Tyler flinched away as josh brushed his thumb over the bruise on his cheek. Josh pulled his hand away, "sorry....did that guy do that to you?"
Tyler shrugged as he took a bite of his hamburger, "why does it matter?"
Josh raised his eyebrows, "Tyler, if he did this to you, that's abuse. If he's abusing you, you need to tell me."
Tyler sighed. "Jesus, he didn't hit me. Nate may be a jackass, but he wouldn't hurt me," Tyler lied.
Josh wasn't buying it and he crossed his arms, "then what happened?"
Tyler rolled his eyes, "I was practicing shooting some hoops. The ball hit the rim and hit me in the face. No big deal, now back off, mom."
Josh let out a sigh, "promise me that's what happened?"
Tyler let out a groan, "oh my god, yes, Josh." Tyler felt kind of bad for lying, but he didn't want anyone to find out about his home life.
Josh smiled, "thank you, I just care for you, Tyler. Your my friend."
Tyler smiled, "it's ok, josh. I understand that you wanna look out for me, but I can handle myself." Josh smiled. The rest of the group came up and sat down at the table.
Brendon smiled, "hey, lovebirds."
Tyler blushed, "oh, w-were not-were not a thing."
Dallon snorted, "mhm, ok."
Josh rolled his eyes, "shut up, guys."
Pete grinned, "I bet it's gonna happen."
Dallon smirked, "ten bucks. If they get together, I'll give you ten bucks, if they don't you give me ten bucks."
Pete shook his hand, "deal."
Josh raised his eyebrows, "did you guys seriously bet on us?"
Pete grinned, "oh come on, Joshie, you know us."
Josh rolled his eyes, "don't call me that."
Tyler smiled, "joshie?"
Tyler let out a laugh and Brendon gasped, "whoah, I think that was the first time I heard you laugh. Or really even smile."
Tyler quickly shut his mouth and blushed deeply. Josh scowled, "come on, dude." Brendon threw his hands up, "what?! I never said it was bad. I was just saying it's adorable!" Tyler's lips twitched into a small smile.
Patrick smiled, "that's more like it."
Ryan grinned, "damn, josh, your really opening up the kid."
🌹🌹🌹
Tyler smiled when he spotted Josh's leaning against his locker. Tyler rolled his eyes, "don't you get out of school right now?"
Josh's shrugged, "ya, just wanted to say, bye."
Tyler snorted, "bye."
Josh chuckled, "hey, do you mind if I get your number? So we can talk outside of school and stuff."
Tyler nodded, "ya, hold on." Tyler reached into his bag and pulled out a pen. He grabbed Josh's arm and wrote his number on it.
Josh's let out a laugh, "y'know you could've used a paper?"
Tyler smiled widely, "but then that wouldn't be very cliché, would it?"
