I Fancy The Singer (Book 1 // Joshler)

Part Thirteen

Tyler had been sitting on Josh's bed for the last twenty minutes or so, comforting him the best he could. He was hugging him tightly while rubbing his back with gentle pats in a reassuring pattern. 

"Sssshhhh.."

He whispered over and over again, slowly and quietly. Tyler gently pulled away and looked at Josh's reddened face as he tilted his head with a weak smile.

"You said they were in the next town over, right? Let's hit the road and go see them...or something.."

"Tyler...there's something I have to tell you.."

Josh spoke through sobs and it took him a minute before he caught his breath, his sanity spinning in every direction. He took another deep breath and looked at Tyler's brown eyes; they glistened in the light of that forty watts bulb.

"What is it, Josh?"

"My parents, they aren't here.."

"Hey, shhhhh, it's okay I know. But they're with you at heart and no one can ever take that away from you."

"No, Tyler. I mean, they aren't here, in Québec."

"What are you talking about?" Tyler took on a look of deep confusion, with a hint of fear crawling up his neck.

"Tyler...my parents don't live in Québec. They're in Columbus." Josh slowed down and looked at the floor, avoiding his eyes.

"What are they doing there?"

"They live there and have for decades. I'm not an exchange student from Canada, I've never been here before."

Tyler didn't say anything. Instead, he stood up and slowly backed away from the bed. He turned around and packed his bags, still not saying a word.

"Tyler, what-what are you doing?"

After he gathered all his things, he walked to the door and opened it. "I'll be waiting in the car."

Josh watched as he slammed it shut. He felt something inside him break but had no  other choice than to oblige. He gathered all his belongings and left the room. He saw Tyler sit in the passenger seat of the car and sighed as he opened the back door to throw his bags in. As Josh sat down in the driver's seat, he inhaled a large breath of air before turning his head to face Tyler who simply looked straight ahead.

"Tyler-"

"Just take me home please, then you can see your parents."

Tyler's eyes were watering but that didn't matter, he simply forced back the tears and waited until Josh started the engine. Which he did, rather quickly pulling out the parking lot and onto the highway.  They drove, silently and Tyler just stared out the window, thinking about everything.

Josh had lied  to him. He's been lying from the second he woke up about being some Canadian exchange student. Why? What the hell could he possibly have to hide? Tyler pondered of something great, all these questions giving him a pounding migraine. Tyler removed his seatbelt to grab his water bottle from his bag on the back seat, but when he turned his head back, a moose walked out into the road and froze in the car's headlights.

"Watch out!" Tyler yelled out, which caught Josh's attention and he swerved brutally, causing their car to go off course. The moose ran away after the car was propelled off the road and into the forest, a few dozen meters deep. Josh's head hit the steering wheel hard as the car crashed into a large tree and he quickly lost consciousness. Tyler's body was throw out the windshield, due to the absence of a seatbelt and he landed a few feet from the car.

Time passed but it was irrelevant, representing nothing but a compilation of numbers. Josh's eyes lazily opened, the sound of crusty blood breaking as his eyelids moved. He slowly sat up, his spine cracking as he straightened it with a loud groan. It took him a moment before his blurry vision returned to normal and he realized what had just happened. 

"Tyler?"

Josh tried to speak but it came out like a weak whisper. He turned his head, observing the empty seat along with the shattered glass from the windshield which had an enormous hole in it. Panic crept up inside him as he realized Tyler wasn't here. Countless nightmares jumbled around in his head as his anxiety spiked. He tried to liberate himself from his seatbelt but his weakness obliged him to remain there, useless.

"Tyler!!"

He kept yelling, praying that Tyler was okay, that he was breathing and alive. Maybe he went out to get help? Josh tried to convince himself that everything was okay and nothing bad had happened but he was growing more and more reckless and hopeless as the minutes passed by. After ten minutes, he gave up on giving up. No amount of pain was worth losing Tyler. 

Josh aspired a large breath of oxygen and pushed with a great force on the seatbelt buckle with his broken fingers to liberate himself. With a small cry, he belt finally budged and he was able to remove it and crawl out the door. He fell on the snowy ground, shivering at the cold and humid ice against his warm skin. 

"TYLER!" 

Josh kept yelling as he found the energy to stand up on his feet and quickly moved over to the front of the car where a red patch was formed within the snow. There was a large imprint of a body near it, but no sign of Tyler. Josh panicked as he saw the blood but relief slowly joined him once he saw footprints trailing off. He was alive, that was something. 

***

Tyler shivered once again but he kept walking. He was determined to get back home but his main concern was finding help for Josh.

"Stay right there, buddy. Hang on alright? I'll be right back with some help."

He'd whispered before leaving Josh's side to go find help. Tyler's arm was covered in blood, a large cut near his upper shoulder burned him. There was still some glass from the windshield stuck in his flesh, only exposing him to further risks for infections; each and every minute making it worst.

Tyler was scared. He'd scream cause he's terrified of what's around the corner. Down in the forest, he's been walking alone for the last hour and he was still not any closer to finding help than he was an hour ago. He'd gotten lost, he was confused from the crash that he'd been walking farther away from the highway. This is not what he had planned.

He kept walking, slower and slower as he grew weaker from the cold and the great amount of blood he'd lost. It wasn't long before he got dizzy and fell to the ground, his bare skin against the cold and dangerous snow. Tyler couldn't move anymore, seconds later he wasn't even conscious. 

***

Josh was following the footsteps, his forehead was covered in dried blood from a head wound he'd obtained while hitting the steering wheel. But he wasn't concerned about himself, his only worry was finding Tyler. So, he kept walking without complaints.

Josh leaned against a tree, he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep going. He felt like giving up as if the whole world was against him. The blood trail he was following was growing larger and he was growing more and more anxious as time went by. That's when he saw it. When he was growing tired and hopeless, that's when he saw Tyler's body laying on the snowy ground just a few meters ahead. Josh's body pumped adrenaline and he ran. He didn't know where the energy came from but he ran towards Tyler, throwing himself against the ground as he saw him.

"Tyler? Tyler, buddy come on! Please, you gotta wake up!"

Josh rolled him over and felt his pulse. He was alive. He caught sight of his arm and hissed but ripped a strip of his shirt to use as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Tyler's body was nearly frozen cold and his pulse was dropping at a dangerous speed. Josh carried him back to the car, returning on their own steps as he held him close to him, afraid to loose him.

Josh stopped at the car to grab as much of their clothes as he could. He wrapped Tyler up nice and warm and he pulled him close to his chest, in hopes he'd warm up again. When he grabbed everything that was of importance, he headed back up to the highway.

He waited, not dropping Tyler out of his arms no matter how much it ached him. That's when he saw it, the headlights of a car slowing down and stopping right before their eyes. Josh had a smile on his face which he soon dropped the moment the man rolled down the window.