Work Text:
Tyler is not an idiot.
Tyler is not stupid.
But he has his bad days, all right?
Spluttering, Tyler wipes water out of his eyes with a small whimper.
Okay, so he's stuck in a tree. And it's raining. Like, in bucketfuls. And there's a really mean dog standing under him, barking meanly.
Tyler is torn between glad that he left his phone at home because he thinks the rain would ruin it instantly, and mad because maybe he could've called someone for help. Although he doesn't think anyone he'd call would let him forget about this.
Tyler grips the branch above his head tightly. He's soaked to the bone, and every so often the mean dog lets out a particularly loud bark that makes him jump. He's not entirely certain why he chose a tree to climb up to escape, instead of like, jumping over the fence he can see from his perch on the tree. Granted, there are cows on the other side of the fence, but at least cows don't have sharp teeth and bark.
I wonder what that would look like, Tyler muses to himself. He pictures a fanged cow snarling at him, and shivers so hard he nearly falls out of the tree
"No fanged cows," he says decidedly to himself. "Never."
He wiggles his toes on his left foot experimentally. His left shoe had come off when he was running from the dog, and it had stopped barking long enough to pick up the shoe and carry it to the tree where it currently stood, barking its head off.
"Shoo!" he tries. "Uh, bad dog! Go home!"
The dog doesn't even seem to have heard him.
Tyler's completely soaked in rainwater. Every last part of him. His hair, which normally sticks up, is currently matted over his eyes. He's getting really cold, and his teeth are even chattering.
Tyler jumps when he hears a loud booming noise, and groans when he realizes it's thunder. Just his luck. He's stuck in a tree, and not only is it raining, it's thundering. And there's probably lightning.
"I will not die here," he mumbles to himself. "I will not."
He wonders if his mother's worried about him. He said he would be back by dinner, but he lost track of the time once he clambered up into some tree in his friend's neighborhood, bike abandoned on the sidewalk. He hopes the rain isn't damaging it.
Crap. He just remembered that he has homework. He doubts any of his teachers will accept the excuse of, "Oh, I was stuck in a tree for most of the night because of a mean dog." It sounds weak even to him.
"Rocky!"
Tyler's head jerks up when he hears another human.
"Rocky, what are you doing? Come inside!"
"Hey!" Tyler shouts. "Hey, could you help me?"
His fellow human doesn't seem to hear him, and Tyler sees someone walk into his view.
"Rocky, what are you barking at?" the guy says, and he follows the hellbeast's- sorry, Rocky's gaze up to where Tyler is. "Uh. Hello?"
"Hi," Tyler says, teeth still chattering.
"Why are you in that tree?" the guy asks curiously. Tyler points to the dog.
"Oh," the guy says. "Hold on, I'll put him inside. I'll be right back." He grabs Rocky's collar and drags him in the direction of the house. Tyler hopes the guy comes back with a ladder or something, because he just realized that he has no idea how he's gonna get down.
"So," the guy says once he's back out, peering up at Tyler from under the hood of his raincoat, "do you maybe wanna climb down?"
"Gee, I never thought of that," Tyler says.
The guy raises an eyebrow. "Stuck?"
Fighting down a blush, Tyler nods.
"Okay, um," the guy says, looking around. "Maybe you could jump?"
"Jump?" Tyler questions. "I'd break my legs!"
"I'd catch you," the guy promises.
"No!"
"Just think of it as a trust fall," the guy says. "Like, a really high trust fall."
"How could I trust you? I don't even know your name!" Tyler protests.
"I'm Josh," the guy says. "Josh Dun. Come on," he says, holding out his arms. "You can do it."
Tyler looks down doubtfully. "I don't know," he says.
"I'll catch you, I promise," Josh says.
"I'm gonna mess up and land on your face."
"I have faith in you."
"Well, I don't have faith in me!" Tyler says slightly hysterically.
"Look, dude, it's either this or call the fire department," Josh says.
Tyler grumbles, burying his head in his hands. "Fine," he says. "I'll do it."
"All right," Josh says, stepping underneath Tyler and holding out his arms. "Angle yourself so you land on your back, okay?"
Tyler can't believe he's doing this. "Okay."
"Okay," Josh says, nodding at Tyler expectantly.
Tyler closes his eyes, says a brief prayer, and lets go.
And holy crap, it works.
Tyler opens his eyes to see Josh grinning at him.
"We did it!" he crows excitedly.
"I did it," Tyler corrects, but he doubts Josh hears him because he's currently clinging to the guy with his face pressed into his neck. The whole situation's about as gay as he is.
"So, um," Josh says a couple minutes later. "Do you think you maybe wanna let go of me?"
No, Tyler thinks, because Josh is very strong and safe and he smells nice.
"Or, um," the guy says, "I could take you inside or something. Shoot, that sounded creepy."
Tyler lets out a giggle. He had totally forgotten about stranger-danger. "No, I'll get down," he says, reluctantly allowing Josh to carefully set him down.
Now that they're face to face, Tyler realizes that Josh can't be that much older than him. He doesn't recognize him from school (thank goodness), but Tyler goes to private school so it's not really that surprising.
"Jeez, you're wet," Josh comments, which reminds Tyler of a bad porno, which makes him start giggling nervously.
Josh smiles bemusedly as Tyler giggles, rain still pouring down. He probably looks like a puppy. A lanky puppy. Soaked in water.
Tyler finally calms down enough for Josh to say, "Do you want me to give you a ride home?"
Tyler attempts to wipe the water out of his eyes. "You have a license?"
"Well," Josh says, looking a little shifty. "I can drive."
Tyler thinks his mother might kill him if she finds out he was in a car where the driver didn't have a license, but he just wants to go home now.
"...okay," he says with a sigh. He'll get his bike later.
"Okay, let me go grab the keys," Josh says. He looks at Tyler for a moment before quickly unzipping his raincoat and shrugging it off before wrapping it around Tyler and dashing inside.
Tyler doubts it'll help much, but he appreciates the gesture quite a bit. He wraps the coat around him a little tighter. At least it smells nice.
Josh comes back quickly, hair already plastered against his forehead from the rainwater. It's a pale purple, Tyler notes, almost pink. It looks good on him. Crap, he does not have the time for a crush on the guy who rescued him from a dog and a tree. That's stupid, even for him.
"Come on," Josh says, walking over to the car parked in the nearest driveway and opening the passenger's seat.
Tyler, most definitely not blushing, walks over and slides into the car, snagging his shoe along the way.
"So, where do you live?" Josh asks as he starts the car.
"Um, two neighborhoods from here. That way," Tyler says, pointing.
Josh nods, pulling out of the driveway. "I never did catch your name," he comments.
"Oh, shoot, sorry," Tyler apologizes. "Tyler. I am. I mean. Tyler. Joseph."
Josh stares at him. Well, he tries, but Tyler squawks for him to look back at the road.
"Smooth," Josh says, but he's smiling.
"Shh," Tyler says, blushing.
"So," Josh says after a few moments of silence, drumming out an absentminded rhythm on the steering wheel, "you wanna go out?"
Tyler chokes on his own spit.
He looks up to see Josh smiling at him kind of... fondly? Tyler doesn't know if that's exactly the right word, but it's the best he can think of it.
"...well, aren't you right to the point?" Tyler says, coughing weakly.
Josh shrugs. "You're cute. If you say no, that would suck, but I'd probably never see you again and I wouldn't have to face you."
"And if I say yes?" Tyler asks hesitantly.
Josh looks at him and beams. "Then that would be-"
"Watch the road!" Tyler shrieks. Josh looks back.
"-awesome," Josh finishes.
Tyler takes a deep breath. "Really?"
"Yeah," Josh says, tapping out a rhythm with his thumbs. "So?"
"So?" Tyler echoes.
"So, what's your answer?" Josh asks, and Tyler sees that he looks kinda- anxious.
"Oh," Tyler says. Answering. Right. "I- I- go out. Will. I. Go out with. Yes."
Josh blinks.
Tyler buries his face in his hands. Why do words always fail him exactly when he needs them most?
"So...?" Josh says. "Was that a no, or a-"
"Go out with me," Tyler blurts.
"Yes," Josh says.
Tyler pauses. "I didn't mean to like, order you."
Josh laughs. "That's fine. This neighborhood?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah," Tyler says. "That house there."
Josh pulls up in front of the car.
"So," Josh says. "Could I have your number?" He holds out his phone.
"Oh, sure," Tyler says, taking it. He enters Tyler, along with a heart emoji and his number.
"Thanks," Josh says as Tyler steps out after setting the raincoat on the carseat. "I'll call you."
"Okay," Tyler says. On impulse, he leans back in and gives Josh a kiss on the cheek.
"Okay," he repeats, stepping out of the car and closing the door behind him. He can't help the grin that spreads across his face. He should get stuck in trees more often.