Ruby -joshler-

chapter eight

Josh's P.O.V:

     When I woke up, me and Tyler were still holding hands. It was a lot colder down in the basement, so I snuggled close to Ty. He stirred but he didn't wake up. I closed my eyes once again and fell asleep.

     The second time I woke up, it was to Ty shaking my shoulder. "Josh." He said,"Josh, we got two feet of snow!" My eyes fluttered open. Tyler had his hand in my shoulder. I smiled.

     "At this rate, our winter break will probably get extended." I pointed out happily. If it did, I'd have had no problem with that. Tyler nodded excitedly. 

     "You might have to stay a few more nights until the snow plow comes through." He told me. "Now come on, my mom called us upstairs for breakfast like five minutes ago!"

     "But I'm lazy!" I groaned exaggeratedly. He smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling me of his bed. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." We walked up the wooden stairs that led to the entryway. From there, we walked into the kitchen where Mrs. Joseph was scooping yellow omelettes onto plates for breakfast. 

     "Good morning, boys!" She smiled cheerfully at us. "Josh, you'll have to wait until Thursday to be able to go home, I won't have you walking in these conditions." I nodded politely and said my thanks, then followed Ty to the dining room. Everyone was still in their pajamas. "Maddie will have to stay at Sammy's house until Thursday." Mrs. Joseph announced as she served everyone.

     Just like the other meals I'd had at the Joseph residence, I didn't indulge much in conversation. I never really spoke unless I was asked a question. But that was fine by me. Talking to strangers could be hard for me sometimes. When we were finished, we cleared our plates and headed back downstairs. We brushed our teeth.

     "Ty, you've gotta take off your bandages for a while. Let your arms breathe." I suggested. He nodded. I felt bad for even bringing it up, because whenever I did, Tyler seemed to get really upset. But he needed to heal properly. 

     I was trying to comb my curly hair when Ty asked a question I'd never even thought of before. "Do you think that Ruby and Ava will see each other in heaven?" His question made me feel a weird mix of emotions I didn't get often. Sadness over the loss of our friends, but also happiness that they were at peace. But deep down, also overwhelmed. The past week had been an emotional roller coaster. One with all those scary loops and drops.

     "I don't know. That would be pretty cool, though. Like how we became friends and then they could, too." Just thinking about it gave me a bittersweet, melancholy feel. An aching throughout my whole body. 

     "I wonder if they think about us." Tyler's eyes looked sad, but he showed no sign of tears. I wasn't like that. I tried to hide it, but the tears rolling down my cheeks were apparently noticeable. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "It was stupid of me to bring that up." 

     I wiped my eyes. "It's okay. It's not stupid. I really do wonder if they think about us, though. If they're seeing our lives right now." Another tear rolled down my face. I felt pathetic, just standing there, crying. Tyler still looked apologetic as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. I accepted his embrace and wrapped my arms around him. We somehow always ended up like this. Hugging or crying or something like that. After a while, Tyler broke away from me. 

     "I-I wasn't going to tell you, but Ruby's funeral is on the day after Christmas. If you're cool with being around a bunch of miserable people, then maybe you could come with me. My family will be there, but it feels different when I'm with a friend." He smiled weakly at me. 

     "Of course. I'll be there." I gave him a half-hearted smile. He nodded and looked down at his feet. I didn't look away, though. I stared at Ty's dark brown eyes, even if they weren't looking back. "C-can you play another song for me?" I asked him. I'd been wanting to hear another for a while now. They were more sincere than the songs you'd hear on the radio, and more heartfelt.

     Tyler's once-blank face was now blushing and smiling awkwardly. "Oh, uh, sure." He murmured quietly. I grinned and followed after him to his piano.

Tyler's P.O.V:

     Anything to get the loss of Ruby off my mind. I was grateful for Josh's suggestion, but also sort of embarrassed. I'd only played him one song before, who knew if he'd like the others?

     The song I was going to play for him meant a lot to me. I had writepten it not too long before I played it for Josh. 

     "Here I come, come to you, in the very clothes, that I killed, killed you, now I know I'm alone. I walk... to you... rain falls... from you. Can you... wash me? Can you... drown me?" I start out.

     "I wanna be a lot of things, so much pent up inside of me, I wanna be stronger, too long I've sat here undecidedly, planning strategy, half of me knows it's all just a fallacy, failing miserably, drastically, and then I crash into a wall I've hit a hundred times before, but I still ignore the dark red bloodstains on the floor, and I'm back in front of you, Lord, with the blood on the floor, is the blood mine or yours, don't wanna do this anymore." I continued the song. A few more verses, then it was over. 

     "Wow... That's... That's incredible." Josh marveled over my song. He looked at me, and I saw it in his eyes that he was being sincere. I felt a blush creep its way onto my face.

     "I-thanks." I breathed.

     We wasted away the rest of that snowy day exchanging stories from our childhood. All sorts of memories. I told him about how one time I was on a camping trip and a snake managed tog et into my sleeping bag. It was just a garter snake, but I was only seven, and it scared the crap out of me. I'd woken up my camp and three others around us with our screaming. Ever since that day, I've always been afraid of snakes. 

     Josh laughed at that story. I liked his laugh. It was quiet, but still cheerful, and he did this little thing where he stuck his tongue ever so slightly in between his teeth. I don't think he even realized he was doing it, but it was cute.

     He stayed another night at my house. It was only three days until Christmas, and two days until the snow plow came. It looked like Josh would be spending Christmas Eve with us. 

     It snowed even more that night. Jay woke up the whole house the next morning with his excited screaming when he saw how much snow there was. At that point, we had maybe three feet. It was piling up real high. 

Josh's P.O.V:

     I'm telling him tomorrow.

||A/N: For anyone who didn't get that last part, Josh meant he's telling Ty that he like likes him tomorrow. I'm super excited to write that, but I'm going to a family reunion in a different state, so I can't publish for a few days. Hang in there until I get back, okay frens? By the way, all credit to the song Tyler sang for Joshler goes to Tyler Joseph, it's by him and you can check it out from his solo album, No Phun Intended.||