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the school day passed with ease, and soon tyler found himself on the bus next to josh, discussing plans for his tattoo.
"wanna come over now? i have everything set up because i was planning on giving myself some tattoos today."
tyler thought about it for a moment before he shrugged. "yeah, why not. i'll tell my mom that i'm not gonna be home until later."
"i'll invite brendon over too! maybe you can help me convince him into letting me give him a tattoo," josh gasped, pulling his phone out to text his friend.
tyler enjoyed the sense of security he felt with josh and brendon, despite only knowing them for such a short amount of time. they didn't treat him any differently, which was something he was so used to. everyone's first thoughts when they saw the tubes in his nose was that he wasn't capable of doing "normal things". they thought he needed special treatment and help with everything he did. people offered to help with the most minimal things; walking up and down stairs, tying his shoes, ordering food at a restaurant, and plenty more. it was almost as if his tubes automatically made him unable to do everything else. he may not be able to breathe the best on his own, but he sure as hell could tie his own shoes.
neither brendon nor josh had even mentioned his condition in the slightest. it almost made tyler feel like he didn't even have it, like the tubes and oxygen tank were just a figment of his imagination. he felt like a normal teenager around them, and not one whose life was slowly ticking away.
tyler was caught off guard when josh was tugging him out of the seat and pulling him off of the bus, slowly jogging up to a sizable house that the bus let them off right in front of.
"welcome to la casa de dun." josh extended his arms, motioning them towards the house. josh lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods in town, and tyler felt slightly out of place as he walked through the front door and into the lavish front hall.
"josh, honey, is that you?" a woman called out, the sound of high heels clicking against the tile floor nearing them.
"hey mumsy," josh greeted as he threw his shoes off to the side. "this is tyler, he's new at school."
"it's wonderful to meet you, mrs. dun." tyler smiled, shaking the woman's hand.
"please, call me laura." she began to walk away, grabbing car keys and a small purse from a small table. "i'm off to work now, i'll see you boys later. there's some snacks in the kitchen if you get hungry!"
and with that she was out the door, leaving tyler and josh alone in the spacious house as they waited for brendon to arrive.
"i don't know about you but i'm starving," josh groaned and made his way to the kitchen, tyler following behind him. "i'm gonna make some pizza rolls, is that good with you?"
tyler nodded with a small 'mhm', sitting down at the island as josh preheated the oven and took the box of pizza rolls out of the freezer.
"so how're you liking it here?" josh asked, hopping up onto the counter as he swung his legs back and forth.
"so far, so good. you and brendon have been really welcoming which i appreciate, so thank you."
"of course! you didn't seem like an axe murderer or anything so i was happy to befriend you." josh jumped down from the counter as the preheat alert went off, sliding the pizza rolls in as he set the timer to the correct time. "so what tattoos were you thinking about getting?"
"i'm gonna be really angsty and get a little heart and maybe a quote or something."
"before i do anything, will your parents sue me? i don't need a lawsuit on my hands," josh chuckled, raising his eyebrows at tyler.
"they don't give a shit about what i do, as long as it's not putting me in danger. so no lawsuits for you," tyler assured and giggled a bit at the way josh was visibly relieved from his statement.
"where the fuck is brendon?" josh asked. he checked the time on his phone but perked up when the front door flew open and brendon came walking in.
"honey, i'm home!" he called out, skipping into the kitchen. "oh, hey tyler, i didn't know you would be here. is that pizza rolls i smell?"
"sure is!" josh exclaimed in a chipper tone. the timer went off and he was quick to take them out of the oven, turning it off once he was done.
"make sure you let them cool off before you-"
brendon was cut off by a loud 'fuck, that shit is hot!' and the quiet thud of a pizza roll hitting the floor. josh scrambled to pick it up but screeched and dropped it again when he realized it was still too hot.
"brendon, look at what you made me do!" josh motioned towards the stray pizza roll that lay on the floor.
"i didn't make you do anything! you weren't listening to me, you idiot!" brendon retorted with a big frown on his face.
"you made me waste a perfectly good pizza roll."
"does it look like i care?" brendon rolled his eyes and reached over, grabbing a handful of pizza rolls from the tray. he handed a few to tyler, which he graciously accepted, the two happily eating the snack as josh gawked at them.
"oh okay, i see how it is. no hard feelings, don't worry about me. i'll just go enjoy these pizza rolls on myself. don't have too much fun without me." josh shrugged, beginning to walk away before tyler grabbed his wrist to keep him in place.
"boo-hoo, you big baby," tyler teased and patted the stool next to him, telling josh to sit down.
"so," josh began, a smirk playing at his lips, "tattoos, huh?"
