Robbers - [joshler au]

Chapter 1.

Trigger Warnings
//
Drug use, alcohol use, mentions of sex/sexual actions.

Wait to start the song.

Josh Dun was about as square as squares get.

Josh was the valedictorian of his graduating class. He never missed an opportunity to study, even though he was far above the others in his class. He worked at the local grocery store, and even spent his break times studying and finishing extra credit assignments. He's never been in trouble with the law - never even had so much as a detention in school. When graduation came around, there was no question who came out on top, and no one was even close to being surprised. He was going to Ohio State University on all kinds of scholarships due to his grades, and would be going straight to law school once he finished his pre-studies. Josh was the epitome of an upstanding citizen.

His friends? Not so much.

Brendon Urie, as smart as he was - even smarter than Josh (as far as Josh was concerned) - spent most of his time hanging out with his boyfriend, Ryan, going to parties, and getting high. By the time the were in the tenth grade, Brendon had gone from having straight A's and following in Josh's footsteps to be valedictorian to being lucky enough to finish the year with the bare minimum passing grade. He graduated in the 50th percentile of the whole class, placing 292 out of the 634 students in their class. He didn't really have any plans, but he was happy.

Brendon's turn in ambition wasn't Ryan's fault, though. Ryan stayed sober for the most part, meaning he never drank but he did smoke weed with Brendon every now and again. However, both of their transitions stemmed from Ashley Frangipane. Ashley had been the boys' best friend since they were in elementary school and, even when she dropped out of high school and became a tattoo artist, they never lost touch. She gave Brendon his first joint at fifteen, and that began his "downward spiral," as Josh's parents called it. Josh apologized to him, but Brendon didn't mind. He understood their worry.

All of this information seems unnecessary, but it's important that you know that with all of Josh's drive and ambition, and with his future almost mapped out for him, he definitely would not be doing anything to jeopardize that future.

Or, that's what he thought.

* * *

"Josh," Brendon sighed softly as he sat on his friend's windowsill, blowing marijuana smoke out of the window, "you have to come to this party with me and Ryan, even if it's the only one you ever go to. I promise you'll have a good time, and I won't even let you get that trashed. You'll have, like, one or two drinks and I'll absolutely cut you off."

Josh laughed as he threw a foam basketball against the wall, catching it as it bounced back to him and he repeated the process. "Brendon, I've never even drank alcohol before," he answered matter-of-factly. "Literally one or two drinks would have me on my ass and then I'd have to deal with you and Ryan fucking in my car after you drive me home."

Brendon laughed out loud before taking another hit from the spliff between his fingers. "Fair point," he choked out. It was quiet for a minute before he spoke again. "Ashley's gonna be there! You haven't seen her in about two months, dude."

Josh sighed. "That's not my fault, though," he pointed out. "It's the middle of June and she's got appointments filled all the way up to September. She's busy, I'm busy; we're all busy these days, dude. 'Cept you."