Fake You Out - Joshler

Chapter Twelve

Tyler is puttering around in the kitchen when Gerard enters, chewing on his bottom lip, looking confused. Josh is upstairs in their bedroom, hiding away from the rest of the house. He had told Tyler about what happened with Gerard at school, saying how he talked to the principal and handled it, but he didn't give any details other than saying it was handled and Gerard is fine. But Tyler has no idea what's bothering him or what could have gone on to make him want to lock himself away. He doesn't have the energy to question it, doesn't really care enough at the moment. He's tired and hungry. Michael's upstairs, he knows from having watched Gerard help him climb the stairs. Brendon is bouncing around in the living, singing loudly and dancing along with the movie he's watching. So Tyler feels a little concerned when he sees Gerard enter, abandoning his spot in the living room to stare at Tyler with worried eyes.

"Hey, bug," Tyler says, smiling at Gerard. "Something bothering you?"

"Did Poppy tell you about what happened at school?"

"Yes," Tyler says carefully, turning the heat down on the stove as he watches Gerard. "Is something about it bothering you?"

"What did he tell you?"

Tyler frowns, staring at Gerard for a moment. "Sit down, bug," Tyler says, pulling out a chair for Gerard as he takes a seat of his own. "He said that you got a black eye when you were playing on the playground and that the principal tried blaming you for what happened. He said that you told him it wasn't your fault and it was an accident. Is there something else you want me to know about?"

"It was an accident," Gerard says. "We were playing tag and everyone was running around and Scott fell over and I was running and tripped over him because I was looking behind me and his elbow hit me in the eye, but it was an accident. Scott said I was angry but I wasn't angry. I was just running and I fell. I didn't do anything wrong."

"No one said you did, Gerard. Sometimes teachers are the ones that are wrong, not the kids. None of them saw what happened, and if you say it was an accident then it was an accident. Scott was probably scared and didn't know what to say, because they were questioning him so maybe he just said you were angry because they wanted someone to blame and he didn't want to get in trouble. It's not your fault. It's no ones fault," Tyler explains. "Have you been worried about this all day?"

"Mrs. Hicks was mad at me," Gerard says sadly. "I was scared because she wouldn't let me go back to my classroom and she said she was going to call you and make you come to school."

"I know, I missed her call, but Poppy went down and it sounds like he yelled at her for you," Tyler says with a wink.

"Yeah, but...why would Poppy go?" Gerard asks, looking up at Tyler with wide, confused eyes. "She said she could only talk to parents. Poppy isn't my parent. You are, and Mom."

"Bud, we talked about this, mommy isn't coming back," Tyler says, scooting his chair forward so he can brush his fingers through Gerard's hair. Gerard's the only one who remembers Jenna and how she left. Michael and Brendon were younger, only two and three when it happened and seem to have forgotten there was ever a mother figure in their lives but Gerard was eight when it happened, eight years with a mother and Tyler knows that sometimes the realization that his mother left him still upsets Gerard and probably will for most of his life. Gerard also knows that she isn't coming back and no amount of watching for her in the front window is going to change that.

"I know that," Gerard says, clearly frustrated. "But Poppy came to school. Why did he come to school?"

Tyler takes a deep breath, leaning back in his chair as he looks at Gerard, the desperation to understand why Josh would go to his school and handle everything when it should have been Tyler there, it's supposed to be Tyler there. It's clear to Tyler that Gerard wonders why Josh is here and why he does everything that Tyler does.