rum - joshler/tysh

prologue

WHAT'S THE USE OF FEELING BLUE?

BY NOW, josh was numb to the pain. he was numb to the thoughts and anxiety wasn't running rampant. his fingers seemed softer on tyler's hands and he hummed some jaunty tune. tyler quickly noticed it as being the melody of the song josh was playing in marching band during the pep rally--baywood march. it was a normal thing for the anxiety ridden band kid to do. he had to keep some happy thought around to dull the pounding thoughts in his head.

"i'm sorry i dragged you into this," josh said airily. "i couldn't let them hurt us anymore, life came at too high a cost for me to sit around. i...i only tried to scare them, i promise." by this time, josh was sobbing uncontrollably into the blanket he grabbed from his house. he pulled his hand away from tyler's to rub his eyes.

"it's okay, baby," tyler grabbed his hand again, running his calloused thumb over the top as her steered the car. "you didn't mean to do it and i understand. we're going to live happily ever after--maybe dye our hair or something. you've always wanted to do that, right joshie?"

josh nodded, swallowing thickly and rubbing his eyes with his other hand. "y-yeah. do-d-do you mind if we...uh... pull over so i could pull these damn pants off?"

"language," tyler reminded him, pulling over to the side of the highway. josh took the time to shimmy out of the dress pants that went with his ruined prom tux, reaching into the back to grab sweatpants. he put them on, unbuttoning his red-stained shirt and throwing it in the back. he pulled on a t-shirt and got back into the car.

tyler had watching him change the entire time, his eyes always wandering to the bruises and discoloration of his love's skin. he didn't let that deter him, however, it made him a love him even more. the duo pulled back on to the road, ready to continue their journey to new york.