Coffee Shop Soundtrack (Marianas Trench)

Chapter Sixteen

Three days later Josh decided that to kick his boredom; he’d go over to Matt’s. It’s not like it was late. Tyler was probably out, considering it was a Saturday and Matt had said Tyler always went out drinking on Saturdays. So, he laced up his Chucks and headed over to Matt’s.

He didn’t bother knocking on the door, just in case. He used the key from under the mat and headed in quietly.

“Tyler, d-don’t-”

“Shut up.” Clambering footsteps echoed around the tiny apartment, and a wooden door shut. Not like that stopped the noises; the walls were paper thin.

“Tyler, just stop, please.” Matt’s struggling voice was cut off by the harsh sound of a slap.

“I said shut up and stop moving around so much.” A thud one could only assume was Matt’s head sharply hitting the wall. “Now shut your fucking mouth and say nothing or I’ll hit you again.”

Matt stayed silent for at least a minute. A minute to leave to boy in the living room shaking and worrying and arguing with himself whether to go in there and stop it or stay here to avoid breaking a boundary. Either way he knew Tyler was up to no good. Matt needed help. Josh, crouched in the living room, ran his hands through his hair, trying to think. He was stopped as soon as he heard a cry from the bedroom.

“S-stop, Tyler, p-please... I don’t-t...” Matt’s voice broke through sobs and Josh stood up at once, running over to the front door, knocking loudly.

“Shit. S’probably Dave.” The curse word was muffled, but Josh could hear it along with footsteps, and soon Tyler exited the bedroom, buttoning his shirt up. Josh cowered behind the sofa, hiding effectively. He watched as Tyler grabbed a jacket and smirked to himself.

“I’ll be back later. Stay up, whore.” Quickly, he left the room, and Josh ran towards Matt’s bedroom. He knocked lightly on the door frame and silence could be heard from the room. Josh called out that it was him, and Matt opened the door cautiously. Josh could have cried. The younger boy was sobbing, albeit confused as to why Josh was here. He was dressed in a tee-shirt and his sweatpants, which were rumpled and Matt tugged at the hems. His wrists and neck were red raw and his hair was ruffled and his cheek was red where Tyler had slapped him. Immediately, he threw his arms around Josh, and Josh responded, hugging back tightly.

“Matty, calm down. Listen to me. He’s gone, I’m here now. It’s only me.” Matt straightened himself up, his eyes red and puffy. He held a gaze with Josh for a couple of seconds, before dissolving into tears again and Josh had to guide him to their bed so Matt could sit down. “It’s alright; it’s going to be okay.”

“H-he... he...” Matt stuttered out but could hardly get the words out. It took him ten minutes of choking out words and frustrated tears before he could even speak. And even then, Josh had to prompt him.

“Did he hurt you?”

“He’s tried to do this before. But never so... I d-don’t know what to do, Josh, I just d-don’t-” Matt stumbled over his words as Josh picked up his wrists, examining the red marks. “It’s okay; they’re f-fine, Josh. Nothing happened.”

 “It’s not fine, Matt, are you alright?” Matt shrugged a little, cuddling closer to Josh.

“I’m o-okay. Nothing happened, like I s-said. It could have been so much worse, this I can deal with. I can deal with it. I just need to sleep.” Josh nodded, Matt slipping down in the bed and adjusting the pillow. Josh watched; a sad smile on his face.

“Can I do anything to help?”

“J-Just stay here. Please.”

Josh raised his eyebrows. “But what about Ty-”

“I don’t care. Just... please.” Josh nodded, and laid next to the boy, who rolled over to face Josh and pulled him closer to himself. 

“Thank you.” Matt whispered, before allowing his eyes to flutter closed.

Josh woke from a restless sleep to find Matt thrashing about beside him. He yawned a little as he tried to distinguish what was going on.

“T-Tyler... stop... don’t hurt him... p-please...” Matt mumbled. “Tyler!” He ended up shouting, his fingertips curling over the sheets, and Josh reached over to smooth his palm up and down over Matt’s forearm.

“Matt, wake up. You’re having a bad dream, hun, just wake up.” Josh gently shook Matt’s shoulders, which caused the younger boy to sit up abruptly, his eyes wide and terrified. As soon as he caught sight of Josh, his gaze softened, and tears began to spill over again.

“J-Josh...”

“You had a nightmare, Matt. Everything’s alright.” Josh pulled the boy into his arms, letting him sob onto his shoulder. “What was it about?”

“H-he... Tyler had-d you and he was-s going to h-hit you...” Matt stuttered, barely able to get his words out. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologise. It was just a dream.” Josh sat up.

“What’s the time?” Matt asked, panicked. He leant over to look at the glowing alarm clock on the counter, and leant back with wide eyes. “You need to get out of here, Josh. Like, now.”

“What?”

“Tyler will be home soon, you just need to get out of here.” Josh stood up at once.

“Are you... will you be okay?”

“Yeah, I can handle it. It’s fine. You just need to get yourself out. It’s not safe.”

“It’s going to be alright, Matt. Text me if you need anything. If things get out of hand just go straight to mine, alright? Or Mike’s. Please.” Matt nodded and Josh rushed out of the apartment, leaving Matt on his own in the bed just wishing that Josh was back here, so he wasn’t so alone.

A/N: A short filler wooooo. I've been applying for jobs and I'm super pumped! Though I think I applied with mistakes in my CV whoopsie.

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