Existential Indifference (Joshler)

14. Miracles

Start the song. It's A Children's Crusade on Acid by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's.

The sun was up when Tyler woke up, but Josh wasn't. He was quietly snoring against Tyler's shoulder, gripping one of the straps of Tyler's overalls a bit too tightly to be relaxed. His muscles were still tense with pain, but he finally looked somewhat comfortable.

There was noise coming from one of the other rooms in the apartment, just the quiet clatter of dishes being taken out of cupboards and utensils clinking against bowls and pans. It smelled like someone was cooking something, which meant Josh's friend was home.

Now would be a good time for Tyler to leave if Josh wasn't still clinging to him. Tyler glanced at the older boy, smiling at the way Josh's mouth hung open slightly and his blue hair stuck out at odd angles. At some point in the night, Josh's friend had spread a light green blanket over the two of them, and Josh's skin looked even more pale beside it. He really did look sick.

Tyler glanced at the clock on the wall. He had class in an hour, but he didn't dare wake Josh up. Josh looked like he really needed sleep, but he was holding Tyler too tightly for him to leave without waking the older man up.

He looked up when a small woman with bleached hair came out of the kitchen. She was wearing a shirt that was too big on her, and Tyler wondered if it was Josh's. In her hands were a glass of water and a small white pill. She smiled when she saw Tyler and leant against the doorframe tiredly.

"Is he still asleep?" She asked quietly. Tyler nodded in response. "I'm not surprised. I feel really bad, but I have to wake him up. Don't let him panic, okay?"

Although he wasn't sure why Josh would panic, he nodded again. The girl walked over to the couch. She woke Josh up by soothing her fingers through his hair and down his back gently.

"Joshua," she said gently, "I'm sorry, honey, but I need you to wake up for a minute. Then you can go back to sleep."

Josh whined sleepily, burrowing even closer against Tyler's shoulder. The girl smiled, continuing to soothe him awake. She seemed really comfortable with him here.

"Are you hungry?" She asked Josh almost hopefully.

He shook his head, exhaling softly against Tyler's skin. Goosebumps rose across Tyler's arm as Josh's warm breath slipped across his skin.

Josh whined again when Tyler started to sit up, clutching onto him even tighter. He relaxed, though, when Tyler simply shifted him into his lap and let the sleepy man keep his head resting against his shoulder. Tyler wasn't even sure if Josh was aware of who was holding him at the moment. He was just grateful to be held.

"You're okay," Tyler reminded him gently when he hid himself away against Tyler's neck.

"I just need you to take this pill and eat something, and then you can go back to sleep. Can you do that for me, honey?" The woman explained to Josh carefully.

Josh sniffled, but lifted his head anyways. He let his friend set the pill in his mouth before helping him drink the water. As soon as the water was gone, he was pressed against Tyler's chest again and starting to doze off.

"Thanks, Hayley," he mumbled tiredly.

"You've gotta eat too," Hayley reminded him. "Do you think you can walk to the kitchen?"

When Josh hesitated, Tyler replied with, "I've got him."

Josh relaxed as Tyler stood, picking the other man up as he did so. He followed a very impressed Hayley into the kitchen as he carried Josh, who was starting to snore again. Tyler glanced at the clock above the stove to find that he was down to forty-five minutes. He'd never missed a college class before. Brendon teased him for it all the time, but he got really anxious about missing anything.