everything is red [jd.tj]

ch.22

"I hate him being gay. He used to be so pure and not a sinner, well until his dad died...."

"And how did his dad die?"

"He killed him."

-

We swung our hands together as we walked to his house. It was a lot warmer than it was this morning, which I didn't really like, but we were almost there. The rest of the day went by well, no one came up to us nor did we get as many stares as we were expecting. Josh was by my side almost all throughout the day, except for the classes we didn't have together. We walked on the pavement for a little while longer until we reached two large, chocolate, wooden doors. He let go of my hand, which by the way, almost instantly felt a whole lot lonelier, and grabbed into his backpack to get what I assume are his keys. The moment he put the key into the lock, the doors swung open to reveal two very happy looking little girls. My jaw dropped the moment i recognized one of them. It was my little tulip, Ashley. She recognized me too. 

"TYLER! OMG I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" She run into my body, almost making me fall back, then wrapped her tiny arms around my waist. I beamed and picked her up, hugging her back. 

"Uh, how do you two know each other? Tyler, is there something you wanna tell me? You aren't a pedophile are you? Oh dear God, I'm dating a frickin child predator, ah shit. I mean shoot. Ah-"

"Joshie, this is Tyler, he's my best friend and we used to play at the park together! Mommy knows! Mommy knows!" Josh has such a confused look plastered on his face, causing me to chuckle. 

"Dork."

"Ashley why are you screa- Tyler! Oh sweetie I've missed you!" She shoves Ashley off, making the smol child pout, and hugs me. I hug her back and look over at Josh on her shoulder, shooting him a wink. 

"So does everyone already know my boyfriend, or?" 

"Wait, boyfriend? I didn't know you liked boys Josh?" He cheeks turned a vermillion color, making my smile go wider. 

"Yeah mom, I like boys, and this is my boyfriend." He yanks me away from his mom and holds me close to his chest, 

"And he's mine."

"I KNEW IT!" I hear another male voice pop out from somewhere in the house. All of the sudden, a boy comes out from the hallways, with a smug look on his face. 

"I knew you were gay all along."

-

"It's time to go Ty, it's getting late." He held me close to his beating heart, his warmth spreading all throughout my veins. 

"I don't want to go back home Josh. I'm scared of my mom. She hurts me Josh, she hurts me and I'm tired of it!" I yell the last part, my emotions getting to me. 

"I know, but it will be okay, eventually. Just stay strong Tyjo." I smile at the nickname, but sigh sadly.

"Let's go." 

His mom drove us to my house and to say I was embarrassed when we would pulled up would be a huge understatement. My house literally looked like a cardboard box compared to their multi-million dollar home. "Alrighty boys, we're here, want Josh to walk you up, Tyler?" I frown, but shake my head. "That w-wouldn't be the best option." She furrows her eyebrows, but the adverts her attention back to the front. Josh squeezes my hand one last time then I'm out the door, walking on the pathway to my little house of hell. I cringe slightly at the sounds of pans clanking and yelling. I look behind me hoping to see Josh's face, but their car had already gone. I gulp and open the door. The smell of burnt popcorn smacks me in the face, making my nose scrunch up. I walk into the kitchen after locking the door behind me, and see Zack attempting to make popcorn. Popcorn that's already pre-made. I sigh and walk up the counter, shooting Zack and puzzled look.

"Oh hey Tyler, mom is at a meeting right now, so I figured I oughta make some food. Unfortunately, the popcorn burned. I don't understand as to why though." He says, scratching his head with an oven mitt. "That's because the popcorn is already made you doofus." He makes an 'O' shape with his mouth, causing to shake my head and laugh. "Oh and FYI, Madi and Jay are asleep, they had cereal earlier, so I sent them off to bed. Is that okay?" I nod my head and ruffle his hair. He's growing up too fast. 

The sound of the front door slamming against the wall, makes an appearance in my ears. My eyes widen and my heart starts to beat a little faster than it should. Her figure appears in the kitchen doorway, looking pissed off as ever. 

"We need to have a talk, Tyler."