Keep Quiet // Josh Dun (completed)

chapter eleven :: treehøuse cønfessiønals

I highly suggest playing the song because it really sets the ambience for this chapter.

Also thanks for 4K :)

"I did it again, Dad" Nicole said as soon as she got into her house. "I blew up on Josh" She sobbed. She went up to her room but her dad didn't follow her. He knew better than to bother her at a time like this.

Nicole and Josh didn't talk at all. For almost a week. They didn't work together in chemistry. They didn't walk each other to lunch.

They didn't even go in the auditorium for fear of the other being there. They didn't wish each other a goodnight over text or even text each other until they fall asleep like they did on many occasions.

Nicole thought her life was... Duller without Josh.

And Josh's life was barren without Nicole.

Until Friday morning.

Not like, 8am morning. But 1:36am to be exact.

Josh: treehouse

As soon as Nicole received this text, she knew what it meant.

She got up and threw some warm clothes on and grabbed a blanket, flashlight, and her phone.

She snuck out and drove the short two minutes to Josh's house. She got out and circled to his backyard and stood at the bottom of the tree.

"Josh!" She whisper yelled. She repeated it again but got no answer.

She threw the blanket over her shoulder and put the flashlight and phone in her pocket.

She found her way up the tree and pushed the trapdoor-like thing open.

She shined her flashlight throughout the treehouse and found Josh in the corner.

"Josh" Nicole exclaimed.

She sat the flashlight on it's bottom so it lit up the whole treehouse. She sat next to Josh, pulling him into her lap.

"You came" he said. He was freezing cold.

"You're freezing" She pulled the blanket over his torso.

"I'm sorry" he said weakly.

"Josh no don't be-"

"I'm sorry that I hurt you" he said.

"No Josh you didn't hurt anybody" she rubbed his arms so he would become warmer.

"Yes I did. By kissing Ashley" he turned his head towards Nicole.

She just shook her head. Josh's head rested on Nicole's left leg, which was closest to the wall. He was facing her.

"I hurt you more. You should never make fun of someone's passion. It's what saves them from the world"

Josh didn't say anything for a few minutes while Nicole tried to make sure he was warm.

"I don't know what happened. I-I started having an anxiety attack so I came up here after it was over a-and I started putting more stuff into the walls a-and..." Josh trailed off.

"Hey it's okay now..." Nicole grabbed Josh's hand and kissed it.

"I promised I would tell you if I wanted to go up again" Josh said.

"What?" Nicole didn't recall.

"When you stayed over two weeks ago. You almost fell asleep but you said that you wanted me to tell you next time I wanted to go up" Josh explained.

Nicole was quiet because she was looking for new writing on the wall. She was leaning on the life wall so she turned her head to see the new writing.

Nicole.

Then she looked at the death wall.

Nicole.

"Josh why is my name on both walls?" She asked quietly.

"Oh... life because you give me a reason to keep going and death because I hurt you and knowing that is unbearable. It's not like a cliché fanfic where I wanna hurt myself because I'm not with you. Because that's not it" He explained. 

"Well you should always tell someone how you feel because if you don't, something like this could happen. Except worse... And you could regret it in the future for not saying anything."

Nicole paused for a few moments.

"I like you. A lot. You are the only person who made an effort to talk to me. Everybody else just ignored me because they thought I was weird for not saying anything but you made an effort - something I would never do - to talk to me. And I'm so thankful for that"

Josh was quiet for a few minutes. He played with the zipper on Nicole's jacket with his free hand that she wasn't holding.

"I kinda needed someone new to talk to anyway... I mean, Tyler and Jenna are so wrapped up in their relationship and Ashley doesn't even really like me" Josh explained.

"I know but... It'll be okay." Nicole stroked his hair with her free hand, occasionally wrapping a small strand around her finger.

There was a long silence before Josh said,

"I like you too"

Nicole let out a sigh of relief.

She noticed another new thing on the death wall.

Don't let me be gone.

"I won't let you be gone, okay?"

"Thank you... So much" Josh said. His voice cracked. He had never cried in front of Nicole.

"You're gonna die someday but today is not that day... I'll follow you into the dark if it means I could help you"

Nicole leaned down and placed a kiss on his head.

Soon enough, Josh was asleep. How he fell asleep on a cold, hard treehouse floor, Nicole had no idea but he was kind of... Okay. Which was all she wanted for him.

"I like you" she whispered to Josh. She knew he was asleep. She played with the duck tales on the back of his head.

|-/

Josh woke up at about 6 am. Nicole had tried not to move from her spot in fear of disturbing Josh.

"Nic?" He whispered, turning his head so he could look up at her.

She had her head leaning against the wall and she was sleeping.

She had a light snore, which Josh thought was adorable. Some of her hair fell into her face. Josh took her hand and placed a kiss on it. He played with it for a few minutes, thinking about how perfect she was.

"I like you" he said.