to all the glowing eyes ✎ joshler

december 6

josh spent most of his night looking through the blog. he read all of the poems, each of them destroyed his emotions, to find a clue to where tyler could be. he looked at the rest of the posts but nothing stood out, most pictures were reblogs from someone else.

he is no detective so all he knows is that he is safe, has a place to sleep in and a decent internet connection. however, that could be anywhere these days. tyler could be in the neighboring town or in los angeles. he could even be in europe at this point if he really tried.

josh sighs and decides to take a shower to get his mind off this. he barely got any sleep at all, even if he woke up at 1:26 pm. all he can do for now is wait to see another poem, if it ever is one.

he plays his shower playlist as he turns the hot water on and waits for it to warm up enough to jump in. he's the only child in his family to have a private bathroom, his siblings have to share one, and he is so thankful for it.

he lets the water hit his body for a moment, soaking in the warmth he was lacking, it has been really cold lately. his hair feels greasy and so dirty since he hasn't showered in 3 days. self care has been the last thing he has been worrying about.

"josh, honey, lunch is gonna be ready in a few. hurry so you can eat it warm," josh's mom says through the bathroom door, knocking to get his attention over the music.

"okay, mom. be right there." he knows that's not the full truth since he will take his sweet time in the shower. 

he washes his hair and body, cleanses his face and just stands there thinking for a while. his playlist is finished by the time he gets out. he finishes dressing up far more quickly and doesn't bother brushing his hair. it can air dry into a nice set of curls and he's now embracing that style. he goes to the dinner table and sees the hot soup on his place. steam is still coming out from it.

"i thought we were gonna have to eat without you," his brother mutters annoyed.

"it's better than have him smell bad," his sister responds while she looks at her phone and types rapidly into it. 

josh is the oldest of 3. well, for now, since his parents have considered having another child. they're still young enough to have one, but josh knows it would be a pain to have a child preparing for college while the other one is still in diapers. he doesn't mind, he just worries that it would be a lot to manage at the same time.

"whatever. you could've started without me."

"mom wanted us to wait," jordan rolls his eyes while he waits for his spoonful of soup to cool down.

"we are a family and we will eat as such, you know that," momma dun says all the way from the kitchen. she brings another plate with bread to accompany the meal josh's dad prepared.

they eat mostly in silence, ashley talks about how her cheerleading practice went and that's the whole subject of dinner. the beginning of winter and the colder months is the most uneventful time in the dun household. 

the quiet keeps going until josh has an idea.

"mom, i was thinking of spending christmas with brendon this year."

"oh. is that so? why?"

"well, his parents are gonna be in singapore until january and i don't want him to be lonely. i promise i can give you the gifts i have for you early."

jordan and ashley look at each other and then at josh. they both know josh has a way with their mom, it usually gets him whatever he wants. the brother raises an eyebrow and dares to question the eldest child, "you could invite him over."