start song; trampoline by papooz (theyre so good i stg, go listen to 'ann likes to dance.')

Tyler's day of being little at school went about as well as he could imagine it would. It went bad which he wasn't necessarily aware of. In class luckily he was never alone but he couldn't concentrate at all.

Words were jumbled and nothing really made sense or seemed to stick. He couldn't even remember his schedule correctly so Ashley had become his escort for the day. He was lucky to have such a loving group of friends and they all knew he'd realize that once he was back to normal.

Tyler would be thanking them profusely.

Dallon had spent all morning trying to bring him to a state where he could actually function properly and talk to others but nothing had really been accomplished. It was unusual, Tyler couldn't get out of his little space, he seemed kind of stuck. It was like talking to a little kid if this little kid was actually 18 and a star basketball player who had a thing for stuffed animals and the occasional pacifier.

Tyler had actually started crying though, definitely not his proudest moment, but still he couldn't help himself. Dallon was scaring him and it's not like it was purposeful but still Tyler felt like all his friends were disappointed in him. He was sensitive when he was feeling small.

So he cried and they all comforted him with soft words, bone crushing hugs and the promise that he was the best boy in the world. Tyler believed it.

So now it was before last period and Tyler was leaning on Dallon as he coloured a picture of spider-man. He was no artist, he was colouring outside the lines. Mostly on purpose because he thought it looked cool but still he wasn't very good.

He had english after this and he was really excited to see Mr.Dun, he wanted to give him one of his drawings. His mind was cloudy and he wasn't as much confused as things were more so just all over the place.

For the most part he was doing good, he wasn't making a complete fool of himself but yeah, he was definitely getting some weird looks from his peers. He was unaware of this.

Dallon was aware of this, Dallon had to ask him to stop throwing paper airplanes at him half way through class. "Sweetie, stop throwing them okay? We don't wanna get in trouble." He'd said it softly, he really didn't want little Tyler to start crying again. That was not something he would ever be equipped to deal with.

When he'd said this Tyler had just become shy and nodded, Dallon's arm quickly becoming something for him to hug with his whole body. Their desks were pushed together, thank god. Dallon didn't know what he'd do if he wasn't sitting beside Tyler right now, that much was clear.

Tyler had never been little like this at school and originally they considered having him skip a few classes to protect him but they decided that they didn't know if Tyler would want that.

Collectively they were all doing the best they could in this weird and unlikely situation. Tyler was priority number 1 at the moment, like he usually was and between Ashley, Dallon and Brendon, not one of them minded being put in this position. They loved him too much to care about the small compromises they made for him during their day to day life.

He was important to them all and they made sure that Tyler knew this.

This was just another one of their gestures that proved this. They'd never leave him when he needed them most.

*

Brendon didn't want Tyler to be mad at him, he didn't want him to hate him but he also needed him to be safe in english class. He needed someone to look out for him. That's all he ever wanted for his best friend, he just wanted to protect him from all the bad things in the world and sometimes that included him having someone to watch over him when he couldn't.

He knew Tyler and Jenna weren't super close but he also knew Jenna would look out for him, or in this case help him stay on track in class and not do anything stupid. Like throw things around because it's fun. Little Tyler was a big menace.

Jenna seemed nice enough, he'd never exactly spoken to her but from school gossip and the small amount Tyler had actually talked about her he'd come to the conclusion that he would probably be able to trust her in this situation. She was the school's head cheerleader, worked on the school council and she apparently tutored freshman and sophomores. The only rumours about her were that she got wild at parties.

Basically Brendon didn't know her well at all but his heart still jumped with relief when he saw her in the hallway talking to a few other girls who he assumed were cheerleaders by the colourful matching scrunchies in their hair.

He had no problem with interrupting, catching all the girls off guard. "Hey, I need Jenna for a moment. Thanks."

Jenna's eyebrows furrowed, blue eyes confused. She smiled apologetically to her friends who understood the situation just as much as she did and let Brendon pull her to the side. Brendon was glad she wasn't a bitch like he had always assumed about all the cheerleaders.

"I need your help." He confessed honestly once they were somewhere less crowded. He wasn't going to tell her that Tyler regressed to the mental age of a 6 year old but he also wasn't going to let Tyler suffer in english class.

Jenna frowned, hugging her books to her chest. "What's up?"

Brendon bit his lip thought for a second but tilting his head side to side. "This is gonna sound weird so I wouldn't question it but-"

"What is it?" She seemed easy-going.

Brendon sighed, nervously scared the bell may ring already. "I need you to just keep an eye on Tyler in english class. Keep him in place. He's being weird today, not really talking. Just take care of him for me will you?"

For a moment there was silence and for a moment Brendon was worried that Tyler and her wasn't as good as friends as Tyler had let one. Fortunately she smiled worriedly. "Is he okay?"

He nodded. "He's fine don't worry about it. Just don't let him do anything stupid and be gentle with him."

Jenna seemed confused, maybe weirded out but if she was she was too nice to say anything. Clearly she was up for whatever was going on and Brendon felt relieved as she smiled.

"Yeah, okay."

Brendon immediately liked her and he hugged her quickly. "Thank you so much you're such a blessing."

She looked stunned. "N-no problem."

"Maybe just sit with him in class away to the side or something, tell the teacher he's sick."

Jenna just nodded. Brendon could trust her.

*

Ashley held onto his arm as she walked him to english class and Tyler loved it. He never wanted her to let go of him. The attention was nice, it was a compensation for what he never got at home. He felt so free and hyper and he just wanted everything. There wasn't an explanation to how he was feeling right now, even he didn't know.

"Ty, you've got english with Mr.Dun now okay?"

Mr.Dun! His beautiful teacher, he kind of wanted to show him his colouring books and the drawings he'd did but Ashley had previously told him that was a bad idea. He didn't really see why but he'd agreed he wouldn't.

When he didn't answer Ashley and instead just stared she smiled fondly. "You'll be okay. After class we're going to Bren's. Well take care of you okay little bee."

Tyler blushed at the familiar nickname and nodded bashfully.

Ashley kissed his forehead. "Have fun. Remember you sit in front of Jenna."

She set off, nervously looking behind her as she walked away. Tyler only hummed and gracefully walked into class. He saw his teacher and before he could wave he felt fingers on his wrist.

He panicked for a moment before he was being hugged, before his nose was stuck into blonde hair that smelt of strawberries. Jenna, he smiled. He didn't know why she was hugging him but he didn't mind.

She grabbed his hand like she'd done it a million times before and ended up bringing him to sit in a different spot than usual. He frowned for a moment. Were they allowed to switch spots? He didn't think so but he still let Jenna sit him down in the seat the farthest away from anywhere else.

He stared at her confused and Jenna frowned before she realized he wasn't going to talk. "Be right back, I need to talk to Mr.Dun for a second."

Tyler didn't understand why she needed to speak with him but he nodded and pulled out a colouring book from under his stack of things as she walked away.

He vaguely heard her say something about him being fragile and needing to be sat farther away from everyone. He also vaguely understood over the chatter of his classmates Mr.Dun agreeing that this was okay. Tyler was okay! This made him happy.

Obliviously he kept colouring and barely registered when Jenna pressed her desk against his and peeked over at what he was doing. "I don't know what's going on." She sighed. "But we can sit here today, Mr.Dun's letting us have our space. We're just reading narrative essays today anyways apparently."

Tyler smiled and nodded and Jenna watched him colour.

He knew she had questions, probably.

Tyler would probably need to explain this all to her later.

"Do you colour a lot?" She asked after a few minutes, sweeping blonde hair behind her ear. The bell hadn't even rung yet even though it was nearly time for class to start.

"Uh-huh." Even his voice sounded small, childish. He was whispering.

"That's cool, I do that too. Usually when i'm stressed. I have a bunch just like this but there all lame, they don't have cool super heroes in them." Jenna spoke softly, carefully.

Tyler perked up, he hadn't expected to know anyone who liked colouring. Wordlessly he smiled at her and pulled out one of his colouring pages, sliding it onto her desk.

She grinned. "Aw thanks."

They were in there own little world. Which didn't last much longer because naturally class was going to start and when it did Tyler nearly jumped in his seat at the sound of Mr.Dun's voice.

He wasn't wearing his glasses anymore and he was clearly just as tired as everyone else as seen by the bags underneath his eyes. Still, his voice dripped with enthusiasm. "So you'll be writing your essays in two days."

Tyler busied himself with colouring as he listened to him talk, he wasn't listening to what he was saying. But he was focusing on how smooth his voice was, it was soothing.

"I know, it sucks." Mr.Dun still smiled though and Tyler was glad that he got to witness it. "It'll be nice to get it over with."

Mr.Dun's eyes scanned the classroom. "But today's class is more or less a free period. You can either study narrative essays or work on your essay outlines. Feel free to come ask me questions if you have any."

Everyone was already pulling out worksheets when Tyler's eyes met Mr.Dun's. Tyler's eyes were bright and he blushed when he looked away only to realize Mr.Dun was still looking at him.

A few seconds later his teacher was talking again.

"Also you can team up in partners if you'd like but If you push your desks together make sure to have them back how they were by the end of class. Sound okay?"

He nodded, walking over to his desk. "Cool, get to work."

The getting to work part never happened. Tyler coloured for the whole class and in between his short breaks to sharpen his pencils he'd look at Mr.Dun who was typing away at his computer intensely. He longed to go talk to him.

He couldn't, he was having too much fun anyways as he slowly drifted away from being little. Jenna had become just as invested as he was when it came to colouring though and it made him feel happy and much more comfortable then he'd felt all day.

By the end of class he had filled in multiple new pages in his marvel colouring book and he was tired and slowly drifting back out of little space.

Sure he still felt small but he was big enough to start feeling embarrassed about his actions and ended up quickly shoving his colouring book underneath his desk instead opting for his phone.

Tyler: brennnnnnnnnn

The reply was immediate.

Brennie 🦁: what's up buttercup ?

Tyler: i'm going to cry

Brennie 🦁: are u still little?

Tyler: Nah, not really. i feel p normal and uncomfortable

Brennie 🦁: Glad you're back even tho i already miss little ty, he's much cuter than you.

Tyler rolled his eyes, huffing. Cute? That is not the word he'd use to describe himself.

Tyler: you're funny

Brennie 🦁: i'm hilarious

Tyler: no u suck

Brennie 🦁: is that anyway to talk to your best friend

He sighed, shrinking into his seat. Realization struck his core but he didn't want to panic like he usually did. Instead he watched Jenna, he squinted.

"How the hell are you so good at the simplest things?"

For a second Jenna was confused as she turned to look at him, because suddenly Tyler was back to his normal self. She blinked, staring at what she'd been doing and then back at him. Instead of asking him about what was wrong with him she shrugged.

"I'm gifted."

He linked his hands together. "Clearly."

"Yours aren't half bad."

Tyler begged to differ. "Yeah, sure."

*

He wanted to go home but now that he was slowly becoming more aware of everything his now much more clear eyes landed on Mr.Dun. He needed to talk to him and internally he told himself that he couldn't baby out of this like he normally would.

Being bad at confrontation was bad especially when he felt like he'd totally screwed up his very professional relationship with the only teacher he actually liked.

He was shaking nervously as he stood in front of his teachers desk, he looked so busy he nearly debated going to sit back down. "Uh, sir."

"Oh, hey Tyler." He smiled running fingers through his hair as he stretched an arm up. Tyler tried to focus on his nose. "Are you doing alright?"

Tyler didn't know why he was talking to him.
"Oh, yeah. I-I guess so."

It didn't take long for him to remember.

"I just wanted to apologize about yesterday." He said quickly, too embarrassed to give his teacher any time to talk. "I shouldn't have done that thing I did."

Mr.Dun raised an eyebrow. "What thing?"
Tyler couldn't tell if he was amused or not and it made him mad.

The bell rung and he huffed, sitting down in front of the large desk as the classroom begun clearing out completely. He saw Jenna frown but he just shook his head.

Once the classroom was empty he started again.

"I touched you." His cheeks were burning. "That wasn't okay. I didn't mean to make things uncomfortable you know?"

Evaluating the situation Mr.Dun was quiet before an apologetic look came across his face, clearly realizing that Tyler had probably been worried that he'd be mad. "Hey it's fine, it's no biggie alright."

"Under the circumstance it was alright, very considerate of you Tyler."

Tyler grinded his teeth together nervously. "You're sure?"

"100%. Don't stress about silly things like that. Truly if I had been bothered I would have probably had more of a reaction then I gave you."

"I-Okay." Tyler was relieved.

"Is that all?"

Tyler wanted to say yes, Tyler did the opposite. His mouth betraying him as want overcame need. "Ye-No. I mean no. Do you think you could help me with my outline quickly after school tomorrow? I worked on it a bit last night when I got home and I just wanted to know if it was okay."

"For sure, just swing by before 4pm."

Tyler smiled shyly. "Thank you so much sir."

"No problem Ty."

Tyler didn't bother telling him he wasn't fond of that nickname.

*

WOAHHHHHH

is this.... an update??

yes, i think it is. A rather long one

BAM, this chapter is a mess and a lot happens but who cares