𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣 » 𝙟𝙤𝙨𝙝𝙡𝙚𝙧

¡ twelve !

It was hard for Josh to focus with his wrists itching beneath his sweatshirt but Ryan was with him this time and Ryan simply grabbed his hand, rubbed the back of it soothingly and whispered out, "You got this and text me if you want to leave early, I won't get mad."

Josh's lips twitched up into a small smile but it didn't reach his eyes. Josh didn't think he could get more anxious than he already was in the morning but driving to school almost caused him to have a mental breakdown and now that they're sitting in the school parking lot with the first bell that already rang, his organs were twisting in his stomach and the urge to self-harm was clouding every crevice of his mind. It took everything for him to open the door and get out and the smile that Ryan gave him made him feel a little better but not fully since the front doors of the building felt like they were mocking him and Josh really wanted to jump back into the car.

A teacher opened the door for them and looked at them with narrowed eyes, "I'm letting you guys off with a warning this time but if you're late again, both of you will be in detention for a week, understood?"

Ryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes and nodded his head, "Yes, ma'am." She gave a curt nod and ushered them off to class. Josh was fighting back tears as Ryan lead them to their first period, which unfortunately was Spanish and their Spanish teacher was the literal spawn of Satan, sometimes they question why she was on their side of the school because they knew she'd be the perfect teacher for the demons.

Ryan stopped them at the door and grabbed both of Josh's hands, "Text me if or when you want to leave, ok?" Josh slightly nodded and Ryan smiled, "Good, now let's go, I highly doubt Mrs. Henke will let us off with a warning and I'm not in the mood for detention."

-

(I'm blanking....fuck)

They were totally in the mood for detention since they had to spend an extra two hours after school just because they were late to Spanish and Ryan totally didn't punch his locker after first period while letting out a few cuss words.

"It's bullshit, total bullshit." Josh just nodded along as Ryan lead them towards the library. They didn't feel like eating in the cafeteria since Ryan would've flipped his shit if someone or one of the demons decided to fuck with them and seeing his friend start to have a panic attack in the middle of the lunchroom since Josh was already on the brink of breaking down did not sound...fun so Ryan just said they're chilling in the media center until next class.

Thankfully, no one was there when they walked in, except for the librarian, and Ryan walked straight towards the back because he also didn't want to deal with the librarian who didn't really like having kids in here at lunch. Josh shrunk a tad when the old woman glared at him which Ryan did notice and glared right back as he grabbed Josh's wrist and pulled him away.

"Ignore her, J. She's not worth our time." It was safe to say Josh felt better at his friend's words, he didn't know why but maybe because it was Ryan. Ryan always knew how to make him feel better and how to distract him, it helped a lot most of the time but there were times where it didn't go as plan.

Sometimes Josh hated silence since the voice in his head could easily manipulate him into hurting himself but with Ryan, it was a lot different. Ryan kept his grip on his wrist when they sat down but quickly changed it to holding his hand. His wrists were slightly becoming itchy beneath his sleeves and it actually brought tears to his eyes when Ryan grabbed his other hand and softly rubbed his thumbs against the scarred skin.

"You got this, ok? Just because your wrists are scarred doesn't mean you're weak, it means your tough and strong. You're not the only one who does this, everyone is going through a battle and you're going through yours but I'm here for you." Josh was holding back sobs at this point and crying in the library wasn't really his plan but Ryan just pulled him into a hug and that's when Josh broke.

He truly did love Ryan and if he didn't have him, Josh probably would've been six feet under right about now.

-

If crying in the library was bad (Ryan told him that it wasn't) then being in the same room with Tyler was a lot worse. Barely anyone was in the room beside a few demons and of course, Tyler was one of them. The first hour wasn't bad since Ryan was by his side but by the second hour, Ryan had to go make up some work for US History which left Josh all by himself. The teacher who was holding detention was one of those teachers who didn't care about the rules of keeping demons away from humans so Josh was left frozen in his chair as he watched Tyler slowly get up and make his way over to him.

"What got you in detention?" The brunet asked when he sat down in front of the scared boy.

At first, Josh didn't respond since his voice decided to leave him right on the spot but it returned nonetheless, "We were late to first period."

Tyler hummed with a smirk, "Why's that?"

"Reasons that you don't need to know." Josh spat back, somehow getting a boost of confidence which didn't last long when Tyler leaned in closer with a smirk still evident.

"You're so cute when you get angry." The brunet purred with a smile.

Josh sighed with a shake of his head, "You're so annoying sometimes, what do you want?"

"Well," Tyler drawled out, "you did kind of hurt my feelings so to make it up, give me a kiss first?"

Josh moved back when Tyler leaned in just a tad bit closer but then realized if he wanted to move forward in the conversation, he has to do what Tyler wants him to do.

"Just a kiss?" Josh asked, getting a nod from the brunet.

Mumbling "whatever", Josh leaned in and brushed his lips against Tyler's. He got caught off guard when Tyler placed a hand behind his neck and pulled him closer, causing the kiss to deepen. Josh could hear hoots and hollers coming from the other demons and gasps from the other people in the room. Josh pulled back when he felt Tyler lick his bottom lip and let out a shaky sigh.

"We're not making out in here." Tyler nodded and leaned back.

"Sorry, I can't help it when I'm with you." Josh blushed at that and tried to hide it with his sleeves causing Tyler to coo at him.

He didn't know how Tyler got him to blush so easily and he didn't know why he was letting the demon do it. Josh sighed and sat his hands back down, "Is that all you wanted?"

Tyler chuckled and shook his head, "Actually, no. I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date?"

Josh froze at that and stared wide-eyed. A date? With Tyler? For some reason that got his heart beating faster and it surprised him when he spoke out the one word that made Tyler smile, "Yes."