Work Text:
It's not like Josh wanted to be a bodyguard when he was a kid. This was just a job that he was qualified for that paid the bills. He doesn't see himself doing it forever, either. At some point he will go and follow his dreams, whatever those are. The job is fine but not good and not fun. Maybe he hates it a little bit.
Well, there is one thing he likes about this job. The guy he has to guard; Tyler.
Tyler is a musician… of some kind. Honestly it isn't relevant to Josh's job so he doesn't pay much attention. All he knows is Tyler is very popular and he has a lot of very weird fans. Stalkers, you could say. That's why Tyler's agent hired Josh - to keep him safe.
Fortunately, Tyler doesn't go out much, so Josh spends most of his time hanging around recording studios and Tyler's big house. Occasionally, Tyler will go to a meeting with his label or whatever, but Josh just sits there and zones out. He really should pay more attention but seriously, why would he need to? His job doesn't require him to know anything that Tyler is doing, just where he is and how many crazy people are going to be there.
"Don't call them crazy." Tyler chides.
Oh, shit, did he say that out loud?
"Sorry." Josh says quickly. "I just mean, some of the people who come to your shows are… a little… um…"
"Crazy?" Tyler grins.
"Don't call them crazy." Josh says, as seriously as he can. Then they both start laughing. "No, for real, why are so many teenagers so obsessed with you?"
It's not just girls - it's guys too, and Josh supposes non binary people but he has no data on that. They all follow Tyler around like lost but excitable ducklings. Honestly, it would be sweet if some of them weren't showing up outside Tyler's house and being vaguely threatening.
But Josh is always there, so it's okay.
"I couldn't tell you." Tyler shrugs, spinning around in his swivel chair. They're in his studio, which is more like a closet full of instruments, but it's only ever Tyler and Josh in there so it isn't a big deal. Their knees bump into each other occasionally, and Josh has to ignore the electric feeling that gives him. "I guess they like my music."
"I guess." Josh nods. He thinks 'like' might be an understatement.
"Do you like my music?"
"Uh…"
"Have you ever listened to my music?" Tyler smirks.
"I have a lot going on." Josh says, which is a lie. He pretty much just comes to work, goes to the gym if he can be bothered, and sleeps. And he doesn't need to listen to Tyler's music to do his job, so seriously, why bother? "I'll get around to it."
"Sure, that's fine." Tyler says, and he almost sounds self conscious. Like he might actually care what Josh thinks. Which is silly, because Josh is just an employee to him.
Tyler doesn't seem to have many friends. He's usually either on his own or with someone from his label, especially when Josh is around. Maybe Tyler waits for Josh to leave before hanging out with his friends, but when Josh asks, Tyler says he hasn't been doing anything interesting.
Poor guy. He's so famous that he has nobody.
Josh finally googles Tyler about six months into working for him. Why he didn't do it earlier, he doesn't know. It wasn't relevant to his job and he isn't that nosy. Well, he is, he just couldn't be bothered.
Lying in bed when he can't sleep one night, he types Tyler Joseph into his search bar. For a split second he doesn't remember if that's the correct last name, then the images load and Tyler is right there on his screen. None of the images look quite like the Tyler that Josh sees every day. They're all slightly edited, smoothed out, and he's never smiling. That's so strange, because Tyler always seems to be grinning when Josh is there. Josh finds Tyler's Wikipedia and scrolls through it, but there isn't much interesting in there. His middle name is Robert, he was born in Ohio - hey, so was Josh - and he played basketball in high school. Tyler probably would tell Josh all of that if he asked.
He keeps scrolling, through Tyler's Instagram (which is mostly pictures from his concerts) and his Twitter (which is mostly inactive) until he finds a bunch of video interviews. In these, Tyler looks more human, more like himself. Although he does look a little uncomfortable as he's bombarded with questions about his personal life instead of his music.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" One interviewer asks, chirpy in a way that puts Josh's teeth on edge.
"No, I'm not seeing anyone." Tyler says awkwardly. Josh relaxes; he hadn't realised that the question made him tense, like he was expecting a blow. He would have known if Tyler had a girlfriend, of course, but still… still nothing, it doesn't matter.
"I'm sure there's plenty of lovely ladies out there who would love to take you on a date!" The interviewer laughs. Josh wants to punch her.
"I think I'm alright." Tyler mumbles, glancing off camera to where his publicist presumably stands. It's a get me out of here look.
Josh has to close the interview then. He doesn't like seeing Tyler upset. Which is weird, because there's no reason for him to care. Tyler is just a job. It's not like they're friends.
"What do you do when you're not here?" Tyler asks when they're sitting in the green room at some festival that Tyler is playing. He's not headlining - he made sure Josh understood that most of the people attending the festival were not here for him, so he didn't need to keep an eye on them so much. That's fine; Josh loves when his job is easy.
"I sleep." Josh says. It's not untrue. He loves nothing more than going home and getting straight into bed.
"Come on. If you had a day off, right now, what would you do?"
"I'd sleep." Josh insists. He is awful tired - this festival has been very draining for him, so much coming and going; he can't imagine how Tyler feels having to perform in it. Tyler gives him a disapproving look. "Alright, fine. I… used to play the drums, when I was younger. I guess if I had the free time I would pick that back up."
"I play the drums too!" Tyler exclaims - Josh knows this, he's seen the videos online and the drum kits in Tyler's house and studio. "Come on, what else?"
"Uhm… I like to drive around, listen to music." Josh shrugs. God, his life is boring. "Sometimes when I've had a bad day, when I'm… feeling kind of numb, I like to drive faster than I maybe should. Helps me feel something, you know? Gets the demons out, you could say."
Tyler nods but stays silent, letting him continue.
"I just take the longest route I can think of until I feel better. Then I end up having to drive real slow down my street so my song ends right as I pull into my driveway, you know? Or I have to sit there until the song is done."
"You don't like leaving a song unfinished." Tyler observes.
"I guess." Josh laughs. "It's rude, isn't it?
"Mhm." Tyler agrees. "Do you ever listen to my music when you drive?"
"Can't say I do." Josh admits.
He can't bring himself to listen to Tyler's music. Part of it is just the remnants of his professional detachment, and part of him is scared of what he'll find in there. He likes the version to Tyler he has to himself - he doesn't know if he'll like the one he finds in his music.
"Oh." Tyler says. He looks almost… disappointed. Josh starts to feel bad about it.
Tyler is in a bad mood. Josh doesn't know why, but he can tell. He has spent enough time around Tyler that his emotions are pretty simple to him. If Tyler is humming to himself, he's happy. If he's throwing drumsticks at Josh's head as he walks through the studio door, then he's probably not having a good day.
"Jesus!" Josh ducks out of the way just in time, and the drum sticks collide with the door. "What was that for?"
"Sorry!" Tyler exclaims from behind the drum kit. "I didn't expect you to walk in right then."
"God forbid I go get you a soda." Josh puts the can down on the table next to Tyler and backs up three steps. "Are you safe to be around right now?"
"Yeah, sorry." Tyler says again. "I just can't get the drums to work for this song."
"Do you want me to try?" Josh offers. Tyler stares at him. "I play the drums. Probably not as well as you, and it's been a while, but I can give it a go."
"Yeah, I remember you saying." Tyler thinks for a moment, then nods. "Sure, okay. It'll be better than me sitting here hitting things and getting nowhere."
Josh gets a fresh pair of drumsticks and kicks Tyler out of his seat. Tyler gives him a set of earphones and lets him listen to the melody he has. It's catchy, and quickly Josh figures out what he wants to do with the beat. He asks Tyler to restart the track, spinning one of the drumsticks in his left hand.
Playing an instrument is like riding a bike, in that it's never as easy as you remember it being. Josh has to ask to start again twice before he finally gets into the groove and finds his rhythm. He listens back to it and isn't happy, and now he's getting sweaty, so he takes his shirt off, drops it on the floor and tries again. This time, it's more like what he was going for. He looks up at Tyler, who is staring at him wide-eyed. Josh is suddenly very self conscious - he forgot that they don't have a shirt-off kind of relationship.
"Sorry." Josh picks his shirt back up and tries to pull it on as elegantly as possible. He struggles with it a lot more than a grown man should. "It's way too hot in here."
"Uh, yeah. I think that's all you." Tyler nods, looking a little dazed. What does that mean? "Um, thank you for your help. It sounds way better now."
"No problem." Josh says, trying to figure out if the tension in the air is his imagination, or something real.
"Do you own a suit?" Tyler asks one day when Josh is zoned the fuck out.
"What?" Josh asks.
Tyler has let Josh wear whatever he wants so far, so this is completely out of left field. This is what he gets for not listening to Tyler rambling. Or for taking his shirt off unprompted. He's still so embarrassed about that, but neither of them has brought it up.
"For the awards show." Tyler clarifies.
Josh still doesn't know what he's talking about. "Uh, yeah, I own one, somewhere. It's a funeral suit, though." He doesn't have any other occasion to wear a suit. No one invites him to weddings.
"That's fine, I just don't want you to look out of place." Tyler looks over at Josh. "You are free that night, right? I know I don't usually need you that late."
Still, Josh doesn't know what this awards show is or what night it's on, but he doesn't do very much with his time anyway. "Sure, that's fine."
Tyler stares at him, a smile creeping into his face. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
Josh shakes his head slowly. "You caught me."
"I'm up for a best album award. I need you to come to the awards show with me so you can be the bad guy if I want to leave."
"The bad guy?"
"If I want to leave but I don't want to seem rude, I give you a signal and you say we have to go."
"I see." Josh nods. "What's the signal?"
"I think you'll be able to tell when I want to leave."
"Do you think I can read you that easy?"
"Yeah, I think you can." Tyler says quietly.
Josh doesn't know what to do with that.
Tyler has won a lot of awards before - Josh knows this because he googled it last night - but he still seems nervous for this one. He keeps readjusting his jacket sleeves, fiddling with his cuff links. It starts to get on Josh's nerves, three feet apart in the back of the car provided by the label. Josh wants to grab Tyler's hands and make him stop, but that probably wouldn't serve to calm him down. He just has to deal with an incredibly fidgety Tyler sitting so close to him.
"You've won awards before." Josh reminds him. Seventeen to be exact, not that Josh had a reason to count them. "I don't know why you're so worried."
"Not a best album award." Tyler mumbles. "And I don't think I'm gonna win it."
"I think you will."
"You have to say that. I pay you to hang out with me."
"You pay me to protect you, actually." Josh says. "But nothing ever happens so I'm just sort of hanging around you. It's incidental."
"You're worth every penny." Tyler smiles at him. He has stopped messing with his cuff links. "If I'm at this thing any later than ten o'clock, I'm gonna be upset."
"I'll get you out of there by ten," Josh promises, "You'll be in bed by eleven at the latest."
"Thanks, Josh." Tyler smiles.
The venue is very large and full of people in suits that probably cost Josh's yearly salary. He has to stand off to the side while Tyler awkwardly takes pictures on the red carpet, but then they're back together, walking inside. Tyler shakes his arms out and takes a deep breath. Josh wants to reassure him again, but he just pats Tyler on the back instead. Slowly, Tyler smiles at him.
It's incredible, actually, how easy it is to make Tyler relax. Maybe that's just the effect Josh has on him. Wishful thinking.
"Ten, at the latest." Josh points to the side room where all the 'staff' have to sit at these kinds of things. "I'll come find you once it's over."
Tyler nods, then glances around to see if anyone is looking at them. They aren't, they're all too busy networking. He takes Josh's hand and squeezes it, then walks off to his seat. Josh stares off after him, hand clenched like he doesn't know what to do with it now that Tyler has touched him.
Josh zones out for most of the award ceremony - he has definitely heard of some of these artists before, but he doesn't know any of them very well. His music taste is a bit too indie for all this mainstream shit, which makes him sound like an dickhead but he doesn't care. No one else in the staff room tries to speak with him and that's fine. Josh sits with his sunglasses on so he doesn't accidentally make eye contact with someone until the Best Album award comes on the screen. He definitely looks like a dickhead, but so do half the people here and they don't even need to wear sunglasses indoors to do it.
Then, the best album award is up, and Josh decides to pay attention. The camera cuts to Tyler as they say his name and the name of his album - Clancy. Josh realises he didn't actually know the name of it until now. There's a bunch of other artists up for the award that Josh is pretty sure he has heard on the radio before. Maybe he has heard something of Tyler's while driving and not even realised. That would be embarrassing.
He should really listen to some of his stuff, to at least have an idea, a vibe. Just to say he has so Tyler doesn't look so disappointed with him all the time.
Tyler is smiling while the camera is on him, but it isn't a real smile. The look in his eyes is that of pure terror - he really isn't used to having cameras pointed at him like this. Josh wants to go out there now and tell him they have to leave; if anything is a signal, it's that look. But he can't, at least not until Tyler has won the award. Or not won the award, which Josh had not considered was a possibility up until now.
Of course Tyler will win it. He's Tyler.
"And the award goes to-" The host says. Josh doesn't really recognise her either but he guesses that isn't important. The host opens the envelope, and Josh swears she's taking forever to do it on purpose, perfectly manicured nails clumsily breaking the seal. He leans forward in his seat a little - he hasn't cared about anything this much all night; he may never care about anything this much again.
The hostess takes forever to read the card, but then she announces, "Tyler Joseph with Clancy!"
"Yes!" Josh gasps out, and fortunately no one looks at him as he relaxes back into his chair.
Tyler gets up onto the stage, looking more afraid than ever as he speaks into the microphone. He thanks his mom, his dad, his brothers, and then-
"And I want to thank my friend Josh, for convincing me to even walk into this venue tonight, because honestly I would have rather stayed at home and had him accept it for me." Tyler says, which gets him a laugh from the audience. He smiles then, for real. Josh is stunned, digging his nails into his thigh so he doesn't scream at the screen. "Thank you, everyone, for loving Clancy along with me."
He steps off the stage with the award gripped in both hands like someone might try to take it from him. Josh wants to go out there right now and drag Tyler back to the car, just so they can talk about what the fuck that was.
Instead, Josh leans back in his chair and chews on his fingernails until the ceremony is over.
As soon as it's done, Josh gets up and leaves the staff room. He spots Tyler talking to - or rather, being talked at by - the Best New Artist winner, who Josh has already forgotten the name of. Whatever, they're not important. Checking his watch, Josh realises it's already nine-thirty. He beelines straight for Tyler, weaving through the crowd as fast as he can. Tyler spots Josh in his peripheral vision, and visibly relaxes.
"We've gotta go, Mr Joseph." Josh says, trying to sound professional and probably failing miserably. He puts his hand on Tyler's shoulder and squeezes.
"Now?" Tyler asks, fake annoyed. It's so obvious to Josh that it's almost funny, but he manages not to crack a smile. Josh nods. Tyler sighs, a touch too over dramatic. "Alright, fine."
Tyler pulls his tie off as soon as they're in the car. Josh feels like he should say something but he doesn't know what. They sit in silence until they're halfway back to Tyler's house, when he finally speaks.
"I didn't have anyone else to thank."
"What?" Josh hopes the driver doesn't report whatever happens in this conversation to a tabloid.
"When I was doing my speech. I couldn't think of anyone else I wanted to thank except my family and you." Tyler shrugs, looking out of the window instead of at Josh. "Sorry, if that was weird for you."
"It wasn't." Josh says, because it… wasn't. He's confused, sure, but it's nice to be appreciated for something. Even if he didn't really do shutting except play the drums that one time, which he knows didn't make it into any finished song. "I don't think I've ever actually helped with your music at all, but-"
Tyler cuts him off. "You do."
"I- okay." Josh decides to just… accept it. He checks his watch. "Hey, it just hit ten. I'm so good at this job."
"You got my signal." Tyler notes with a soft smile.
"I got the signal around the time they announced your nomination." Josh says. "But I didn't think that was the right time to sweep you out."
Tyler laughs, eyes scrunching up. "Yeah, I really didn't want to be there."
"But you won." Josh holds his hand out, and Tyler hands over the award without question. It's heavier than he expected it to be, solid and cold. "Woah. I'll probably never get to hold one of these again."
"Unless I win another one." Tyler blushes, realising he sounds immodest. "Which I probably won't."
"Sure you will. You're only going to get better, right?"
Tyler shrugs. "You wouldn't know. You don't listen to my music."
Right. He hasn't done that. No time like the present, though.
Josh drives home from Tyler's place that night with Clancy playing from his radio. He sits in his driveway until Paladin Strait finishes. Then he listens to it all again.
"Do you want to listen to my new song?" Tyler asks, leaning back in his office chair in the studio.
"Can I?" Josh asks, looking up from his phone.
He has been reading about Tyler on Twitter again, which is a really awful habit he has gotten into. One of these days he's going to make a burner account just to yell at teenagers online. They're all so wrong about him, it's unreal.
He isn't a precious baby or an evil mastermind or a secret genius. He's a man. A damn good man, a talented musician, a good boss, a good friend - sure, they're using that word, why not - but at the end of the day, he's just Tyler. Josh loves that he's just Tyler.
Hmm. Maybe Josh should be careful about using words like love about Tyler. His brain might get the wrong idea, if it hasn't already.
"Yeah, of course." Tyler pulls his headphones off and hands them to Josh. "It's a bit of a rough draft, but I want you to hear it first."
"Alright." Josh rolls his chair over to sit beside Tyler. He's almost flattered that Tyler wants him to listen before anyone else. "Is it anything like Clancy?"
"Yeah, I guess. It definitely stems from the same places." Tyler tilts his head. "Why?"
"I liked that one a lot." Josh takes the headphones from him, but Tyler doesn't let go.
"You listened to my music." Tyler whispers. It's a statement, not a question.
Suddenly, Josh feels incredibly self-conscious. "Some of it." Lie. Josh listened to Tyler's entire discography in one night. Every single he could lay his hands on, top to bottom, back to front. He couldn't get enough - it's brilliant, Josh regrets not getting into it sooner. "Well, I figured if it was worth a best album award, I should probably see what all the fuss is about."
"Right." Tyler nods, and slowly lets go of the headphones.
For some reason, Josh doesn't want to admit he loved Tyler's album. It feels like an overstep, if Josh starts acting like some fanboy. It's his job to make sure Tyler avoids all that nonsense, but the more Josh listens to it, and reads Tyler's interviews and the fan interpretations, the more it speaks to him. The music burrows into his brain and rewires his neurons. He doesn't know why, he couldn't explain himself if asked, but he loves the way it sounds and the way it makes him feel.
He puts the headphones on and indicates for Tyler to hit play. The song starts, and it's nothing like anything on Clancy. It's so much better. The first chorus doesn't quite register with him, but by the second time Josh recognises his own words, rewritten and sung in Tyler's gentle voice.
He drives fast just to feel it, he drives slow if his songs not over…
"What's it called?" Josh asks, because he doesn't know what else to say.
"Drum Show." Tyler answers. He doesn't elaborate any further.
"Is it about-" Josh tries, but he doesn't want to ask the question and have the answer be no. He doesn't want to be the one to read the signs wrong and make this into something it isn't.
"Music is up for interpretation." Tyler shrugs. He won't look Josh in the eye, just stares at the soundboard in front of him. "It can be about whatever you want it to be."
Josh stares at him. "Why- why would you write that?"
Tyler shrugs. "Sometimes the only way out of my head is through a song."
"So…" Josh struggles to form a coherent sentence. He settles on a joke. "You really don't have any other friends, do you?"
Then, Tyler starts to laugh. "See, this is why- this is the reason, that it's you. Because you say shit like that instead of walking on eggshells around me."
Josh smiles. "Are you going to release this to, like, the public?"
"Maybe. Don't you want me to?"
"Not if the drums sound like that. I can do way better." Josh gets up and walks over to the drum kit. "Come on. Let me give you a real drum show."
Tyler grins. "I'd love that."
Josh gets a credit on the song, and starts spending a lot more time at Tyler's house.