band aids ↠ joshler ✔

t w e n t y o n e

6 months until

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it was slightly raining the next day during open, and josh was walking towards the curb alone.

tyler's therapist had requested a special session with someone tyler knew well, excluding his roommate. tyler chose brendon, so the two were there right now.

thus, josh approached a lonely-looking dallon.

"hey," he said, sitting beside the taller guy.

dallon nodded slightly, showing josh he means hello.

over the months, it had become much easier to tell what dallon was saying by his body language and gestures, even if it wasn't obvious.

for example, three taps on the ground meant he didn't know, two for no, and one for yes. he would nod to say hello and shake his head to say goodbye. he would wave to let everyone know he was having an off day, and he would nudge brendon in the side to make him shut up.

sure, the system was a bit messed up (josh would always ask brendon why he didn't just nod for yes, shake for no, and shrug for doesn't know, but he didn't know either) however, after a while they all simply got used to the system.

josh then proceeded to follow routine and dip his, already wet from the rain, shoes into the stream.

"what's up?" josh asked.

dallon pointed towards the sky.

"very funny."

a wind blew by and both boys shivered for a second. it really wasn't the right weather to be sitting outside in the cold rain wearing nothing but a grey sweatshirt and sweatpants.

"can i ask you something, dall?" josh asked, leaning back on his elbows.

dallon tapped the ground once.

"did you ever date anyone before, you know, coming here?"

three taps.

"what? how do you not know? can't you remember?"

dallon looked back down to his feet before tapping the ground twice.

"oh..." josh paled, "sorry."

dallon shrugged, but sent an apologetic look towards josh, of which he returned.

"can i ask you for some advice anyway? like, i don't really have a selection here and you and brendon seem to be having a great time."

dallon looked at josh and raised an eyebrow, along with smirking just a tiny bit.

"no, this isn't about tyler."

dallon rolled his eyes.

"it isn't!"

another eye roll.

"okay, it is. i just- i like him so much, dall."

josh laid his chin in his palms, resting his elbows on his knees. his eyes followed the stream of water and the raindrops creating ripples in the small space.