next door » joshler [book #1]

forty one » these chapter titles might as well be the names of fob songs

"tyler?"

josh grabs his shoulder, kneeling beside him frantically. "tyler!" he yells, but the boy remains unmoving. the veins on his pale eyelids seem to stand out more than usual.

he notices the boy's chest rising and falling- if only slightly- and gasps in relief.

"fuck," he sighs, "i thought i lost you."

something in the back of his mind is saying, call 911, but there's another voice saying, no, don't, they might arrest him for using coke- so josh sits there, hugging tyler, sobbing.

he's just- he's cold. his skin, usually strangely hot, is now cooling rapidly. fuck. no, he can't be dying. that's impossible. no, no, no.

"please wake up," josh sobs, "please, tyler. i need you."

and, in what may be the worst timing ever, his phone vibrates.

mitch: so, you gonna come running back to me now?

josh freaks out. he lets go of tyler and jumps to his feet, running to the window, twisting his head frantically. no, it doesn't seem like there's anyone who could see them. he runs through the entire apartment, checking every single room and possible hiding space. how the fuck does mitch know?

when he comes back to the living room, tyler is- oh, thank god- he's stirring. "jshhh," he slurs, as if calling for josh. one hand reaches out and gropes the air.

"tyler!" josh runs to him and and pulls him onto his lap. "fuck, you're alive." the tears start anew, and he buries his head in tyler's shoulder, sobbing.

mitch: you idiot. you fool. i taught you not to get attached to things, didn't i?

"josh," tyler mumbles again. his eyes open and he stares blearily at the boy. "what?"

josh keeps sobbing. "fuck," he whispers, "i was-"

there's a curious expression on tyler's dazed face as he reaches for the phone sticking out of josh's back pocket. he slides it out and turns it on, silently reading the texts.

josh freezes. tyler slowly puts the phone down and looks up at josh, moving with deliberate slowness.

"what," he asks quietly, "the fuck," and he pauses again, "are you doing, josh?"

"i- i'm not-" josh starts, but tyler cuts him off, scrambling to his feet in disgust.

"i get it," he spits, and there's venom in his voice. "i get it, okay? look, josh, i don't know what the fuck is going on. i don't want to know." his face tightens. "i'm going out."

"wait, tyler," josh gets to his feet. "you're not going anywhere. you just fucking passed out. the only place you're going to is straight to bed."

and tyler, the still-delirious bastard, smirks and goes, "make me, then."

josh has to actually restrain himself from slamming tyler against the wall then, because nothing good will come of that- so he scoops tyler up, bridal style, and carries him to the bedroom, dropping him down on the bed. "sleep," he orders, "--don't argue."

as josh is leaning away, tyler grabs the front of his shirt and pulls him down, a well-placed kick to his legs rendering them useless. josh collapses into the bed and tyler rolls over so that he's pushing josh down. "i don't want to sleep," he grins, "the only thing i want is you."

and josh's blood goes cold.

because he's heard these words before

(no, this can't be happening, no no no no)

from mitch.