Lockjaw (Joshler)

53. Shampoo

***Trigger warnings for mentions of bugs, mentions of child neglect, mentions of past suicide attempts, and mentions of past abusive relationships.***

Start the song. It's April to Death by Flower Face.

Tyler was just pulling in along the street in front of Zack and Tatum's house when he got a phone call from an odd number that could only ever be Josh or spam, so he answered it quickly. The familiar mechanical woman's voice rang throughout his car, allowing him time to park before accepting the call as quickly as possible.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Tyler asked worriedly, his mind immediately jumping from one horrible what-if to another as he unfastened his seatbelt.

Immediate relief washed over him when he heard Josh laugh into the receiver, making him suddenly aware of how tense every single one of his muscles had become in such a short span of time. "Technically? Yes. But am I calling with good news? No," Josh told him jovially, his cheery demeanour being the only thing keeping Tyler from driving right back to the prison again to check on Josh in person.

"I don't love the sound of that," Tyler replied honestly. "Should I be worried?"

"I vote no. Frangipane votes yes. Apparently growing up behind bars ruins your perception of things like this though, so she's probably right," Josh informed him.

Tyler couldn't help but smile when he faintly heard Frangipane's voice proudly assert, "Probably? Fuck you. I'm always right." His heart melted completely when Josh practically giggled at her words.

"What's going on then, honey?" Tyler asked through a contented smile, not really meaning to tag the term of endearment onto the end of the question, but not regretting using the word either.

He especially didn't regret it when he could practically hear the blush on Josh's cheeks as Josh quietly complained, "Well don't be super nice to me before I tell you. I already feel guilty enough without you doing that."

Tyler laughed. "Mmm I can't help it. You're such a treasure. I can't let you forget that, even if you're delivering confusingly maybe bad news to me."

"Well, forget about being nice to me because half of gen pop came back from the other facility today, and they brought lice with them," Josh informed Tyler bluntly, making Tyler's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Frangipane so kindly brought it to me, so there's a chance that it might've made its way to you. You need to have someone check your hair." His voice was quieter and more vulnerable when he added, "I'm really sorry, Ty."

Tyler was quiet for a moment as he processed that, the cogs in his brain turning lazily as he slowly came to terms with the fact that he was either going to have to come up with a convincing lie about why he needed someone in his family to check him for lice, or he was going to have to tell the truth. He didn't know which was worse. Well, he didn't for a minute or so, but a thought crossed his mind that calmed him just slightly.

"I guess it's probably better to tell Tatum about you now than to wait until June, right? To give her some time to realize I'm not one of those weirdos who writes love letters to dudes who are on death row for being a serial killer or something? So she can have time to learn to love you as much as I do before you get out? So my whole family can love you eventually, right?" Everything sounded like a question.

Josh was quiet at first, but after a moment, he asked timidly, "You want your family to know about me?"

"Well, yeah. You're my favourite person I've ever met. It would suck if my family never got a chance to love you as much as I do. I already told you, I'm not going anywhere when you get out. You'll still have to deal with me in June, except you're going to have to be the one who kicks me out when you want me to leave. There won't be any guards around to do it for you," Tyler told Josh through a wide smile, knowing without needing to even hear Josh's voice that he was smiling too.