Intimidation ♡ joshler

thirty three

may be a bit triggering? like homophobia, mentions of death and abuse

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"Hey, Tyler," Josh speaks lowly as they sit in their Latin class, and Tyler hums quietly in acknowledgement, "You remember how you said that you were gonna go see your parents and siblings?"

"U-uh, yeah," Tyler whispers back almost inaudibly, twirling his pencil between his fingers—another one of his many nervous habits.  He already knows what his friend wants to know about, and it's honestly not even that serious, he just doesn't really like to think about it at all.  

"Why don't you live with them?"

"Well," Tyler starts with a shrug, "It's, like, kind of a long story."

"Are you okay with telling me later if I give you my phone number?" Josh offers, and Tyler nods in agreement.

"Okay."

<><><>

Josh Kiks Tyler his number just as Tyler enters his bedroom after dinner later that night.

Tyler dials the number received—checking it a thousand times just to be sure it's right—waiting anxiously for his friend to pick up as he tries to get comfortable in bed.  He doesn't have to wait long before he hears shuffling on the other end of the line, then his friend's voice.

"Hey."

Tyler doesn't say anything for a brief second, a bit overwhelmed by his nerves.  He takes in a breath to calm himself, reminding himself that it's just Josh, and talking on the phone is nothing much more different than talking in person.

Tyler lets out a breath, "Hey."

"How are you?" Josh asks, tone gentle, as if he could hear how nervous Tyler is.

"I'm alright, what about you?"

"I'm also alright," Josh returns, and Tyler doesn't know what to say after that, so he just hums in response.  After a beat of silence, Josh speaks up again, "So... About your parents and siblings? If you're still okay with telling."

"Sure. So, like—uh—you know how I'm gay, right?"

Josh laughs a little and hums an affirmative sound, so Tyler continues.

"Yeah, I came out to them a few years ago in eighth grade. Jay and Maddy—my brother and sister—they seemed pretty chill with it, but my parents..."

"They didn't like it?"

"No, no, they didn't..." Tyler shakes his head, feeling his eyes start to well up as he remembers their reactions, "They're huge christians. like, my mom—she got really upset and almost cried and my dad was just... really pissed off."

"Did he hit you, Ty?"

"No, he raged and had a huge angry rant... Like, I knew my parents were—homophobes, but I didn't think it was quite to that extent, like they didn't even acknowledge me anymore after I came out—my mom wouldn't even look in my direction, and my dad just always had something overly homophobic to say.

And a f-few days later, I was hanging out with Madison because her friends had bailed on her on girls night or something... and she wanted to talk about boys with me. So—uh, I was talking about a boy in my class, but my dad heard me so he—"

Tyler laughs to himself a little, though his laugh was a humorless one; his dad's next move was just so petty that Tyler had to laugh, despite how upset the memory made him.