Crushing (Joshler)

34. Tease

***Trigger warnings for violence, threats, implied stalking, mentions of revenge porn, PTSD and panic attacks, mentions of self-harm, and mentions of sexual activity.***

Wait to start the song.

All throughout Tyler's world history class, all he could think about was how softly Josh had kissed him when he'd dropped him off, how much fun it had been to spend the morning with him, and how good it felt to know Josh liked him back. He'd never imagined he would ever wind up with someone who cared about him like this.

Tyler had barely taken any notes in class, his brain too fixated on what Josh had told him this morning. Josh was willing to come out to his Southern Baptist father, yet Tyler hadn't come out to his. Maybe he shouldn't wait until Thanksgiving. Maybe he should call his dad or something. No matter how anxious he felt about it, he knew his dad wasn't actually going to be mad at him. Maybe it would be easier to tell him if he and Josh were officially boyfriends, though. There wasn't a label for their relationship yet, which made it feel less like a sure thing and more like a possibility.

The air outside of the history building was a little bit chillier than it had been when he'd first moved to Alabama. It was by no means on par with autumn in Ohio, but the change was just noticeable enough for Tyler to acknowledge that they were a week into October. There wasn't a lot of time for Tyler to take in the changing seasons though, because someone was suddenly grabbing the sleeve of his (borrowed) hoodie and pulling him to the side of the building. Tyler's breath caught in his chest when he made eye contact with the guy from his former math class and the party he'd attended with Josh and Ashley. His blond hair was wild, like he'd been running his fingers through it in fervent frustration for hours. His green eyes were even more wild though. It didn't take Tyler longer than a millisecond to process that this complete stranger was furious, and Tyler had a feeling he knew why.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" The man declared harshly, his hands balled up into shaking fists at his sides.

Fear shot through Tyler like an injection to his spinal cord. The wheels inside his brain seemed to stop turning instantly.

"What are—" Tyler was cut off by the man taking a step forward, the rage behind his eyes never ceasing.

"You know what the fuck you did!" The man yelled, and Tyler flinched as if there was a fist moving toward his face. "First you stop coming to class, then you bring some fucking loser to the party, and now you're deleting everything off the internet? What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you doing this to me?"

Tyler flinched again, his stunned brain taking far too long to process the words. "What?" He asked again, his voice sounding far away from him.

"Why are you playing dumb? You know exactly what I'm talking about., you pussy ass piece of shit!" He kept stepping closer to Tyler, and his voice kept getting louder. "Where did they go? Why did you take down the fucking pictures?"

Tyler was suddenly very aware that people were peeking their heads around the building to see what was going on. No one stepped forward to help him though, seeming to assume that he could handle this on his own. Tyler looked around. He could see the parking lot, but he couldn't get to it without having to get past this man, whose aggression was rapidly intensifying.

Tyler shook his head, completely uncertain of what to do. His only instinct was telling him to stay still and cry. That was not going to help him in any way, but it was what his body instinctively told him to do. He held back the tears as best as he could as he weakly told the man, "I never posted them. They weren't supposed to be on the internet."