Loyalty (JoshxBrendonxTyler)

38. Expose

Josh's body is warm, but Brendon feels cold. The distance of Tyler is too overbearing and he wakes up much earlier than he did the day before from the guilt of it, he'd say.

Josh wound up with his face in Brendon's chest, one hand at his hip and the other limp in his hair. Their legs are tangled together, and he shivers when he can feel how cold Josh's feet are against his. He breathes heavily onto the hoodie he's wearing, somehow managing to look soft despite every tension in his body, like his furrowed brows and rough enough hands.

Brendon sighs, pressing a small kiss to a curl on his forehead before carefully untangling himself from his loose limbs, getting up from the bed. He stands back to look at him.

Josh never stirs. It's not surprising.

Everyone was exhausted last night.

Brendon nods to himself when deciding he will be okay, opening the door after slipping his glasses on and making his way out of the room. As soon as he's at the the stairs though, he can hear Jim crying so loudly it makes his heart ache. He quickly gets to the bottom, walking into the livingroom.

He glances at Tyler on the couch beforehand, trying to see if they're awake yet but it's hard to tell because they have their face tucked into the space between the two couch cushions.

He'll just say they're asleep.

Really, he's scared of when they wake up.

Brendon then crouches down to Jim in his kennel, watching him paw at the door and move around impatiently. Brendon's best guess is that he needs to use the bathroom, so he opens the kennel door and lets him out, watching the way he instantly rushes down the hallway and into the backyard.

He was right.

He swallows thickly after that, turning around. He has this lingering need to look after Tyler right now, and that's exactly what he chooses to do. He sits in the corner of the couch that they aren't taking up, pulling his knees to his chest, curling into himself. Tyler's breathing is heavy just like Josh's, blanket covering the majority of their body to the point where he can only see half of their head and a bit of their thigh.

Brendon shivers. So, so fucking cold. Warmth never comes easily anymore.

He's nearly tempted to crawl up behind Tyler and get under the blanket with them, but he knows for a fact that will most definitely be too much right now. If one things for sure, they need some space, some time.

Because of this, he simply sits there, dealing with the cold.

There's nothing in the bin beside them which is reassuring, and if he knew where everything was, he would get them some Advil because it would come as no surprise to either of them if they wind up with a terrible headache.

He feels very impotent. It's a natural feeling nowadays.

What takes Brendon completely off guard is when he hears, "Are you just going to sit there until I do something. . ."

Tyler doesn't move to look at him, and he can barely catch what they say because of how muffled they are between the cushions, but his heart still manages to skip a beat. They sound horrible. Dead. Nothing like the bittersweet giddiness they had last night.

"Can you blame me," Brendon mumbles.

Tyler sighs.

They make no effort to move; maybe they want to hide.

"Do you want me to get you some water?" He decides to ask. It's the least he can do.

Tyler doesn't say a word. Actually, he thinks he might of heard them hold their breath at that.