𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙎 || 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿

2 - I'm Yours

Thursday, September 16th:

Tyler couldn't believe his luck. He walked out of school, still feeling his cheeks burning from how hard he blushed at the fact that he and Josh were partners on the science project. He felt terrible about the fact that he could barely find it in himself to speak to the older boy, but he couldn't help his nerves. Josh was just too... Josh.

Tyler had been in love with Josh since middle school. Seeing as they were seniors now, it had been a long, long time of pining in secret. It all happened when Josh presented in eighth grade on a music project. He used some crappy, old drum kit the school had and made it sound fantastic. Tyler hadn't really noticed him much before that, but as he watched the other boy play, he realized just how much passion Josh had for music. And how amazing he was.

From there, the small crush blossomed into something more. Tyler was thoroughly head-over-heels for Josh Dun, and the other barely knew he existed. Tyler was convinced that Josh didn't notice him. They'd interacted a few times before, sure, but he had always been a babbling mess, and ended up running away from Josh because he was just so nervous.

Of course, Josh did notice him today. He was forced to, really. They were going to be planting a tree together, after all.

Tyler walked out of school thinking about all of this, regretting the fact that he had barely spoken two words to Josh before darting away to the comfort of his friends, leaving them both lacking a plan for their project.

"Hey, Ty," a voice greeted him, and he felt an arm drape around his shoulders as he walked. Without having to look, he knew it was Maxx.

"I told you, don't call me that," Tyler said, shoving his friend's arm off his shoulders with a smile.

"Sorry, Tyler," Maxx replied, his voice mocking, but there was a smile on his face. "Can you believe this stupid project? We have to plant a tree. Where the fuck are we gonna do that?"

"I don't know, but I'm kind of excited for it," Tyler admitted, feeling his cheeks heat up again as he thought about why exactly he was excited. "It'll be fun!"

"Maybe you're right," Maxx sighed. "At least I'm partnered with Cody. Who's your partner again?"

"Um," Tyler muttered, suddenly becoming very bashful, "Josh."

"Josh Dun?" Maxx asked. Tyler gave a little nod. "And you're seriously just gonna be partnered with him? I could try to convince Ms. Hale to put you in our group. I'm sure I could find some way."

"No!" Tyler almost yelled, maybe a touch too quickly. He cleared his throat a little. "No, it's fine. Like I said, I'm excited. Maybe he's cool."

"And maybe he's a freak."

Tyler felt himself bristle at Maxx calling Josh that, but he didn't say anything, forcing himself to keep his mouth shut. As they reached the parking lot, Maxx stopped at his car, which was close to the front of the lot.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Ty," he called after Tyler as the basketball star walked away, getting a little wave in return as he continued on to his car, which was close to the back of the lot. He felt a twinge of annoyance as Maxx called him that. He didn't know why, but he just hated the nickname. He didn't feel like they were close enough for Maxx to do that.

As he walked through the parking lot, Tyler spotted a familiar face unlocking a car a few spots away from his. Before he gave himself time to overthink, he yelled, "Josh!"

The curly haired boy turned around, looking slightly surprised that Tyler was speaking to him. As he looked at Josh, Tyler could feel his face burn, but he walked up to him anyway. He was determined to make a plan with the other boy regarding their project, seeing as he'd failed to do so earlier.

"I was wondering how you wanted to do this project."

Josh shrugged, still looking slightly shocked. "I don't know. Do you have any ideas about where we should plant it?"

Tyler barely heard a word of what he said, too focused on his voice and how he looked and how he stood there and how the sunlight hit his hair and face and just how perfect he was.

"Uh," Tyler stuttered, his face turning red as he attempted to collect his thoughts. He looked away from Josh and down at his feet, too overwhelmed when he looked the older boy in the eye. "How about at my house?"

Josh seemed hesitant, but he eventually agreed. "Alright. When do you wanna start?"

"Does tomorrow work?"

"That's fine," Josh agreed, giving another shrug. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Yeah, see you."

Tyler then marched himself away from Josh's car quickly, face burning and embarrassment filling every fiber of his being. Why did he have to be so awkward? He hated how he interacted with Josh. How he couldn't even look into the boy's pretty mocha eyes, too afraid that he'd somehow find out that Tyler has an overwhelming and all-consuming crush on him.

Tyler got into his car, hanging his head and sighing for a moment in disappointment before he started the car and drove home. The whole way, he regretted his behavior around Josh, wishing that he could just act normal around the other. He wasn't sure that was ever going to happen.

This was going to be a long three months.

He got home to an empty house, which wasn't all that strange. It was usually like this. He stepped up to the wooden patio, unlocking the large white door and stepping inside, locking it behind him. He gave another sigh. It had been a long day, and he was glad to finally be home.

Quickly, he made his way up the stairs and to his room, shutting the door behind him and feeling a wave of comfort wash over him. He loved his room. It was like a refuge from the rest of the world. A place where he could sit and be alone with his thoughts and, more importantly, his music.

Perhaps that's why his crush on Josh started: he respected the boy immensely for how passionate he was about music, something that Tyler was also extremely passionate about. Without music, Tyler truly didn't know how he'd get by day-to-day. Every day, he came home and either wrote songs or picked up his ukulele and just started playing, or both. Today was a ukulele day.

Tyler sat on his bed, strumming his ukulele. He didn't know what to do. So he just started singing a song he heard on the radio that day.

"But I won't hesitate no more, no more. It cannot wait, I'm yours," he sang out, his mind coming up with pictures of Josh as he closed his eyes and sang, feeling his heart throb at the thought of the boy who probably thought he was weird or rude for never looking at him or speaking to him.

He flopped back onto his bed, carefully setting the instrument down next to him. He laid there, trying to convince himself to act normally around Josh tomorrow. To look him in the eye. Tyler was determined to at least do that.