True Colors (joshler, multi-fandom)

2 - The Silver Lining Rides the Hills

The curtain in Tyler's room is now opened to let in more natural light. The atmosphere was thick with worry, now that Josh was in his room with him. Tyler was in his desk chair, Josh on the floor next to his bed, and neither of them looked at each other. "You know you can sit on the bed."

"I know."

Tyler leaned forward on his chair, blinking slowly as if he's about to cry. But why? Nothing's going on. It wasn't hard to wake up this morning. There's no need to worry about losing his friends. Maybe it's just the pressure of school, or having to think about the future.

"You can tell me what's wrong, Ty."

"There's nothing wrong. I promise."

"You seem really worried though."

Tyler sighed. "I think it's just one of those days."

"You think you'll be okay for school tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine."

"Do you need anything?

"Do you need anything? It's my house."

"I know, but I worry about you, Ty."
"I guess, just...be here. That's all I need."

Josh thinks about reaching his hand up to put it on the armrest of Tyler's chair. But he doesn't. Josh looks around the room some more, to the door, open about four inches, not to draw any concern for Tyler's family. Then his eyes were drawn along the wall by a half-covered corkboad and a calendar, ending at the closet, which both its doors were completely closed now. Josh finally speaks again.

"Am I...getting on your nerves, by any chance?"

"Why do you think that?"

"I asked if you were okay like, three times today."

"That's not bad, Josh. You're a good friend; you know that. All caring about me and stuff." Tyler smiled. It made Josh smile too.

"Getting on my nerves would be like," Tyler turns toward Josh, leans down and and puts his hands on his shoulders, lightly shaking him and with a mocking voice, "You better be having a good time, or I'll knock you up!"

They both laugh. The heavy, dreading atmosphere thins out, now it's a little easier to talk.

"You want a sandwich or something? I'm starving."

"Yeah, sounds good."

They get up and leave, on a much happier note than when they went in. If simple small talk can turn Tyler's lost eyes into a sparkling galaxy, it's really easy for Josh to talk to Tyler about anything. They've been doing it for 11 years.

***

Now it's about 2:30. Tyler and Josh had talked about their schedules, and that when they were delivered in the mail, they found out they have only one class together: History.

"I've heard the work never stops. We may not even have a lot of chances to chat," Tyler states.

"At least you're in creative writing." Josh comments. "I'm still in band."
"Just can't get away from the drums, can ya?"

"I swear, on the drum gods, they call my name. Look-" Josh points to Tyler's schedule. "You're still in choir."

"Well? So is Brendon. And he's still in theatre, too." Tyler retorts.

"How does he even have time for his band?"

"Well let's just be glad he's not in show choir anymore."

"Oh gosh, I remember you telling me how horrible those shows were."

"Yeah, he's way too overqualified for that stuff."

"Has he told you anything about theatre?"

"Not much. I remember him telling me he's gonna be the lead actor in the first play."

"Sounds like a lot of work."

"You had to go back to the school like he did, right? For band?"

"Yeah. It's gonna be stressful this year, I know."

"I just hope it doesn't ruin music for you."

"It hasn't yet. I don't think anything will ruin playing the drums for me."

"That's good, because I'm taking creative writing to get better at writing lyrics."

They talked all afternoon, like the greatest friends on Earth they are.
It was around 5 in the afternoon when Josh headed home. Tyler checked his backpack, black fabric faded from use in previous years. There was nothing missing, and he set it out in the living room, waiting for him in the morning.

Freshman and sophomore year were pretty uneventful for him and Josh, even with their extracirriculars.
Junior year, though, awaits him with many twists, turns and brand new paths neither of them could have ever seen themselves taking. One could even change the course of Josh and Tyler's 11-year-long friendship forever.