Chapter Text
Josh sat alone in his living room. The only light entering came from the thin gaps in his blinds where the streetlamps shone outside. It was midnight, and he had no plans of moving to his bed where he could comfortably fall asleep. No, he'd rather stay still, not even thinking, simply reenacting the dead. Only the silence couldn't last forever. A loud knocking came from the front door down the hallway. Josh didn't even flinch, didn't wonder why someone would be round at this time of night, and certainly didn't move to open the door. The knocking continued, increasing in volume, perhaps in hopes that if Josh were asleep, it'd wake him up. Josh wasn't asleep though, he was closer to being paralysed.
"Josh it's me! C'mon open up, I know you're awake!" Tyler. Tyler was here. That rang something familiar in his clouded mind. He should get up, or should he? Josh isn't sure anymore, he isn't sure he has the ability to move his body. Why are his legs not moving? "Josh I'm coming in, I know where you keep your spare key." Tyler was coming in. Tyler his friend. Oh, Tyler could help. "Help me Tyler," Josh wants to say, " I can't move my legs."
Josh shifts his eyes to look at his friend entering the room, concern written all over his face at finding his inanimate friend sat in the dark. He doesn't question it though, Josh knows he's been in similar situations before. Josh knows of both Tyler's fondness and fear of the dark. How Tyler finds it easier to think and write, as well as being terrified of the monsters that lurk in the darkest corners of his bedroom. So without another moment passing, Josh finds himself wrapped in the cocoon of Tyler's arms. The heat from Tyler's body seeps into Josh's own, warming his bones he didn't know had gone cold.
"I'm putting a film on for us both. Donnie Darko sound good to you?" Tyler didn't wait for a reply before taking the DVD out of his bag and into the Playstation. Once the film had started, Tyler returned to cuddle Josh, both shifted around until they found the most comfortable position: Tyler spooning Josh, their heads placed one above the other so they could watch the TV from a 90 degree angle. "This okay?" Tyler asked, his voice box vibrating against Josh's head. Josh hummed in response, already feeling more like a person now that he wasn't alone.
"Tyler, I- I couldn't-"
"Josh it's okay, I came over to watch this with you, and I'm so glad I did."
"No Tyler, I couldn't move, I don't know what was wrong. It's like I wasn't here."
"It's called dissociating, I've noticed you do it before. You zone out in conversations all the time, your eyes don't even blink, I just thought you knew about it Josh. It's okay though. Are you okay with it?"
Josh paused, looking at his friend. Was he okay with it? "Most of the time... yes. I-I'm okay with it."
"Good. Now c'mon we're missing the film." Tyler squeezed his arms round Josh's middle, both returning their gaze to the TV. Not long passed before Tyler gasped. "Josh! I know what we can wear on Halloween!" Josh simply rolled his eyes at his friend, of course he'd get so excited about Halloween. Josh may have been a few months older than Tyler, but it certainly felt at lot longer sometimes. Tyler could be so childish, but it's not so bad, it makes Josh feel younger too sometimes. He forgets he's 25.
"Go on, what can we wear?"
"Ill dress up as Donnie, in the skeleton costume, and you can dress up as Frank!"
"You want me to wear a bunny outfit? Dude, that sounds a bit kinky to me."
"Josh," Tyler tsked, "Of course not like that, it has to be the real outfit, super creepy. Ill pay for it because it's probably going to be expensive." Josh watched Tyler start planning it out in his head. Good thing the two had already seen the film a million times before because they just about missed half of it by now.
"Tyler what are we doing on Halloween? I'm not sure I want to go to another party this year." Josh thought back to all the previous ones he'd been to. He never enjoyed them, he always felt like an outsider at social events due to his anxiety. And both Josh and Tyler weren't ones to drink. Yet Tyler seemed to become intoxicated by simply feeding off the atmosphere so he never appeared to have a problem.
"That's fine, I've already thought about some stuff we could do. There's an abandoned laboratory not far from here which I thought would be cool to check out. I thought they'd burn it down or something in case of toxic chemicals but it was like privately owned so they just left it there. What do you think?"
Josh nodded, "Yeah sure, why not."