routines ( joshler )

Chapter 16: The Mall Date

"But Joshhhhhhh" Tyler whined, attempting to drag his boyfriend by the arm.

Josh laughed, standing in place as he watched Tyler in his desperate attempts to move him. The two were at the mall, and all Josh wanted to do was walk into Hot Topic. Tyler on the other hand, did not.

"Baby, cmon, it's just a store. I'll even let you pick something out for me"

Tyler stood for a minute, weighing out his options. It resulted in a groan and Tyler dragging his feet into the store, his boyfriend smirking behind him. It wasn't that Tyler hated the store, it just wasn't necessarily his style, and he honestly had never gone into one before.

He wasn't too shocked by the contents of the store, and glancing around, he could tell why Josh wanted to come in so badly. The entire store screamed 'Josh', it was like his entire wardrobe was taken from the store.

"I normally don't shop here much, I prefer to thrift my clothes, but they have an exclusive shirt I need to get my hands on!" Josh exclaimed, dragging his boyfriend to the back of the store.

A wall of t-shirts stood tall in front of the boys, and Josh skimmed the walls to find what he was looking for. Tyler allowed his eyes to wander, checking the variety of t-shirts they had. His eyes landed on one in particular, though.

"Woah, they have a Death Cab For Cutie shirt!"

Josh sent a smile in his boyfriends direction as he grabbed out the new Green Day shirt he was searching for.

"Yeah, they have a few of them here. I didn't realize you listen to them"

Tyler grabbed one of the shirts out of the display, holding it up to himself and smiling widely at Josh.

"If you want it I'll buy it for you" Josh said, snatching the shirt out of Tyler's grasp. Tyler didn't have much time to object as Josh was marching up to the register, and he quickened his pace to catch up. Tyler tried to cut in to pay for his own shirt, but Josh's frame blocked him from interjecting. He crossed his arms and pouted as Josh turned to face him.

Josh just laughed, grabbing Tyler's hand and bringing him out of the store. Luckily, both boys had already done their prom shopping, so today was just focused on them relaxing together. As they walked through the mall, they passed by the food court, and they traded a smug look before they both bolted to the Taco Bell.

It was odd, how all of Josh's social anxiety simply faded while he was with Tyler. He didn't even notice the dirty looks that were being shot in their direction as they pushed and shoved each other to get to the counter first. Deep down, Josh knew it was only temporary. As soon as him and Tyler split ways for the day his anxiety would be back in full swing, but he was grateful that the presence of his boyfriend made him forget all of his worries.

In the short time that the boys had been together, Josh's world had turned upside down. He was in a band now, pursuing his passion. He had people he considered friends. Josh smiled at Tyler, even though he wasn't looking. He hoped that things would stay this way forever.

Josh's thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing, his ringtone blaring out through the food court. He quickly reached to quiet his phone and see who was calling him. Josh saw Marks name in bold on the screen and he picked up, confused.

"Hello?"

"Dude!! There's a venue nearby that has a local band playing tonight and their opening support cancelled at the last second, would you guys wanna fill in?"

Tyler cast Josh a curious glance and Josh pulled the phone away from his ear, quickly explaining the situation to him.

"Let's do it!! Oh my god our first real show" Tyler was beaming in excitement.

Josh returned the phone to his ear, telling Mark that they were definitely interested.

"Cool man, I'll be there to take some video as well. I'll send you the details through text"

Mark hung up, and not long after, Josh had the details on his phone. They only had a few hours before they needed to be there for soundcheck, so they knew they had to quickly rush home to grab their equipment.

"Josh, do you think we should have some sort of special stage outfits?"

Josh just shrugged, taking a sip out of his Baja Blast as they walked through the mall to the exit.

"Maybe, but what would we even do?"

"Hmmm, it'll come to us hopefully"

The two walked hand and hand, and a few moments later Tyler stopped in his tracks, causing Josh to nearly fall from the sudden movement. Tyler was glancing through a window at a skeleton jacket with the hood zipped up, covering the mannequins face.

Josh sighed, shaking his head at Tyler but ultimately walking into the store with him. They ended up leaving with a jacket each, and a few masks in different colors. Tyler had said they needed to make an impression, and that special outfits would help their stage presence.

Not wanting to argue, Josh just agreed, figuring Tyler would know what's best. They were now in the car, heading back to their houses to grab their equipment for the day. Both of them knew they'd need to take separate cars in order to fit everything, and Josh suggested when they have the money to eventually invest in a van. It would become a pain to constantly drive separately if they needed to travel.

On their travel home, Josh had received another text from Mark, telling him that he'd be coming over to record them loading up their equipment and asking them questions for a 'show vlog'. Josh didn't bother questioning Mark, and just hoped he knew what he was doing. Mark also offered to run a YouTube page for them, and Josh didn't hesitate to accept. Less work for them in the long run, and who knows, maybe Mark would be right about them blowing up online.

Josh pulled into his driveway after dropping off Tyler and took a deep breath before stepping out of his car. Mark was already there, waiting in his driveway with a camera situated on his shoulder.

"Let's do this"

Mark smiled at Josh, picking up his camera and pointing it in Josh's direction.

“That's the spirit"