Chapter Text
Saturday was supposed to be peaceful.
Just a quiet, productive day to finish the ridiculous project that had already consumed more brain cells than it was worth.
No all-nighters. No deleted slides. No Tyler-level disasters, especially ones including plastic water bottles and old computers.
That was Noah’s goal for the day.
He stood at Tyler’s front door, his backpack digging into his shoulders, and was still questioning his life choices. Then the door swung open, and Tyler was there. Wearing a plain red shirt, red and white sweatpants, and wearing his glasses. Again.
“Hey! You came!” Tyler grinned, stepping aside to let Noah in.
“I regret it already.” Noah mumbled, walking in.
Tyler stifled a laugh, but was unfazed. “Nah, this time it’s gotta be perfect! No techy failures, no not sleeping, just pure working!”
Noah deadpanned. “You said that last week, and now we have to start from scratch.”
“Yeah, but this time I really mean it!” Tyler said, way too enthusiastic.
Tyler’s house looked just the same as Noah remembered it, well it’s only been a week. It was a mix of comfortable, and chaotic.
Coats thrown over a singular chair in the living room, and weak smell of air freshener, or was it cologne?
His dad wasn’t home, again. Which Noah kindly appreciated. He didn’t have to deal with small talk, just Tyler, his dumb jokes, and some actually stable WiFi.
They settled in Tyler’s room, the exact same as last time, except it was a bit neater. Tyler somehow got his computer fixed, but it still looked ancient.
Both of them sat on the bed, Tyler criss cross (apple sauce), and Noah was perched near the edge, laptop on his lap.
“Okay…” Tyler said, fidgeting slightly. “So how are we starting?”
“By not letting you touch anything that can delete files.” Noah answered, his eyes still on his screen.
“Hey, that was one time!” Tyler responded, a bit offended.
“It was last week.”
“Still counts man!”
Noah groaned. “We’re doomed.”
For a while, it went smoothly. Tyler read from his (Noah’s) notes, while the bookworm typed, sometimes having to correct him when he butchered a word.
“Electrolytes.” Noah corrected.
“Yeah, that’s what I said, ‘Electric-kites’”
“Tyler.”
“Whattt? It sounds cooler!”
“It sounds wrong.”
“Agree to disagree.” Tyler smiled.
Despite himself, Noah laughed quietly. It was hard not to when Tyler was clearly trying. He wasn’t stupid. Just you know, wired differently. Okay, that was a lie. But, he was loud, energetic, easily distracted, but sometimes strangely dedicated once he cared about something.
Or someone…
Noah quickly pushed that theory aside. He focused on the laptop screen instead, purely academic. No distractions.
Then his phone buzzed.
Noah’s phone lit up with what can only be described as an attack of notifications. His sisters, per usual, had found something new to harass him about.
Noah groaned loudly. “Not again…”
Tyler peeked over to look at Noah’s phone screen, but quickly moved away. At least he knows decent respect. “Uh… is it the family chat again?-“
“Yes it is. Unfortunately.” Noah cut him off.
He unlocked it, then immediately regretted it.
The messages were all variations of, “You're going to that dude's house again?” , “He has a social life?” , or just really, REALLY weird things.
Noah stared at the screen. “I hate them.”
“What was it?”
“Nothing. Just family drama.” Noah grumbled, turning the phone off.
Tyler smirked. “Are they teasing you? Do you like someone?”
“Not your concern.”
“Oh, it’s definitely my concern.” Tyler added, “You’re blushingggg!” He continued, pointing at Noah.
“Shut up.”
The jock chuckled. “Cmon, we’re both dudes! Whose the lucky girl- no wait…” Tyler paused, trying to rack through his memory. “Whose the lucky boy?”
Noah froze, then glared. “You’re on thin ice.”
Wait a second, lucky boy? Okay, probably a mistake.
The day passed quietly. Tyler occasionally humming or asking something dumb. Noah ignored half of it, but a few times, he caught himself smiling, before snapping out of it.
He also couldn’t help but notice something else. Tyler was wearing glasses.
Noah had seen him wear contacts most of the time, and he did see him wearing glasses last week but…
The glasses were unfair.
They made him look softer, surprisingly. Less ‘sports jock’, and more, “wow a bit smart and a jock superrr hot”.
Which, objectively, was a terrible thought to have about someone who called him on multiple occasions absolutely ridiculous things. He wasn’t gonna list all of them of course, it would be a long list though.
Noah reminded himself, “Platonic admiration. Purely platonic. Nothing el-“
Right as Noah was continuing his thoughts, Tyler sneezed so hard his glasses almost flew off. The nerd started to then doubt his feelings for the guy.
“Alright, break time!” Tyler said, already standing up.
“What do you mean break time? We’ve barely finished half of the-“
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back!” He said, putting on his sneakers.
“I’ll be fast! Don’t miss me too much!” Tyler smiled, running out the door.
Noah sighed as the door closed. “I won’t.” He rolled his eyes.
He didn’t even get 10 minutes of quiet before the front door opened again. Noah heard footsteps coming up the stairs and the bedroom door swung open.
Tyler appeared in the doorway, looking like a train wreck. His hair was a mess and there was a faint red scrape on his arm.
Noah stared at him for a moment, before asking. “What happened?”
Tyler stood there. “Nothing.” He shrugged like it was all okay.
“Are you sure?”
“Okay ,so maybe I tripped…”
“Over what?”
Tyler hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. “Air?”
Noah exhaled. “You tripped. Over air?”
“It was uh… Uneven air! There was a crack in the sidewalk and-“
“There’s always a crack in the sidewalk!”
Exactlyyyy! It’s a hazard!”
Noah looked at him in disbelief. “I don’t know how I tolerate you.”
Tyler grinned sheepishly. “Cause you like me?”
Noah didn’t correct him.
Soon, after a bit, they went back to working on the project.
Despite everything that happened beforehand, it was nice.
The house was quiet, way more peaceful than at Noah’s house. He didn’t have to fight for a place to sit, or share WiFi with 10 people. Just being here felt oddly comforting.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he enjoyed being here.
He liked being around Tyler.
There was something easy about it. Simple. Maybe.
Even when Tyler uttered something absolutely idiotic, like “Do you think eels have friends?” Noah found himself smiling before rolling his eyes.
“Only you could make marine biology sound like a dating show.” Noah responded.
Tyler laughed. “I’d totally watch a show like that!”
“Of course you would.”
By the time the sun was starting to set, the project was finally done.
Tyler threw his arms in the air, stretching. “We did it! No crashes, no all-nighters, no more broken computers!”
“Low bar for success.” Noah murmured, immediately saving the file.
Tyler smiled softly, “You say that, but you're smiling.”
“I’m smiling cause it’s over.” Noah countered, the smile disappearing from his face quickly.
“Yeah yeah… You know, this wasn’t that bad!”
“That’s debatable.”
“No really, working with you is kinda fun. Your smart, organised, a bit intimidating-“
“Don’t finish that sentence Tyler Kenard.”
“… but in a nice way?”
Noah sighed, shutting his laptop. “You talk too much.”
“You like it.” Tyler clarified. Noah hoped he meant that in a friendly way. He really hoped.
Noah paused at the door, glancing back at Tyler.
“Yeah, maybe I do.” Noah mumbled under his breath.
As the nerd left the room, Tyler froze. Trying to figure out if he heard that right. By the time he could ask, Noah was already gone.
The jock giggled, lying on his bed.
“Man… He totally wants to be friends with me!” He whispered even though nobody was around.
“Maybe even best friends!”
Sure… Best friends.