In The Dark - {joshler au}

6. Could Be Worse

Waking up to see a body wrapped around him in the middle of the afternoon that didn't belong to Brendon was something Tyler was not used to. As his eyes opened slowly, his brows furrowed before he focused on the facial features of the man currently holding him in his arms, and he felt himself smile.

It should feel weird, cuddling against someone who you've only known for about a week, but Tyler couldn't seem to find a reason to be taken aback by their proximity. Josh's arms were almost all muscle, and they made the smaller brunette feel safer than he had in a long time.

Tyler took the opportunity to bury his nose against the other teen's chest, inhaling his scent. He currently smelled of a mix of weed and eucalyptus - a smell Tyler knows very well considering almost all of his shower products smell the same. He allowed himself to fist the back of Josh's shirt between his fingertips, letting his body conform to the other's peacefully, feeling sleep take over him once more.

~~~

The next time he awoke, Tyler was alone and he found his spirits sinking at the feeling. Of course he didn't expect Josh to stay wrapped up with him all day, but he really wanted to be able to tell him goodbye. He sighed gently to himself, rolling over and grabbing his phone off of his desk, wincing as he saw it read that it was past five in the evening. He quickly scrolled through his notifications, his eyes landing on a text from a certain curly haired boy he had just been thinking about.

josh dun👽: hey ty! my mom called me home, so i had to leave :/ sorry i didn't get to say goodbye, you're a heavy ass sleeper! text me later xx

Tyler felt a blush creep up the sides of his neck to his cheeks at the two little x's at the end of the text. He quickly went to the thread and typed out a reply.

no worries! sorry if i made you uncomfortable at all, i tend to latch on to people like a koala in my sleep. ask brendon, he knows ^

josh dun👽: no worries! you look cute when you sleep, anyway :)
josh dun👽: i'm about to shut my phone off for a bit, i have homework for Mr Phillips due in the morning that i haven't even started on, so if i don't talk to you later, i'll text you in the morning when i'm headed to your house

that's fine! i'll probably catch up on my work too and then go straight back to sleep lol
see you in the morning!

Tyler then laid his phone back down on his desk, pulling his pillow over his head and lightly squealing into the material. Josh called him cute. He pulled the pillow away from his face just as there was a knock to his door. He called a soft 'come in,' smiling at his mother as she pushed the door open.

"Hi, sweetie," she said softly. "Are you hungry?"

The teen nodded, sitting up in bed and slinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Do I need to go pick anything up?" he asked.

"No," his mom answered with a smile. "I already cooked, it's out on the table now."

Tyler furrowed his brows with a smile. "You cooked?"

She rolled her eyes gently as they walked out of the room. "Yes, smart ass. I got home a couple of hours ago, so figured it'd be nice for the four of us to have dinner together. We haven't in a while."

Tyler could hear the sadness in her voice as she spoke. She works so often, that either Tyler cooks dinner or they all wind up eating take out or eating at a friend's house. "Can't wait to have dinner with you, Momma."

She smiled sweetly as Tyler followed her into the kitchen, where he started to pull plates from the cabinets and began setting the table. "Your new friend is nice," his mom spoke. "Very polite. Josh, wasn't it?"