silence {joshler fanfic}

and now i just sit in silence

tyler hated it when people tried to talk to him, he really did.

so it was only natural when the new kid tried to talk to him, that he pretended he was deaf. tyler was quite good at it, actually, and could get away with it until people he knew started to give him looks.

"hi! im josh! whats your name?"

he didnt respond until the boy tapped his shoulder lightly. turning around to look at him. tyler wished he was deaf, then he wouldnt have to talk to him.

"h-hello...?"

tyler immediately felt awful, and turned around to face josh more fully. the sad, puppy dog look in his eyes made tyler feel extremely guilty for pretending.

damn his eyes are cute though

tyler tried to mouth im sorry to the boy but he couldnt tell what he was saying, so he turned around to look for a piece of paper.

he finally found one, wrote on it, and handed it to josh.

"sorry, i dont talk, im selectively mute"

josh's eyes widened with a mixture of awe and embarrassment. why didnt he think of that before?

tyler reached over and wrote on the paper again. "my names tyler, nice to meet you josh :)"

he couldnt help but notice the faint blush on the yellow-haired boys face as he read the scratchy handwriting. josh looked up and smiled at tyler, saying "thanks! hey, i know we just met, but-um i-i mean would you wanna... maybe come over after school today?"

tyler nodded and gave a thumbs up, but inside, his head was running a million miles a minute. what was he supposed to do? what happened if it was awkward?

oh god he could feel the voices coming back for the hundredth time that day, even though he was only in homeroom. he swiftly snatched the paper back from josh and scribbled one last question on it.

"hey, might be awkward bwt do uou have a piamo?" the writing was sloppy and hastily written, but piano was the one thing that could calm tyler down, besides singing, and there was absolutely no way of that ever happening in front of people. ever.

josh's face was confused for a second, but then he must have picked up on tylers shallow, ragged breathing and realized that much like himself, tyler had anxiety.

"actually, yes i do, you can play it when you come over if you want"

tylers shoulders immediately relaxed and found it was much easier to breathe once again. now at least if he had a panic attack he could save himself.

----------

josh noticed the signs of anxiety all too quickly. tylers short, shallow breaths and how tense he looked gave it away almost immediately.

the second tyler heard that there was a piano, he completely calmed down.

just like my drums... josh thought.

"what class do you have next ty?"

home ec :/ tyler wrote unhappily. he hated home economics, as most of it was participation or talking, and, well he wasnt very good at either of those.

"oh sweet! i can walk with you then!"

josh's smile was contagious, and within seconds tyler felt himself grinning as well. he hasnt smiled in quite some time, actually. that might be the reason people were giving him looks.

then, the bell rings and tyler was shaken out of his thoughts

"c'mon ty! lets go slowpoke!"