fanboy ❀ joshler

eleven

***lil warning: there will be use of homophobic slurs and physical fighting in this chapter, so if you're sensitive to that, please be careful.***

I'm jolted awake by the sound of my phone buzzing against the wood on my bedside table. I take a few moments to register what's going on, but then I swipe my index finger across my screen, not looking to see who's calling.

"Hello?" My groggy voice hums through the receiver. 

"Josh? It's Tyler." I smile softly at his voice, remembering the events that occurred last night, but my eyes widen when I realize that I'm supposed to pick him up at the train station.

"Shit! What time is it? Are you already at the station? Shit!" I panic, rushing up to throw on some clothes until I'm stopped by a sound on the other end of the phone.

Tyler's laughter. "No, no, no. I'm not there yet. I was just making sure you were up, because I'm going to be there in about 25 minutes." He snickers again, "I almost forgot you were so damn cute. Almost."

A wave of relief crashes over me harder than the ocean onto sand, and I sigh deeply. "You had me worried there for a second, Joseph." Chuckling, we exchange our goodbyes and I hang up the phone, continuing to get dressed and ready.

Settling on just a hoodie with some khakis, I grab a bottle of water before heading to my car. While I'm driving down the lightly trafficked road, my mind wanders. More specifically, wanders to Tyler. Thinking about how it's funny that even though we're dating, the thought of seeing him again makes me get butterflies in my stomach, just like when I first saw him at Hudson Park, when he was a mere crush. Thinking about how my body craves to be engulfed in another hug or kiss, even though it was only a weekend. Thinking about how I've never experienced a boy like this, in fact, I've never experienced a love like this. How my body feels like it's getting pings of electricity poked into its skin when he touches me - in a good way. How my lips feel naked and lonesome without his connected to them.

I don't know what this boy has done to me, but I can't get enough of it.

~

There's a digital clock on the train platform, with all of the incoming train times. I search for Tyler's, and spot the NYC → Columbus train, coming in about 10 minutes. There's really no use going back and waiting in my car, although I'd love to be in the warmth and not the chilled morning breeze. So, I just sit down on one of the cold, metal benches.

Slipping in my headphones, it only seems like I've gotten through one song before I take them out to see someone next to me. More specifically, trying to talk to me.

"Hey, you waiting for someone?" He asks, and I can't help but notice how intriguing his voice sounds.

I nod, "Yeah, I'm waiting for someone on the train from New York."

"Nice, nice." He sucks on his front teeth, and I'm about to slip my headphones in my ears until his voice abruptly fills them again. "I'm Brendon, by the way."

"Josh. You're from around here?" I pat myself on the back mentally for keeping the conversation going.

Brendon gives a single nod as he runs his hand through his gelled hair. I can't help but notice how attractive he is, but I quickly shoo the thoughts out of my head, and remember that I'm about to see my boyfriend, Tyler, in about 5 minutes. "Yeah, I'm picking up my little sister from her one of many trips to God knows where." He chuckles, and I try my hardest to remain composed.  "She's fucking doing whatever, and I get that - being young and shit like that. But, damn, it scares me half to death." He rambles, but I'm so encaptured with whatever he's saying that I don't even notice the train coming. 

"Oh, shit. Here comes the NYC train. Thank you for keeping me company, Brendon." I give him a sincere smile and I swear his cheeks become tinted with pink. We exchange numbers and the train doors open. I see Tyler swiftly walk out of one of them, a few feet from me, and he looks around. I can't help myself, and find myself running through and dodging the people within the crowd that just got off the train. Before I know it, my arms are wrapped around his waist and his legs are wrapped around me and I attack his lips in a deep kiss. Whispers scatter the crowd, and it's only until I let Tyler down that I realize more than half of the crowd is staring at us. I flash a goofy smile and wave at the people, some looking displeased, and others with toothy grins that touch both of their ears. Of course, this only lasts a moment, as everyone goes back to exiting the train station, no matter what their opinions of our kiss was. 

We walk off the platform as well, my hand finding his almost immediately. Going back to the car, I hear a group of men scoff as we make our way past them.

"Hey, faggots!" One of them calls out and I tug on Tyler's hand, trying to ignore them whilst quickening our pace. "I said, hey faggots!" This earns some chuckles from the other men, and I feel a body coming close to us.  

One of them puts a hand on my shoulder and spins me around, and I'm meeted with a greasy looking, 40-something year old man. "Gay boy, you respond when someone talks to you." Although it's about 10 o'clock in the morning, I'm hit with the pungent smell of vodka. He's drunk off his ass. "Are you deaf? You respond when someone talks to you!" 

He gives me a shove and I look back at Tyler, who looks scared for his life. "Go back to the car, Ty." I say, and at first he protests, but when I don't lose stern eye contact with him, he jogs back to the car defeatedly. 

Once he's safely in the car 15 feet away, I shove the man right back, and he almost loses his balance due to his intoxicated state. "You wanna fight me, faggot?" He laughs, which only angers me more. "Listen up, fellas," He calls over his shoulders to the three men lingering a few feet back, "the pansy who gets fucked in the ass is gonna fight m-" Without letting him finish his sentence, I throw a punch at his jaw. 

I'm not experienced in fighting, but my blood was boiling and I couldn't help myself. And me not being a fucking body-builder, this didn't cause that much damage towards a well-built, adult man. So, I see his arm swing back at me in retaliation almost instantly. And it hit me. Hard. Right against my cheek. 

My vision comes in snapshots. Me hitting the ground. People rushing over to me. Hands shaking me to make sure I'm not dead. Two people fuzzily saying my name, as if I'm hearing them through a radio that's filled with static. And then it stops. Everything stops.

a/n:

i'm sosososo sorry that this update took so long. my life's been p crazy, so i'm glad everyone could be patient (and hopefully this intense chapter made up for the long wait).

i'm sorry if y'all came here for fluff and saw that josh got ko'd, but trust me, more fluff (and some smut lolol) will be coming in the future.

love y'all, and thank you for 2k reads.