choke ↣ joshler ✓

16. Good

"I want to crawl inside a hole and die."

Josh looked up from his phone when he saw Tyler sit down at their lunch table. He honestly looked like shit. His brown hair was sticking up in odd places and he had bags under his eyes. Josh felt his heart beat rapidly as he sat down. He just wanted to take whatever was bothering Tyler away. "What's wrong?"

"You look like shit," Brendon laughed, voicing exactly what Josh had been thinking.

"Thanks, Bren," Tyler groaned, resting his head on his arms. "I went over to my friend's house last night and didn't go home until like eleven and then I couldn't fall asleep. My head is pounding and I just woke up in a shitty mood," he said. He picked his head up and his eyes widened. "Sorry. I don't cuss. Like ever."

"There are worse things," Ashley piped up as she sat down in her usual spot next to Josh.

"Do ya wanna skip? Josh asked. "We can go ta my house and jus' chill out."

"I don't know..." Tyler trailed off. "I skipped Monday and I'm still waiting for my dad to figure it out," he admitted, guilt visible on his face.

"He's not goin' ta," Brendon assured. "I mean our parents don' give a shit what we do but Dal goes inta the system and marks us present so the principal don' whoop our asses. Your dad will never know unless ya tell him," Josh saw him shoot Tyler a reassuring smile to compliment his words.

Tyler nodded, relaxing a little bit. "Okay, yeah," he smiled himself. "Thanks, Josh."

"Mhm," he found himself smiling back.

"Wait what friend?" Ashley asked. "You're a loser ya don' have other friends."

Tyler rolled his eyes but the smile remained on his face. "Her name's Jenna. I met her at church. Her mom works with my dad."

"Ya go ta church?" Brendon raised his eyebrow.

Tyler blushes slightly. "Yeah," he replied.

"Leave him alone guys," Josh cut in, seeing Tyler felt awkward. Tyler had told him he was super religious the other day before they had kissed so learning this fact about the sophomore didn't phase him.

"It's jus' weird, that's all," Brendon explained. "Not many people 'ere go ta church."

Tyler didn't reply as he began digging in his bag. He grabbed his binder out and a look of confusion overcame his face as he sat forward. "What? If I'm not going to be here I might as well make sure I get my homework done."

Josh smiled. Tyler was different. Different but cute.

He was starting to get attached to the 15 year old. Normally he would think that was a bad thing but Tyler wasn't like other people.

He made Josh feel a little better about life. He actually wanted to be around Josh and it was nice to be close to someone who didn't have to get wrapped up in what him and his other friends did. He knew what they did wasn't okay, but he didn't care. He didn't feel bad about it. None of them did. That's why they fit together. And Tyler was slowly molding himself to fit into their puzzle as well.

---

Josh pulled into his cracked driveway, shutting his truck off. "Welcome ta my humble abode," he told Tyler, smiling.

The brunette drummed his fingers on the center console irritably. "It's nice."

"No it's not," Josh chuckled. "It's barely a step up from the trailer I used ta live in. Ya don't gotta lie," he noticed Tyler still drumming his fingers. "Ya okay?"

"I don't know," Tyler replied, ripping his hand away from the middle. "I don't know."

Josh got out and Tyler did the same, both slamming the doors loudly. Josh led his friend up to the house and opened the door for him. It wasn't locked. Their lock didn't work.

They entered and Josh saw his sister sitting on the couch. He was confused but that quickly turned to concern when he saw she had a blanket wrapped around her and tears were rolling down her face. "Hey," Josh greeted. "What's wrong?" Tyler walked up next to him but stayed silent. "Why ain't ya at school?"

She wiped her nose. "Cause I left."

"No shit," Josh rolled his eyes. "What made ya leave school?"

"I got dumped," she mumbled. "Jus' leave me alone."

"Fuck you too," Josh grabbed Tyler's hand. "Let's go," he led him up the stairs and into the room he shared with Jordan.

He shut the door and let go of Tyler's hand before laying down on his bed. Tyler stood there awkwardly waiting until Josh pulled him down next to him causing the younger to let out a surprised yelp. Josh laughed as Tyler blushed furiously. "Ya good?"

"Mhm," Tyler nodded, burying his head into Josh's chest. He pulled back a moment later and his eyes widened. "Sorry," he said quietly, looking at Josh as both their heads rested on the pillow.

It was only a twin bed so it wasn't very big. That meant their faces were only inches apart as they stared at each other.

Josh felt his heart swell and he leaned in, closing the gap between them. Tyler seemed surprised, just like he did the other day but this time he kissed back a little bit. The pink haired assumed he had stolen Tyler's first kiss but Tyler seemed interested in him so Josh didn't care.

When they disconnected, Tyler was blushing harder than before. "Josh..."

The mentioned didn't reply as he turned over and grabbed the pack of cigarettes and lighter off his nightstand. He lit one and blew the smoke towards the ceiling. He wasn't lying when he said he wasn't addicted. He could go months without smoking and not feel any withdrawal and he has before. He really just does it for fun.

He saw Tyler eyeing it longingly. Josh didn't even think Tyler was aware he was doing so. Without speaking, he offered the stick to the brunette and he accepted it almost instantly. He inhaled and exhaled the smoke, not even coughing when doing so. At the park Tyler had smoked half a pack for practice and then had to stop because he thought he was going to throw up. It must've paid off because he just smoked the one Josh gave him flawlessly.

"Fuck," Tyler sighed out in pleasure as the smoke left his mouth. His eyes opened and he looked at Josh. "Oops," he giggled making Josh laugh as well.

"I think 'm rubbin' off on ya, Ty."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" He asked before inhaling again. This time a small cough left his mouth along with the smoke but neither of them acknowledged it.

Josh grinned. "A good one."