Silence ||Twenty One Pilots AU||

the truth

"Ty?" I stammered. "T-tyler!"

In front of me, laying on the floor, was Tyler. His eyes were closed, he wore nothing but his briefs, and he was covered in bruises and scars. A river of dried blood straggled from his nose down to his chin. He looked as pale as a ghost, merely skin and bone, and I was terrified because I thought I knew why.

What confirmed my suspicion was the moment I saw the object lying on the floor on the other side of the room. It was a baseball bat.

Realizing what happened, I immediately dropped to my knees next to my unconscious friend and tried to wake him up. "Tyler! Tyler, wake up. Please!"

I shook him a little bit and he started to stir. As soon as he was conscious I could see the pain he was feeling displayed on his face. He slowly opened his eyes and looked over at me, his face distorting from in pain, to confused, to worry. Then he spoke to me for the first time in months. "J-Josh... what are you doing here?"

I could barely hold the tears back. "I came to check on you. Come on, let's get you cleaned up. You are going to tell me what the hell is going on here." He reluctantly agreed, realizing he had no choice.

I helped him stand up, then sat him down on the edge of the bed as I started wiping the crusty blood off of his face. "Okay Tyler. Spill it."

He stayed quiet for a while. I gave him some time. After all, he hadn't spoken to me until now. Meanwhile, I fought back the tears.

"She..." He sighed. "Josh, she beats me."

It was as I feared. I started crying and took the cool cloth that I had been soothing his wounds with off of his face. Looked him in the eyes. There was so much pain in his voice, so much sorrow, that I couldn't help but hate myself because I hadn't come to his house sooner and stopped this.

"How often?" I asked.

"Every day before she goes to work. Every few nights or so-" his voice cracked- "she abuses me sexually."

All I could do was hug him, careful of his injuries. He wrapped his arms around me as well. We sat there, sobbing, not saying a word, just stuck in that embrace for quite a while. The silence spoke for itself.

"Why didn't you tell me, Ty?" I finally questioned.

"I-I don't want her to hurt you."

I gently pulled away, not really wanting to, but doing it anyway so I could look him in the eyes. "I think I might just hurt her first."

Before Tyler could say anything, we heard Jenna's car pull up. Tyler immediately looked scared.

"You need to go, Josh-"

"I'm not leaving you. I need to confront her."

He shook his head in protest. "No! Don't. Please. You don't know how she is. She'll kill you just for being here. Please, you need to go."

I shook my head as well. "Only way I'd leave is if you come with me."

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

We were interrupted when the door flew open. In the doorway was the devil herself.

"Josh? Well, isn't this a nice surprise?"

I froze. My anxiety was going nuts. "Jen-"

"What are you doing here?" She demanded. She looked at Tyler, then back at me.

"I came to check on him," I answered. I was overwhelmed by anger. "What have you done to my best friend?"

"That isn't any of your business," she snapped, followed by a sigh. "I hate to do this to you, but you should've minded your own business."

At that, she pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. "Leave. Now."

My mouth dropped open, my hands started shaking. "J-Jenna-'

"NOW!"

This made both me and Tyler jump.

"What if I call the cops on you, Jenna? What then?"

She scoffed. "Really? You're more stupid than you look. My daddy is the chief, hon. If you call the police, it won't end pretty."

I forgot that Jenna was a police officer, and that her dad was the head honcho. I had no choice but to leave, or I would be shot.

I threw my hands up in surrender. "Okay. Okay. But you're gonna regret what you've done to Tyler."

"If I see your face again, you won't get out alive next time." Jenna warned me as she escorted me back to my car. "No petty threats of yours are going to save you then."

I remember feeling worthless and defeated as I drove away from that house, Tyler's shouts and pleas for help echoing in my ear as the last thing I heard.