Intimidation ♡ joshler

seventy seven

Tyler considers faking sick when he wakes the next morning, or pretending to oversleep—anything to avoid going to the bus stop and seeing Pete. He knows he's being dramatic, but is that not his specialty?

He decides against it though—he's not up to staying home with his brother today, and besides, Josh will be with him at the bus stop, and he doesn't even see Pete much at all during school.

<><><>

Tyler doesn't look in Pete's direction as he approaches Josh at the bus stop, eyes set on his boyfriend as he picks up the pace a bit. He can't stop his wide grin as the red-haired boy sends a smile of his own his way, and he picks up the pace a little more.

"Hey, Cutes," Josh greets Tyler as he laces their fingers together. He can see Pete watching them from his peripheral but does his best not to look his way, "How did the movie marathon go?"

"Was alright," he says, leaning his head against Josh's shoulder, "Am I awkward?"

"No, not at all. Did your brother say that?"

The brunet shook his head against his boyfriend's arm, "No, someone else did."

"Who?"

Tyler shakes his head again, "They don't matter."

Josh is quiet for a moment as he brings a hand up to his hair, running his fingers through it, "Alright, baby boy. If they give you more trouble, I'll handle it."

Tyler's eyes flutter shut as he hums, and they stay like that until the bus arrives.

<><><>

The brunet's nerves are skyrocketing as he attempts to navigate the sea of students flooding the hallways, heart racing as he wills himself to calm down before he has a fucking panic attack in public—

And he yelps out in fear as a hand latches onto his wrist and pulls him to the side, and someone's gonna jump him or some shit, he's about to be the laughingstock of the school—

"Tyler, dude," he's maneuvered so that he's leaning against the wall, trying not to hyperventilate as wide eyes dart to the source of the voice, and of fucking course Pete Wentz—one of the last people he wants to see right now—steps into his line of vision, "Chill out, it's okay."

And God damn, that just wiped away all of Tyler's anxiety—but then Brendon's by his side too, and he's no Joshua Dun, but the boy's grown on him enough for Tyler to deem Brendon a safe space, and he pushes away from the wall to bury his face in the other's shoulder.

"He hugged me first!" Brendon celebrates as he wraps his arms around Tyler, and it's not Josh, but it's still nice.

"If I hug him, I'll get my ass kicked," Pete huffs, and despite being a fiend for affection, he doesn't wanna hug Pete—he really doesn't wanna hug Pete.

"Awe, Tyler wouldn't wanna hug you anyways," Brendon teases as he sways them both from side to side, like Maddy would do with her friends back in the day. The younger boy decides that he likes it.

"But who asked?" Pete snaps before addressing Tyler, who's still pressed against Brendon, "Why didn't you text me back?"

He can feel heat spreading across his cheeks and up his ears, "O-oh, um, I fell asleep."

"What did he say?"

"He said he fell asleep."

"Oh, yeah, I guess it was pretty late."

The warning bell blares through the building, but Brendon doesn't let go. He tilts his head to send a questioning look Brendon's way, who smiles mischievously in return.

"We're turning you into one of us," Brendon answers the unspoken question, earning a blink in response, "We're skipping and you're invited!"

He knows he should've said no to the boy, because he could ultimately get in a lot of trouble with Zack if he were to get caught, but he finds himself nodding a little to his friend anyways.