Coming Home // Sidemen AU (Minizerk)

Meeting Tobi

Tobi is eleven when he first meets Josh, on the first day of secondary school. This day is probably one of the most terrifying in childhood and everyone wants to make a good impression amongst people they will most likely see for the next seven years. Tobi is fairly quiet and shy, preferring to stay with a few close friends from primary school rather than go out of his way to meet new people, for fear of making a fool of himself.

He meets Josh on the first day because they are put into the same form. Unlike the other kids he doesn't seem to care what people think of him. He's not overly loud but he goes out of his way to talk a bit to everyone in their form on the first day. He makes a joke when he talks to Tobi, one that makes the other boy feel a lot more relaxed. Tobi's friends are always the ones who can make him laugh the most, so this was a strong indication he and Josh are going to be close.

One boy in the class stands out amongst the rest. His hair is neater, his uniform more preppy styled, his mannerisms more feminine. No one knows if the boy is gay or not; being only eleven the boy probably doesn't know himself, but immediately one of the other boys is picking on him. For the whole day the boy keeps poking fun at the other boy, and the other kids see the bully as a cool kid, someone they should hang around with, while his victim retreats more and more into his shell.

Tobi wants to say something to make him stop, as well as some other kids, but that's not the normal thing to do at that age. When you're eleven you stick with the majority because it's the safest. That's not what Josh does though. Even though neither he or Tobi could say they didn't often call each other gay as an insult - it's a bad habit, it's the way they've been brought up - neither wants to see someone being bullied for being themselves. And so on that day, the very first day of secondary school, Josh tells that bully to back the fuck off. He tells him that being gay was better than whatever excuse for a human he was. Josh makes a lot of enemies that day, but also a lot of friends, including Tobi.

He and Tobi share a lot of common interests, and they live close to each other which results in a lot of late night gaming sessions at Tobi's house. Josh is good with Tobi's little brother, who begins to idolise the other boy almost as much as his own brother. Tobi doesn't mind, Josh isn't a bad idol to have.

There are a lot of similarities in their childhood's as they grow up. Josh's mum is poorer than Tobi's parents, but his dad is richer, so they kind of fall into the same income bracket. Neither are well off though, both qualify for free school meals like most of the kids at their school, both have never set a foot outside of inner city London, and both see far too much at far too young an age. Even so, Josh definitely grows up quicker, he always just seems a step ahead of other kids his age, including pretending he can cope with everything on his own.

Josh always tries to act like nothing can affect him, including deadly illnesses. This is unfortunately proved when the boy refuses to go to the doctors for a mystery illness, leaving it so late that his condition has turned extremely serious by the time his parents force him to get a check up. Tobi never forgets the day he has the call telling him that his best friend is in hospital, in a critical condition, something to do with his kidneys.

Those two months are two of the most stressful months Tobi has ever experienced. He visits the other boy on a regular basis and it is during one of these visits that he meets Ethan and Simon. They are also visiting, here to play Fifa with their bed-ridden friend. He likes them. They were here to keep Josh company so of course he likes them. That and they make him laugh also. Crazy white boys. By the end of his ordeal Josh is tiny; literally just skin and bones and somehow even paler than before. Between them, they even manage to convince Josh to stay at Ethan's house for a while after that, as his mum is not in the best of health herself and none of them trust his dad enough to take care of him.

Despite the oldest boy being ill, those days of recovery weren't that bad, mainly because they get to look after Josh for once. The older boy is always making sure everyone else is okay and sometimes he just forgets about himself. Especially at school Josh tries to act like he can deal with everything thrown at him, but amongst his closest friends he occasionally lets his vulnerable side show. Tobi is there when his mum overdoses on her anti-depressants, both he and Ethan are there when he splits from his first long term girlfriend, and all three are there when the boy turns up to the park one day in tears and a nasty looking black eye, the result of a heated argument with his dad.

Tobi is probably the quietest within there little group, the most introverted out of the lot of them, happy to sit by himself in his own quiet while the rest are shouting and laughing at each other. But occasionally Josh will join him. Sometimes the two will just sit in nothing but silence, the two completely comfortable in each others company.

Tobi often wonders what thoughts the other boy has swimming around in his head. The boy comes out with a lot of weird stuff but occasionally he will say something that sounds like it has come straight from a philosophers mouth. Josh obviously has a lot of stuff going on in that secretive mind of his, but it is a mind that comes in use more than once. He has a knack for getting people out of trouble and talking sense into them, no matter who they are.

It is through Josh that Tobi meets JJ.