Friend, Please
friend, please
As soon as the final bell rings, interrupting the earth science teacher in the middle of a fierce complaint about half of the class not turning in their homework again, Josh hastily shoves all his books and papers into his bag and practically sprints out the door along with the rest of his peers.
Getting through the school’s hallways after the final bell has always been a struggle for the sophomore. He’s always hated the amount of people crowding into his personal space, bumping against him, threatening him whenever he accidentally stepped on the back of their shoes; everything about it overwhelmed him greatly. He tries to force his way through the ruthless teenagers, his heart beating so hard he can feel it in his throat and he feels like he’s gonna throw up or die if he doesn’t get the fuck out of there soon.
Josh’s nerves calm down a bit and feels more at ease when he makes it out of the building, surprisingly unharmed. The hallways were always brutal at the end of Fridays and usually didn’t allow him to make it out without at least some sort of mark or drama. He combs his fingers through his recently dyed red hair as he moves to lean against the flagpole a few feet away, waiting for his friend to arrive. They made plans to head to Josh’s place to study for the Latin test that’ll be given out on Monday and failing the test would drop their low C’s to failing grades.
Josh lets out a defeated whine as he slams his head into the pole, ignoring the concerned and judging glances that are thrown his way from a few passing students. He knew he’d never be able to translate English sentences to Latin and vice versa, no matter how many times he studied the basic rules to translating. He’ll fail the test, fail the class, fail to graduate, fail to get a well-paying job, fail to live his life properly, fail to die successful. He’s destined to fail at everything life throws at him because that’s just simply what failures do best.
And that’s all Joshua Dun ever do, will ever be. A fucking failure.
Then he hears his friend speak his name, easily gaining Josh’s attention.
“Tyler, hey,” Josh offers his younger friend a smile. Tyler smiles his usual faked, pained smiles that always worry Josh. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Tyler lies with a small nod.
<><><>
Josh resists the urge to scream and throw the textbook at the wall and rip his fucking hair out after studying for a good hour and still not being able to accurately translate a sentence. So, he closes his textbook and sets it aside for now. He then glances up at Tyler to see how he’s coming along, only to find that he’s not even studying either. Tyler had his notes in his hands, but his unfocused gaze lay on the wall ahead of him. Josh noticed that Tyler always struggles to concentrate, whether it be on a school lesson or a conversation between the two of them. It always unsettles Josh.
“Is something going on?” Josh tries again, snapping Tyler out of his trance. Tyler only offers another pained smile, more pained than the one from earlier that afternoon.
“I’m fine.”
<><><>
When they were done studying, the two boys went to Taco Bell for dinner before Josh walked Tyler home, saying their goodbyes until Monday. Josh then went home and got ready for bed since he had to get up in the morning for drumming lessons.
But sleep never came easily for Josh anymore. Eerie whispers that reminded him of every flaw of his or every wrongdoing he’s done always tormented him and kept him up after the early hours of the morning. Tonight was no different, so he was still wide awake when Tyler called at four in the morning. Josh unplugs his phone from his charger, swiping the call button before holding it up to his ear.
“Hello?” Josh asks into the phone, and is answered with a shaky breath from Tyler. “Are you okay?”
“Can I come over? Or you come over? Please?”
“Uh, yeah, I’ll be over as soon as I can.”
<>
When Josh eventually gets to his friend’s house, he lets himself in since he knows the Josephs don’t really keep their door locked. Josh would always bring up Richard Chase whenever he came to visit and suggest that they start locking their doors, but he figures Tyler doesn’t want to hear that tonight.
Josh enters his friend’s room and finds him sitting upright, trembling and crying as he hugged himself. It startles him. He’s never seen his best friend look so defeated before.
He quickly kicks his shoes off before shuffling over, sitting next to him on the bed and wrapping him in a comforting embrace. Tyler hugs him back, burying his face in Josh’s shoulder. His tears dampen Josh’s shirt, but he’s got more important things to worry about.
“What’s wrong, Ty?” Josh asks when he feels Tyler has calmed down enough to speak.
“Spiders crawled inside and made themselves a home where light once was,” Tyler whispers. “Y’know what I mean?”
Josh nods, and Tyler continues.
“I just…“ Tyler hesitates for a moment, takes a deep breath. “I just want to end it, Josh.”
And Josh swears his world stopped for a moment, and he felt that he just couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. Tears start to brim his eyes and he tilts his head back, willing the tears to go away.
He couldn’t hold them back. He doesn’t even attempt to hide them.
“T-Tyler, I love you so, so much,” Josh whispers to him, running his fingers through his hair. Tyler’s always liked it when he did so. “You know that, right?”
Tyler nods. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize, baby boy,” Josh says.
“Alright, dog breath.”
Josh can’t help but laugh a little at the nickname, but gets serious again. “Ty, please, don’t take your life away from me.”
Tyler nods against his shoulder. Josh gently pushes Tyler off of him and holds out his pinky. “Promise me.”
Tyler nods, wiping his eyes before wrapping his pinky around Josh’s. “I promise, Josh.”
<><><>
Josh cuddles Tyler as they talk until the sun eventually starts to rise, the light shining through the blinds and beaming onto the two boys.
“The sun is up,” Tyler says sleepily, a small, more genuine smile creeping onto his lips. “I won, Josh. I didn’t give in.”
Josh smiles, leaning down to peck his nose. “I’m so proud of you.”
Tyler yawns, snuggling closer to his best friend. “I’m gonna sleep, okay?”
“Okay, Ty,” Josh answers. “Sleep well.”
Getting through the school’s hallways after the final bell has always been a struggle for the sophomore. He’s always hated the amount of people crowding into his personal space, bumping against him, threatening him whenever he accidentally stepped on the back of their shoes; everything about it overwhelmed him greatly. He tries to force his way through the ruthless teenagers, his heart beating so hard he can feel it in his throat and he feels like he’s gonna throw up or die if he doesn’t get the fuck out of there soon.
Josh’s nerves calm down a bit and feels more at ease when he makes it out of the building, surprisingly unharmed. The hallways were always brutal at the end of Fridays and usually didn’t allow him to make it out without at least some sort of mark or drama. He combs his fingers through his recently dyed red hair as he moves to lean against the flagpole a few feet away, waiting for his friend to arrive. They made plans to head to Josh’s place to study for the Latin test that’ll be given out on Monday and failing the test would drop their low C’s to failing grades.
Josh lets out a defeated whine as he slams his head into the pole, ignoring the concerned and judging glances that are thrown his way from a few passing students. He knew he’d never be able to translate English sentences to Latin and vice versa, no matter how many times he studied the basic rules to translating. He’ll fail the test, fail the class, fail to graduate, fail to get a well-paying job, fail to live his life properly, fail to die successful. He’s destined to fail at everything life throws at him because that’s just simply what failures do best.
And that’s all Joshua Dun ever do, will ever be. A fucking failure.
Then he hears his friend speak his name, easily gaining Josh’s attention.
“Tyler, hey,” Josh offers his younger friend a smile. Tyler smiles his usual faked, pained smiles that always worry Josh. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Tyler lies with a small nod.
<><><>
Josh resists the urge to scream and throw the textbook at the wall and rip his fucking hair out after studying for a good hour and still not being able to accurately translate a sentence. So, he closes his textbook and sets it aside for now. He then glances up at Tyler to see how he’s coming along, only to find that he’s not even studying either. Tyler had his notes in his hands, but his unfocused gaze lay on the wall ahead of him. Josh noticed that Tyler always struggles to concentrate, whether it be on a school lesson or a conversation between the two of them. It always unsettles Josh.
“Is something going on?” Josh tries again, snapping Tyler out of his trance. Tyler only offers another pained smile, more pained than the one from earlier that afternoon.
“I’m fine.”
<><><>
When they were done studying, the two boys went to Taco Bell for dinner before Josh walked Tyler home, saying their goodbyes until Monday. Josh then went home and got ready for bed since he had to get up in the morning for drumming lessons.
But sleep never came easily for Josh anymore. Eerie whispers that reminded him of every flaw of his or every wrongdoing he’s done always tormented him and kept him up after the early hours of the morning. Tonight was no different, so he was still wide awake when Tyler called at four in the morning. Josh unplugs his phone from his charger, swiping the call button before holding it up to his ear.
“Hello?” Josh asks into the phone, and is answered with a shaky breath from Tyler. “Are you okay?”
“Can I come over? Or you come over? Please?”
“Uh, yeah, I’ll be over as soon as I can.”
<>
When Josh eventually gets to his friend’s house, he lets himself in since he knows the Josephs don’t really keep their door locked. Josh would always bring up Richard Chase whenever he came to visit and suggest that they start locking their doors, but he figures Tyler doesn’t want to hear that tonight.
Josh enters his friend’s room and finds him sitting upright, trembling and crying as he hugged himself. It startles him. He’s never seen his best friend look so defeated before.
He quickly kicks his shoes off before shuffling over, sitting next to him on the bed and wrapping him in a comforting embrace. Tyler hugs him back, burying his face in Josh’s shoulder. His tears dampen Josh’s shirt, but he’s got more important things to worry about.
“What’s wrong, Ty?” Josh asks when he feels Tyler has calmed down enough to speak.
“Spiders crawled inside and made themselves a home where light once was,” Tyler whispers. “Y’know what I mean?”
Josh nods, and Tyler continues.
“I just…“ Tyler hesitates for a moment, takes a deep breath. “I just want to end it, Josh.”
And Josh swears his world stopped for a moment, and he felt that he just couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. Tears start to brim his eyes and he tilts his head back, willing the tears to go away.
He couldn’t hold them back. He doesn’t even attempt to hide them.
“T-Tyler, I love you so, so much,” Josh whispers to him, running his fingers through his hair. Tyler’s always liked it when he did so. “You know that, right?”
Tyler nods. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize, baby boy,” Josh says.
“Alright, dog breath.”
Josh can’t help but laugh a little at the nickname, but gets serious again. “Ty, please, don’t take your life away from me.”
Tyler nods against his shoulder. Josh gently pushes Tyler off of him and holds out his pinky. “Promise me.”
Tyler nods, wiping his eyes before wrapping his pinky around Josh’s. “I promise, Josh.”
<><><>
Josh cuddles Tyler as they talk until the sun eventually starts to rise, the light shining through the blinds and beaming onto the two boys.
“The sun is up,” Tyler says sleepily, a small, more genuine smile creeping onto his lips. “I won, Josh. I didn’t give in.”
Josh smiles, leaning down to peck his nose. “I’m so proud of you.”
Tyler yawns, snuggling closer to his best friend. “I’m gonna sleep, okay?”
“Okay, Ty,” Josh answers. “Sleep well.”