next door » joshler [book #1]

forty » this is halloween!!!!!!!

so it seems that things are fixed.

well-- as much as they can be fixed when tyler is constantly high. like- it's not even a joke. every day or so, he'll leave the apartment and come back with red-rimmed eyes and a delirious smile. he's awfully horny in this state, too, so josh finds himself getting fucked a lot more than he'd like to admit- because okay, yes, tyler is awfully dominant when he's high.

anyway, it's becoming a sort of a problem, but josh really doesn't feel like dealing with it right now. what can he say- he's lazy, okay?

it's october.

which means that when tyler leaves the apartment, he comes home with a bunch of halloween decorations instead of being high. although he seems equally as delirious. goddamn it, he's running around the apartment putting up lights and pumpkins and skeletons and shit. somehow, he's managed to set up speakers, too, that blast this is halloween and spooky scary skeletons on a constant loop.

josh is about to throttle someone.

"no, tyler," he says when the boy begs him to get costumes. "dude, you're going overboard."

"no!" tyler cries out, flinging up the pumpkin in his hand, catching it just as easily. "i," he announces, "am a slut for halloween!"

okay, maybe josh should be worried.

"tyler," he says, literally putting his hand on the boy's shoulder- "you need to calm down, okay?"

tyler pushes his hand off and goes to light a pumpkin scented candle.

with a loud groan, josh flops down on the couch- which is of course covered in a halloween-themed blanket. what the fuck? he's gonna move out if this shit doesn't stop.

"it's not even halloween yet!" he cries desperately, "it's october first!"

tyler's hysterical laughter carries over from the kitchen with no explanation. "all of october is halloween!"

so- okay, he's been spending too much time on tumblr. he's gone crazy. josh sighs. that was- unexpected, but okay, he'll just have to convince tyler to stop somehow.

"look," he tries again, "you look like you're going crazy and i-"

tyler comes out of the kitchen with his hair all fucked up, sticking up and falling over his forehead in strands. his eyes are wide and he's grinning. "i do, don't i?" he asks triumphantly. josh only manages a weak nod, his mouth fallen open. "good," tyler says, and suddenly josh notices the boy's hands are shaking uncontrollably.

oh.

oh, fuck- he's going through withdrawal.

and he's trying to distract himself. oh, fuck. "tyler?" josh asks softly, beckoning for him to sit down, but tyler doesn't notice, instead continuing to run around the apartment, checking on decorations.

oh, poor baby, josh things guiltily, he should do something to make tyler feel better. "baby?" he calls, and tyler looks back at him. "baby, come here and cuddle with me."

tyler's reaction is a completely uncharacteristic, childish stomp of his foot. "no," he says, pouting, "i gotta finish this."

frustration wells up in josh's chest. "goddammit," he snaps, "what the fuck's gotten into you?"

"i haven't been high for at least four days and i feel like i'm going to die. also i haven't slept either. so i gotta finish decorating, and then maybe i can- finally go get high again."

he hasn't been sleeping? fuck, he's right- there are dark circles under his eyes and his skin is slightly sagging from exhaustion. and yet, his eyes are still wide and his energy inexhaustible. he's going to run himself to death.

fuck, that's literally what's going to happen. he's going to pass out and-

"you need to sleep," josh says, "tyler, please."

"no, no," tyler insists, "hold on." he grabs the edge of a string of lights and hooks it over the window. when he finally looks back at josh, his eyes go blank for a moment and then he just- collapses.

falls to the ground.

and stays there.

//listen to lights out by msi. actually just listen to msi. please.//