Intimidation ♡ joshler

nineteen

an: this chapter might seem a bit rushed in some parts so sorry for that :^( but something good does come from this one :^) thanks guys! <3

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As the two ate the pizza had ordered earlier, Tyler's curiosity was getting the best of him as he pondered about this sister of Josh's.  

Something negative has happened to upset Josh, going by the tension that had engulfed them earlier at the mention of her.

One possibility Tyler came up with is that his sister maybe has her own place and that may be affecting Josh in some way.  Maybe his sister promised a place for Josh to stay, because Tyler figures that something could be up with his parents (they did sell his shit for God knows what, but that could also be a punishment for something Josh has done).  Maybe they've gotten into a really bad argument before parting, and the distance somehow contributes to them not being able to patch things up.

Maybe the parents kicked her out, and maybe Josh depended on his sister, or is just upset that his sibling is gone.

Perhaps this sister is gone, but from more than just the household; maybe she died.  Josh could still be devastated, if that's the case, since his sister's death was most likely tragic—Tyler highly doubts the cause of death was from old age.  Maybe there was a car crash or a terminal illness.  Perhaps even a homicide or suicide—Josh said that his sister had anxiety, and Tyler's pretty sure that he might have some form of it too (Zack never took him seriously whenever he brought the possibility up, and Tyler doesn't wanna go around saying he has anxiety if he doesn't know for sure), and he could list plenty of times when anxiety overwhelmed him, had him into hysterics, and contributed to his desire to take himself out.

And Tyler can't help but want to know what Josh's sister is or was like, and he wonders if she's pulling through if she's alive, and if she really is gone—

"Hey," Josh lays a hand on Tyler's shoulder, startling him back to reality, "You good?"

Tyler puts on a smile and nods.  Josh's eyes linger on him for a moment longer, as if doubting him, but then he just motions towards the partially eaten pizza in Tyler's possession.

"You were just sitting with it for a good moment, staring off into space," Josh says, shoving a bite of pizza crust into his mouth.  Tyler looks to his own pizza and sighs; he's not really hungry right now.

"I'll eat it later," Tyler responds, placing his pizza on a plate and putting it aside, hoping Josh won't mind.  Josh hums, mouth still stuffed with food, and hands Tyler a roll of paper towels.  Tyler nods a silent thanks and tears a sheet off to clean himself.

"So, I kinda promised that I'd call Brendon while we were hanging out since he wasn't invited," Josh says as he pulls out his phone, and he doesn't seem to enthusiastic about talking to said boy, if Tyler's completely honest.

Josh puts the phone on speaker, the two listening to the dial tone until Brendon finally picks up the phone.

"Hi, Tyler!" Brendon calls out from the other end of the call.  Josh rolls his eyes.

"Wow, hi, Brendon," Josh says, voice dripping sarcasm, and pretty much stealing Tyler's turn to speak.

"Yeah, hi, Josh. I was getting to you."

"Whatever, dude," Josh huffs, "Tyler doesn't like you anyways 'cause you were mean to him."

Brendon lets out a dramatic gasp, much like he did at lunch, "Sure he does! Right, Tyler?"

"Uh—I don't r-really know you," Tyler stammers, face flushing as soon as the words come out his mouth, and Josh chuckles.

"We can easily fix that!" Brendon chirps, "We're gonna be such great friends, you won't even care about Josh anymore."

Of course Tyler (and Josh, may I add) knows he's joking about the last statement, but he can't help but think to himself that he'd never not care about Josh; he's been very kind and respectful to him, and despite only knowing Josh for less than a week, he's the first real friend Tyler's had in a very long time.  Plus, Josh seems rather fond of Tyler, and he really doesn't think Josh would let Brendon steal him away that easily.

"Fuck you, Brendon, and stick to Pete Wentz and them," Josh banters, and Brendon cackles in return.

"Anyways, what's going on over there?" Brendon asks, a suggestive undertone detectable.  Before Josh can even start to answer, Brendon speaks again, "Let Tyler answer that; I've only heard his voice twice."

And Tyler's muscles tense at the idea of responding with a statement more complex than what he's used to when it comes to people he's not comfortable with—especially Brendon, 'cause though he seems to like Tyler now, he tried to attack him and spewed insults at him and threatened him when he accidentally stepped on the back of his shoe, and he made a fool out of him during lunch in front of Josh—and he feels like an asshole now for still being upset over that, because Brendon gave him cookies to make up for it—and what even is going on over here at Josh's?  All they really did was play Super Smash Bros and eat pizza; so Tyler will just tell him that—

"Y-yeah, we just played Su-super Smash Bros," Tyler rushes out, high pitched, fidgeting nervously, fumbling with the hem of his hoodie, and his face gets as hot as it did when Brendon first embarrassed him with that handshake fiasco, and he expects Brendon to laugh at how ridiculous he sounds right now.

Brendon cackles, Tyler wants to die, and Josh is unimpressed.

"You're such a fucking asshole," Josh snaps, tone void of playfulness this time, but that doesn't make Brendon's laughter falter.

"I'm sorry, shit," Brendon continues to laugh, and Josh just hangs the phone up and turns to Tyler.

"Sorry," Tyler whispers, dropping his head to watch as his shaky hands pull tightly at his hoodie, and why is he so embarrassed by something so fucking trivial?  It's over now, he needs to get over it and stop being so fucking pathetic.

"Don't apologize, Tyler," Josh says, reaching out to Tyler's hands, covering them with his own larger ones to calm them, and we all know what our boy does, "It's okay, Brendon won't even remember later, and you know I'd never judge you."

And Tyler appreciates Josh so much, he's such a good friend.  He really wants to hug his friend.

"Can you hug me?" Tyler asks, and strong arms are instantly being wrapped around him, pulling his smaller frame into one of the tightest hugs he's ever received.  Tyler turns his head to rest the side of his face against Josh's chest as returns the hug, and Tyler lets out a shaky breath as Josh gently rubs Tyler's back, snuggling him.  

Tyler relaxes completely in his friend's touch, so firm yet gentle; no one's ever given him a hug that even came close to how amazing this one is.

Tyler clings onto his friend, basking in the affection, and the leech simile doesn't cross Tyler's mind this time.

"I really like you, Josh," Tyler whispers without even thinking about it, and Tyler starts to freak out when Josh stills.

But then Josh chuckles so fondly, and Tyler knows that's a positive response.