on technology. Tyler could clearly see how proud Maria was, though, so she didn’t spoil it with her own depressing story of how she had thought she was going to fail math, nor did she go on with her news of passing her math class. It was still a big deal to her, but suddenly, the Cools were even more of a big deal. So what if she was graduating from college. These people were way more important than any degree she might have earned. She wasn’t in a hurry. No need to turn the spotlight on her when she was enjoying hearing about them. She had to snort at Zach’s other comment, the one made about Nick taking after him in math. ”I’m sure he does,” she said, sarcasm obvious in her words, though she cast a playful little wink over Zach’s way. She loved teasing him.

It was then that the front door was heard opening, and Ty turned her head to see two children flying through the door. Oh wow. She had known that she would get to see the munchkins eventually, but she hadn’t been expecting them to just be there like that. Not that it mattered. She remembered loving them when she had known them before. Just because they were slightly evil didn’t mean she couldn’t still love them. The twins attacked their father, seeming to be full of energy. She was happy just to watch them with their father, but it was brought to their attention that she was there, and it was like they had gone into some sort of trance the moment their eyes found her. They climbed down off of Eric and the recliner, and seemed so unsure of what to do with themselves. It was like they were stunned, but Tyler couldn’t blame them. It’d been a long time. Zach was the one to try and point them in some sort of direction, and Ty just smiled a warm, friendly smile at them as she placed her feet on the floor again, leaning forward slightly. Upon hearing Tyler’s name, the two seemed to put the pieces together, but were still uncertain. ”Hey guys. Remember Aunt Tyler?” It was Beth that had called her that first. Ty would never forget it, and she had loved it. ”Beth, Nicky, don’t you want to come over here and give me a hug?” She didn’t know what the invitation would cause to happen. The worst thing would be for them to reject it and say that they would really rather not, but Ty would deal with it. Or it could cause two small children to come flying at her, but that she could deal with too. Hell, she didn’t even know if they were at that age where they didn’t want to be touched, but she had to try something. She had seen that little light or recognition. It was up to them as to what they did with it.

[→ zach cool]

It was funny how your brain selected what to remember and what to forget. How did it decide exactly what was important and what wasn't, because sometimes it seems like you remember the most random, trivial things and there are other things that you can't recall for the life of you. And of course as we got older there were the memories of our childhood that faded in your head, and sometimes it almost seemed like it had never happened at all. This wasn't the siduation with Zach. He didn't have the best memory by any means, but there were things about his childhood that he still recalls with perfect clarity. He remembered his first day of school and meeting Kade. He remembered meeting Vivian and Tyler. He remembered the day that the twins were born. He remembered the day that Jared died. He remembered the day that Sara left. He remembered the day Vivian died and Cooper was born, and he remembered saying what he thought were his last good byes to Tyler on the front porch of this house. Those, of course, were all important events in his life. Then there were some things he remembered that he couldn't seem to have any reason to. He remembered one day when he twins were about four and bringing the family going to Disney Land, or World, whichever one was in California. He could never remember which. That wasn't the part that he remembered, though. What he remembered the most clearly was the look on Beth's face when she saw Minnie Mouse standing right in front of her. He also remembered that he had gotten to flirting with a hot girl standing in line for one of the rollercoasters he had gotten to get on. Neither of those had any particular importance to Zach, but he remembered them clearly.

His clearest memory by far was the day that Cooper was born. That day had been such a day of split emotions, and it wouldn't sink in that Viv was actually gone. It felt unreal to lose another person so close to them after losing Jared the first time. At the same time, Cooper was alive, and he was okay. It seemed like none of them could decide whether to be happy that they had a new baby boy in the world who would undoubtedly get all of the love and attention he would ever be able to imagine throughout his life, or whether they should be mourning the lost of Vivian. The ones who figured out that they needed to be doing both still couldn't find the balance between the two. It wasn't a great memory for Zach. Sure, he was thrilled about having Cooper in the world, but the confusion that Vivian's death had brought about was absolutely heart breaking. As terrible as it was for Zach, he could hardly imagine what Kade must have been going through, or even Tyler. The group had been tight knit, and they'd all been best friends, but when it came to pairing off Tyler and Vivian had always been together, and Kade and Zach always had. Then Kade married Vivian. Zach had always been close with her, sure, but he had to say that Kade and Tyler were still closer. He couldn't imagine how devistating it was for Kade to lose his wife, and Tyler to lose her best friend. But he had gained a son, and she'd gained a godchild. All of the feelings were so overwhelming it took them a few minutes to get their heads on straight and figure out how to deal with everything that had happened in such a short period of time.

Still, he didn't know how much Nick and Beth remembered. There was really no reason that they shouldn't remember Tyler. For the first five or so years of their life she was a huge part of it. She was around as much as Kade and Vivian were. Still, three years for an eight year old was almost half their life that she hadn't been around. Who knew, though. She wasn't like the great aunt that you met once when you were six and then saw again seven years later. She might remember you, but there's no way in hell you remember her. When you're six, you have better things to remember than a crusty old lady at some boring family function. She was at the house constantly, and she'd really helped raise the two of them. Fortunately for her, she'd gotten to deal with them while they still had some self control. Now they were like little wild animals who were getting locked in a cage. They were crazy all the time. She'd never really gotten to see it before. Sure, they'd been trouble makers when they were little, but it was the normal stuff. They'd take a cookie before dinner, or they'd spill juice on the sofa. Now was a different story. Kade and Hunter knew exactly what Zach meant, but until Tyler experiened it, she'd only think she understood. He was somewhat hoping that she was going to get to experience it. Not to put her through a living hell, of course, but just so she could say that she'd dealt with it.

They all waited patiently for the twins reaction. The look on their faces seemed to be getting more relaxed by the second, and upon hearing her voice them seemed to comprihend that it really was their Aunt Tyler come back to see them. Zach couldn't help but wonder as he watched them what their last memory of her was. He hoped that it was a good one. Sometimes when Tyler came over just to talk because she was upset or something and the twins saw her they'd come over and snuggle with her to make her feel better. He had to admit, they'd been really cute in that way. They still that when someone was really upset. It was obvious they liked making people miserable, but they wanted to be the only things that could do it to someone. Seeing them messed up over something else seemed to put them in some kind of super sweet child mode, it only for a few minutes. That being said, the twins would never turn down an invitation to give someone a hug. Especially their Aunt Tyler. The lightbulb above Nick's head suddenly turned on, and he launched himself at Tyler. "Aunt Tyler!" he squealed at her as he tackled her in a huge hug, with surprising strength for an eight year old. Not ten second later was Beth on top of him, squealing Tyler's name as well. After several seconds of ambush Zach decided he would step in and try to save Tyler from the strangle hold Nick had on her arm and Beth on her waist. "Oh, I see how it is," he teased in a playfully serious voice. He turned his head away from them. "Now that Aunt Tyler's here you guys forget alllll about your big brother. Well, fine." They instantly crawled from Tyler to Zach, getting their bony little elbows right in his stomach. They hugged him tight as well for a few moments before going to Maria and hugging her. It was like super hug fest featuring Nick and Beth.

"Guess what I have for you guys," Maria cooed at her childen, and they looked up in anticipation. She smiled and said, "Go into the dining room and get your homework out and I'll get it for you." They headed into the dining room to unpack their homework. "Don't touch anything on the table! Use the other side!" Zach warned. He couldn't afford to have all of his hard work unorganized. The twins usually got their homework out and showed Maria and Eric what they had to do. Since it was close to the end of the year usually it was just color something or write a note. After they finished showing Maria their homework they would get to go play in their room or outside until five. Zach guessed that they would be making another stop in here before they headed outside to play. One look at Tyler couldn't be enough for anyone.