Fake You Out - Joshler

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Daddy, why are we packing bags?" Brendon asks as Tyler passes him another outfit to drop in the duffle bag he's packing for all three of his sons. He's worked it out with Patrick that he's going to leave today before work and after he drops the kids off at their respective daytime locations. Then, Patrick will pick them all up when Brendon and Gerard get let out of school, and he'll take them back to his place (they decided against them staying at Tyler's place, because Tyler figures, if the conversation goes wrong, he'll want a day to himself) and make sure everyone sticks to their schedules while Tyler takes a few days to do whatever it is he needs to do with Josh.

He's not sure how their conversation will go, if he'll get a door slammed in his face after he's shouted at and told to leave. He doesn't know if Josh is going to forgive him or not. He doesn't expect it, not right away and probably not even at all, but he wants Josh to know his side of things. He wants Josh to know how he feels, and how at some point, maybe far sooner than he realized, it was no longer about hiding the truth and wanting to hurt Josh, but about being too afraid to admit the truth, because he didn't want Josh to leave.

It was a lie, but to Tyler, it felt like the perfect family, and he wants Josh to know how he feels about him, and how he feels in general about what happened.

In all honesty, Tyler has no fucking clue what he's doing. He feels like his breathing is constricted if he thinks about it for longer than a few minutes, so he focuses on packing. He focuses on making sure his kids are going to be prepared to spend a few days with Patrick Stump, and that Patrick will have everything he needs in these backs to make sure his kids are alright.

"Daddy, why do we need bags?" Brendon asks again, and Tyler realizes he hasn't answered him, too busy rummaging through his drawers for pajamas.

"You, Gerard, and Michael are going to spend the next couple days with Uncle Patrick, Daddy has to go somewhere for a little while" Tyler explains, grabbing three pairs of pajamas to be on the safe side. He tosses them into the bag that's already filled with Gerard's clothes and the rest of Brendon's outfits and heads over towards Michael's dresser for his clothes.

"Why do we do that?" Michael asks, his younger son lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Michael, don't you want to see Uncle Patrick?" Brendon asks, bouncing from his side of the room over towards Michael's. "I love Uncle Patrick, Daddy. He likes playing toys and he likes to cuddle."

Tyler filters through Michael's clothes, grabbing several of everything, barely listening to what his kids are saying. "Brendon, can you make sure that you have everything you need in your book bag, and please tell Gerard that he needs to brush his teeth and pack his bag. Your lunches are on the counter, all right?"

"All right, Daddy. Michael, you stay here," Brendon says, jumping off his bed and rushing out of the bedroom.

Tyler takes Michael's clothes and drops it in the back, pressing it down with the palm of his hand, trying to cram it in more. He looks down at Michael, smiling at him. "If you want to bring toys, you have to get them now. We'll grab some movies before we leave."

"Bring some colors?" Michael asks, sitting up slowly and Tyler nods his head.

"You can bring anything you'd like, maybe you should get a book. Brendon can practice reading to you, and maybe, if you want, Uncle Patrick can read to you," Tyler says, nodding his head, watching as Michael slides off his bed and makes his way over to where he keeps his crayons.

"I want Brendon," Michael says, handing Tyler a tiny fist full of five crayons.

"How about I'll get the crayons and you get some books," Tyler says, winking at him, and wanting the process to go by a bit quicker than the five trips it'll take Michael to get as all his crayons.