flower crowns and other neat stuff - joshler

part 6

the car ride was quiet, but not silent, which tyler was thankful for. music was streaming out quietly from the speakers, too soft for tyler to be certain what it was, but calming none the less.

josh occasionally glanced over at him, but for the most part there was no communication between the two of them for the ten minute car ride. when they got to josh's house, he looked over at tyler, a small smile on his face. "this is it," he said, gesturing towards the building.

it was a nice looking house, if not a little small, with a well kept front yard and lightly peeling blue paint. josh hopped out of the car and ran over to tyler's door before he had a chance to get out, opening it for him. tyler got out of the car slowly, favouring his ribs.

josh led him over to the door, taking out his keys along the way. after he unlocked it, tyler followed him into the house, the inside looking just as lived in and comfortable as the outside. josh gestured to the room around him after tyler closed the door behind himself.

"it's not much, but it's mine. sorry about the mess," he said. tyler grinned at him. "it's pretty sick," he said. josh ducked his head. "um, you should sit down. it probably isn't good for your ribs if you walk around too much. i'll go get my mom," josh said, pointing to a small couch. tyler walked over and plopped down, wincing when the motion hurt his ribs.

"i really, really appreciate this," tyler said earnestly. josh waved him off. "really, it's nothing." he walked off down a hallway.

a couple seconds later, he heard him speaking, and a woman saying, "what are you doing home so early?" josh clearly didn't answer, and he emerged from the hallway pulling a woman who could only be his mother behind him.

she looked like she had just woken up, and she probably had. "josh, what are you- oh," she trailed off after seeing tyler. "what happened?" she turned to josh, tiredness gone, having been replaced with calm professionalism.

"i was walking to the cafeteria, and i found one of the guys who used to bother me doing the same to tyler, so i helped him out and brought him here," josh explained. tyler smiled nervously at josh's mother.

she swore under her breath. "i'm going to get the first aid kit, one second," she said before rushing off down the hallway once again. josh looked at tyler sympathetically. "she can't really give you the good pain pills or anything since we're not at the hospital, but she can at least make sure you'll be okay," he said, sitting down next to tyler.

tyler shrugged. "i'm happy with pretty much anything. my mom's probably going to flip when she sees this," he said mildly. josh's mom came back, bag in hand. "where does it hurt?" she asked, opening the bag and rummaging through it.

"my ribs and stuff, that's where most of the damage happened," tyler explained. she nodded. "pull off your shirt real quick so i can bandage your ribs." he complied and she went to work. when she was done, his ribs (which were already starting to bruise) were wrapped securely and, while they still hurt, felt much better. "josh, could you go get some aspirin from the medicine cabinet?" she asked.

josh nodded and stood up before walking off down the same hallway she had come from. she turned to him. "so, are you a friend of josh's?" she asked. tyler shrugged. "i haven't really known him long, but i hope so," he answered. a grateful smile broke out on her face.

"i'm glad to hear that. josh doesn't really have anyone at that school anymore, not since... well, the incident," she said quietly, trying to keep josh from hearing. tyler frowned. "what exactly happened?" he asked.

she shook her head. "it's not my place to tell you, you'll have to ask josh. just... thank you for being his friend. he says that what's happening at school doesn't bother him, but i know it does. i just wish there was something i could do," she said sadly. tyler frowned sympathetically. "i'm sorry."