Chapter Text
“did he get into it with someone?”
tyler looks up from where he’s been staring at josh from across the driveway, chatting head-to-head with debby in hushed tones; brendon’s standing next to him, a smug smile on his face.
he half wants to punch him, just to wipe it off. he could be such an insensitive asshole sometime, it was ridiculous. instead, he twists his fingers into the hem of his t-shirt, offers up a half-assed shrug. “it’s complicated.”
brendon must sense the coldness washing off of him in waves. his eyebrows furrow when he asks, “his dad?”
tyler lifts an eyebrow. “how do you know?” a pause. “did he tell you?”
“well, no.” brendon awkwardly cards a hand through his hair, shrugs. “you can kind of tell. those bruises aren’t hickeys. just didn’t know if it was his mom or his dad.”
“oh.” he tugs at his t-shirt, eyes trailing back to josh longingly. he wished he would have just stayed at his house so they could’ve talked it over, but he’d insisted on still going camping.
“it’d look suspicious,” he’d said, “not going. i don’t want bren breathing down my neck.”
“showing up like this is going to be suspicious, j.”
“i’ll make something up. tell ‘em i got into a fight or something.”
“i mean – you kind of did, right? are you sure you want to go?”
“yeah. i’m sure. i need to.”
he’d agreed, reluctantly; the desperation in josh’s eyes, in the tone of his voice, was nearly overwhelming. there was something he wasn’t telling him, but tyler couldn’t find the nerve to ask.
now, he found himself leaned against the hood of josh’s car while he talks hurriedly to debby. there’s not a doubt in tyler’s mind that he’s explaining to her what had really gone on; they’d been friends even longer than him and tyler. there wasn’t hiding anything from her. she could read josh like an open book, and it was terrifying.
brendon gives him another once-over, sighs. “i won’t bring it up.”
tyler lets an appreciative smile cross his features. “thank you. he’ll tell you more than i can, one day.”
“i know.”
another car pulls into the driveway, parking next to brendon’s; pete’s blue and white ’65 mustang, the pride and joy of his lifetime. it had been his father’s, and a present for his seventeenth birthday. the engine’s a piece of shit, and he must’ve corked at least a grand into fixing it up into the conditions it is now, but he won’t dare get another car.
a snapback is pulled low over his eyes when he opens the door, bottle-blonde and bleach-burned hair poking out from underneath the backwards brim. he grins at brendon, flipping him the middle finger, and it’s hardly surprising that brendon guffaws, grinning at him and waving him over.
“where’s your boy toy?” pete asks, even as his own boyfriend topples out of the passenger’s seat, brown hair disheveled and falling into his eyes. patrick smiles cheerily at tyler first, tipping a near-bashful wave his way; tyler’s heart warms at the sight of him, and he waves back, a grin just as bright crossing into his face.
“dallon’s inside with jenna.” they high five, and brendon slaps pete’s ass when he comes close enough; he immediately starts cursing him out, and patrick rolls his eyes as he strolls leisurely over to tyler’s side.
“he’s been in a mood all morning,” he sighs, tugging tyler into a side-hug as brendon and pete engage each other in a horrible attempt at fighting, trying to wrestle each other to the pavement.
“what’d you do, refuse him a blowjob?” tyler snorts at the flush that rises into patrick’s cheeks, playfully shoving his shoulder. “it’s fine, patty. i would’ve done the same thing.”
“whatever. i’d like to see you refuse josh anything,” patrick shifts, leaning against the hood; his eyes turn from pete to look at josh, immediately widening when they see the state he’s in. “oh, goodness. josh looks bad. who’d he get into it with?”
“ask him. it’s a really interesting story,” tyler flounders for an explanation, deciding it’s best if josh tells them all the same one; he hopes it comes across as more convincing than it feels, rolling off his tongue.
he offers up a cheesy smile when patrick groans. “can that boy just stay out of trouble? he’s almost as bad as pete.”
tyler’s smile falters. if only they knew what josh had been going through. he half wants to tell him, just to keep them from thinking that josh is a bad kid like pete always has been, but he bites his tongue and merely shrugs.
debby and josh hug, as tyler watches on sadly; her arms are tight around his waist as she whispers something that looks like ‘i love you’ into his ear. his eyes squeeze closed, possibly holding back tears, as he hugs her back, hands firm on her hips.
sometimes, tyler forgets how close debby and josh are. closer than him and tyler, quite possibly; his chest gives a familiar panging ache as they pull apart, and debby smiles up at josh, the corners of her eyes watery with tears.
a shout sounds from his other side; tyler’s and patrick’s head turn in unison from josh and debby to watch as brendon pins pete to the concrete on his back. he wiggles wildly, shouting out ‘fuck’ as loudly as he possibly can while brendon cheers triumphantly, sitting on his hips.
“i win, petey,” brendon crows, and pete knees him hard in the crotch; he goes sprawling, holding his groin and moaning out in pain as he hits the concrete, landing on his side.
“win my ass! how’s the dirt taste, brendon?”
“tastes great,” brendon groans through the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.
patrick lets out yet another sigh. tyler’s learned, from years of experience, that he’s full of them, especially if pete wentz is involved in some way.
“pete, what are you doing to my boyfriend?” another voice joins the fray; tyler turns once more, only to see the towering figure of dallon slowly approaching the scene. his voice may be stern, but he’s smiling as he crouches next to brendon and puts a hand on his shoulder. “fighting for my honor again?”
“always,” brendon smiles tearfully.
with dallon’s help, he gets back on his feet; pete crosses his arms and walks over to patrick, grinning as he hooks an arm around his waist and presses a wet kiss to his cheek.
“pete, that’s gross.”
“patrick, fuck you.”
tyler raises an eyebrow at the language, but the both of them are smiling as patrick cups pete’s jaw in his hand and kisses him firmly to shut him up; he smiles, then, in understanding. brendon bubbles over into ridiculously loud laughter in the distance, and when tyler looks over to him, dallon is tickling his sides in an attempt to make him stop pathetically whining over getting thrown to the dirt.
he looks to patrick, but he’s lip-locked with pete still. dejected, he slides off the hood and makes his way over to josh just as debby departs to head inside to get jenna.
“hey, ty,” josh murmurs, slings an arm around his shoulders and presses his forehead against tyler’s temple.
“how are you feeling?” tyler asks, cinching his fingers in the fabric of his t-shirt just above the waistband of his jeans as josh kisses his cheek.
“m’fine.” it’s dismissive, empty; his eyes are still as hollow as they’d been since tyler had first saw him that morning, and it’s worrying. he must sense his discomfort because he rubs a hand over tyler’s shoulder blade and sighs, “hurts, but i’m fine. just need to keep my mind off of things.”
“i know.” he’s just the person for that. he presses his palm flat against josh’s abdomen, tilts his chin up and kisses the bend of his jaw. “come on. let’s start driving. you’ll feel better the farther away you get.”
josh tugs away from him momentarily to collect the others, calling over his shoulder, “let’s hit the road!”
there’s a clamor of noise as brendon cheers; he hears someone shout ‘fuck you’ and he guesses it’s pete talking to brendon again, and then another loud shout. when he turns around, they’re wrestling again, shouting incoherently as brendon puts pete in a headlock. patrick stands nearby, hands on his hips as he tries to call pete away over the noise.
after ten seconds, he gets irritated enough to shout, “can you two stop molesting each other for two seconds and get in the car?”
that calls all of pete’s attention; he lands a sharp smack to brendon’s crotch again and wiggles out of his grasp when he doubles over in pain once more.
patrick begins chewing pete out as they climb into the mustang; tyler barely catches the words ‘grow up’ from his mouth and it would be surprising, coming from patrick, but only if it wasn’t directed toward pete.
dallon badly suppresses laughter as he helps brendon off the ground again. “stop picking fights with him,” he’s saying, cupping brendon’s face in his hands when he pouts. “you’ll just get your ass kicked.”
they pile into the back of pete’s mustang as well, which is a horrid idea, but tyler can’t help but feel mildly thankful. he doesn’t know how he’d survive a hour and a half drive with brendon in the same car as him.
“ready to go?” josh asks, as the front door swings open; jenna and debby appear, giggling with hands linked.
“mhm.” tyler nods, wrinkles his nose.
“hi, ty,” debby chimes, hugging him softly. he wraps her arms around her waist and noses through her hair; she smells something like strawberries. she always does.
“hey, debby.” he opens her car door for her, and she smiles when she thanks him. after she’s seated, he closes it behind her, opens his own, and plops down in the seat, stretching his legs out to the best of his ability.
jenna crawls in next to debby, sliding into the middle seat to press their legs together immediately. josh appears next, closing his door behind him and pulling his seatbelt over his chest, before putting his keys into the ignition.
“put your seatbelt on,” he points at tyler’s chest. he rolls his eyes but does as instructed, securing himself, as josh pulls out of his driveway. “deb, did we get everything?”
“i think so,” she calls from the back.
“alright,” josh sighs, reaching out to grab tyler’s hand in his, twining their fingers together. “road trip.”
+
“if anyone needs to pee, go now,” josh sighs. both debby and jenna rush out of the car, running across the parking lot with hands held and long hair flying behind them. tyler stays planted in his seat, thumbs tapping his screen as he texts his mother.
“dude, i’m not turning around if you decide you need to pee in ten minutes,” josh rolls his eyes and tyler looks up at him from his phone, smiling softly.
“i’m good, baby,” he murmurs.
he’s not turning red at some pet name. he swears he’s not.
“you’re blushing.”
fuck. “i am not.”
“you are too,” tyler insists, leaning over the middle console to poke his cheek softly.
josh huffs, draws away from his touch. “whatever.”
“baby,” tyler drawls, leans over further to curl his hand around the underside of josh’s jaw, dragging his face toward him.
“what?” josh asks, glowing an even more brilliant shade.
“i love you.”
josh scowls, and tyler wiggles his eyebrows. immediately, he begins to giggle, breaking away from tyler to watch as debby and jenna make their way across the parking lot.
“hi, babes,” jenna chirps as she slides into the car, debby in tow.
“gosh, josh, you’re red,” debby comments as she settles herself in, giving him a sunshiney know-it-all smile as she puts her seatbelt on.
“am i? hadn’t noticed,” josh smiles back, just as bright, before pulling the car onto the road again. tyler snorts to the side, hands on his phone again, intently focused on his screen.
josh flips through radio stations until he finds something suitable and road trip worthy, wincing as both jenna and debby begin belting out the lyrics to whatever cheesy, bubblegum pop song he’d picked. he regrets his decision, immediately, reaching out to change the station, but tyler bats his hand away with a deathly glare.
“what?” josh asks, genuinely confused.
“i like this song,” tyler frowns, and josh chuckles.
“you could’ve just said that.”
he smiles to himself fondly as tyler begins singing the lyrics just as loudly, and he thinks that maybe, he doesn’t regret his decision as much as he’d initially thought.
time clicks by in the form of screaming lyrics at the top of their lungs, to miming drumming and flamboyantly playing air guitar, until jenna sprawls across the back seat, head in debby’s lap, announcing that she’s tired. josh turns the radio down and she’s out like a light within a few minutes, debby gently stroking her hair. another ten minutes pass and debby falls asleep, too, neck craned against the back seat, hand still in jenna’s hair.
“hey, josh,” tyler grumbles, flipping through radio stations, trying to find one that isn’t covered in static.
“yeah?”
“i have to pee.”
josh glances at him, rolling his eyes. “i asked you if you had to pee twenty minutes ago, dude. i told you i’m not turning around, so you’re gonna have to hold it.”
“i didn’t have to pee then,” tyler whines in return, leaning back in his seat after finding a suitable song. “come on.”
“tyler, i am not finding another gas station.”
“you’re not being fair,” tyler complains, throwing his head back against the seat. “please.”
“oh my god, no.”
“josh!” tyler exclaims.
“tyler,” josh deadpans.
“please?”
“i’m not finding another gas station. if you need to go that bad, you can pee on the side of the highway.”
tyler groans. “you’re the worst boyfriend i’ve ever had,” he sighs, dramatically throwing an arm over his eye. he yanks it up some to glare at josh. “fine, pull over.”
josh raises an eyebrow as he searches the side of the road for a safe place to pull over. “i’m the only boyfriend you’ve had,” he points out.
“which makes you the worst!” tyler grins as opens his car door, sliding out of his seat and rounding the back of the car. josh impatiently taps his fingers on his thighs until the door reopens and tyler plops down next to him, smiling cheerily. he leans over and pecks josh on the cheek, grabbing his hand.
half of him wants to be pissed, if only for the sake of lost time, but his chest glows with warmth as he intertwines his fingers with tyler’s and he doesn’t bother trying to keep an adoring smile off of his face.
tyler hums and sings along to the radio and plays with josh’s fingers, tapping beats to songs on his knuckles. eventually, his eyes grow heavy and his voice weary, until he ends up resting his head on josh’s shoulder. josh thinks that the position can’t be comfortable, what with tyler’s side being stretched out across both seats, but he’s asleep within a few minutes, snoring softly into josh’s ear.
debby awakes in the seat behind him half an hour later, stretching as best she can with jenna’s head in her lap. she yawns and rubs at her eyes, meeting josh’s gaze in the rearview mirror.
“did you ask him out yet?” she smiles fondly at the pair.
“kinda.”
she blanches, mouth falling open, eyes widening. “what? when?”
he chuckles, squeezing tyler’s hand. he lets out a quiet noise next to josh’s ear, and his smile grows wider. “this afternoon.”
debby smiles smugly, easing back into her seat. “i can’t wait until you tell jenna. her and i bet on it. i just won.”
“you bet on my relationship?” josh snorts, narrowing his eyes.
“hell yeah we did. on who would ask out who.”
“jesus, how much did you bet?”
“twenty bucks. why?”
“how long ago was this?”
“at brendon’s pool party when you two were all alone,” her voice is a lilting sing-song, teasing him.
josh closes his eyes, sighing. “you didn’t win, though. you owe her.”
debby glares at him. “what do you mean?”
“he kind of asked me out,” josh shuffles, shooting tyler a fond glance.
“no way,” debby groans. “she’s gonna talk about me losing for weeks.” a pause, broken only by josh’s laugh. she scowls when she asks, “how far away are we?”
“you shouldn’t have bet on us.” his eyes flicker down to the car radio, and back up to the road. “fifteen minutes, give or take.”
“cool. wake me up when we get there,” she responds, sticking her tongue out when josh glares at her in the mirror. five minutes later, he’s surrounded by sleeping bodies as he drives on, and he’s beginning to feel a little drowsy himself.
another five minutes pass, and he swears he’s going to fall asleep at the wheel.
he keeps himself intently focused on the road to stay awake. it seems to have worked, as everyone’s still alive and breathing when he pulls up to the campsite of choice, right behind dallon’s car.
he parks next to him and shuts the engine off. gently, he wakes tyler until he’s coherent enough to slide off of his shoulder and sit up in his seat, blinking tiredly (adorably) at josh.
“we’re here,” josh states, earning a sleepy, half-confused smile, before he swings his door open.