By Your Side (Twenty One Pilots)

Preheat Your Oven To 375 and Bake Until Golden Brown

Snow was falling. Puddles were frozen over. The streets were empty. The smell of freshly burnt cookies filled the air of the third floor apartments. A small flashing red light threatened to call the fire department.

"See, Josh," Tyler complained. "This is why you're not allowed to set the timer on the oven!"

Josh laughed. "But look. This one looks like a cactus."

Tyler shook his head, unsure of how his signature candy cane sugar cookies could possibly look like cacti.

"Stop wasting my cookie dough, Josh. Cookies are the only things I'm getting my family this year. I'm too broke for anything else," Tyler explained.

"But dude," Josh said as he opened the fridge. "You already have an entire army of cookies in here. Why do you need more?"

The fridge of their apartment was full to the top of various containers containing various kinds of cookies. There were chocolate chip, peppermint chip, white chocolate chip, rainbow sugar, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, banana nut, white chocolate macadamia nut, double chocolate, gingerbread, snicker doodle, shortbread, gingersnap, and salted caramel, all in the shapes of snowmen, reindeer, angels, and something that Tyler claimed to be the profile of Jesus.

"Because my family loves my cookies. It needs to last them all year. It won't, but that's their problem."

Josh shook his head and closed the fridge. He didn't quite understand why Tyler put so much time into making the cookies. He sure his family could do without that many. But then again, Josh had just stopped by the local book store and bought what the guy at the counter had told him to for his family. Tyler's cookies had more effort put into them, even if his family couldn't enjoy them for an extended mount of time, and that's probably what mattered most to Tyler.

"So," Josh hopped up onto the only counter space that wasn't full of cooking supplies and sat down to watch Tyler put the next batch in the oven. "Have you told your parents that you're going on the trip yet?"

Tyler stiffened and shook his head. "They don't need to know."

Josh was confused. "But you need to tell them. What's the worst that could happen if you do?"

Something snapped inside Tyler. The normal calm that was present in his honest brown eyes faded and turned into something deep and sad. "You don't understand."

"Well, can you explain it so I do understand? I don't mean to be rude, but it might help if I know what's going on inside your head."

Tyler remained silent and busied himself with another batch of cookies. These were pumpkin.

"Look," Josh sighed. "I know you don't like talking about yourself and whatnot; I get it. But opening up isn't always a bad thing."

The change of the atmosphere that came with Tyler's shift in moods was heavy. Josh could feel the weight of his friend's troubled emotions on his shoulders.

"I ran away when I was younger," Tyler whispered. "I don't want them to think I'm doing that again."

Josh was surprised by Tyler's words. He hadn't known that; it had never been mentioned. Tyler's past was almost like a secret, kept away under locked lip and suppressed memory. The way Tyler was acting right now seemed like a completely different person than Josh had gotten to know.

Josh sat for a moment, then picked up the small portable radio that sat next to him and turned up the volume.

"Okay," he whispered.