STRANGERS » JOSHLER

s e v e n t e e n

 hello im not dead.

so today one of the students passed away in an accident (rip m8) and the school declared a holiday so heres the chapter i spent three hours on

(i know im acting like its no big deal that someone fuckin died but i didnt know her personally so idk how to react ok ok)

this is kind of a boring bUT kinda important so uM ye enjoy

!! unedited !!

***

"Oh, hello there, sweetheart."

Josh's eyebrows draw together when he notices a guy, probably the same age as him, staring at him intently, pink lips curled into a smirk. 

"I'm sorry, can I help you?" Josh questions. The unknown guy laughs, one of his pale hands reaching out to brush some of his dark hair out of his hazel eyes. They were pretty, but they nowhere as gorgeous as Tyler's. 

"Oh, I'm sure you can, babe." He winks and Josh cringes at the name. "In a lot of ways." 

"Well, if you're here for flirting, I suggest you fuck off because I'm taken." Josh says in a firm voice, adding a sweet smile at the end. The man blinks a couple of times before raising his hands up in surrender. 

"Dude, chill, I was just kidding." He says, and leans back in the booth, a soft sigh escaping his lips. "I'm just really, really bored." 

"And uh, what does that have to do anything with me?"

"You look interesting with that bright hair of yours." He says, eyes travelling to the red mop of hair on his head, "Actually, you're the only interesting person here." He looks at the men a few tables away and Josh nods. 

"What are you even doing here, in the middle of nowhere?" 

"The same thing you are." 

"I'm on a date." 

"In the middle of where?" 

"Well, my boyfriend is kinda adventurous." Josh shrugs, casually raising the glass to take a sip of water. 

The man snickers under his breath. "Oh, I'm sure he loves exploring."   

Josh is surprised he doesn't choke, after all, he always does, but guess it's only when it's Tyler huh. His eyes narrow at the stranger, "Excuse me?" 

"Alright, I'll explain." He runs a hand through his dark hair, "My brother kind of crashed his- okay, our car on his date and I, being the great little brother I am, took the blame, so Ma's kinda mad at me." 

"You took the blame for your older brother?" Josh asks, "Isn't it supposed to be, I don't know, the other way round?" 

"Aiden's reckless as fuck." He says shaking his head, before his eyebrows raise, "Wouldn't you do it if it was you?" Josh opens his mouth, only to close it again. 

You wouldn't. You're a coward. Always have been. Josh's gaze drops to his lap, "Um, I guess so." 

"You don't know the things I've done for my siblings." He shakes his head, "About a year ago, I legit spent an hour on youtube learning how to . . do that thing with the hair," He does weird gestures with his hand, making Josh giggle, "uh, braiding I think it's called? So um, yeah, all that because my seven-year-old little sister had one of those girly parties to go to." 

"Thank god I didn't have to go through the same with Ash." Josh laughs. 

"So you have siblings too?" 

"Yeah, a brother and a sister. I'm the oldest." Josh replies hurriedly, "So Katherine is your mother?" 

The man doesn't notice the sudden change in subject, easily going along with the flow, "Yeah." He says, "Oh, and the name's Adrian, by the way."

"That's a cool name. I'm Josh." He flashes a smile at Adrian, "So Aiden is your 'reckless' brother, I guess?"

"Yeah. Where's your boyfriend, anyway?"

"Oh, he went to use the washroom." Josh looks around, realizing it'd been more than ten minutes he'd gone. Where is he?

"Long drives, huh?" Adrian mutters, "I'd kill for a boyfriend like that."

Josh doesn't know how to respond, so he just chuckles. "Mm-hm. Tyler's . . really nice."

Adrian's ears perk up at the name, "Tyler?"

"Yeah . . ?" Josh studies how his eyebrows pinch together, "Is everything alright?"

"Oh? Yeah. It's just, the name sounds familiar." He chews on his bottom lip before chuckling, "Who am I kidding, it's such a common name."

"I guess so." Josh looks away, a small smile on his lips, "But he's one of a kind."

"Dude, you're whipped." Adrian chuckles.

Josh covers his face with his hands as his cheeks dust pink, Adrian's laughs getting louder.

"Ugh, stop." Josh whines.

"Alright, alright." Adrian forces out between chuckles, wiping a stray tear away. It is only then his eyes fall on the polaroid on the corner of the table. "Is that yours?"

Josh follows his gaze, "The camera? Yeah."

He grabs it and brings the lens up to his eyes, and before Josh can comprehend what is happening, there's a click sound and a photo pops out.

"Hey!"

Adrian simply ignores him, fanning his face with the photo. "Oh god, you look ugly." His face scrunches up in mock disgust as his eyes scan the photo and Josh rolls his eyes.

"I couldn't care less." He huffs, "Gimme it."

"Um, no."

Josh gives him a look. "Give it to me!"

"I won't give it to you!" Adrian replies back in an exaggerated girly voice.

"I'm asking for the last time, Adri. Give. It. To. Me."

"Nicknames? Cute."

"Alright, that's it. I asked nicely." Josh mutters before lunging forward. Adrian's eyes widen in surprise and he jerks back, the photo slipping from his fingers. It flies in the direction of Josh and his lips curl into a victorious grin, hand reaching out for it.

His fingers briefly graze over the smooth surface and a curse escapes his lips when it flies past him. He turns around to get it before Adrian can, but another hand beats him to it.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?"

***

mmhm u know whats next dontcha ;)))

second update in a few hours !!!