Joshler Fluff

tissues

Josh hadn't intended to talk to anyone at school today.

He normally didn't. Transferring to a whole new high school in senior year was hard, painfully so. And with graduation looming closer and closer, making friends and forming connections seemed redundant to him. So much so that any social interaction was heavily avoided by the blue-haired boy.

So walking the hallways alone, a few hours after school, when all the loud smelly teenagers had gone home was nice and refreshing, wonderfully peaceful. Josh could shove his hands in his pockets and put in his earbuds and make his was slowly home, not bothering to worry about anything or anyone. The detachment was nice. Addictive, almost, like a drug. It wasn't the healthiest thing to do, and Josh knew it. But caring was a whole different story.

But even his earbuds couldn't drown out the sounds of angry words and thudding coming from around the corner. At first he brushed it off. It was probably just a stressed out teacher, nothing he should care about. But when the thumping only got louder, and the words became distinct enough for Josh to pick out the stream of vulgar insults, he slowed his pace, removing his earbuds and peeking around the corner.

The sight in front of him was ons that made Josh's heart skip a beat. Two large guys, both strongly built and with similar haircuts were pressing what appeared to be the scrawny figure of a smaller boy with close cropped dark hair and a horrendously bruised face. Josh's fingers tightened around his phone as me made out what one of the guys was saying.

"Look at me- breathe near me- one more time in the locker room, fuck it, anywhere, and you're dead, fag, understand?"

"Fucking perv." Was all the second boy said before delivering a solid right hook yo the boy's face. Josh winced, leaning forward slightly. He wanted to help, he knew he should. But be just couldn't get his feet to move, no matter how hard he tried. All he could see was the eventual ending of the situation if he intervened.

Him, bleeding, next to the beaten up boy.

Yeah...not pleasant.

But he still should help, even Josh, with all his emotional detachment, knew he should. He dithered for a moment, hopping from foot to foot. When the burly men finally released the boy, dropping him into a crumpled heap against the lockers and striding away, Josh made his move.

He sprinted into the bathroom ans grabbed a handful of tissues before running back, shoes skidding on the tiled floor as he made his way to the boy, who had stayed to pick himself up off the ground. Forcing back the rage that burned in his stomach directed at the two guys, Josh slowed his pace and drew up next to the boy.

"I- uh, brought you, um..."

He trailed off as the boy looked up. One eye was already swelling and there were a series of cuts around his forehead, nose and eyebrows. Blood was trickling down from a split lip, staining the end of his uniform shirt. He shot Josh a look that could only be described as murderous stormed off.

"Hey!" Josh called after him, hurrying as the boy turned into the bathroom. The heavy sound of running water cut off Josh's protests as he followed the beaten-up boy inside.

He stood there, shoulders hunched, splashing water onto his abused face. His eyes were squeezed shut and Josh could tell by the way his jaw was set that he was gritting his teeth, hard.

"Fuck off," the boy spat between splashes. The water running into the drain was still faintly pink, and Josh was still holding the tissues, standing rather awkwardly behind the apparently-surly boy. He shifted uncomfortably.

"I have tissues for you."

"I said fuck off." The boy grabbed a wad of paper towels and dabbled af his lip, back still facing Josh.

"Are you okay?" he tried again, knowing the question was already answered.

"Do you not understand English or something?" the boy snapped, spinning around. Now that Josh had an unobstructed view of his hard-set face, he could see old wounds ans scars, some fully healed, others only partially. This wasn't the first time, then.

"Leave me alone, jeez!"

"I wanna help." Josh said adamantly, standing his ground.

The boy just shook his head in disbelief and turned back to the mirror, wiping a trail of blood off his chin.

"Are you okay?" Josh repeated, stepping a bit closer so be was standing next to the boy at the other sink.

"Yeah, fantastic," he said bitingly. "My face says it all."

There was a long pause. Josh frowned, chest aching in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. More than anything, he just wanted to help the angry little bleeding boy who's hands were shaking, painfully so. He wanted to go outside and hunt those assholes down and kick them into oncoming traffic.

But he couldn't. And he couldn't help the boy now, it seemed. Tentatively, he reached out and was met with another wave of hostility.

"Don't touch me!" the boy snarled, shoving Josh's hands away. "Go away!"

"I just wanna help..." Josh responded, staring down at his shoes, a mixture of sadness and guilt burning in his stomach. "The paper towels hurt..."

The boy snorted. But he took the tissues this time.

"Thanks," he muttered after five minutes of pointed silence, tossing the bloodied tissues away. "You can go now."

"I want to make sure you're okay." Josh insisted, not moving from his position against the counter. The boy rolled his eyes and rubbed at his swelling eye, wincing visibly.

"Why the hell do you care?" he asked coldly. But he didn't leave.

Josh shrugged. "You didn't deserve that."

The boy grunted, folding his arms. He shot Josh a look, maybe just a fraction less hostile than before, and spoke.

"What's your name?"

"Josh," Josh responed. "You?"

"Tyler." he said after a moment. He paused to sigh deeply, passing a hand wearily over his face. "I'm...sorry I'm being a dick. This just...sucks."

His words wavered on the last line and Josh felt his heart clench. It only grew tighter as Tyler's chin trembled slightly, eyes shining. He turned away furiously, exhaling forcefully and swiping a hand across his eyes.

"Fuck, fuck this, I'm sorry." Tyler aimed a kick at the wall.

"It's not your fault," Josh murmured softly. He reached out again, expecting Tyler to swat him away.

But, to his amazement, Tyler stayed still as Josh gently wrapped an arm around his fragile figure. If anything, Josh could've sworn he leaned into the slight hug with a sigh.

And suddenly Josh knew he wasn't letting Tyler go anywhere without a decent meal and some antiseptic.

"You're coming to my house," he declared calmly, slowly steering Tyler towards the door.

"You don't have to," Tyler muttered, cheeks going slightly red as Josh picked up their backpacks, one arm still wrapped around Tyler tightly.

"I want to." he fired back, his own confidence surprising him. "You don't deserve that."

Tyler grunted in what Josh took for agreement and allowed himself to be led outside. They were a few feet away from Josh's car when Tyler stopped suddenly.

"Are you okay?" Josh asked, instant concern flooding through him.

Tyler nodded slightly. And then Josh noticed he was smiling, grudgingly so, but smiling nonetheless.

"Yeah..." he shook his head slightly, caramel eyes focused on Josh in a way that made his heart flutter. "Just..."

"What?"

"Thanks," Tyler cleared his throat, looking down. "Thank you."