•●Save●• {Joshler&More}

5. Mikey Isn't Going To Start a Zombie Apocalypse, Please

Tyler saw Josh a few times that day, and he counted (not like he doesn't do this every day anyway): one in math, one in biology, and one time at lunch. The time during lunch made a horde of butterflies explode in his stomach since Josh had flashed him a dazzling smile and waved to him, which may or may not've made him nearly drop dead right then and there, which he reckoned wouldn't be very helpful to his case, or sanitary, at the very least considering the cafeteria floor wasn't the cleanest place to die.

Tyler breezes through the rest of the day with not one thought of Josh; which might've been odd, since Tyler was Josh's biggest fan, or after all.

And as he found himself rushing to exit the school at the two forty-five dismissal, he checked his phone and breathed a sigh of relief: he didn't have to worry about picking Jay and Madison up, since there was not a text from Kelly, after all.

"Tyler!"

"Tyler!" He heard his name called again in the distance, and he pulled his hood further over his head.

"Tyler Joseph!" The voice sounded more annoyed this time, not to mention closer.

Tyler spun around, nearly knocking into a smiling...Pete Wentz? Dear god, Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III, the class clown and the exact same kid to accidentally spill hot soup on Tyler the first day they met, three years ago. And if Pete wasn't the most annoying emo he'd ever-

"And I guess Mikey would mind, wouldn't he?" Pete asked.

"Where's Mikey?" Tyler sighed, exasperated. He hadn't heard a thing Pete was rambling on about, but it was probably something not important anyway.

Was that rude?

"I told you, he left early because he got sick but he wants me to come over later-" so that's why Tyler found himself sitting alone at lunch.

"-and I wanna know that if I went over, d'you think I'd catch mono or something because that's fucking gross. I don't care how much I love him, if that motherfucker infects me, he's the first to die in the zombie apocalypse." Pete went on.

Tyler tried especially hard to mask the look of disgust on his face, since he'd been told he wore his heart on his sleeve very often. It wasn't that he disliked Pete, it was just that he talked so much. The mangy emo literally never stopped talking. They could announce that Mikey was something as drastic as being pregnant, and Pete would still be talking about the dinner he ate two days ago.

"No, I don't think you'd catch mono, Pete. Mikey isn't going to start a zombie apocalypse, please." Tyler shook his head and listened to Pete talk about the idea that he got into his head somehow that mono equals zombies, until the younger boy's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Tyler, I'm gonna need you to pick Jay and Maddie up today, Zack got into a problem at school and-"

"Alright, got it." Tyler cut Kelly off mid-sentence, hanging up. He knew that his attitude would most likely get him murdered, but he didn't care. At the moment. Maybe. Okay, he did.

But Kelly literally did this all the time- she would find excuses not to pick up her kids, or Zack would get in trouble and she'd go to his prestigious private school (it was a mystery to Tyler as to how he never got kicked out) and convince them to give him "one more chance".

It always worked.

But if something actually serious concerned Tyler, Kelly never showed up. Not like Tyler had any bullies to shove him into lockers like some cliché fanfiction. His school was pretty chill.

"Was that your mom?" Pete asked, his black-rimmed eyes meeting Tyler's.

"Uh, no, it was my "mother"." Tyler made air quotes around the word, and dismissed Pete's confused frown with a wave.

"Oh well, Mikey's house is over here. Are you coming over later? I don't want to die alone, Joseph." Pete pleaded.

"I'm not coming over later, Pete. You're not going to die, but right now," He looked at his phone. "I gotta go." He waved goodbye to the melodramatic emo and they went their separate ways.

-

"You're late." Jay pointed out when Tyler picked the two kids up, slightly uneasy around their old teacher that gave him a dirty look as soon as he arrived, and seemed like she was gonna tell him off for being tardy.

"I know." Tyler grumbling.

"Are we still getting ice cream?" Madison asked, perking up. Leave it to her to remember these things and get Jay excited again.

As expected, Jay started hopping up and down like an excited puppy. Also as expected, he started begging, quite annoyingly, not to mention loudly.

After about three minutes of nagging and almost getting his arm yanked out of the socket, Tyler snapped.

"Jay! Please be quiet." Tyler said with an exasperated edge to his voice.

Jay suddenly got quiet, and Tyler would be lying if he said he wasn't consumed with guilt. He knew the little boy was sulking, if not crying already. But he hadn't done anything wrong, had he? He probably had. God, he'd be an awful father.

Much to Tyler's surprise, Jay lit up again as soon as the ice cream place came into view. And boy, Jay wasn't the only one excited. Sitting on the outdoor tables, was Josh.

IS THIS TOO LONG BC IM GONNA SPLIT IT IDK IF ITS TOO LONG WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS

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