When All The Darkness Fades Away {Joshler}

THREE

Tyler showed up at Josh's doorstep the next night, for some strange reason. It was after plenty of outfit changing and mind changing; he actually went back into his house after walking out the door, then went back out, then went back in, and finally decided fuck it, and just went.

Josh was the one who opened the door with a cheery grin and loud noises behind him.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said, gesturing to inside the house. Then he grinned a bit. "Parents are out, so. Some people are already drunk."

Tyler didn't like the thought of a lot of people he didn't know. But he figured as long as he got drunk enough it wouldn't matter anyway. He was no stranger to alcohol, that's for sure. While he didn't drink like most of kids at his school probably did, Tyler would steal his parents' whiskey and vodka and once in a while. He used alcohol as how he used a lot of other things- as a distraction.

So as Josh let him into the house and was shown to the kitchen where the drinks were stashed, and Tyler was grateful that Josh had provided him with a distraction; one he was going to take full advantage of.

-----

Tyler couldn't focus.

The alcohol was swimming through his brain, crowding his thoughts and making everything foggy. He was laughing at something, he couldn't actually remember but he knew it was funny.

"I am sooooo drunk," Ryan Ross crowed in his ear, basically falling into his lap and laughing when he knocked something over. "But you're so nice, too."

Tyler giggled, skin feeling hot from the alcohol. Ryan was very nice. He was short and had brown hair and wore eyeliner, and gosh everyone here was nice.

Ryan stumbled over somewhere, and that's when Tyler found himself face to face with another person. Her name was Ash, and her red and black hair was brushing against his skin.

"You have a nice nose," she whispered, words slurring. "I want to draw your nose."

"Mmmm," Tyler giggled. "You should."

Ash bit her lip. "You're the only one here I haven't kissed yet. We should change that."

Tyler wasn't even sure he knew what was going on. But he nodded along eagerly, and that's how he found himself locking lips with Ash Costello, the infamous sexy goth girl from his graphic designs class.

"You kisssed me," Tyler laughed once he pulled away. "It was nice."

"Yeah?" Ash was sorta swaying back and forth. "Wanna do it again?"

Tyler just leaning in again, but as soon as they touched lips he was knocked over by some brown haired force.

There was another obnoxious eruption of giggles, and Tyler found himself on the floor of the hallway with Ryan Ross on top of him.

"You're pretty," he whispered in Tyler's ear. "Not as pretty as Brendon, though."

Tyler thought this was hilarious for some reason. "Mmmmmm nooope," he slurred, giggling all the while. "I"m not pretty."

Ryan buried his face in Tyler's neck and laughed.

"Speakin' of pretty," Tyler whispered, "Where's Joshie?"

Ryan started to kiss Tyler's collarbone, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. It felt nice, he guessed. Kinda tickled. "I think he's cleaning up after whoever threw up in the kitchen," Ryan replied, over exaggerating his words. "But I don't care about that. Nope! I wanna kiss you."

"Really?" Tyler giggled.

"Yup," Ryan nodded. "You can be Brendon. I can be Ryan."

Tyler thought this through. "Wait, how is that-"

But he didn't get another word in, because Ryan had planted his lips on his.

Tyler had never kissed a boy before, but he quickly decided that he liked it. While wet and tasting of vodka, Ryan's lips were soft and moved swiftly against his own. They were still laying in the hallway, but Tyler barely even noticed anything around him. He was very sleepy, and while kissing Ryan was nice and all, he was tired.

Eventually, as Ash tripped over the two of them to make it into the bathroom so she could puke her guts out, Ryan pulled away from sucking a hickey on Tyler's neck to say, "You're so nice and you're a nice kisser. I'd totttallly date you if I wasn't in love with Beebo."

Tyler was confused, but he didn't say anything. He didn't even know who the fuck Beebo was, but after that they just laid on their back and stared up at the ceiling.

After a while, Tyler noticed a cloud of purple float over his head.  Wait- no, that was-

Josh peered at him, eyebrows furrowed. "You okay?" He asked.

Tyler nodded slowly, smiling a bit. "Fine and dandy."

"Well." Josh looked around. "Everyone's either passed out or gone. Wanna stay the night?"

"Where's Ryan?" he asked, confused. He hadn't notice the boy leave.

"Sleeping on the couch. Damn, you're really drunk, my friend."

Tyler turned his head to the side, sighing dramatically. "Everyone always leaves. I'm always so damn alone."

Josh looked rather concerned, sitting down by his side. "You sure you're okay?"

"No," Tyler whispered, suddenly feeling very sad. "I'm never okay. And no one notices."

Josh obviously wasn't expecting a heart to heart with a drunk mostly stranger at 2 am, but he scooted closer and patted Tyler's shoulder. "I'm noticing, buddy. We may not know each other that well, but you can always talk to me."

A tear rolled down Tyler's face, and he wasn't even sure why. "No one cares."

"I care."

Tyler didn't reply, so Josh grabbed his arms and hauled Tyler up to his feet. "Come on, let's get you to an actual bed. You'll feel better tomorrow."

He didn't protest, just let Josh drag him to a bedroom and lead him to the bed. He curled up on the soft mattress as Josh gently put a blanket over him.

"I'll see you in the morning, bud," Josh said, patting Tyler's shoulder once again. "I'll be on the floor if you need me."

Tyler tried to nod or say thank you, but he was too tired. He found it funny that even totally wasted and wouldn't even be able to remember this is the morning, he still wanted to die.