Gay/ Joshler

19.

Josh's pov
"To me, Josh! Here!" Pete shouts to me whilst frantically waving his arms at me. I carelessly toss him the ball. We're out on the field practicing for final game coming soon. I look out to the bleachers to see Brendon talking to a blonde hair girl, Jenna. Tyler's at her side, as usual. Brendon tiptoes up to the bleachers to peck Jenna before hurrying over.

"Wake up" Brendon alerts me with a ball to the chest. I take it and we start to throw the ball between us. "How's Tyler?" I abruptly ask. Brendon subtly shrugs. "Shaken up". Why is he so blunt?

I look around the team. I notice it's a smaller team than usual. I flick through the register and I see a huge red line straight through "Dallon Weekes". "Uh, Bren, whats with the line?" He strolls over slowly with a clenched jaw. "Don't you know? He's been excluded. Kicked off the team and lost the chance of a scholarship" my jaw drops. "Is that cause of..." I signal to Tyler and Brendon nods with a long sigh. "I hate that kids guts, never liked him" I agree with a laugh. "Wait till I see him" he adds. I wince. I can't help but feel full of regret. I could've stopped this! If I had pulled Dal away or dragged Tyler out of that situation he'd be fine. "You good?" Brendon interrupts my thought and nudges my shoulder. "No".

Tyler's pov:
Beyond my shoes (that are kicked up on the seats in front of us) I see one of the boys run over. "Jen, Brendon's coming up here" I tap her leg. "...that's not Brendon. That's Josh.." I glare at her then at Josh. What does he want? I grab my glasses and rushingly push them up my nose to hide my eyes. I bring my feet down off the seats then I shift towards Jenna. Please don't talk to me.

"Tyler! Oh my god- I heard what happened..." the atmosphere suddenly is quiet. But, he does seem concerned for me. I turn in my seat and I look up at him. He's wearing his football kit, his shirt is stuck to his chest from his sweat. He notices me looking him up and down and takes of his helmet, "uh, sorry" he nervously giggles out. He pulls down a seat and takes it. Jenna pokes my thigh to signal she's gonna leave us be. She walks down the bleacher and takes a seat on the benches. "Word gets around fast" I chuckle out. "I suppose you've seen the video?" I ask. Most people have, "There's a video?!" His eyes widen. "That's how,erm-" I hesitate and look around me before speaking, "That's how Dallon's friend got excluded" I cough out eventually.

"I was there"

No way. I cringe and I bury my head into my hands. "How embarrassing" I whisper. Josh has seen me get beaten up. Just what I need.

A moment of silence hangs in the air, again. "I wish I stopped him". My eyes shoot to him and I stare at him. He looks so embarrassed since I see his cheeks flush red. His fingers rake through his hair -which he's dyed- and squints his eyes. "Y'know, I do care about you. If I could go back, I would've stopped him" I'm still gawping at him baffled. Does he mean this?

"I'm sorry" he mutters and grabs his helmet. "Wait-" I blurt out. He sits back down. "Don't be, I really need to watch what I say" I swallow my pride, I'm never admitting I'm wrong again. He grins subtly, "let's walk and talk" he suggests.

Josh's pov:
I skip down the bleachers and hear his footsteps tap behind me. We walk to the changing room so I can fetch my drink and clean myself up a little. "Dallon has been kicked off the team" I say and I hear Tyler's voice mumble behind me. I turn and he's still at the door frame, holding his hands tightly. "You can come in, no one else is here" I laugh at him. His face flushes red and he cracks a small smile.

"Do you know why Brendon is snappy?" Tyler squeaks. I rummage through my bag and I shrug, "He's been like it with me today, too" I pull out my drink and take a sip of it. "I think it's cause' of Dal. He seemed mad when we was talking about him" Tyler looks up and comprehends, "Ah, makes sense". "Dallon needs to stay out the way of both me and Brendon" I scoff. He says nothing.

"What's up with the glasses? We're indoors" I chortle to lighten the mood. He stutters amongst himself almost immediately, "I-uh-hot outside, right?" I look to him unsure. "Haven't you been wearing those for the last week?" "Haven't you been wearing that jacket for the last week?" He points to the shitty jock jacket. "Don't change the subject, take them off!", "no, Josh I can't" he cowers in a pleading tone. Now I'm suspicious. "Come here-" I lean across him and I take his shades off. His eyes are dark, blood shot and dull.

"Ty-" "I know. It's bad. Wanna say something about it?" He stares at me waiting for an answer. "Yes. Let's get you cleaned up" I grab his wrist and I pull him through to the coaches office. Coach is out, so it's free. "Sit on the side" I order him whilst I rummage through his cupboards. I pull out a bruising cream and some eye drops and I walk over to him, his eyes scanning what I have in my hands.

"Tilt your head back, this shouldn't sting" I slowly drop the drops in his eyes to take away the redness. He furrows his brows and his hands clench the edge of the side so I pass him a paper towel. "Is it just your eyes that are bruised?" He checks his arms and nods. "Mkay, close your eyes" he does so and I gently apply the cream under his eyes, "done" I chirp. We leave the room and we head back out to the field. Tyler slips his shades in his shirt instead of wearing them. I walk him over to the bleachers before heading back onto the field.

Tyler's pov:
That night he text me explaining everything. It was a huge change, a nice change, of course. To talk to someone you haven't in a long time and still have it feel the same is nice.

He was saying how he found out he has official Japanese heritage, and taught me the first ten numbers "Okay okay, repeat after me: ichi, ni, san", "itchy knee son".

We laughed for hours because we sounded so silly, like anime characters.

He is trying, but he has alot to prove to me.