✦Joshler✦: He's A Butcher With A Smile

Bed Time

"Love is the most beautiful of dreams and the worst of nightmares."
—Aman Jassal

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The bus rumbled while sun set over what seemed like a never ending road. I was exhausted from the jam packed day, but whenever I shut my eyes, I start to think, and my thoughts at night were not all that soothing.

I rolled over uncomfortably in my bed, curling up tighter as I snuggled the blanket. Jenna was still up and doing who knows what on her phone on the other side of the bus.

"Tyler? Are you awake?" Josh's voice whispered from above me. I turned my attention to him. "Yes. I can't sleep," I responded, his voice sounding melodic to my ears. I heard him moving above me.
"Me either." Then there was a long pause and I thought he was going to try and sleep again.

Then I heard a small chuckle.
"What?" I raised an eyebrow. Another chuckle.

"Remember when your parents made you shoot like 500 baskets before eating dinner?" Josh mused with a snicker. I rolled my tired eyes and couldn't help but grin in the darkness.

"Shush, there's enough memes about it on the internet. What made you think of that anyway?" I sighed, appreciating Josh's randomness.
"I don't know, I was just thinking," he responded.

"Ah, those were the days," Josh kept laughing, which seemed to put me at ease.
"What, when we were nobody's?" I retorted, which wasn't even funny yet Josh was still hysterically giggling his butt off.

"Dude are you high, or just slap happy?" I joked, enjoying the sound of his laugh. He calmed himself down, taking deep breathes.
"Just slap happy," he acknowledged my question. I shook my head, turning on my side again to try and sleep. Not long after, Josh was asleep.

I soon drifted off to the sound of Josh's little snores.
Then a dream appeared:

I was running from something. I didn't know what, but I was running like my life depended on it. I turned around a moment to see my attacker-
It was a man, who looked just like me but was covered in black paint. He had razor sharp teeth and red, glowing eyes. It was Blurryface. A crippling fear overwhelmed me, and I tried to quicken my pace. I tripped and fell onto the ground, a gnawing helplessness eating at my stomach. Blurryface caught up to me as I tried to stand up, but he pushed me back down with ungodly force. Then, he revealed an object from behind him. I gasped at the sight of a noose, which he slipped around my neck and tightened with his hands. I struggled and gasped for air, but nothing came as I stared into his blurry, red eyes.

I woke in a panic, grabbing my neck to make sure I was alive and breathing. I sucked in air, my heart rate slowing down as I composed myself. I let my head fall back against the pillow, which was now slightly damp from my sweat.

"Tyler are you alright?" Josh asked. I'd probably woken him up with my gasping, and felt a twinge of guilt for it.
"I just had a nightmare, that's all," I murmured, embarrassed. I heard feet hit the ground outside of my little nook, and the curtain to my bed open.

Josh climbed in next to me, which made me feel uncomfortable at first, but a lot safer.
"Wanna talk about it?" He asked in a hush. All I could think about was how close he was to me, and how his hand was brushing mine.

"No thanks," I replied.
I tell Josh everything, but this time, he'd probably think I'd totally lost it if he heard what I dreamt about.
"Ok," he began to exit the bed.

"Wait-" I blurted before I could stop the words from escaping my mouth, finding his again hand with mine. He stopped.

"You want me to stay?" He asked, sounding a tad hopeful.
"Yes. I-I mean, if you want," I tried not to sound desperate.
But tonight, I really needed him to stay.

"Ok Ty," he laid next to me, easing into the position he was in earlier. His presence somehow made me feel better, like I could finally get some peaceful rest.
So I closed my eyes, and fell asleep again.