Help You

Seven

After 20 minutes of hearing what Josh had to say, Tyler was tired of listening. The joyful demeanor he carried when he entered Josh's apartment was slipping away and he was struggling to keep quiet while Josh finished his rant. If all of Josh's words were true, that meant that all of the worst-case scenarios he'd imagined his friend tied up in were also true. He couldn't keep still when he thought about how long this must have been going on.

"... so really I'm just glad that you're here to-... Tyler? Did you hear a word I just said? Oh god don't tell me you zoned out. You said you would listen!"

"I was listening. I heard everything," Tyler was really making an effort to stay calm. "The whole thing. The part where you said you had no idea Adam would turn out this way. The part where you said just thinking about him makes you want to cry. And especially the part where you said you still love him."

Josh could sense the exasperation in Tyler's voice,"Are you... are you mad at me?"

Tyler was standing now, pacing the living room in a feeble attempt to assuage his emotions. "No, Josh, I'm not mad at you, I'm just mad at this whole situation. You know what I think? I think a lot of this could've been avoided if you would've told me sooner."

"Wait, wait. So you think this is my fault?" Josh was intensely confused. Sure, his mind tended to assume the worst, but he never expected Tyler to react like this in real life.

Tyler halted in his pacing; it wasn't helping him anyway. "I didn't say that. I just think that if you hadn't kept all this to yourself for so long, you would be out of this situation by now."

Tyler bit his tongue and let out a frustrated breath. He wished he could grab those words out if the air and stuff them back where they came from.

Now Josh was standing, his eyes threatening to spill over with angry tears.

I knew I should've kept my mouth shut.

"Do you seriously think I'd keep something like this secret on purpose? I tried to tell you about it Tyler. I tried to tell everyone. The first time Adam hit me, I drove to the mall just because I wanted to tell someone but I couldn't. I was scared. I felt like there was a camera on me no matter where I went. I was so paranoid- I still am! It's taking all of my strength not to make you leave so I won't have to talk about it anymore. I thought I could trust you to give me some advice or even save me somehow. Instead you're telling me all of this is my own fault. Everything hurts, Tyler." Josh jerked up his sleeve to reveal a hand-shaped, multicolored bruise. "Everything."

"J-Josh, I," The words Tyler wanted to say wouldn't come. He wanted to disappear into the void. What kind of best friend was he? He came over to make Josh feel better, but only made things worse. "I'm sorry."

Josh sniffled in response, unable to cease his tears. He felt helpless. The one person he thought would build him up had torn him down further. He felt broken.

Tyler figured the best thing for him to do now was leave, but he didn't want to be Josh alone with his feelings. An idea popped into his head; one he should've thought of a while ago. He picked his phone off the coffee table and opened a browsing tab.

Search: domestic abuse hotline

Tyler found exactly what he needed in the first result. He highlighted the information then tapped 'copy to clipboard'. Since he didn't know how to help Josh by himself, he had to contact someone that could. Josh probably wouldn't agree with Tyler's idea, arguing that his situation wasn't serious enough to be delt with by professionals. Fortunately, Josh was unconcerned with whatever Tyler was doing on his phone and he didn't even look up when Tyler reached for a napkin to jot down some vital information.

When Tyler had what he needed, he was torn between sticking around, no doubt to Josh's annoyance, or giving his friend some time to himself. One look at Josh's unhappy eyes and Tyler had made his decision. He made sure everything he had brought was now in his pockets and cleared his throat.

"Josh?" No answer.

"I know you're upset with me right now- I am, too but I promise if you call me I'll drop everything and I'll be here, just like I always am. I may be an ass sometimes but," Tyler swallowed hard. "I still want to be your best friend."

With that, Tyler let himself out, leaving Josh to be overrun by his own mind.