JOSH DUN VS THE WORLD ✓

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: THE DOMINOES WILL FALL INTO PLACE WHEN THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO

SAVING...

SAVING...

SAVING...

SAVING COMPLETE!

Josh doesn't wait for Halsey and Young Ryan to catch up to him. He just starts running.

His and Tyler's apartment is a couple miles, and in the snow that's barely melted since it settled months ago, the cold is agonizing. The thin clothes he borrowed aren't keeping any warmth in, and it doesn't help that the wind pushes against him as he sprints down neighborhood streets, looking for any sign of his boyfriend.

"Please don't be with him," he pleads under his breath. "Please."

The lights inside the apartment are on, but the door is locked. Tyler never keeps the door locked when he's home. Josh frantically pats his pockets, looking for his keys, before realizing that he left them in his other pants. Halsey catches up, breathless, and tosses him his keys.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asks.

He slots the key into the lock and turns it. "This is Tyler we're talking about. He wouldn't go willingly. He's in trouble."

The door swings open. Several rolling suitcases are strewn across the living room floor, some open and full of Tyler's things and some closed. Dallon is sitting on the couch, an arm around Tyler, who's curled into his side, giggling like a school girl. He has a cut across his forehead with dried blood dripping down his temple.

"Get away from him," Josh growls, bounding towards the two, ready to kick Dallon's ass.

Tyler glances up and doesn't even react. He just stares at Josh with a blank expression, like he's a stranger to him.

"What's the ruckus for?" Dallon asks, standing up from the couch just as Josh reaches him. "We're just catching up."

"Bullshit. I know what you did to him. You won't ever get to lay a hand on him again."

Josh smiles in relief when he sees his boyfriend stand up from the couch, but that relief turns to confusion as Tyler grabs the front of Josh's shirt and throws him across the room. He feels shitty plaster crack on his back as he hits a wall, crashing onto the floor.

Halsey runs in, blocking Tyler from grabbing him again. "Don't hurt him!"

"I'm just defending the love of my life," he responds robotically.

"The what." Josh's anger bubbling beneath the surface suddenly screeches to a halt. "You- he- Dallon's a psychopath! You told me yourself."

"I was confused and heartbroken and upset that he'd dumped me, so I made up lies about him."

"That's not true. You said-"

"Things I believed at the time, but wasn't true." He smiles, but it's fake. "I'm lucky he's forgiven me."

Josh's heart sinks with every word. "What did you do to him?"

Dallon holds an arm out, and Tyler steps into his side, wrapping his arms around his waist. "I did nothing to him. We just got to talking after the party and... well, the dominoes will fall into place when they're supposed to."

If he hadn't been in pain from all the bruises and beatings he's taken tonight, Josh would've ripped his throat out. "You're fucking disgusting. I know you did something to him. He would never go back to you. He hates you."

"Why would I hate him?" Tyler tilts his head to the side, blinking in confusion. "He's never been anything but kind to me."

"Josh, what's going on?" Max walks into the apartment, gasping for air.

"Dallon, he-"

"Was just catching up with an old friend." Dallon gestures to Tyler clinging to his arm like a child to a stuffed toy.

"Look, Josh, what we had was alright when it lasted, but it's time to move on. We were never meant to last. Dallon and I? We're puzzle pieces. Perfect for each other." Tyler lets go of Dallon and kneels down, zipping up the open suitcases. "I'm sure you can cover rent, right? Now that you're going to be famous and all that."

"Are you breaking up with me?" Josh squeaks. His chest feels like it's being crushed by an anvil. He can't breathe properly.

Tyler laughs. "I thought that part was obvious, you idiot."

His heart cracks, then. Shatter. Just like when Debby broke up with him a year ago. Just like every girl before her. Crack, shatter.

The two start to walk out, Josh still frozen on the ground, unable to move an inch out of both pain and stupification. Max moves to let them pass. Halsey stops them before they make it out the door, grabbing Dallon's arm and spinning him around.

"If- if you really don't love Josh, then prove it!" She declares defiantly, as if that'll stop them. "Because he won't let you go unless he really believes you've moved on in like five minutes."

For a moment, Tyler pauses. Josh sees his Tyler beneath the charade, but just as quick as he appears, he's gone. He crosses the room, kneels right in front of him, and grabs him by the chin.

Josh holds his breath when Tyler nears his face, lips brushing against his ear. "Poor little Joshie," he whispers. "For thinking I had to move on from you in the first place. I never really loved you. I never even liked you. You were just a nuisance I put up with out of boredom. Plus, I felt sorry for you."

He pushes Josh into the wall. "You were just a fling, nothing more. Goodbye, Joshie."

Tyler sways out, taking Dallon's hand, who slams the door as they leave.

"What... just... happened?" Max looks around.

Josh puts a hand over his mouth, shuddering from a sob he's trying to hold in. Halsey helps him up, holding him by his elbow. She walks him to the couch and sits him down.

She's treating him like he's fragile. Is he? Josh can't tell. He just keeps replaying Tyler's words in his head, trying to process them.

Did he really not love him? It wouldn't be surprising, considering Josh's train wreck record of relationships. But he really thought this one would work, because he felt something so strongly for Tyler that he'd never felt before, not even with Debby.

All that pain. All that bullshit. The bruises and injuries and heartache and fights and losses. The things Josh did just to be with Tyler.

It really all was for nothing.