Colors // Joshler

// 25. Ghosted His Skin //

A/N: Thank you to serendipitouslysad for pointing out that I skipped this chapter. Oops.

Tyler's walk to school was nice. There were clouds overhead, of course, and this was pleasing to him. Rain was always pleasing to Tyler, and the world seemed less harsh when it wasn't quite as bright. It was softer, somehow.

As he walked through the school gates, he spotted the clique by the front of the building, leaning against the wall and sitting on the ground. Feeling distinctly yellow, Tyler let a smile show on his face as he approached them.

"Somebody's looking different," Brendon commented with a smirk as Tyler approached. The taller boy still made some sexual jokes and hints towards Tyler, but he never made any physical or heavy advances, which Tyler appreciated. Tyler was straight in every sense of the term.

"New jacket?" Frank questioned as Tyler leaned against the wall next to Josh.

"Yeah, I got it for my birthday."

"Is it today?" 

Tyler nodded.

"Well, shit," Brendon said, clamping his hand on Tyler's shoulder in a 'congratulations' sort of way. "Happy birthday, man."

The rest of the group offered their congrats as well, and Tyler's smile grew wider. "Guess Tyler's picking where we're getting lunch today," Frank said, one hand ruffling the hair of Gerard, who was sitting on the ground with a comic book in his lap. Blushing, Gerard further buried his face in his comic.

Before he knew it, it was time for lunch. The walk to Taco Bell was farther than the walk to McDonald's, but only by a few blocks, and since it was Tyler's birthday, nobody complained.

"Why didn't you tell me your birthday was yesterday?" Josh asked him as they walked together at the back of the clique. "I would've gotten you something."

Tyler didn't crack a smile, or offer up a lame excuse. He was honest. "Maybe that's why I didn't tell you."

"Why wouldn't you want me to get you something?" Josh questioned, head tilted slightly to one side as he looked at Tyler. The strange, slowly familiar feeling that Josh always gave him ghosted his skin.

Tyler looked away from Josh, and the feeling disappeared. "I would've felt bad if you spent any money on me."

"No reason to," Josh said, and lightly nudged Tyler's shoulder with his own. "We're friends, aren't we?"

It was the first time the blue-haired boy had referred to Tyler as his friend. Which, Tyler realized, was what they were. Friends.

"Yeah, we are." Tyler lifted his eyes back to Josh's again, and they both grinned at each other like they walked. It was almost stupid, but Tyler found himself not caring.