Robbers - [joshler au]

17.

Slight trigger:
Tyler gets punched in the face.

"Josh, what the fuck is going on?"

Brendon's voice made Josh want to curl into a ball and roll away, afraid of his friend in that moment. He stuttered to speak, his brain failing to come up with anything to calm Brendon down. Tyler went to step forward but Brendon threw a hand up. "I wasn't talking to you, Joseph," he said in a low voice, "I was talking to Josh."

"And you're scaring the fuck out of him," Tyler shot back, "so how do you expect him to talk to you?"

"Look, I'm glad you're not dead, Ty," Brendon continued, ignoring the man's words, "but unless the last four and a half weeks have just magically been erased, I want to know what right you think you have to be here."

"Well, if you'd let someone fucking talk—"

"I wanna hear it from Josh, not you—"

"I asked him to come home!"

All eyes in the room turned to Josh, who was standing in the door frame with his hands over his ears as he tried to block out all of the yelling. Once he looked up to see everyone looking warily at him, he lowered his hands and cleared his throat. "I asked Tyler to come home. With me."

Brendon and Ryan shared a glance before Ryan took a step toward him. "Is everything okay, J?" Ryan's words were soft, making Josh instantly feel better. "Can you tell us what's going on here?"

Josh nodded gently and then launched into his explanation of what had happened in the last few days. He explained how he had gone to see Tyler in hospital and that they had more or less cleared the air on things as well as come upon an agreement about their living arrangement. "He's here with me," he continued, "but we aren't back together. I'm not sure if we will be, at any point, but I wanted him here with me. If he's trying to get sober, I want to help. We all should help."

All the men shared a look, Ryan speaking up first. "You're right," he said with a soft nod. "We'll help in any way we can."

Dallon, who had been standing outside the room, chimed in. "I know I don't live here," he started, "and I don't know all of this too well, but I'll help. Anything either of you need, I got you."

Josh thanked him gently, looking toward Brendon, who stood off to the side. His face was expressionless, almost as if he was trying to break down what was going on. He was trying to peer into Tyler's eyes, see if he could pinpoint any kind of ulterior motives, but he saw none. Eventually he sighed, shaking his head. "I'll do anything for you, Josh. You know that." He then looked at Tyler again, brows furrowing a bit. "And even though I think this is a very bad idea, you've got my support. Both of you do."

Josh released a sigh of relief, lunging forward to hug his friend tightly. After a brief moment, he whispered, "Thank you," his emotions getting the better of him and small tears slipping past his eyelashes.

Brendon hugged him back just as tight, nodding against his neck. "Of course, J."

Josh pulled back, wiping at his eyes as he laughed. "Okay, um," he trailed off, looking to Tyler. "Ty? I'll come take you to the spare room."

"Hold on," Brendon said, putting a hand on Josh's chest. "Can I talk to him for a sec?"

Josh looked at Tyler, but the other man just smiled. "It's all good, J."

Josh hesitated but nodded after a moment. "Just meet me in the kitchen when you're done."

Tyler nodded as he left the room, then turned to Brendon. "Look, Bren—"