Robbers - [joshler au]

Chapter 13. (Please Read Trigger Warnings)

Trigger Warnings

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Domestic abuse
Infidelity
Emotional manipulation (including using suicide threats and reverse psychology as manipulation tactics)
Mention of rape / sexual assault
Victim Blaming

(To make this clear: I do not condone any of the actions listed above. However, they happen to be a part of a harsh reality of abusive relationships that we don't see or talk about often, so there is a need to bring them to light and make sure they're discussed. If you or someone you know has gone through/is going through instances such as these described in this chapter, please reach out to either me or someone you trust. You are not alone in this; there is always someone willing to help.)

Please be safe.
Message me for brief summary if needed.

Start the song. Its Arsonist's Lullabye (Instrumental) by Hozier.

The entire drive back to Hayley's, Josh could feel his stomach churning. This confrontation is most likely going to go absolutely horribly, but he's tired of acting like everything is okay, because it isn't. He tired of the fighting, the constant back and forth with no winning outcome. He's tired of the screaming, the degrading, the sincerity behind each of their words when they spit venom at each other.

He's in love with Tyler, but he's tired of acting like he's happy with him.

When he pulls up to the house, he curses under his breath as he sees all of his friend's vehicles in the driveway. This could be good for several reasons: he could have backup if things get too out of hand with Tyler, he could have his friends to reassure him that he's making the right decision, and he knows they'll protect him if Tyler tries to actually hurt him. However, on the same note, they could also assume that things are already too out of hand and intrude on the confrontation before he gets to actually get closure and answers for what's happened.

Looks like he'll have to talk to them first.

With a heavy sigh, he killed he engine to the car and headed up toward the house. He hesitated outside of the door, feeling anxiety bubble in his stomach before turning the knob and walking inside. As he closed the door, Brendon was the first person to notice the sound. "Josh?" Brendon's voiced sounded concerned and relieved all at once. "Josh, is that you?"

Josh swallowed the lump in his throat before answering as best as he could to not make his voice sound out of character. "Yeah, B," he said softly, "it's me."

The sound of footsteps echoed around the corner of the entrance before Josh was looking at an incredibly relieved looking Brendon. "You were supposed to be home over an hour ago," he exclaimed, throwing his arms around his best friend. "Where've you been?" Tears threatened Josh's eyes then, causing Brendon's face to fall in concern. "Josh, what's going on?"

Two small tears fell from Josh's eyes before he abruptly wiped them away. "I need to talk to Tyler," he whispered brokenly. "I need to tell you what's going on first, but you've got to let me explain and understand that I need to do this on my own."

And with that, Josh went into the detailed description of what he saw when he initially came home this afternoon. He told Brendon about Pete, about leaving the house and going to the skate park, about meeting up with his new friend Dallon to talk -("Nobody was home when I got here first, so I didn't want to call you because I didn't know where you were or what you were doing.") - how Dallon helped him come to the realization that he needed to talk to Tyler and that he needed to do it today and he needed to make the decision to leave him or to make him leave.