next door » joshler [book #1]

fifteen » blasphemy

he sits down at his keyboard, fingers skimming over the keys, heart in his throat. josh is gazing at him with a smile, encouraging him.

"alright," says tyler, gulping. "this song- it's called, uh, blasphemy."

blasphemy.

"i start to part two halves of my heart in the dark and i-" tyler whispers.
"don't know where i should go." worried eyes look at josh. josh stares back, enthralled.

"and the tears and the fears begin to multiply-"

"taking time in a simple place-"

"in my bed where my head rests on a pillowcase-"

he cuts himself off, wipes his eyes. "i'm sorry," he croaks out, shaking his head. "i can't do it."

josh walks over to him silently, hugging him. "it's okay," he murmurs. "it's going to be okay."

"yeah," tyler sniffles back, "yeah. go sit down. i can- i can finish this."

despite josh's protests, he orders the boy back on the couch, and resumes his place on the piano.

"and it's said that a war's led but i forget
that i let another day go by
i want to be afraid but it seems that these days
i'm caught under water and i'm falling farther
my heart's getting harder, i'm calling my father
am i screaming to an empty sky?
empty sky, no way, that's me cause one half of my heart is free
empty sky, no way, that's me cause the other half of my heart's asleep."

"it's not done yet."

josh is sort of gaping at him. "tyler..."

"what?" tyler's voice grows defensive. "i know it's not very good, i'm sorry, josh." he scowls.

"no, tyler, it's..." josh closes his eyes.

"what?"

"it's perfect."