Intimidation ♡ joshler

sixty one

an: aaaaah so i fucked up in the last chapter! like when josh asked tyler if it was the first time zack hit him, i wrote that tyler nodded instead of shaking his head! thank you again, novafire14, for pointing that out! :^D

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Josh's phone rings in the midst of their current battle, and Tyler doesn't object as the older boy pauses the game to fish the offending device out of his pocket.  Josh groans before answering the call and speaking a flat greeting into the phone.  He's silent for a moment as the caller speaks, and Josh's brow furrows.

"Um... Okay?" is followed by another pause, before it's Josh's turn to speak again, "I can go to Brendon's. I'll just tell him I got into a fight or some shit."

The caller barely speaks for a moment more before the call itself ends, and Josh taps at his phone for a moment as he addresses Tyler, "My parents are bringing a few of their druggie friends over, and they don't want me here even though it's not their fucking house, so I asked Brendon if his aunt could pick us up."

Tyler doesn't say anything as Josh puts his phone away and reaches out for Tyler's game controller, and he hands it over so the other can lock everything away.

"By the way," Josh starts as they start heading downstairs a moment later, "If Marie or Brendon ask about the bruises, it wasn't Zack, and it wasn't my dad. I got in a fight, and I don't know, some bitch at school slapped you or something."

Tyler tilts his head as he looks to the other boy, "But why would a girl slap me for no reason? Like, what do I say if they ask?"

"Just tell them that you'd rather not talk about it and leave it at that. If they push, I got your back."

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A car pulls into Josh's driveway at almost nine pm, and Josh mumbles to himself about how he wonders why Marie took so long, and Tyler's just nervous to be meeting a new person.  Josh assures him that Marie is "sick as frick" and that he'll love her, so Tyler just takes his word for it as they approach the car.  Josh opens the back door and motions for Tyler to slide into the car before following buckling his seatbelt—which reminds Tyler to do the same; he always forgets to buckle his seatbelt, and sometimes, he just simply chooses not to.  

"Thank you, Marie," Josh says as Marie starts pulling out of the driveway, seemingly not noticing their blemished faces, probably because of the dark.

"No problem, love," Marie assures him before speaking up again, "So, Josh, Brendon said that this is your boyfriend, Tyler?"

"Yeah. He's really shy and sensitive, so don't be so straight-forward and blunt towards him," Josh warns, "Like Brendon was when they first met."

"I'm sorry you had to meet the dumb fuck known as Brendon," Marie jokes from the driver's seat, and Tyler offers an amused smile, even though the older woman probably can't see it.

"He's smiling," Josh speaks up, and Marie laughs as she keeps her eyes locked to the road in front of them.

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"So, Tyler," Marie speaks up as they turn onto a familiar enough street, "My only rules are to take your shoes off by the door, and please don't holler and shout, I can't stand that. And I don't wanna walk in on a jerk triangle, either."

Josh starts snickering while Tyler sits, confused, because what's a—

Oh.  Wow, okay, then...

And Tyler's red faced, even as they're all exiting the car and approaching the front door.

"I also have nuggets and fries in the kitchen, if you're hungry," Marie offers as she gets the door unlocked and open, letting herself in and holding the door open for the boys to enter.  

And now that they're in light surroundings, their bruises are on full display, and Marie's eyes widen as soon as she sees them.

"Oh my God, did you guys beat each other??" Marie asks, only half serious, and Tyler can hear Brendon make a startled sound before he's suddenly entering the room as well.

"Tyler beat the shit out of Josh!" Brendon gasps dramatically.

"How does someone so tiny do so much damage?!"

"Shit, Tyler's probably the daddy in the relationship for all we know!"

"He surely is not, he's baby boy!" Josh retorts, and Tyler blushes again, and it gets a little more serious as the jokes and laughter ceases.

"But seriously, did you guys scrap?" Marie asks, and Josh shook his head.

"Got in another fight at the park on Saturday, and Tyler said this girl slapped him at school today," Josh lies easily, and attention is momentarily shifted to Tyler.

"Who slapped you and why?" Brendon asks, and Tyler lets his gaze drop to his feet as he fiddles with the hem of his hoodie, like he usually would when getting nervous.

"I don't really wanna talk about it," Tyler mumbles, and the two seem to fall for it, and thankfully, they don't push.

"You guys hungry? We have nuggets and fries," Marie reminds the youngest two of the four, and they nod before entering the kitchen together, even though Tyler doesn't really care much for chicken nuggets.  

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thank you guys, love you! <3