Chapter Text
- Next question, please! It's, uh, question number 8 if I'm not wrong.
- It's me! Uhm. Hello! My name's Jeff and I'm from Oklahoma...
- Hi, Jeff! - saluted Tyler
- Hi!
- Uhm my question is: Tyler, when and how did you and Jenna first meet and Josh, why aren't you in a relationship yet?
Everyone in the audience and even the radio broadcasters were a little shocked, and one would say, almost offended at the question. Josh looked at this feet and went completely silent. It had been some time already after the breakup, yes, but it still affected both parties.
- I'm...eh, my wife. The question's when did I met her? - asked Tyler
- Yeah.
- Jenna's just to cover up my relationship with Josh... - he joked (or did he?)
Everyone laughed, including Josh. Tyler just wanted to ease the tension of the question toward Josh.
- I think it was..oh my God...I think it was three years ago or two and a half years ago. I remember that we started going out and then I took her to a show of ours to show her what I did. And... I thought "she's so digging this". But then at the end of the show she was so unfazed by the fact that I was in a band and that I played music and I got obsessed with that, if I can use that verb to refer to it. And yeah, even to this day, she's so unfazed by that...I mean, she's very supportive and everything, but I love having her and her being like that because she's very realistic, like, I know I won't have any false motivation or anything. - He ended. He didn't want to finish because that'd take the attention toward the question directed to Josh, and he didn't really want to put that tension on Josh because he could get anxious. He looked over to his best friend, now taking the word but carrying on the subject on Jenna.
- Yeah, I mean, Jenna's amazing. - he said with an almost sad voice. - She's funny and she's awesome and makes Tyler a better person to be around... - and he giggled at the last comment whilst looking over at Tyler and everyone chuckled along.
- Thank...thank you, Josh. - said Tyler, seeing that Josh had nothing else to say to evade the question he was asked and almost giving up...
- Have you ever stopped to think how this makes Josh feel? - everyone laughed, Josh laughed and seemed more relieved. - Because not just you guys, but anyone who spends a lot of time together; two friends, when one gets married, you have to change a lot of things and stuff...
Tyler was going to speak, but Josh took the word.
- I'm gonna answer this because it's about me. - everyone laughed - It's been cool for me, because, as I said, Jenna's really cool and makes Tyler more fun to be around...but I still get to hang out with Tyler just as much, so it hasn't changed much....
- And what about you? Are you looking for your next love affair? - asked the broadcaster, returning to the first question of the interview "how did you two meet?" Everyone laughed.
- Uhm, haha, no... - the bomb now was there, so he had to make the best out of it: a joke - ...I'm in a committed relationship with my drums - he said finally, and Tyler, who was looking at him nervously as to see what his reaction would be, sighed in relief and laughed along with the audience.
When the laughter died off, the broadcaster spoke again.
- You're in a very good place, though, You're young, I'm...you're both 26, right? - They both answered yes. - Not married, I mean, I love my wife, but you're young and in a band.. you're in a very good place. You're enjoying your youth, right?
Josh readjusted in his seat.
- Well.. - Josh started
- Well, but all that to say... - interrupted Tyler - ladies, seriously, one of the best catches you'll ever find - he said, pointing at his best friend and looking at the audience whilst Josh looked all humble
- Look at you! Caring out for your boy! - the audience laughed, the boys laughed along
The interview continued. The normal question about the technical arranging in their music Who was Blurryface and if they'd ever collaborate with anyone else. It finally ended and then they played Tear in My Heart, the only love song they ever played. They left, with thank yous and goodbyes and their hearts relieved.
They got up on Tyler's car and drove to the hotel they were staying on. Josh was silent and his head hung as if he didn't even have the strength to get it up. His eyes were staring at the car's floor. Tyler was sure that he wasn't even there. He was far away, thinking of something. In times like this he wished he could get inside Josh's mind to comfort him.
Everyone knew about Tyler's struggles, but Josh almost never spoke about them and that bothered Tyler, but it wasn't his story to tell. Josh was reserved with his voice. He almost communicated solely through his drums sometimes. When he was angry, you'd notice by two things: a little distress in his eyes and the way he'd bang the drums. Same happened when he was nervous or when he was troubled in any way or even when he was happy. That was Josh for everyone who knew him; an amazing human being who'd internalize everything if it wasn't because of the drums.
He spoke with Tyler about how he felt sometimes, but it mostly took Tyler to take the initiative. He had to ask Josh if everything was okay, and almost guess his way through Josh's mind. Josh could seem like a simple, easy minded guy, light mood and everything, but he wasn't. He was more complicated than "the guy who plays the drums and does backflips", and of course he was even more than that for Tyler.
He was deciding whether or not to interrupt his friend's thoughts, but he pondered it'd be better to leave him alone. After all, he knew he was pensive because of the question about the relationship. He knew he still missed Debby and it was hard for him to talk about romance. He wasn't really someone who went with girls out much. Before Debby there had been a couple of girls more, but Debby had seemed the most important one. Still, there was something else behind that. Josh never quite cleared up the whole breakup situation to him. He didn't clear it up with anyone. Probably not even with himself. "Things got complicated." he'd said. Tyler didn't want to push him into explaining, but things must've gotten bad if after such a long time, it still hurt both so much. But they could be together, I mean, they were still friends, so things couldn't have been all that bad, right?
"Stop thinking, Tyler, you're gonna end up worse than Josh if you keep going around all of this again. " He told himself. He looked over at Josh, who was still serious and silent but now he was looking out the window. He guessed he was doing that to evade Tyler's stare. He was always more of a listener than a talker, Josh. He would listen to him complaining all night long and he'd hold him while crying and he'd calm him down when he got angry or nervous and he'd try to cheer him up when he felt depressed. He was thankful for all of that, but he felt powerless when it was about helping Josh because he couldn't even be sure about what was wrong.