Checkmate (Joshler AU)

Chapter 11

Tyler's POV

The plane landed pretty early; it was about 4 a.m in Eastern Standard Time. I quickly stood and grabbed my bag, waiting to exit the plane.

As soon as I exited, I sat and waited to make sure all my team had made it. I was about to follow behind my team when a blur of color and familiarity walked through the exit.

"Josh?"

He looks up, eyes wide.

"W-what are you doing here," I ask, obviously confused.

Oh, Tyler, you're so stupid. You're so clueless. Haven't you seen?

"Oh, no, no no no no," I mumbled, beginning to laugh as anger boiled somewhere deep down.

"Tyler, I can explain," he said, setting his bag down and reaching out to me. I pulled back.

"If you're here for I what I think you're here for then you better walk away, Josh."

"Just let me explain."

People began to stare.

"Nope, go away."

"Tyler," he tried.

"Go away!"

By now, everyone was looking.

"Tyler, let's go to the hotel. We can talk about this."

"Don't tell me they booked us the same room too."

"Yeah, can we go now? Everyone's staring," he grumbled.

I looked around and blushed.

"Oh, sorry."

I began walking out and see a sign, Tyler Joseph & Josh Dun, in the hands of a driver.

I sigh angrily.

"What's wrong now, Tyler," he asks.

"Don't talk to me; I'm still mad at you," I growl as I walk towards the luggage carousel.

~

It was about 5 a.m now. Josh and I sat less than five feet from each other in the car.

"Tyl-"

"Nope, don't even."

"Pleas-"

"What did I just say?"

"Fin-"

"Shhhhhh"

Josh rolled his eyes and my anger boiled up again, I clenched my fist in order to keep from pummeling him.

We pulled up to the hotel and I quickly stepped out and grabbed my luggage. Josh followed closely behind me as I walked inside and up to the counter.

"Tyler Joseph," I said with a polite smile.

"Oh, the two bed room you booked was overbooked," the receptionist frowns.

"Okay, and that means what," I sigh.

"I have a one bed suite, if you'd like."

"No no no no no, I do not want to be in the same bed as him."

"No need to be ashamed, honey. I've seen everything."

"Well take the one bed suite if we receive complimentary room service for the entirety of our trip," Josh butts in.

"Okay, suite number 1236," she smiles, handing over key cards. I glare over at Josh as we begin walking towards the elevator.

As soon as the elevator door closes, Josh turns to me.

"Can I explain now?"

"I don't think I care."

"Tyler, c'mon."

"You're sleeping on the floor."

"Fine, just let me explain."

"When we get to the room, you have five minutes."

"Thank you."

We both exited the elevator and walked to the suite.

With barely a foot in the door, Josh began spewing more of his lies.

"Okay, I lied to you. I work at Pawn Shoppe. All those pins you saw, competitions I've participated in. That girl you saw me with, a representative from the NCF to give me information about this tournament."

"Y-you didn't cheat," I ask, dropping my bag and turning back to him.

"No, never," he sighs.

"You lied to me about cheating?! For playing chess?"

"Are you mad at me for lying about cheating," he laughs as I collapse into his chest and bang my fists against him weakly.

"No, I'm just confused. Why?"

"It's just not how people are supposed to see me."

"Why not?"

"I know you don't see it, Tyler, but you're lucky. I used to get bullied for being gay and playing chess. I was smart, never did anything wrong. It was great, until this group of boys began picking on me . So when we moved to L.A I changed and promised I'd never let anyone pick on me again."

"Oh," I muttered with a frown, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, babe. I'm over it," he said, laughing it off.

I went to the window and looked over the city as the night began to fade into the easy colors of the morning.

"I'm kinda glad we got this room," I sigh happily.

"Does that mean I can sleep on the bed?"

"Egh, I guess," I say playfully as he wraps his arms around me and places his head on my shoulder.

This moment was absolutely perfect.