Intimidation ♡ joshler

seventy six

an: heyo so a few things to say ig haha

first of all im super sorry about the wait (hopefully you guys are still with me haha it's been crazy long), i'm hoping replies will be more frequent now that i don't have to wait on a co-writer.

second, this story's no longer being co-written, and i had to delete the old chapter seventy six bc my co-writer wrote most of it and im not really sure where she was going with it and we're not on speaking terms at a l l so i can't ask her haha.

thank you if you've stuck around! <3 

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The movie marathon was almost nice; they watched the movies quietly and ate the snacks Zack had bought them for the marathon, but Tyler had flinched away from his older brother as he leaned in for another one of their brotherly snuggles. Zack had tried to mask his hurt with an apologetic smile which the younger had weakly returned, but he couldn't help but feel guilty throughout the rest of the movies.

The incessant vibrating from his phone throughout the movies was also very annoying.

Tyler dismisses himself as the fifth movie ends, leaving his brother as he sleeps on the couch after making sure the blanket is wrapped around his shoulders so he doesn't get cold. He pushes his bedroom door open and is immediately greeted by a soft meow from his feline companion, who suddenly reemerges from underneath his bed.

"Hey, Ruby," Tyler returns as he pushes the door shut behind him. She watches his every move as he gets himself ready for bed and joins him in bed, curling up above his head on his pillow.

It's then that Tyler scrolls through his overflowing notification center.

     pete: sup tyler

     pete: yo tyler

     pete: yo

     pete: sup

     pete: yosup josup

     pete: your last name's joseph right

     brendon: Hey tyler pete said text him back

     pete: josup

     pete: josup

     pete: josup

And you get the gist. Tyler suppresses a sigh as he opens the message from Brendon first, texting him a quick, "okay," before opening his messages with Pete.

     tyler: sorry i was watching movies with my brother

Tyler rests his eyes as he waits for a reply from the other boy—if it's gonna come. He wishes he just waited until tomorrow to text him back; he just wants to sleep now.

His phone buzzes in his hand as he's falling asleep and Tyler's eyes flutter open with a sleepy whine.

     pete: what were yall watching

     tyler: uhh i don't remember what they were called but one of them was bee movie

Tyler fights to keep his eyes open as he watches the screen, waiting for the next reply, which never comes—he watches his screen turn black five minutes later, so he lets his eyes slip shut again.

Only for his phone to go off again a brief moment later, and maybe Pete's one of those slow texters.

     pete: bee movie

     pete: ya like jazz

Tyler wants to go to sleep so badly.

     tyler: haha :^)

He forces himself to stay awake for seven minutes—

pete: are you always this awkward

Tyler's face heats up as he halfway buries his face in the pillow, hand abandoning his phone to caress Ruby's fur—something he's found to help calm him down. He listens to her soft purring as he lightly scratches behind her ears, and jeez, why did Pete have to say that? He doesn't wanna talk to Pete anymore, Pete's mean and weirdos like Tyler shouldn't talk to people, so really, this is his own fault, stupid Tyler, always stupid and awkward and will never fit in because he's always so awkward and stupid.

Tears well up in his eyes as he pushes himself further up his bed to bury his face against Ruby's fur instead, only for her to get up and migrate to the foot of his bed.

Traitor—he cries into his stupid boy pillow as he pulls his stupid boy blanket up to his chin and cries over something as stupid as stupid Pete calling him awkward—he didn't even use a question mark, why couldn't he at least use a question mark to make his question seem less mean?

He sniffles, and Ruby's back with him and curling up against his chest in an instant.

"I love you," he whispers to the sweet kitty as he lightly pets her cheek, "You're the best kitty."

Tyler focuses on the softness of her fur and the rhythm of her purring, and it helps the sleepy boy finally fall asleep.