Chapter Text
Tyler was busted. His plan of leaning inconspicuously against a row of lockers had failed him, and now his lack of proper planning was putting him in an early grave. Of all of the people who could’ve caught him, Josh Dun would definitely be the least forgiving, at least according to his reputation. Josh’s eyes flickered between Tyler’s guilt-stricken face and his twitching hoodie pocket. He looked amused.
“Dude… is that a hamster in your pocket?” Josh questioned. His tongue darted out and wet his bottom lip. A blue stud flashed in the shitty fluorescent lighting. Tyler willed himself to not say anything stupid.
“Maybe I’m just happy to see you?” Tyler suggested, his eyes widening after he realized what he said. It was that lack of impulse control that had gotten him into this situation in the first place.
Josh, resident leather-jacket-wearing, motorcycle-driving, cliche-fulfilling badass, let out the loudest laugh Tyler had ever heard. The smaller boy pressed himself further against the wall and held a protective hand over his pocket.
“Calm down, I’m not gonna rat on you,” Josh put his hands in his own pockets. “Or kill you. Jeez.”
Cleo stuck her head out of Tyler’s pocket, tiny nose twitching as her head swiveled around. She’d chewed a tiny hole in the fabric of Tyler’s hoodie. Josh reached forward, and Tyler flinched like he’d been burned. Josh’s face flashed with hurt, his brows furrowing and eyes darkening. He wet his lips again.
Josh took his hand back and ran it through his hair. The dyed-red had faded into pink, which Josh wore with such confidence nobody dared to say anything about it. Tyler envied him. If his hair was dyed pink, he’d be teased into tears. If Josh spread around that he’d stolen Mrs. Tonkin’s notorious hamster, which was notorious around the school and had it’s own instagram account, the teacher would hear. Thinking about teasing he’d endure after the chewing out he’d get made his ears flush.
“Please just walk away and forget you ever saw this,” Tyler pleaded.
“Why?” Josh asked. He didn’t have Mrs. Tonkin, didn’t see the way she treated Cleo, as if the tiny hamster was her baby.
“Once, Alex Jones knocked into Cleo’s cage. Mrs. Tonkin gave him detention for two weeks. She was hysterical.” Tyler pulled out the hamster and ran a finger down her back.
“Can I hold it?” Josh looked at Cleo with wonder in his eyes. He had the softest smile Tyler had ever seen on his face, with dimples carved deep into his cheeks.
Tyler handed her over. Josh didn’t look like he could really hurt a fly up close, and it wasn’t as if he had much of a choice-- Josh was calling the shots. Josh was so enveloped in baby-talking to Cleo that he didn’t see Mrs. Tonkin’s door fly open.
“Fuck! Shit, dick, ass,” Tyler chanted every curse word he knew while pulling Josh into the nearest janitor’s closet.
Tyler couldn’t see Josh, but he could perfectly envision the look of surprise and anger on his face. Tyler’s hopes of getting out unscathed-- or at least alive-- withered. They were only a hamster-width apart. Tyler could feel Josh’s breath on his cheek, warm and slow. He willed himself to stay calm.
“What the fuck,” Josh hissed, pulling out his phone.
It just-barely illuminated the tiny space. The light leached some of the worry out of Tyler, who had started to think about texting his mom that he loved her. Outside, Mrs. Tonkin was babbling at Mr. Groban. The poor woman was no doubt near tears. Tyler looked back and forth between the door and Josh’s amused face, pondering a route of escape. At least Josh didn’t look as murderous as Tyler had pictured.
“Are you going to explain, y’know, this?” Josh waved his free hand around, gesturing at the cleaning supplies around them.
“It all started when I was born,” Tyler whispered, eyes flashing. He really needed to start taking things seriously, but he was stuck in a closet with a man that had supposedly been arrested four times, harboring a stolen hamster, all the while being very close to passing out. Finding the humor in the situation was the only thing keeping him from crying.
“I’m being serious,” Josh groaned, voice as quiet as he could get it, “If I’m going to get more detention, I’d like to know why.”
“Okay, fine, it was a dare,” Tyler sighed. He didn’t want to know what Josh had done to already have detention. It wouldn't make his 'stuck in a closet' experience any more pleasant.
Josh glared at him, waiting for him to continue. Tyler pressed an ear up against the door and heard a congregation of teachers trying to calm down a hysterical Mrs. Tonkin. Josh followed suit. His eyes widened, and a hand pressed over his mouth, suppressing his oddly loud laugh. She was croaking and honking, her voice rising in pitch each passing moment. Josh seemed to find the humor in bad situations too.
“If I didn’t do it, I would have had to shave my head. I’m kinda attached to not being bald.” Tyler reached out and took Cleo back.
“I like your hair,” Josh whispered into his ear, closer than he had been before. He reached out and ran a hand over it, his touch light and teasing.
Tyler was so surprised that he braced himself against the shelves, which caused a panicked Cleo to bite him. The yelp he let out was far less manly than he cared to admit, and way louder than it needed to be. Somewhere amid the panic he had dropped Cleo, and he was so absorbed in patting around the shelves frantically that he didn’t hear the footsteps approaching the door.
Just as a teacher pulled it open, Josh drew him into a kiss. His lips were warm and rough and Tyler’s eyes fluttered shut without a second thought. Josh’s rings were cold and pressed into Tyler’s side, large, calloused hands gripping his hips desperately. He bit down onto Josh’s lip, drawing a gasp out of the taller boy’s throat.
“What in God’s name are you two doing!” Mr. Groban spluttered. His eyes bulged, his face flushed, and his fists clenched. At least Tyler would die a happy man.