Lockjaw (Joshler)

51. Bluetooth

***Trigger warning for a panic attack, a mention of scars from a past suicide attempt, and mentions of child neglect.***

Wait to start the song.

As a general rule, Tyler always kept his phone off when he had clients in the room. Having just his ringer off wasn't enough to ensure that his clients would be guaranteed his full attention. He knew that the human brain instinctually caused people to look at a phone when it lit up, so on the off chance that his was somewhere, like on his desk or in his shirt pocket where he or his client could see it lighting up, it was best just to have it completely turned off.

That was why it came as such a surprise to him when he came back from walking a client out-a woman in her mid-seventies who had lost her husband a couple years ago and really just needed someone to talk to about her kids and her cat and how her husband never really appreciated her anyway-and turned on his phone to find eleven missed calls. Four were from his dad. Seven were from Jay. There were also five voicemails, and Tyler knew from past experience that only one of them was from his dad.

Instead of checking any of the messages, he called Jay back. He had an hour off for lunch right now anyway, so he might as well fill it with what was undoubtably going to be an extra heap of responsibility that his father had set aside specifically for him. Jay answered almost instantly.

"Ty, don't be mad," the fifteen-year-old pleaded immediately into the phone, making Tyler sigh.

"Explain," he replied simply, already grabbing his keys, coat, and wallet and stepping out of his office.

"I just got suspended, and Dad said to call you to come get me because he's busy," Jay informed him, not surprising Tyler in the slightest. "I told him you were probably at work, but he said I could either have you come get me and drop me off with Tatum until Zack gets off work and can sort everything out, or I can leave with the cops. Ty, please help me. I fucked up. I'm really sorry. I'm really fucking sorry, Ty."

Tyler's chest felt heavy, and a familiar resentment began to eat away at him. Once again, his dad was expecting him to be the one to parent Jay. Once again, his dad had decided that being a lawyer had to come before everything else, yet Tyler was expecting to drop everything and be Jay's dad when he got into trouble. Somehow, most of that resentment was aimed at himself though because he locked his office door, forced himself to smile at Hayley as he passed through the waiting room, and left the building.

"I'll be there in a minute. Just keep your mouth shut, and don't worry, okay? You're in huge trouble, but I've got your back. Just hang tight," Tyler told Jay tiredly as he walked to his car.

"Thank you, Ty. I'm so sorry," Jay replied, sounding sincere enough.

Tyler didn't reply, hanging up and turning his car on before laying his head back against the headrest and taking in a shaky breath. He felt a bit sick, but he always did when he was forced to parent his siblings. Even if Tyler didn't have his PhD in psychology, he would still be able to figure out pretty easily that he had a lot of unresolved trauma from raising children while he was still a child. He didn't have Jenna to lean on anymore when things like this were happening either. He really didn't have anyone until he got off work today and could finally go see Josh. God, he wished he could talk to Josh right now. He would give anything to talk to the one other person he knew who was used to taking on his family's problems and having nowhere to dispose of the emotions that were left behind when his family left.

With tears forming in his eyes and a knot tightening itself in his stomach, Tyler tossed his phone into the passenger seat before starting on his way toward Jay's school. The private school was about twenty minutes away, which didn't give Tyler a lot of time to grab Jay, drop him off at Zack's, and get back to work. He could make it happen though. He'd definitely sacrificed more than one hour and a meal for Jay in the past, and he was fairly certain that he'd be sacrificing a hell of a lot more in the future.