SORRY TO LET YOU DOWN.

SCOTT MILLER was leaning against the side of the white truck with a StormPAR logo painted across the side. In the back was one of three PAR systems, the other two in other cars around the truck stop parking lot. At his side was the closest thing to a best friend he had — Javi Rivera.

They had nothing to do but kill time, waiting for a storm that was still a few hours out.

For weeks, they'd been tracking storms to collect data for Scott's uncle, and though what they got was good, they were struggling to get a complete 3-D rendering of a tornado because Scott and Javi couldn't seem to get right in front of the path of a tornado. That led to Uncle Riggs yelling at him.

A lot.

So much so that it was affecting his mood. His usually sour expression was somehow even more sour as the days passed, which Javi noticed but didn't comment on. He knew just as well what it was like to be berated by the older man who was funding all of their data collection, meaning they couldn't let him down.

The longer that the two men and their crew waited, everyone noticed how several cars were beginning to pull into the usually empty parking lot. And when they noticed lots of teenagers and young adults who were all squealing and crowded around their phones, they grew more confused.

"Is there a One Direction concert in town?" Scott asked sarcastically, watching as two nearby girls in hand-decorated shirts sporting unfamiliar names like Tyler and Lily and Dexter on them started watching the horizon like they were waiting for something.

"Don't even joke about that," Javi said, shaking his head seriously. "And I figure it's to do with those YouTubers."

"YouTubers?" Scott questioned, looking down at his friend through dark sunglasses.

"Yeah," he said, crossing his arms. "Saw them on the news this morning. They're storm chasers from Arkansas — real reckless. They said they're heading to Oklahoma for this outbreak. Based on the crowd, I figure they're headed here then."

"The last thing we need is some reckless storm chasers getting near our equipment," Scott muttered, not thrilled by the idea of sharing the area with other people. "Maybe they'll change their minds and go to a different part of the state."

"Not when the outbreak is here," Javi said, shaking his head. "I'm sure we won't be interacting with them much or anything past introductions."

"I wasn't even thinking introductions," Scott muttered.

Javi chuckled and pat his shoulder. "Never change that charming personality, my man."

☁︎

Kennedy was miserable, not that anyone would know it.

Even though it felt like the world had ended last night, she still had to wake up. She had to wash her hair and put on the lipstick Tyler liked and put on her flat boots, getting in the front seat of the red truck where Tyler immediately put his hand on her thigh.

That one touch made her want to die.

And it stayed there for hours as the drove to Oklahoma. To Tyler's credit, he never once squeezed her thigh or snuck it higher or brushed his thumb back and forth calmingly like he used to. He just kept it there because Boone had a YouTube Live going on. 

All of their cameras across the three vehicles were linked, and Boone was reading out questions from the chat for everyone to answer. Nearly all of them were directed at Tyler and Kennedy, who didn't think it was all that fair. Boone, Dani, Lily, and Dexter were all just as much part of the Tornado Wranglers as they were — more given that they'd gotten there before her.

"Alright, one more, Boone," Tyler said. "We're about to the truck stop."

"I've got one for Kenny, then," Boone said. "From a Sara Lancaster. She wants to know if you plan on returning to modelin' any time soon?"

Kennedy forced a smile and went to answer only for Tyler to do so for her.

"Ah, but that would mean she wasn't with us," he said, chuckling. He moved his hand off her thigh and gently gripped her chin, pulling her closer. "Need my Ken close to me, ain't that right?"

"You know it, baby," Kennedy said, wondering where her acting skills had come from as she let Tyler lean over and kiss her quickly, him only swerving a little bit on the road. Then she smiled sweetly at the camera. "Thanks for askin' though, Sara. Sorry to let you down."

After that, Boone shut all the cameras down, ending the live. And Kennedy went to staring out the window, ignoring the hand on her thigh.

God, she really had quit her career for Tyler, and now she couldn't even go back to it yet. That made it hurt even more somehow. It made her feel foolish for thinking things would ever last between them and foolish for choosing a guy over her passion.

Thankfully, five minutes later, Tyler removed his hand from her thigh as he turned into a truck stop where fans were already waiting. He chuckled and honked the horn obnoxiously while pulling in, the camper and Dani's truck behind them as well.

Kennedy's eyes scanned the parking lot as they passed by a small fleet of white trucks. She frowned, seeing some kind of company logo on all the cars that she couldn't make out. Then she sighed as Tyler put the truck in park, getting ready to act like everything was fine.

Which wasn't true. No, she felt like she was drowning in sadness and self-hatred, wondering what she could've done differently to keep this from happening. To keep Tyler in her life the way she wanted and not just because he wanted to keep viewership up.

Wondering why she wasn't good enough for Tyler even when she'd built her life and personality around him.

☁︎

Scott rolled his eyes as the obnoxious truck sped by them, loud country music blaring from its speakers, no doubt ruining the hearing of its passengers. He opted to ignore them for a moment, glancing instead at his tablet as he chewed on a fresh piece of gum.

But then it was so distracting as people started cheering and shouting names, so he had to look back up, watching curiously as people filed out of the truck.

The first was a shorter man with long hair, a big camera in hand. And he was quickly running around to the other side of the truck to get a shot of the driver, who was a taller blonde wearing a ridiculously large cowboy hat. All those fans were clamoring for his attention.

Finally, after a suspiciously long while, the passenger side door opened, and Scott froze, knowing then and there, even from twenty yards away that the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen was the one stepping out of the truck.

Her dark brown hair was pulled back into two braids and she wore a tiny red tank top and cutoff shorts that showed off impossibly long legs, a pair of flat cowboy boots on her feet.

Scott watched her carefully for a moment as no fans were around her. There was a frown that looked so out of place on her beautiful face as she looked down at the ground for a moment before someone called out for her.

Kennedy. That was her name. Kennedy.

In an instant, Scott noticed that she was sporting a blinding smile that contrasted her sad expression greatly. She practically skipped to the small crowd of fans that surrounded her, beginning to give out hugs and sign autographs while making her way to the driver of the truck.

He watched how the man in the cowboy hat wrapped an arm around the girl's waist, pulling her close as he kissed her sloppily, his other hand falling on her ass for all to see.

Scott rolled his eyes at the distasteful sight and went back to his tablet after that. He didn't know what he'd been expecting after Javi telling him about them, but he was already unimpressed with the tacky YouTubers that would no doubt prove to be menaces.

☁︎

It was a long while before the crowd died down enough that Kennedy could detach from Tyler's side. Most of the fans calmed down and settled for watching them all from a distance as everyone waited out the oncoming storm, knowing it wouldn't be long now.

So, she quickly went into the gas station, making sure to go to the bathroom before grabbing some snacks. After grabbing a bag of Warheads — she could just die happy so long as sour candy was in her mouth — she walked to the most important part of the store.

The red, white, and blue Icee machine.

It was always the most important decision of her day. What flavor to get. A Coke flavored one was so refreshing on a hot day. However, she liked the lingering aftertaste of blue raspberry. But then again, cherry was just so especially delicious and classic.

Her brows were furrowed as she thought it over, finally not thinking of Tyler Owens for the first time since she woke up.

"You look like you've never seen a slushie machine before," someone joked.

Kennedy turned her head to the left, seeing she'd been joined by a man a few inches shorter than her with curly dark hair and covered in freckles. Just behind him was another, and Kennedy, admittedly, was a bit stunned at first.

He was tall — taller than Tyler with dark hair that was tucked underneath a ball cap instead of a cowboy hat. And his blue eyes — they were a brighter blue than Tyler's — were fixed on her as well.

Internally, Kennedy sighed. She couldn't even meet strangers without comparing them to Tyler.

"Well, the flavor you choose sets the mood for the whole day," she told the first man with a small smile. "Help me choose."

"Well, what kind of day do you want?" he asked her.

Kennedy thought it over for a moment. "Unstressful."

"So... Coke?" he guessed.

"Coke," she nodded, grabbing a large cup to fill up. "And I'm Kennedy, by the way. Kennedy Spencer."

"Nice to meet you. My name's Javi," the guy told her.

She glanced sideways at the other, expecting him to speak and introduce himself, but he remained silent. So, Javi sighed and pat his coworker's back.

"This is Scott. He's very chatty," he joked.

Kennedy smiled softly at them while grabbing her straw. Even without paying for it, she began sipping on the Icee as she looked at the men. "Nice to meet you, Javi and Scott who is very chatty."

It made the right corner of Scott's mouth turn up in a smirk.

Then she noticed the logo embroidered into the fabric of their matching white button-up shirts. "What's StormPAR?" she questioned curiously.

"We're a data collection company," Javi said, glad that she was showing interest. "We track storms and use PAR systems to gather data to attempt to render 3-D models of tornados."

Kennedy's eyes went wide as she looked between the two men. "Oh, so y'all are like geniuses?"

It was safe to say she'd picked up a southern accent of her own after spending so much time for so long around Boone and Tyler and the others.

Would that go away once she left them behind?

"Nah, not really," Javi said sheepishly. "Me at least. Scott went to MIT."

Scott cut his eyes to Javi with a frown, not appreciating him talking for him.

"That's real impressive," she told him, looking at Scott even though he hadn't spoken. "I've, um, I have to get back 'cause we're heading out, but if y'all are gonna be around for the outbreak, I'd love to hear more about the data collection you're doing."

"I'm not sure you'd understand it," Scott finally said flatly.

His voice was so deep, Kennedy thought. It suited him.

Rather than take offense, she just giggled. "I don't figure I would. But I don't know what Tyler is saying half the time either."

"Well, maybe we can teach you a few things to flaunt to your viewers," Javi said, grinning. "And hey, it was nice meeting you, Kennedy."

"Bye, y'all," she said, waving at them as she headed to the register. Scott's blue eyes followed her closely, watching as she paid for her snacks before leaving.

"She's was nice," Javi commented while grabbing some bars of chocolate. Scott grabbed a bag of Sour Patch Kids, always one to love sour candy over the sweet stuff.

"Nice enough, I suppose," Scott grumbled. "Wasn't no reason to be friendly with her if they're just gonna get in our way."

Javi rolled his eyes at Scott's pessimist attitude. "You don't know that they're gonna get in our way."

☁︎

"They're in our fucking way, Javi!"

"Yes, I see that, Scott! I'm the one driving!

"Well, pass them!"

The StormPAR team had been nearly run off the road by the Tornado Wranglers, who came out of seemingly nowhere, music blasting as a drone flew overhead. And Javi and Scott watched as the Kennedy that they met hung out the passenger side window, cheering as she filmed the forming tornado in front of them on her cell phone.

"She needs to get inside before she gets hit with debris," Scott said with a frown. He didn't care for this rival crew's lack of safety procedures one bit. "Now, get in front of them."

Javi, rather than argue, stepped on the gas, flooring it as he got around the red truck. Only for it to be pointless as Tyler Owens took a sharp right turn, going off road as he drove through a field and toward the tornado.

Javi and Scott watched, completely perplexed by his actions, only to watch as the truck actually drove into the tornado a minute and a half later.

"What the hell?" Javi asked, his eyes wide over their stupidity. "What kind of storm chasers do that?"

"Dumbasses with cameras," Scott said in a snarky tone.

"We gotta go make sure they're okay," Javi said, quickly driving through the field too.

"They're fine," Scott said, rolling his eyes. As if to prove his point, the tornado moved on, revealing the truck that was still standing. "See?"

Javi came to a stop, not getting any closer to the red truck as they watched for signs of life. Then, almost in sync, Tyler, Boone, and Kennedy all climbed out of the truck, jumping around. As Boone filmed, Tyler ran up to Kennedy and lifted her in his arms, spinning her around as if he was the tornado, making her laugh before he put her down. Then he yelled something at the camera before pulling Kennedy into a celebratory kiss.

A moment later, the Wranglers realized they had an additional audience and not just the YouTuber viewers.

"That's Scott and Javi," Kennedy murmured, Tyler's arm still around her waist. She could just make out Scott and Javi's forms through the windshield of their truck even through they were pretty far off. "Said their company does data collection on storms."

"Huh," Tyler hummed curiously. "I'll see if Dani's heard anything about them. 'Cause I sure as hell ain't."

And Tyler made habits of knowing what was going on in the storm data universe. So, he didn't like not knowing who was working so closely to them.

But he quickly shook that off and looked at Boone — at the camera. "Remember kids, do not try this at home. We are professional Tornado Wranglers."

"And if you feel it," Kennedy said with a forced, charming smile.

"Chase it!" Boone shouted before ending the live and heading back to the truck. "Man, that was a good one. This outbreak is gonna be killer for views."

With Boone's back to them and the camera off, Kennedy quickly stepped out of Tyler's hold, who let his arms and smile drop. She crossed her arms defensively and avoided looking at him.

"You were perfect today, baby," Tyler said softly. "Just keep it up for me. No body will suspect a thing."

Kennedy looked up at him sadly, hating the part of her that was pleased that he was at least happy with her even if he wasn't in love.

God, this outbreak was going to feel like torture if it didn't end soon.

[ every time -illyrian makes a gif this beautiful, an angel gets its wings ]