The Tattoo // Joshler AU

Chapter Seventeen

Tyler's POV

I woke up, still not believing that the events of the day before had really happened. Tears ran down my face, but for the first time in a while, they were good tears, happy ones.

I was getting married, to the love of my life, to the only person who ever really cared about me. It was so perfect, the moment couldn't have been any better.

I needed her in my life, she was my drug, but she was a perfect addiction. She was something real. 

I hadn't told any of my friends, purely because I'd spent the rest of the day with the most wonderful person to ever exist. I still couldn't believe that someone as incredible as Jenna could ever want to be with me, could ever accept that I, some weird looking kid, was meant to be with her.

It was like a fairytale, one where the typical loser dated the gorgeous, popular kid. My life wasn't even close to a fairytale, but with her, it could almost be mistaken for one. 

"Babe?" Her hair was mussed, and her eyes bleary from the few hours of sleep that we'd gotten. I smiled at the adorable confusion on her face, obviously brought on from wondering why the hell I was up so early. 

"I'm gonna go tell Debby and Josh the good news!" Jenna bit her lip, then smiled. 

"Great idea, babe. They're going to be so happy for us!" I giggled at her seemingly infectious excitement, and swung my legs out of the bed. I padded over to the bathroom, splashing water on my tired eyes and warm face. I got dressed, and, after a quick breakfast, I left Jenna with a smile and a soft kiss to my cheek. 

"Hey Deb!" Her voice was quiet on the other end of the phone, and I waited for a response. As I walked, I became increasingly concerned as she neglected to answer me. 

"Debby?" I heard quiet but deep breaths from the phone. Cars whizzed past as I raced towards her apartment.  I headed up the stairs, and rapped on the wooden door. It swung open to reveal a subdued Debby, one with red eyes, messy hair and swollen eyelids. I walked past her, into her apartment, pulling her along with me as I went. 

"Debs, what the hell? Are you okay? Why didn't you answer? What's going on?" My thoughts raced as I watched her small form tremble. I was starting to panic at the sight of one of my best friends unresponsive and completely crushed. 

"H-he yelled at me." It came out as a whisper, and instantly rage boiled up inside me. Someone had hurt her and I was pretty sure that I knew who. 

"I'm going to kill him." Her head whipped up at me and her eyes were brimming with tears. I clenched my fists at the sight of my best friend crying and hurt. I wasn't a violent person, but hurt someone as important to me as Debby, and I could get pretty mad. 

"Who? It's really not that important, he had good reason, it was my fault-" I cut her off, incensed that she could even feel that way, that Spencer could say something like that. 

"Nobody should be treated that way in a relationship, Deb." She looked at me, and started to giggle softly. How could she giggle at a time like this? 

"A relationship? Somehow, Tyler, I don't think I'm Josh's type." She was full-on laughing by that point, and it suddenly dawned on me. But why had Josh yelled at her? 

"Why did-" The door burst open, and all I saw was a flash of blue descending upon Debby. I was pushed aside as a small body clasped to hers. 

"I'm so sorry Deb, so so sorry." It was Josh. Despite his muttered apology, I was still getting angry at the sight of him. Why the hell was he shouting at her? What reason could he possibly have? 

I cleared my throat, still too angry to smirk at the way that Josh jumped at the unexpected sound. His hand tugged on his hair nervously, and I prepared to blow up at him. 

"Tyler?" He smiled at me, almost sadly, and I lost it. 

"What the hell is wrong with you? What did Debby even do to you, anyway? You don't have the right to make her cry, or to hurt her like you did. Who exactly do you think you are, Joshua Dun?" I clapped my hands over my mouth, not believing that I'd really just said what I did. He stared at me in horror, and I immediately felt awful. 

"T-Tyler?" Debby glared at me, as if I had just brutally murdered her dog. I had the feeling that I'd done something completely wrong.

Josh's jaw clenched, and I instinctively braced myself for what was about to come. The silence that followed was awful. I had to tell them, I felt guilty that I had even kept it from them for this long. 

"I'm engaged." I blurted out the words, with no consideration of subtler ways to do it. Josh's head dropped, and Debby sighed, but neither of them looked surprised. They didn't congratulate me either. 

"Well? Aren't you going to say something? Oh, congrats, maybe? Anything?" They said nothing, and just as I was about to speak, Josh cut me off. 

"Oh yeah, congratulations, Tyler! You're getting married, to someone who abuses you, someone who doesn't care. She left you, and yet you go straight back to her, without a thought about how she could hurt you again. Every single time, you come running to me or Debby, crying, saying how much she hurt you, but as soon as she apologizes, you forget about all of that. How do you think we feel? We comfort you, tell you how stupid she is, but you just ignore us, like our advice means nothing to you. And you know what? I'm done with it, Tyler. I don't care anymore."

And with that, Josh stormed out of the room, leaving me stood there in a state of shock. 

"He didn't mean it, Ty." The sad part was, he did...and he was right. Jenna did hurt me a lot, but I kept on going back to her. That's what love is, though. It's forgiving them for their flaws, and them doing the same for you. 

Debby started whispering comforting words into my ear, but I ignored them. Wiping my eyes roughly with the back of my hand, I shook my head and ran out of the apartment. I flew down the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator. I sprinted past the security guard and into the freedom of the city. 

My thoughts were blurred as the people around me merged into one. My breath quickened and the awful words that came out of Josh's mouth replayed in my head.

Was he right? Was I really that stupid? Was I that bad of a friend? 

No. Josh was wrong. Friends should support each other, and he should have been happy for me.

What kind of a friend doesn't congratulate someone who had just got engaged? How dare he? I love Jenna, and nothing was going to come between us. 

Especially not Joshua Dun.

sorry this update is so late guys but hey at least i got it out !! and idk i'm in a good mood so maybe i'll put out a bonus update tomorrow ;))