drugs ♕ joshler

e i g h t e e n

edited

"josh s-stop it," tyler said, watching josh look him over as if he had seen a ghost.

"when.." josh mumbled, ashley looking at him with one of her mom looks that she gave everyone. he completely ignored her.

"tyler, how did this happen?" he asked, walking over to him, but tyler took a step back not wanting to embarrass himself any further.

"joshua," ashley said warning him, him still not paying attention but only caring about why tyler had a black eye and multiple scars across his face and littered around his hands.

"answer me, tyler," josh said, looking tyler in his eyes, even though he wasn't looking back at him, "please."

josh touched tyler's hand, at which he pulled away quickly, not letting him have any contact except the air they were breathing and the floor they were standing.

after his sudden reaction ashley grabbed josh's shoulder and easily dragged him along with herself to the back room, where brendon was rolling more joints to give away for the next order. drug dealers have to do their work somewhere.

"you all okay?" a stoned brendon asked, watching ashley and josh stumble through the door angrily. and when he saw ashley's expression on her face he inhaled through his teeth and decided it was best to leave the room for a second.

when he got out, he saw tyler, leaning underneath the ledge of the counter, crying softly but obviously numbing away his feelings. either that or he was making it worse.

so brendon did the only thing he could possibly know to do right then with his pot head of a mind.

he sat down behind the counter with tyler, lighting up a new joint, and putting it in front of tyler's mouth, who looked at it for a second before breathing in around it sharply.

-

ashley had given joshua a lecture on nothing but minding your own business. and when they came back out, the familiar smell of pot instead of regular air instantly made them both groan.

"you know tyler," brendon said to himself, not noticing that tyler was asleep on his shoulder, but smoking the third joint he lit since tyler fell asleep, "you aren't that bad. you sure know how to listen." he took another drag into his mouth, looking to tyler and laughing.

"you dead, buddy?" brendon asked a smile still obvious on his face, as he poked his forehead. "you know what marijuana does to you."

ashley and josh instantly panicked hearing those words, josh jumping over the counter to see them underneath it, grabbing tyler quickly and checking his pulse while ashley dealt with brendon like a pissed off parent.

josh sighed in heavy relief finding tyler's thumping heartbeat in his neck, double checking on tyler's wrist as well to make sure it wasn't just josh's own pulse through his fingers.

"woah, dude, is he alive?" brendon asked, joshua rolling his eyes and ashley marching him out of the store into his car.

"i'm taking brendon home, you take tyler to your place."

"what the fuck, my parents won't let me have another guy over, especially if he's trashed!"

"oh my god, stop being a goodie-two-shoes and take him home for fucks sake. i already have one kid to deal with."

"but ash-"

"work something out, okay? just don't take him home, alright?"

josh sighed, looking to the unconscious boy in his lap, having a buzz of deja vu, remembering when they were doing this same thing at brendon's house.

when josh looked up, he saw headlights fading down the road.