calm down // josh dun

t h i r t e e n

--Josh's P.O.V--

"I hate to say this, but maybe you should listen to Parker and stay away from me," I said. "We both know that he is capable of getting you kicked out of the boys' locker room and I don't want that to happen just because I'm hanging out with you."

I threw my backpack on the ground next to Declan's bed before plopping myself down onto his comforter with a sigh of relief.

Declan rolled his eyes. "Screw Parker, Josh. He won't do it." The younger boy slipped his bag off of his shoulders before taking a seat at his desk. "If he actually tries to get me to switch locker rooms, I'll threaten to quit the hockey team and he knows that. Parker Axton can't afford to lose me as a player. It would kill him. He doesn't have enough courage to do it, I promise you."

"So that means that you're going to act like the situation in the locker room never happened?"

I already knew his answer before he spoke. "Pretty much. It really wasn't a big deal."

"Wasn't a big deal, really? Parker threatened you, Declan. At least tell the guidance counselor or something. Get him in trouble. He deserves some kind of punishment."

"And lose our hockey captain. No thank you."

"Do you guys only care about hockey? I swear, I can't believe I moved to a school where everyone is obsessed with hockey. My last school was obsessed with basketball, but not to the point where Oakville is with hockey."

Declan scoffed. "Hockey's so much cooler than basketball. Where did you used to go to school at anyway?"

He wanted the subject to be changed. That was clear. "It was called Ash High School. It's maybe an hour or two away from here," I responded.

"Why did you have to move here?"

I scratched the back of my head. "Uh, my parents got divorced, so my mom got custody of me and we moved here."

"Do you ever get to see your dad?" Declan asked. I knew the boy didn't want to make me uncomfortable, but the topic of my parents tended to always make me sad.

"Not really, no," I responded with shrug.

Declan noticed how short my response was and we ended up falling into silence. The silence wasn't awkward. It was actually very comfortable. We were just enjoying each other's presence; however, my mind drifted back to the scene I witnessed between Parker and Declan in the locker room.

When Parker mentioned his parents, Declan automatically became angry and defensive. I couldn't help, but wonder where his parents were now and why he actually he didn't live with them. I knew that the mother figure he had now wasn't truly his mother only because Jenna told me a few weeks ago.

I knew that I probably shouldn't ask Declan about his parents, but I was curious. I wanted him to open up to me and I wanted him to realize that he could talk to me about anything.

I took a deep breath. "What about your parents? Why aren't you living with them?"

Declan's body stiffened slightly and I feared that he would kick me out of his house. A few seconds later, he sighed. "My actual parents weren't very good in the parenting department. Well, they were until I started questioning my gender then they became different people. They became people I didn't recognize. I had always known my parents as loving and caring people that would support me through anything in life, but when I revealed to them that I was a boy and wanted to get rid of the name Taylor, they freaked out."

"They told me that I shouldn't say things like that because that wasn't normal. I wasn't acting normal in their eyes and they didn't like it, so just pretended that I never told them anything like that. I figured that they just needed time to process things, so about a few months later I approached them once again and asked them to call me Declan. Long story short, they disowned me. They kicked me out of my own home when I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"What did you do?"

"I didn't know what to do at first. I just couldn't believe that my parents who raised me from birth didn't want me just because I wasn't their precious little Taylor anymore. I pretty much just walked around town, trying to think of what to do. I had a little money saved up that I took from my room when I left, but it was only enough for a couple of nights in a hotel. Once that money ran out, I remembered a lady that used to work at the public library. She was always nice to me and she actually was the first person I came out to, believe it or not."

"It was by accident of course, but she was absolutely fine with it. I thought that maybe I could go talk to her and see if she knew of anywhere I could stay. She was shocked when she found out that my parents kicked me out, so instead of suggesting a place to go, she took me in as one of her own. I will forever be grateful for her."

"Where is she now?" I asked as I rested my head against one of Declan's pillows that was lying on his bed.

"Downstairs," Declan responded, a smile on his face. "She adopted me."

Declan Gray has had his fair share of tragedies in his lifetime, but he ended up having a much better life than most people in his situation. I still wished that his parents would have been more understanding, but who knows? If they had been, I may have never met him.

He moved over to sit next to me. "So I heard that you have this big journalism project due tomorrow?"

I moved to get myself into a sitting position. "Yeah, I do. I already have it finished and everything. It's even going into the school newspaper if it's good enough."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Josh. You're a fantastic writer. Are you allowed to tell me what you wrote about?"

I shook my head with a smile. "I'm allowed to tell you, but that doesn't mean I'm going to do so. It's a secret."

"Why is it a secret? Come on, tell me, please."

"Nope. You will have to wait like everyone else."

Declan rolled his eyes. "I hate you so much sometimes, Josh."

"You such a liar. You have to admit that when you finally let me into your life, everything became brighter, the stars aligned, the birds started singing." Declan punched me in the arm, causing me to groan. "Please, shut up."

"And your way to shut me up is to punch me in the arm?"

"I could have shut you up another way."

I scoffed. "And what way would that be?"

Before I could even comprehend what was happening, Declan grabbed my face and pressed his lips against mine. It was a short kiss because I was in too much shock to get myself to kiss the boy back. He broke away from me and his expression gave away the fact that he was scared; scared of how I was going to react.

He quickly climbed off his bed, running his hands through his hair. "Uh, um, I almost forgot that my mom and I have to go to a doctor's appointment soon. Um, you should go home."

I didn't know how to react to his change in behavior. "Declan, I-"

The boy let out a frustrated sigh before throwing the hoodie that he had in his hand back onto the floor. "Leave Josh, please."

I knew that there was no way I could reason with Declan Gray when he was like this, so I did as he asked. I threw my backpack back onto my shoulders and gave the boy one last glance as I reached his bedroom door.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"

He didn't respond.

A/N: This is just a filler chapter, but everything picks up after this and contributes to the ending .

-L.A