Chapter Text
The boys just finished their set at the festival they attended, and Tyler and Josh are feeling pretty great about how it went. The crowd was great, there were no noticeable screw ups, everything went without a hitch. As they head to their dressing room, Blurry, per the norm recently, can't help but keep looking at Josh. It doesn't help that he's all sweaty and shirtless from drumming.
"Everything okay up there, Bee?" Tyler asks, noticing Blurry's been a bit quiet.
"Yeah! Of course, Ty!" Blurry answers quickly, cheeks tinged red in embarrassment for staring at Josh. Again.
When they get back to the room, Josh goes to check out his phone for any messages he missed while playing, and he smiles a bit to himself at reading a text. "Hey Ty, Hals wants to meet up with us once we get cleaned up."
Bee scowls a bit before he realizes he's even doing it. He's only met her in passing, and she seems too friendly towards Josh for his current liking. He isn't sure how to feel about her.
"Sounds like a plan." Tyler answers, and they get cleaned up as Josh texts Halsey to find out where to meet up.
"Ty, um, do you want me to just take a nap, or?" Blurry isn't sure he wants to watch them all hang out if he can't be a part of it. And he's not sure he wants to watch Halsey hang all over Josh, either.
"You don't want to meet her?" Tyler responds. He had planned on trying to introduce Bee to more people, help him make more friends.
Blurry makes a quiet sound of uncertainty in response. "I dunno." He says. He's pretty sure he doesn't want to meet her, but Tyler sounds a bit upset at hearing that..
"You should meet her, Bee." Tyler insists, thinking that meeting more people will make him more comfortable around others.
"W-we'll see." Blurry settles on, grabbing his blanket and already planning to sleep through their meeting. There's no way he could stand to see her hanging all over him, when he should be the one hanging over Josh. If-if that'd be okay with him. Josh might not like having anyone hanging all over him at all.
"I'm telling her about you one way or the other, tho," Tyler smiles a little. He'll warm up to her. He's pretty sure of it. It's always scary meeting new people, he understands that. He's kind of nervous himself, about how to explain him to Halsey.
"She said we can meet her at her tent right now if we want," Josh smiles. "Do I tell her we'll be right there? Or do you want to meet up somewhere else?"
Bee makes a bit of a frown at the way Josh smiles. He should be making Josh smile like that.. He wants to, anyway.
"That's fine." Tyler tells Josh, smiling back at seeing his smile.
Blurry wraps the blanket tighter around himself and considers turning off his visuals so he won't have to see her. He knows Tyler would be concerned, but seeing Josh happy with someone that isn't him... That-that's a bit much to handle. He wants to be the one to make Josh happy. Even if he isn't made to feel happiness or anything like that, he wants Josh to smile at him like how he's smiling at his phone...
"You'll like her, Bee." Tyler tries to convince him as they make their way towards Halsey's tent.
"Don't really wanna like her.." Blurry mumbles more to himself than to Tyler.
"Yoshua!!" Her arms go flying straight into hugging him as soon as she sees him, a big 'ol smile plastered on her face. Blurry does his very best not to frown, aware that Tyler will feel it if he does. He hasn't even gotten to hug Josh today. >:^(
Josh laughs at the greeting, hugging her back tight with a similar expression on his face. "Hey, Hals!" He manages to lift her up and spin her around before she's satisfied enough to let go of her grasp on him, then turns her attention to Tyler.
"You guys did great out there." She smiles as she goes to hug Tyler, and Bee instantly recognizes it as a different smile than the one she was giving Josh. The one she gives Tyler is more of a 'hey you're a cool friend' kind of smile, versus the 'you're my favorite person' smile she'd given Josh. Blurry doesn't like that. Blurry wants to hug Josh, prove to him that his hugs are better than hers. Because they definitely are. Obviously. Or-or maybe not... Josh probably likes her more.
"Thanks," Tyler responds to her, but his smile starts to falter just a little as he becomes aware of Bee's mood worsening. They get themselves comfortable in her tent and the pleasantries out of the way before Tyler goes to bring up the awkward topic of Blurry.
"Oh! Hey Hals, there's someone super wonderful you've gotta meet," Josh starts with a big grin before Tyler even has a chance.
"Well I've already met you so I don't see how there could be someone more super wonderful." She teases. "Who is it?" She glances around expecting to see someone she hasn't seen before, but anyone else coming in and out of the tent are just people that help with her stage performances. Blurry tries making himself smaller, not wanting to meet her. She's too friendly with Josh. He doesn't like it. He knows he's worrying Tyler, so he tries to push his emotions down but it doesn't seem to be very helpful. It never is.
Josh leans close to her and whispers, "I really like him okay, so try not to freak him out." He doesn't want to keep it a secret from Tyler, but from Blurry. Josh really likes Halsey, but he also has come to terms with the fact that he really really likes Bee, too. And he doesn't know what to do about that.
"Come on, Bee, just for a few minutes...?" Tyler pleads with him, not in the mood for forcing him out and ending up with an anxiety attack on their hands. "Just say hello and meet her and then you can come back and turn off your visuals if you want."
"What, you think I'd scare him or something?" Halsey laughs, raising an eyebrow at him. "I'll be on my best behavior, I swear." She holds her hand up like she's taking an oath or something.
Blurry hesitates. He doesn't want to. But, maybe just one minute. He could try to maybe stake his claim on Joshie and she can get the idea to back off of him. "On-only for a minute, Ty." He finally agrees on. Enough to hug Josh, introduce himself and go on back.
"More worried about him scaring you and making you freak out, thus making him freak out because he made you freak out," Josh laughs before turning to Tyler and holding out his hand. "Is he ready?" Josh asks, a hint of concern in his voice. He wants Tyler to take his hand before Blurry comes out so he has something to grip, someone familiar, and also because he kind of wants to hold his hand.
"Ready?" Halsey tilts her head slightly, a confused brow raised. "I've already met Tyler if you're trying to introduce me to him, Yosh." She jokes, not understanding what Tyler has to do with meeting a new person.
"He's honestly not all too thrilled." Tyler laughs a bit and grabs his hand before letting Bee take over. His markings and eyes don't show through, feeling way too uncomfortable with the situation, but he squeezes Josh's hand tightly, maybe a bit too tight, refusing to look at Halsey, looking anywhere but at her. At his shoes. Josh’s shoes. Then risking a glance at Josh.
Josh squeezes his hand back, smiling at Blurry like he's the greatest thing he's ever seen. "Hals, don't freak out, but this is Blurry." He rubs his thumb over his hand gently. "You're safe, man. Promise. I'm right here," he says quietly. Protectively.
"Blurry?" Halsey questions, not following the logic. That's Tyler. Josh hit his head while doing a backflip or something?
Blurry is still hesitant though, although his cheeks flush a bit pink at hearing his protective sort of tone. He takes a few breaths to calm down, just trying to focus on Josh as if Halsey isn't even there. It takes almost a minute, but sure enough his markings show through, and he closes his eyes as he rests his head against Josh's shoulder, cheeks still rather pink. "I'm Blurry..." He manages to mumble out quietly, not really wanting to talk to her.
When she sees the black appear out of seemingly nowhere, she kind of gets the idea. That's not Tyler. Somehow. "You're... Blurry." She repeats after him. "Um, I'm Ashley," she says a little awkwardly, looking to Josh with confusion.
Josh smiles a bit at Halsey before turning his attention back to Blurry, who still seems rather uncomfortable. Bee tries his best to muster up his courage though, opening his eyes as he lifts his head off of Josh's shoulder. He hesitantly holds a hand out to shake her hand. "N-nice to meet you..." He doesn't quite mean it, but he doesn't want to come off as rude. Especially if this is someone that Josh likes. He doesn't want to be jealous, even though he totally and definitely is. Feels like his chest is on fire.
Halsey shakes his hand warmly. "Your eyes are gorgeous," she comments. Can she say that? Is that okay?
"Blurry is my-" Josh hesitates. He almost said boyfriend. Um. "I.. He's one of the greatest people I know." He settles on. It's a crappy save, but it's true. "He's not Tyler, I promise." He squeezes Bee's hand tight.
"Thanks." Blurry manages a bit of a smile at her. He's pretty sure she's just saying that to break the ice or whatever. But at hearing Josh introduce him in that way, he blushes a bit more. "I'm-I'm not the greatest person he knows." Blurry corrects in embarrassment. Josh has met a whole lot of cooler people than him.
"So, where's Tyler then?" Halsey can't help but to ask.
"Um, Ty's.." Blurry taps his head. "He's here. Watchin'."
"Blurry's a Tulpa," Josh smiles. "Not sure if you know what that is." He honestly doesn't know what Halsey knows. She probably doesn't know what magic is, he probably should have explained better. But Blurry deserves to meet people without the long explanation preceding him. He's real. He needs no explanation.
"A Tulpa?" She asks, a bit confused about the term. Before either of them can get into an explanation, she takes out her phone to google it, figuring they're probably tired of explaining things like this. After a minute she nods with a slight, "okay".
Blurry looks at Josh, then back to her, vaguely confused by her reaction. Okay? That's-that's all? Usually people have tons of questions about things.
"That's fuckin' cool." She clarifies, smiling at Blurry.
"Th-thanks," Blurry responds. "You don't.. You don't have questions?" He asks, still surprised. Maybe she's... Not super awful. She could be pretty nice, he supposes.
"Told you it would be okay, Bee," Tyler smiles.
Halsey shrugs. "Things will make sense with time I suppose." People probably bombard him with questions once they meet him, so she doesn't want to make him suffer through that. She wouldn't like answering hundreds of questions about what she is either. She’s been there. Fuckin’ sucks.
Maybe Tyler's right, Blurry thinks to himself. She doesn't seem all too bad. Maybe a bit too extroverted than what he prefers to be around, but that doesn't really mean she's bad. Bee squeezes Josh's hand again, still refusing to let go of it.
"So tell me about yourself!" She smiles wide at him. "Or we can just hang out together and get to know each other better that way. Hey, either of you want something to drink?" She stands and heads to the cooler, which she's stocked with both normal and hard lemonade, among waters and beers.
"Um." Blurry is still rather off put by how well she seems to be handling this. Is this magic kind of stuff not new to her, he wonders. And if it isn't new, does that mean she's something not human? Blurry admittedly gets a bit excited at thinking that, watching her to try and pick up anything that might give way what she is. The cooler isn't filled with blood, so she probably isn't a vampire, he can cross that off the list...
"Yeah grab us both something." Josh answers for Blurry, twining their fingers together, hoping that's okay with Bee.
"Sweet," she grabs herself and Josh a hard lemonade before turning, "Do you drink, Blurry?"
"Um.. I-I don't know.. I'll go with no, for now.. Thanks," he smiles a little at her as she turns back and grabs him a normal lemonade. Blurry grips Josh's hand when he twines their fingers. He's so thankful for Josh. Maybe Josh doesn't like her more than him? But maybe he does and he's just being extra nice so Bee will like her..? This whole situation is confusing to Bee, honestly. He thanks her when she hands him the lemonade, taking a sip of it as Josh does the same to his own.
"So, Blurry." Halsey starts, wanting to strike up conversation with him. "Do you play at all? Or is it just Tyler out there all the time? Or maybe it's just been you this whole time and Ty has no musical talent." She laughs a bit. "Tyler can hear me, right?"
"Yes I can!" Tyler tells him as he sticks his tongue out at her.
Blurry laughs a little, "Ty stuck his tongue out at you.. I play a little of the bass, sometimes.. Dally taught it to me." He says with a bit of a smile. He's quite proud of himself for learning it so fast, honestly.
"That's really awesome." She says. For someone who seems as shy as Blurry, he can still be up there on the stage and play. And if he plays the bass during Ride, that means he must sing during it too, right? It takes a lot of courage to get out there in front of an audience. She knows.
"Thanks." Blurry smiles a bit, feeling maybe a bit more comfortable. She isn't hanging on Josh right now, so he's okay with her. But if she starts clinging to him again, well, Bee might have a bit of a jealousy problem. He rests his head against Josh's shoulder again for good measure.
"You guys are so cute." Halsey comments simply and sips her drink.
Blurry blushes pink again, and so does Josh. Blurry thinks for a moment that he should maybe take his head off of Josh's shoulder, but Josh rests his head on Blurry's head with a, "you think so?" He laughs a little and then turns his head to kiss Blurry's temple softly, hesitantly. "He really is awesome." He doesn't know how to flirt, but he's trying.
"Ugh stop, I'm gonna throw up already." She says with a smile as she takes another swig.
Blurry's face grows more red at feeling his lips against the side of his head. It makes him think that maybe Josh might like him. He's probably just doing it to keep him calm, but Bee can be hopeful if he wants to. He tells himself not to be though.
"Okay so, I have to ask, are you two together or?"
Blurry closes his eyes and shakes his head as well as he can manage, not trusting himself to vocalize it.
Halsey feels she's treading on awkward ground though, so she decides to talk about something else. She knows when she’s not helping. "It's pretty hot out today isn't it? Honestly great weather for swimming." Talking about the weather is probably an easy way out.
"You, um.. You like swimming?" Blurry asks, still not moving his head from Josh's shoulder despite how awkward he's starting to feel. His markings fade despite that, but his eyes remain red.
Josh rubs his thumb over Blurry's gently when he sees his hand return to pale. He knows Blurry's feeling uncomfortable, he blames himself now, honestly. So he's gonna try to fix it.
Halsey nods, maybe talking a bit quicker so he won't dwell on her awkward question. "Yeah, the feeling of being weightless underwater is kinda like flying, don't you think?" She smiles a bit. "It's like a totally different world down there."
Blurry tries focusing on her talking rather than the fact he and Josh aren't together. Josh wouldn't want that, he wouldn't want to date someone who doesn't actually exist, Bee thinks. "I've never gone swimming," Blurry says. "Ty has, but.. I've never experienced it."
"Yet," Josh adds. Blurry's going to have the chance to experience all kinds of things. He's going to make sure of that.
"Oh you definitely need to." Halsey grins wide. "The hotel I'm staying at has a pool. You're welcome to come and check it out if you want, Ree." If she remembers right, the boys have a bus night rather than a hotel night since their next festival is only a few states away.
Blurry finds himself smiling a bit at the nickname. "That.. Wouldn't intrude? Or anything?" Blurry asks, actually kind of hopeful. Ashley's nice. She gave him a nickname. "Ty, could we?" He wants to run it by Tyler in case Ty had plans for something else. He doesn't even have swim trunks with him on tour but he's sure he can find something somewhere in this weather.
"That's fine by me, Bee." He smiles, glad that he seems to be opening up a bit more. He went from not wanting to meet her to kind of excited to hang out with her.
"No intrusion at all." Halsey assures him. "I have a signing in an hour but after that we can head back to the hotel?" She suggests.
"That'll be good." Josh says. "Gives us time to find swim trunks."
"You mean we aren't skinny dipping?" Halsey asks, looking almost appalled, pouting with her lower lip hanging before laughing.
Blurry blushes bright red when she mentions skinny dipping, and he also gets more than a little jealous of how she treats Josh. But he tries to swallow it down for the sake of swimming and the fact that she seems to be a nice person. But is she human??? Bee's still debating that part. "I-I'm gonna let Tyler take back over, for now," he says, his face flushed completely as his mind's still on Josh. "I-if that's not a bad thing," he adds, giving either of them the chance to object. If they want him out, they can say so.
"See you again soon, Ree." Halsey smiles at him, giving him a small wave.
Josh debates with himself for a moment before hugging him tightly. "You're so brave, BF." He whispers to him as he smiles and gives him a tight squeeze. Meeting someone new is always difficult for him, and he's sure that Bee is feeling a bit exhausted from it already. He releases him shortly after, letting Tyler come back. But Blurry hugs Josh back and tries to savor it while he can, before he can't feel again. As soon as Tyler's back in control, he watches Josh pat his back in the best friend way with a "welcome back." Blurry snuggles up in his blanket and decides to leave his visuals on.
"Thanks, Ty.." He tells him quietly.
They stay with Halsey, chatting about this and that until she has to leave for her signing. Blurry still feels a pang of jealousy whenever she gets too close, but he does his best to wave it off. For Tyler’s and Josh’s sakes.