ineffable [joshler ; au]

three

josh's head was resting against the cool glass of the car window, headphones on and blasting paramore, as to distract himself from the woman sitting next to him and where he was going. it was roughly 6pm, the sun was low in the sky, casting a golden glow across the meadows.

he had watched the industrial city of new york transition into the calm countryside of columbus (A/N I don't live in the US and I'm bad at geography so I have no idea how long it takes to get to Ohio from NYC so just go with it ok? ok.) , ohio. they had been in the car for over six hours and he had yet to say a word to his mom.

the car came to an abrupt stop, josh's head rose slowly from the window, turning towards his mom, who was looking at him silently, waiting for him to speak. before he could look away again, the front door of a house opposite them swung open, two people running out.

the shorter, blond girl scrambled to get away from the taller brunette boy, laughing hysterically as she tripped over her own feet and landed on the gravel. the boy, holding a water gun stood over her, and josh watched as he sprayed her right in the face.

the girl squealed, "zack! I'm going to kill you!" she threatened, scrambling to get back up and ran after the boy, snatching up the water gun he previously dropped. she chased him back around the house, to the garden josh presumed. josh sighed and leaned his head back and closed his eyes, making no move to get out of the car.

laura unbuckled her seat belt, pushed open the car door and waited impatiently for josh to follow. josh sighed and copied her movements, slamming the car door behind himself.

laura began walking to the house opposite them, where the boy and girl had run out only seconds before. josh followed her slowly, glancing around the area inquisitively. it was a fairly regular suburban lane, each house was perfectly lined up with perfectly trimmed hedges and bright green lawns.

laura stopped in front of a blue door with the number 21 on it and rang the doorbell, waiting nervously and fidgeting with her hands. the door swung open to reveal a tall woman smiling enthusiastically who practically dragged laura into a hug. both women squealed excitedly and fell into a girly chatter, catching up on their years lost.

josh stood awkwardly behind his mother and the taller woman, kelly, turned to face him and grinned excitedly.

"come in, come in!" she gesturing them into the house and closing the door behind them. they walked into a large kitchen and kelly gestured for them to sit at the island in the middle. she put the kettle on and continued her friendly chatter with laura, while josh pulled out his phone again and continued to text debby.

their long conversation slowly came to a stop and kelly's attention turned back towards josh.

"i hope it's okay, but you'll be sharing a room with my son tyler until the spare room gets refurbished, which could take up to a month," she spoke sympathetically.

josh nodded slowly in return, he was wishing he didn't have to share a room with anyone and could be free to do what he wanted.

"he's your age and i think you'll get along really well! dinner is almost ready so if you want to go and unpack you can. your room is upstairs, at the end of the hall on the left. laura are you staying for dinner?" kelly asked, standing up and getting out the silverware.

laura nodded in a reply while josh took his bag and slowly headed up the large staircase.

he pushed open a door that he guessed was his room, praying that tyler, or whatever his name is, wasn't there. but, he saw a boy inside the room sitting on one of the beds, he had a hoodie pulled over his head and headphones in, which josh guessed was the reason he didn't look up when he opened the door.

josh coughed nervously, trying to gain the boys attention, which worked as the boys head shot up, eyes wide. josh was momentarily distracted by his deep brown eyes, but recovered quickly, smiling at him.

"hi, I'm josh."

the boy's eyes were still wide as they watched him carefully before he stuttered out, "u-uh, I'm tyler" his eyes glanced towards the other bed, "that bed's yours."

he was shy, josh noticed, with a slight stutter in his voice and nervously fiddling with his phone.

josh nodded at him, "thanks," before putting his bag down on the bed and pulling out his phone and smiling at the several messages he had received from debby. he sat down on the bed and read through them, smiling to himself, and only looked up when the door shut gently. he felt a lot more comfortable now he was alone in the room, he hoped the next few weeks would not be as awkward as that last interaction. josh sighed and decided he should do some unpacking and settle in.

____

"amen" the family said collectively, before tucking into the roast dinner in front of them.
the small brunette, tyler, was across from him, still as silent and shy as before.
the younger girl and boy he saw earlier were sitting on either side of him. he'd heard the them being referred to maddy and zack, noted.
laura was sitting next to josh, mostly talking for him as he stayed silent, and a small boy, he thinks his name is jay, was sitting on his other side. kelly and chris were sitting at the ends of the table.

"so josh, tyler can show you around town tomorrow if you want?" kelly spoke, turning her attention towards the red headed boy. laura immediately grinned,
"oh yes, that'd be great!"

josh groaned inwardly before nodding reluctantly, his eyes meeting tyler's.

tyler rolled his eyes slightly before offering the other boy a slight smile, before ducking his head and looking back down at his food and hiding his blush covered cheeks.

kelly and laura carried on their conversation, the others chipping in at points but tyler and josh stayed quiet, only speaking when they had to and in short sentences. but, of course, the families were used to this, having delt with the silence for many years they had become accustomed to it, and knew not to push answers out of them.

(this ended on a weird bit but idk how to finish it lol)

(hnghm i wannaaa sleeeep)

-B🥀 x