Holding Onto You

Hometown

"(y/n), were here," you woke up to a voice. your eyes creek open to see Tyler. you yawned.
"What?"
"Were here. Were in Kentucky." he smiled. you felt a smile form on your face. you was happy to be in your home state. you looked at the clock. It was 8:00. you had made it in time, and you would be in your hometown soon.
"Where's Josh?" you ask. Tyler chuckled.
"The first thing you say this morning," he looked towards the front of the bus. "He's the one driving. He's probably incredibly tired." you looked in the direction Tyler gestured. Tyler, the driver, and Josh have all been taking turns driving. They insisted you did not drive. They said you've been through enough and you needed to just relax and get your mind off of things. you couldnt convince them otherwise. you looked back at Tyler.
"How long has he been driving?"
"Since 3:00 this morning I think." he said. He turned back to you. you sat up, hitting your head on the bunk above you. Tyler chuckled as you rubbed your head.
"Josh does that every time," he says. you just grinned.
"Where are we now?" you ask.
"We just entered Kentucky about an hour ago. We shouldn't be too far from your town." you get out of the bed and look out the window. Tyler looked with you.
"I'm scared to go back," you sat quietly.
"Why? Its your town." Tyler asks, looking at you. you keep your gaze outside.
"I'm worried that," you pause and look down. "I'm worried that blurry is gonna do something when I get there." you look up at Tyler. He was concerned. He placed his hand on your arm.
"if anything happens," he said softly. "Just know that Josh and I are always here for you." you looked down. What if blurry took them before anything else? What if he took you away? you was jarred out of thoughts by a jerk of the bus. you nearly fall over. Thankfully Tyler caught you. you both look over at the front of the bus. you sprint to the front to where Josh was driving.
"What was that?" Tyler asked, looking at the road.
"A deer ran across the road," he said.
"A deer? On the highway?"
"Oh deer I don't know if it knows why it's here" you joked. Tyler looked at you and chuckled.
"Maybe it was trying to steal our bus radio," he smiled. Josh chuckled. His pink hair was a mess, each strand flying every which way. you liked it still. He didn't have his hat like usual. It was a little strange seeing him without it, but it was a good strange.
"Alright Josh," a voice said. Tyler and you turned to see the bus driver. He walked closer to you all.
"I can take it from here. You should get some rest. You've been driving for a long time." Josh nodded and pulled to the side. When the bus came to a stop, Josh and the driver traded places. The three of you sat on the couch while the bus regained motion.
"You should really get some rest," you said, looking up at Josh.  you had finally started to talk again. Not as much as normal, but it wasn't as awkward. "You look tired."
"I'm not tired," he said. He ran a hand through his messy hair. He tried to hold in a yawn. you gave him a look.
"Okay maybe I'm a little tired," he chuckled.
"Then go to bed," you chuckled, trying to get him to get up. He laughed at your attempt, and stood up.
"Only if you come with me," he smiled. you smiled too. "I need to talk to you anyways." he finished, rubbing his neck. you nodded and followed him. When you entered the room, you found a seat on the chair in the small room. Josh sat on his bed, looking at the floor.
"Um..." he said. "About...about that other night...in the hotel..." he stuttered. you looked at the ground.
"I...I didn't mean for that to happen...it just kind of...happened. I wasn't thinking at the time about anything. I didn't even know I did that until..." he paused. you looked up at him. "I did." he finished. you felt bad. you didn't like knowing he felt bad. "I'm sorry I did that...I don't even know why I did."
"Its okay," you spoke up. "It didn't really bother me to be honest..." you finished softly. Josh looked up a little.
"It didn't?" he looked slightly relieved. This made you feel better. you shook your head.
"I didn't really mind."
"So I didn't make you upset?" you gave a small smile and shook your head. How could you possibly be mad at him?
"That's good to hear." he smiled and lied on his bed. His head resting on his hands. you looked at him. He didn't bother to kick off his black converse. He stayed in what he had on. His gaze stuck to the bunk above him. you wondered what he was thinking. you looked down so he wouldn't see you looking at him. you felt like you wanted to be next to him. you wanted to feel his body close to yours again. you wanted to feel his sweet, soft lips again. you wanted to think of nothing. Nothing but the fact that you were together. Where Not a care on the world occured to you. you was free. you was free to love Josh. you didn't have to worry about anything.
"Hey, (y/n)?" Josh asked quietly.
"Yeah?" you said, directing your attention to him.
"You wanna lie down here with me? I'm lonely." he smiled. you chuckled and lied down beside him. you was hoping he would ask that. Josh and you faced each other. you stared into his chocolate Brown eyes. Josh took your hand. you wondered if it would happen again.
Probably not. There's not enough room, you thought. you knew the bunk above was pretty close to this one. you leaned your forehead against josh's. He kissed you.
"I love you," he said.
"I love you more," you answered with a smile. Josh put his arm around you and pulled you closer. you loved him. you would never let him go. you know blurry might try to take him next, but you wont let him. you wont let him take you.
"I love you more than you will ever know," Josh whispered. you Were so close. you felt his words tingle your neck. you came closer, and filled the space between you until it was non-existent. your lips once again locked. His hand that was once on your waist, moved to your neck to hold your head in place. It was as if he didn't want you to leave, but you didn't dream of it. His hand was soft on your neck. It barely put any pressure. It was warm on your cold body. you both finally pulled away after a moment. One half of you didn't want it to end, but the other half knew you had to. When you pulled away, you looked in his eyes. He looked in yours. you knew right then that you was with the man who you was meant to be with. you smiled at him. He smiled back. you sat up and left the bed.
"You should rest," you said. "If you want to see my town and maybe my house, then you'll need some rest."
"Alright," he sofly chuckled. you smiled and left the room. As you closed the door, you heard a ukulele play, and a soft voice sing.
"She asked me, son, when I grow old, will you buy me a house of gold? And when your father turns to stone, will you take care of me?" you listened to Tyler song for a moment. The lyrics rang in your head.
And when your father turns to stone, will you take care of me? your father was now stone, and you cant take care of your mom. you felt tears wanting to push through. you tried to keep them back. you blinked vigorously. you didn't want Tyler to see. He didn't notice you yet. you stood there and listened to him sing.
"Lets say we up and left this town and turn our future upside down. We'll make pretend that you and me, lived ever after happily."  He kept strumming. you stood by the door, listening. He sang and strummed so quietly, as if he were singing someone to sleep. He seemed sad. you slowly walked closer as he continued to play. He did not notice you still. When you reached the couch, you sat on the arm and watched as he strummed.
"I will make you queen of everything you see. I'll put you on the map, I'll cure you of disease."  you looked at your feet. you tried to hold back tears. Why was you so emotional? you could see Tyler look at you in the corner of my eye. He paused for a moment before singing something else.
"I feel for you but when did you believe you were alone?" he sang quietly. "You say that spiders crawled inside and made themselves a home where light once was." you looked at him. He was still looking at you. "Petrified of who you are and who you have become. You will hide from everyone denying you need someone to exterminate your bones." you looked down. "Friend, please, remove your hands from over your eyes for me. I know you want to leave but friend, please, don't take Your life away from me." Tyler stopped strumming. He was looking at you. you looked at him.
"I know things are hard, (y/n)." He said softly. you felt a tear trickle down your cheek as you looked down. Things were hard right now.
"I just wish I could have done something." you said softly.
"(y/n)," he said, turning to me. "There was nothing you could do. I'm sorry."
"I know," you said with your eyes closed. you just still wanted to do something. you felt like you could have prevented it.
"The doctors did everything they could, I'm sure." you nodded. you know they did. you hoped they did. you were quiet for a moment before Tyler spoke again.
"How close are we to (y/n)'s town?" he asked the driver.
"We are coming right up on the exit. Should be there in about 5 to 10 minutes."
"Cool," Tyler said. you looked out the window. you were almost to your hometown. The song Hometown played through your head.

Where were from, there's no sun, our hometowns in the dark. Where were from, we're no one. Our hometowns in the dark

you walked to the window and looked outside. you could see the slightest bit of your town. you could see the dollar store coming into sight. Fear struck you. you froze. you felt a hand on your shoulder.
"You alright?" Tyler asked softly. you looked down.
"I'm....afraid." you whispered.
"Don't be afraid, I said. Don't be afraid. Were going home." he sang quietly. you recognized that song. It was Taxi Cab.
"That's what I'm afraid of. Going home."
"Why? Aren't you glad your back?" he asked. you looked at him and sighed.
"What if blurry takes someone else from me? What if while Were here....he takes...." you paused as fear struck your heart again. "You and Josh?" Tyler paused. He looked frightened at the thought.
"I wont let that happen." he said, taking your gaze again. "We are going to stay with you no matter what." you looked outside again.
"Who knows what Blurry will do, though." you sighed. you didn't want him to take Tyler or Josh. you loved them both. Just the thought of what he would do made you shudder. It made you want to cry. you didn't like the feeling of knowing that blurry could take you out or take Tyler or josh out. It scared you.
"Everything's going to be okay." Tyler promised. you believed him, but you was still scared. What if you couldn't fight him? What if blurry wins? What if something goes wrong?
"(y/n), look at me," Tyler said firmly. you did as he said.
"I know your scared." he said. "But you will get through this. We will get through this. Were not going to let you do this by yourself. Were not going to let blurry do anything else. He won't hurt you. I promise."
"Its not me I'm worried for," you said, looking at the floor. "I'm worried for you and Josh. I don't know what I would do without you guys. I don't know what I would do if blurry did something to You or Josh."
"We will be fine," he said. He put his hands on your shoulders. "Don't worry about us. We will be with you every step of the way. We will all get through this together." you looked at Tyler. His face, a caring one. you gave him a soft smile.
"I'm glad I met you guys," you said.
"I'm glad we met you too." he smiled. He hugged you, and you hugged back. you hugged for a moment before a voice filled the air.
"We are now in your town, (y/n). Should I stop at your house?" Tyler and you pulled away. you went to the drivers side. you looked out at the familiar city. Butterflies filled your stomach.
"Y-yeah. Lets do that." you said.
"Alright. Which way is it?" he asked. you gave him the directions to your house. you weren't too far. After a few minutes of driving, you could see your childhood friend's house. you used to be so close to her until high school. She had changed so much. She dropped out of high school when she turned 18 and you've never heard from her since. your heart sank when you saw your neighborhood come into sight, and even more so when you saw the house.