the run and go // joshler

Chapter 10

Tyler was just about ready to throw Halsey's phone out the window. His ears were throbbing because of how loud it was. After listening to the whole Blue Neighbourhood album, he thought the torture was finally over. Once Suburbia ended, he exhaled a sigh of relief. The moment didn't last long, though. Too Good started playing. She has the deluxe album, dammit. Even Josh, who didn't seem to mind it at first, was now rubbing his temples, his head throbbing from the noise.

"Hals, I think you should turn down the music," whispered Taylor. "It's getting late and some of us might want to sleep."

Halsey scoffed. "Just lemme listen to Blue after this, then I'll turn my phone off." She turned to face Melanie, who was leaning against the windowsill, sleeping. "See, it's not that loud. If Mel can sleep through it you can too."

Tyler picked at a thread on his jeans, then looked up at Josh angrily. Why did he think this would be a good idea?

After Blue ended, Taylor made Halsey turn off the music. "We're done now. No more music." The girl with blue hair rolled her eyes, but cooperated.

Tyler was the first to fall asleep. Halsey was next. Melanie had awaken from her nap, and her and Taylor talked quietly for about half an hour before starting to doze off. By 10:30 Josh was the only one still awake. He pulled up to a truck stop and parked the car; he could barely keep his eyes open.

At 5:46 in the morning, the boy with bright yellow hair woke up. He wasted no time in starting the car and taking off. About two hours later, Halsey woke up.

"I have to piss," she said grumpily. "Where's the next rest stop?"

"75 miles away, but you should be able to hold it."

"Hold it? For over an hour?! Hell no, were pulling over and doing our business in the bushes." She pointed to the side of the road. "Stop right over there. It'll only take a minute."

Josh hesitantly obeyed and shook Tyler awake. "Babe, if you have to pee go out and get it done. We're not gonna stop again till lunch." Tyler nodded groggily, stepping out of the car. Taylor and Melanie followed, and when everyone was done, they got back on the road.

Tyler was considering another nap, but before he could even get comfortable, The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy started to play. He was not going to listen to the whole Save Rock and Roll album. The boy opened up his bag and found his earbuds.

"Here, you can use these," he said, throwing them into the back seat. Halsey just plugged them into her phone, not even acknowledging Tyler.

After a moment of silence, Taylor spoke up. "So, where are you two from?" she asked with a kind smile.

"Oh, just some small town in eastern Ohio. You've probably never heard of it," Josh answered. He couldn't tell her where they were really from, considering the fact that he'd just killed someone there.

"Melanie might've. She used to live around there. What's the name of it?"

Josh tried to think of one. "Um, Greenville," he said, remembering the road trip him and his family took about three years ago, where they stayed overnight in that small town.

Melanie gasped. "No way! That's where I was born! How long have you two lived there?"

"O-Oh... well, we don't live together, but we both just moved there about four months ago." Josh was terrible at telling lies, and his anxiety was building up in his chest. What would happen if they found out the truth? He didn't plan on being interrogated.

"Oh, well, how'd you two meet?" she asked pointing first at Josh, then at Tyler.

"We met at one of my sisters soccer games," said Josh quickly. "But enough about us, what brought you three down to Ohio?"

Taylor answered. "We drove to Cincinnati to see our friend from high school, Dan. But on the way back my piece of shit car broke down and we spent hours trying to hitch a ride."

"How was the visit?"

"Good. We met Dan's new boyfriend, Phil. They are such a cute couple," said Taylor, and with that Melanie nodded vigorously.

"I ship it so hard," said the quiet girl. "Wait- what would their ship name be?"

"Dil, or Phan. Phan sounds a lot better."

"Yeah, I ship Phan." Soon Taylor and Melanie were engrossed in a conversation, and Josh looked over at his boyfriend, who had been asleep ever since he gave Halsey his earbuds. He'd have to tell him his plan.

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"We'll be back in about twenty minutes," Taylor said as her and her two roommates got out of the car. The girls were getting McDonald's for lunch, but Tyler and Josh stayed behind, eating the food that Josh had brought along.

"Well, we have three apples, a bag of Doritos, and a half eaten package of Oreos," said Josh, looking in the bag.

"That's it?! That's all that we have to survive off of?!" Tyler asked frantically. "Why didn't you pack more food?"

"Don't worry, Ty. I have a plan," said Josh calmly. "Last night, after you fell asleep, Taylor and Melanie were talking, and Melanie's dad works as a businessman in New York. Tyler, she's loaded with money. If we can just take-"

"No," blurted Tyler. "No way. We're not going to steal that girl's money."

"But Tyler, it's our only chance. If we don't we might as well turn ourselves in. We only have ten dollars, and by the end of the day we'll be out of food. All we have to do is make excuses so they'll pay for our meals and gas, and find a way to steal Melanie's debit card without her noticing."

Josh was right. They had only just left Ohio and they had no money or food. Without those things they'd have no where to go except prison.

"J-Joshie, this just doesn't seem right. She didn't do anything. I might actually be okay stealing Halsey's money, but Melanie's...." He looked down at his hands. "I just don't know how I feel about this...."

Josh grabbed Tyler's hand. "It'll work, I promise."

Tyler nodded. "I love you, Josh."

"I love you, too."

A/N
I just want to say I know that Melanie (irl) wasn't born in Ohio, I just said that to thicken the plot/add suspense :)