Holding On To You (A Twenty One Pilots Fanfiction)

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

"Josh..." Tyler said in disbelief.

"Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Josh practically shouted and his face was red with anger.

"Jeez, chill," I told Josh. I'd never seen him this angry before, especially not towards Tyler.

"What's wrong with you?" he yelled in Tyler's face. "You can't just get up and leave without telling me. What has gotten into you? Is it Jess? Is she the reason behind this weird behavior?" he asked looking at me. "First you shut me out and don't talk to me all of Sunday, and then I wake up to find you and the car, gone? You couldn't leave a note, or give me a call, perhaps? It's not like I've been calling you all day or anything. Or you..." he spat, shooting me a glare.

"Hey hey hey, my battery died a few hours ago, and quit making accusations; no one did anything wrong."

It was news to me that Josh knew nothing. He was evidently clueless. He mustn't have known about the fire, about Tyler's mom, or the affair, or any of it for that matter.

"Josh, have you driven down our street?" I asked, knowing that if he had, he would've seen the charred house.

"No... I called Tyler's mom.. she didn't answer. Then I called his dad, and he didn't know where he was, so I didn't even bother. I called you... you didn't answer. I called your mom, and she told me you were out with Tyler. I drove around downtown and spotted your car here. It looks like you have some explaining to do," he said looking at Tyler.

Tyler had been silent this entire time, looking only at the ground. He lifted his head up with tears fighting their way down his cheek. Josh raised his eyebrows and sighed, immediately having a soft spot for an emotional Tyler. We all stood in silence for a minute.

What puzzled me, is that Tyler didn't say anything to Josh about any of this. Part of me was flattered, because he turned to me for comfort, but the other part of me was utterly confused. They had always gone to each other for comfort, advice, laughter... everything.

"Well someone better start talking," Josh broke the silence.

We were still all standing around the doorway, Tyler and I inside the room, and Josh on the outside.

"You might wanna sit down," I said motioning for Josh to come inside.

The three of us sat on the edge of the bed, Josh waiting expectantly to start talking.

Finally Tyler spoke up for the first time, "My house burned to the ground, and my mom is dead. That's why I left." He said it so painfully blatant; it hurt me to know how much he was hurting inside.

Josh's face dropped its angry expression. His once furrowed eyebrows relaxed. The redness of his cheeks faded away. He sat in silent disbelief.

"Why wouldn't you tell me?" he managed to say.

"Maybe because you kissed my girlfriend and never told me. That didn't exactly put you high on the trust level. And maybe because you're always the strong one. I'm the one who writes depressing lyrics. I'm the one who struggles so much with insecurity, and you're always the one who's there for me. You pick me back up, put me steadily on my feet, and make me strong again. Sometimes it's tiring to be the one who always needs help," Tyler expressed.

Josh, not knowing what to say, began to cry, still in shock. I wrapped my arms around Tyler and put my head on his shoulder.

"Uggghh," Tyler shouted in despair, shoving me off of him.

"I'm tired of being the charity case," he screamed with his hands on the sides of his head. His face was all red with tears. He walked over and kicked the dresser in rage, and began pacing the room. He eventually broke down, fell to his knees, and sobbed quietly.

Josh and I didn't know what to do, because it was evident that Tyler didn't want comfort.

Finally, Tyler looked up with a still tear-streaked face and said, "Can we just go to sleep?"

"Yeah, sure" Josh said awkwardly, as I rolled down the sheets for the three of us. I ended up squished in the middle of snoring Tyler and Josh, and after what seemed like forever I, too, fell asleep for the night.