Intimidation ♡ joshler

forty seven

Tyler and Zack are up at five in the morning, and so were Jay and Madison.  Zack packs the car while the younger three hang out for a bit before they have to leave.

Madison and Jay are crying, and that makes Tyler's eyes well up with tears as they sit, Tyler in the middle as his younger siblings lean affectionately on each side of him.  They sit like this until six approaches and Zack is ready to go.

"Come on, T-bro, we have a nine hour drive," Zack urges on.

Tyler hugs each of his siblings one last time, telling them how much he loves them and that he'll miss them so much, and they promise to see each other again before Zack's guiding Tyler out of his childhood home.  

He finally starts to cry as Zack pulls out of the driveway, heart heavy as he and his siblings waving until they can no longer see each other.

The older man glances to the younger boy sympathetically, "Hey, don't be so down.  You get to see Josh again when we get home."

"I thought you didn't like Josh," Tyler mumbles, and both of them are silent before he speaks again, "Why don't you?"

Zack remains silent, and Tyler only averts his gaze to the window.  Being ignored did nothing but make him feel worse than he did before.  It made him feel so small and insignificant.

But he decides that he doesn't care.  

<><><>

Tyler still hasn't said anything hours later, still trapped in his bubble of self depreciation.  Zack's made a few fruitless attempts to pop it, but he eventually gave up with an exasperated sigh—that made Tyler feel like an asshole.

Zack turns to pull into a Taco Bell drive thru, "What do you want?"

"Nothing, I'm not really hungry."

"Going on a hunger strike isn't gonna hurt me," Zack snaps, and the younger refrains from rolling his eyes at his brother.  Why was accusing him of going on a "hunger strike" even necessary?  Why would he even say something like that?

Zack hands Tyler a taco anyways before pulling away from the restaurant, telling him to eat it when he does get hungry.  He just eats it now so Zack isn't able to make any more accusations and leaves him alone.  He falls asleep not long after.

<><><>

Tyler's awoken once again as Zack slams on the breaks, screaming, "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Tyler begins to panic a little, thinking the older man was talking to him—but he looks through the windshield and sees Brendon standing in the middle of the fucking road, beaming at Tyler.

Tyler gawks at the teen incredulously as Zack rolls down his window so Brendon can hear him better, and proceeds to lecture him for running in front of moving vehicles—and Tyler can't believe he did that stupid shit, though he really shouldn't be all that surprised by this point.

"Tyler, I missed you!" Brendon shouts, ignoring the older man completely as he runs up to Tyler's window.  Tyler's about to roll down his own window to speak to his friend, but Zack begins to drive again, leaving Brendon standing in the road like a dumbass.

"You have some stupid ass friends, I swear to God," Zack curses under his breath, gripping the steering wheel in aggravation as he drives the rest of the way home; they must be pretty close now, considering the fact they almost ran Brendon over barely a minute ago.

"Now might be a bad time to ask," Tyler starts and Zack briefly glances to him, giving Tyler the green light (get it, 'cause they're driving) to continue, "But, can I invite Josh over?"