I watch Tyler's face pale as soon as his eyes land on the blood coloring the orange flannel he bought me for my 21st birthday. And it's like the rest goes in slow motion. 

He swoops me up into his arms and I bounce up and down with the way his boots dash against that road and into the dust-covered movie theater. 

I cannot feel the glass impaling my side -- Hell, I can't feel my body at all. I just feel my heart swell and my entire body morph into what feels like a warm puddle. 

I'm covered in blood. Tons, and tons of blood. On my hands, on Tyler's -- dark red blood dripping down my belt and this pair of Levi's I loved so dearly. 

Tyler lays me down on the cold cement floor, my body laid out and my legs trembling as he gently puts my head down. 

He's terrified. As panicked as me, almost. His eyes are wide and his hands shake ever so slightly, but it's nothing compared to mine, because even amongst the cries and yells of every single other person in here, I can hear the shakiness in my very own breathing. 

My one fear. Blood. It's seeping through my clothes and coming right from my body and I'm convinced I'm going to die. "Tyler," I can barely talk. Or function. 

His worried, wells of green, eyes meet mine. He takes my blood-covered hand and squeezes it -- and fuck, it feels like such a cliche. "What? What is it?" 

"Am I gonna die?" I've never felt so all-consumed by any emotion like this before. Sure, I've had anxiety, but right now, I could barely fucking breathe. And the way Tyler's face intensifies with the same emotion only makes the beads of sweat coming down my forehead intensify. 

Maybe if my brain wasn't so swollen and diluted with all-consuming anxiety, I might not be asking such a dramatic question. I'd probably know for a fact that a piece of glass isn't going to kill me. But the sight of this much red oozing out of me just might. 

"No, Dal--" he looks up, eyes drawing from mine and looking frantically around the room. "Is anybody a doctor, please?"

The raise of his voice -- a yell but not quite -- makes me jolt almost. And it only makes me realize that I'm suddenly lightheaded. 

God. I don't know how much blood I've lost -- or how much you can lose before it becomes a problem. But given the look on Lilly and Boone's faces when they come into view (adding two more looks of utter terror behind Tyler) I'm assuming it's a pretty big fucking problem. 

"Shit!" Lilly's lips stay parted with shock but not only does it send a paralyzing chill down my spine, it reminds me that it's getting harder and harder to focus on the fear in all three of their faces. 

"What the hell happened, man?" Boone asks, the blurred image of him throwing his hands on the back of his head being clear for only a moment. 

Tyler shakes his head. "I don't know. We were out--" 

The tremble in his voice is cut off by the synchronized shriek of each other person in here, following the way the movie projector gets swept up by the angry tornado coming right toward us. 

This is how I'm going to die. Tyler, afraid of tornados, getting swept up and mangled. And me, pathetically afraid of my own blood, killed by it. 

Lilly is yelling orders at every other person in here while Tyler and Boone scream ideas on what to do back and forth at one another. 

"Ty," I breathe out, but he doesn't hear me. "Tyler." 

He looks down at me, exasperated. Eyes wells of anxiety and worry trailing all over my body and face to search for something else that may be wrong. "What's wrong, baby? What's wrong?" 

I feel my eyes turn into puddles of tears. Everything is blurry. "I'm scared." 

For a moment, I can see clearly. But I wish I didn't because all it was, was the sight of Tyler's heart breaking. 

He squeezes my hand. Offers me an unconvincing smile. "Just keep your eyes on me."

I do. 

His strong hand finds the back of my head, dropping my hand, and the other wraps around my legs. His green eyes meet my tear-filled ones. "I'm going to move you under the seats, okay? Can you hold on for me?"

There's a panicked anticipation in his voice now, worse than before. Boone and Lilly are off somewhere, I just now realize. But as Tyler slides my body under that dirtied row of seats, all I feel is this earth-shattering pain all over my body. Especially in the left side of my body, where the glass shard impales me. 

Everyone is crying out, especially all of the children's mothers. 

Tyler lies against my back, arms wrapping around my head -- protecting me. His chest must be somewhere close behind me because I can hear the palpable sound of his heartbeat. Hell, it's thumping even quicker than mine is. It's so loud I can drown out the cries of everyone else and just focus on the feeling of where I am right now. 

I'm not really scared anymore because the warmth of Tyler envelopes me whole and there's still that faint musky scent of his cologne consuming me and I let it. 

If I'm going to die, it might as well be in Tyler's arms while he whispers affirmations I can't quite make out in my ear. 

My hands hold onto the rusted metal legs of the chair and I just close my eyes and wait. 

But the wind is no longer making a whooshing sound and the room is no longer crying. 

I feel Tyler's grip around me loosen and his heart stops beating for a moment as he peeks his head out to the now-clearing sky. 

I follow his lead, looking at the empty hole in the wall -- peering right at the cloudy sky, at the damage the tornado caused. 

Tyler doesn't hesitate. He lets out the biggest exhale of relief, nearly collapsing on top of me. "Dal, are -- are you okay?" 

I don't know. I think my body is paralyzed with fear. 

"Dallas." 

I nod. "Yeah." 

He carefully slides out from on top of me and gets on his feet. "I'm gonna go get some help. See if my phone'll work to call 911." 

I nod a second time. He does too. I watch him take off running and I feel like I can finally breathe again. 

             THE inside of ambulances are surprisingly bright. The white light are peering into my eyes even when they're closed shut and it only makes me wonder how someone with a concussion would ever be able to survive in here. 

Tyler's hand squeezes mine and it brings me back to reality. Even if it's faint. 

He presses a kiss to the top of my head and I instinctively ease into it. I want to just sit here on this gurney in this bright-ass ambulance with my head resting against the comfort of Tyler Owens. 

"Don't scare me like that again." He says, pulling his lips from the clamminess coating my forehead and rests his cheek against it instead, his thumb grazing mine. 

I don't say anything, just offer him a pathetic chuckle.  

"We should get married." 

He whispers the four words. Like a thought that just crossed his mind. And if his lips weren't so close to my ear, I probably wouldn't hear them at all. 

"What?" I pull my head away from him but only so that I can see the genuineness on his face when he says it again. 

The small corners of his lips curl, eyes softening with sincerity while he looks over my paled features like the world has stopped spinning and I'm the only thing he'll ever see. "I'm serious."

"Married?" My eyebrows raise, butterflies swarming my stomach. 

He shrugs. "Why the hell not?" 

I sputter out a laugh, but it's nullified by a searing pain coming from my side. 

"Easy, Texas." He laughs too, hand rubbing circles on my back. 

I blow out a breath, recovering momentarily. Then my almost ear-to-ear grin returns to my face. "This is a really fuckin' stupid proposal, Ty." 

His grin grows, green eyes lighting up. "Yeah, but you're gonna say yes anyway." 

He's right. I do. 

THE END

BLAKELY SPEAKS !

thank you to everyone who's read this far && waited so long for this final chapter 🥺🫶

final thoughts && words of gratitude coming soon!!

and don't think we're saying goodbye to tylerdallas this fast... EPILOGUE out on WEDNESDAY 🤠🌪️