more than friends//joshler

chapter 1

"hi yes can i get one chalupa combo?" tyler asked the worker at taco bell, thumbing through his wallet. he handed over his credit card, waiting for the person to slide it in the machine and hand it back. the worker nodded after the exchange, handing tyler a cup and walking back to the kitchen to grab his order. tyler sighed as he flipped around on the counter, shoving his hands in his pockets and facing the mostly deserted tables. the cup was sitting behind him, unused for the moment. a few minutes later the worker came back, starting to call for somebody to grab the bag. tyler reached for it, just wanting to get out of there. to his surprise, somebody else had come for it as well, and now their hands were touching.

tyler overcame his initial panic, looking the other person in the eyes.

"oh, uh, hi," a boy about tyler's height said, drawing his lip into his mouth quickly. tyler noticed his lip ring clinked slightly on his teeth.

"order for josh dun," the worker finally said about their current situation, smirking and grabbing another bag.

"this one is for tyler joseph," she said smugly, walking off.

neither tyler or josh had moved their hands from the bag, keeping the prolonged eye contact until finally tyler reached for his.

"what did you get?" the boy, presumably josh, smiled.

"a chalupa combo. you?" tyler asked, grabbing his cup and walking over to the drink machine.

"oh, just two beef and cheese tacos," josh shrugged, following tyler.

"hey, kind of a weird question, but wanna sit together? i think we both came alone," josh said, curiously eying tyler. tyler shrugged, taking a sip of his pepsi and walking to a table.

"thanks for the yes," josh said happily, sliding into the seat across from the quiet boy.

they ate in silence for a while, josh staring intently at tyler's arms, and, presumably, his tattoos.

"dude, just take a picture already," tyler said, flexing his arm dramatically. josh giggled slightly, blushing a bit.

"no wait, like this," tyler posed again, causing josh to laugh even harder. tyler kept doing different poses and josh was breathless by the time he stopped laughing, finally calming down when tyler told him people were watching.

ever since then, tyler had never left josh's side. the time he joined a band as a touring drummer, all the late night gaming sessions, the time he ripped out his lip ring, his first tattoo, dying his hair for the first time, they even went to both of their homecomings together. they were so close that they joked about dating, even eating food out of eat other's hands and sexually moaning from each other's rooms to traumatize their siblings.

nobody had known tyler without josh or josh without tyler since before they were 16. they were a package deal, and if one didn't like you, you could bet the other shared the opinion.

for this reason, they didn't tend to have many other friends. but that didn't matter. they had each other.