The song had fit perfectly. After a bit (actually a lot) of coxing from Joshua, Tyler had finally suggested to Ryan that Sign of the Times was the best choice.
"Fine," Ryan hesitantly agreed, crossing his arms. "but Tyler, next time, just say it straight out. I don't bite."
"Yes he does." Brendon had came up and slung his arm around the shorter brunette's shoulder, laying a wet, messy kiss on his cheek. Ryan rubbed off the slobber with his shoulder grimacing while Brendon guffawed. Tyler laughed along with the couple, feeling slightly jealous. Why couldn't he and Josh have that kind of relationship? Why couldn't they be so comfortable around each other in public and kiss sloppily and hold each other close like Brendon and Ryan?
When the brunette found his way to dance class, he was surprised to see a sign on the door that read;
Class Cancelled.
No explanation, no nothing. Tyler raised a suspicious eyebrow before hesitantly walking away from the door and back to the main entrance of the school.
"Ty!" Melanie was walking toward him as he entered into the sunny lobby. "Pretty crazy that we don't have class today, huh? I wonder where that hunk of a teacher is, y'know?"
Tyler was going to interrupt, but the girl continued to speak. "Some of us are trying to decode him. Like, figure out his whole life, his back story. Dodie was saying that maybe he was a mob boss drug dealer type with a soft spot for pointe shoes. I don't think it's that extreme, but there's definitely some skeletons in that man's closet, y'know?"
Taken aback, the brunette only shrugged and laughed uncomfortably. He knew the skeleton in Joshua's closet, it was him.
"Anyway, do want to grab something to eat? I was gonna grab a burger."
"Um, I can't. I gotta go..."
"Practice? I gotcha. Well, I'll catch you later," Melanie walked passed him before turning around yelling, "say 'hey' to Ryan for me!"
Tyler waved awkwardly as he watched the electric girl strut out of the door, her multi-colored curls bouncing excessively behind her. The brunette texted Joshua, asking him where he could possibly be without "the love of his life". The message delivered, but hadn't been read. He sighed, but decided not to let the mystery of his boyfriend's sudden disappearance ruin his equally surprise early dismissal.
Dragging his bag around with him, the brunette found his way into the on-campus Starbucks. He set down his things at a table in the corner and ordered himself a hot chocolate (coffee made his stomach ache for days). For the length of the dance class he would've had, Tyler finished two (what he considered to be) very important essays and half of another one that didn't need to be done for a few more weeks. He rolled his shoulders, satisfied with all the work he had accomplished in that short period of time.
Deserving of a break, Tyler ordered another hot chocolate and checked his phone. Still nothing from Josh. He hadn't even read the message.
His phone probably died.
He didn't try calling home because he didn't want to seem too clingy or too desperate. Instead, the brunette walked back over to his personalized corner and continued his working on his assignment.
;
In the middle of his Netflix original documentary, a message from Josh popped up in the corner of Tyler's screen. The brunette watched as the text vanished after being ignored. He watched the documentary for maybe 30 more seconds before finally giving in and reading the text message.
JOSH: sorry abt that - had to run some v important errands. home now tho ;)
The brunette replied with a simple, "ok omw now" before sitting back in the wooden chair. Important errands? What did that even mean? What was so important that he had to cancel class to get?
As Tyler started to pack up his laptop, he received another strange message from a certain pink haired man.
JOSH: i'll come pick u up
TYLER: josh i'm literally @ the starbucks on campus i can walk home???
JOSH: nonsense i don't want my babyboy walking home all alone :((
TYLER: fine but hurry up i've been here all day the smell of coffee beans is starting to mess w/ my head
JOSH: be there in a flash!
Though it was cute, it was still suspicious. Tyler had, most definitely, always walked home, no matter what time of day it was. That was just apart of his personality, his wanderlust.
The brunette sat on the bench outside the Starbucks for a good 20 minutes. He could've been home by then, and Josh still hadn't arrived.
But finally, the car pulled up to the curb, and the pink haired man rolled down the window as Tyler hastily walked to the passenger side.
"Hey, I'm sorry-" Josh started, but Tyler was already making his way around the car before he could finish his excuse.
Once it again, the car ride was quiet. The pink haired man shifted in his seat before turning up the radio. As soon as he removed his hand from the knob, Tyler reached over and turned the volume all the way down.
"I'm sorry..." Joshua's sentence was left unfinished. The brunette rolled his window down and stuck his head out, the wind deafening him from the ugly lies he knew were spewing from his partner's lips.
He wanted to shout at him. He wanted to spit in his face and ask him why he felt the need to lie, why he felt the need to keep secrets.
We're already lying to the world, to ourselves. Why do we have to lie to each other? I love you, Josh. Why are you lying to me?
At home, the two didn't even try to say a word to each other, and it was killing Josh. He wanted to tell Tyler, but a promise was a promise.
He tried to show the brunette his reasoning instead of telling him. When Tyler was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, the pink haired man cautiously walked in and placed a gentle hand on top of his. They made eye contact via the mirror, and the response Joshua received from Tyler was so bitter and cold. The brunette spit the foam into the sink and then abruptly removed his hand from underneath the other man's. He glared at him as he walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.
They slept back to back that night.
a/n
kissing girls in front of their boyfriends is fun.
x- madison
YOU ARE READING
ballerina // jøshler
Fanfiction"Plié, goddamnit, plié!" where tyler is a freshman ballerina in a prestigious arts school and josh is a mean teacher with a soft spot for the fragile boy.
