And I Love Her (a Tyler Joseph fanfiction)

Always There

**A/N: MENTIONS OF SELF-HARM**

Chapter 11

Tyler Joseph's POV:

We all have been taking off of work for the past week so we could help Josh with whatever he needed to cope with Amelia's death. Nessa and I drove to Josh's house early that Saturday morning, a week after Amelia's service. We talked a little bit, and grabbed all of us some lunch from Chipotle, figuring that would make Josh feel a little bit better. Nessa was taking care of Josh the most when Belle was away at school, or couldn't come because she was swamped with school work, which we all understood.

We pulled into Josh's driveway, hopping out of my car and walking up the porch steps and knocking on the door. A few moments later, Laura answered with a small smile on her face. "Hey, you guys. Come on in," she stood to the side and let us walk in the house. "Where is he?" I asked, slipping my shoes off of my feet and walking into the living room. "He's in his room. He hasn't left it much. He hasn't eaten much in the past week and he hasn't slept much either," Laura sighed softly. Nessa walked upstairs while I stayed downstairs to talk to his mother for a little bit.

Vanessa Costello's POV:

I walked up the stairs and knocked gently on Josh's bedroom door. "Josh?" I asked, gently pushing the door open gently as I walked in. I looked to see Josh curled up under his duvet, not moving except for his breathing. I walked over to the side he was facing and knelt down next to him. He was sleeping, which was good. He had bags under his eyes and his cheeks were starting to look hollow. I sighed as my eyes fell on his arm, my eyes widening when I saw what was there. Small and large red lines littered his pale arm. I looked at his peaceful sleeping form lying on the bed, slowly placing my hand on his arm and lightly running my finger over the small cuts. I closed my eyes and let a single tear slip down my cheek and roll off of my chin. "Oh, Josh, why would you do this to yourself?" I said quietly. I looked at him as his eyes slowly opened, his eyes following to the spot where my hand was.

He quickly pulled his hand back under his covers and hid underneath them as well. "Josh, come out from under there," I said, lifting the covers up and looking at him. He looked scared, broken, angry at himself. I frowned and climbed into his bed next to him. "I am in no way mad at you, okay Josh?" I looked into his tired brown eyes, wiping away his tears gently. "Then why are you crying?" he asked me quietly, reaching up slowly and wiping my eyes. I sighed and closed my eyes lightly for a brief moment before looking at him again. "I hate seeing you in so much pain," I said, looking at him. He just sniffled and hid his face in my shoulder, starting to cry softly again. I wrapped my arms around him tightly, rubbing his back soothingly.

"I wanna get better..." Josh mumbled softly into my shirt, that was now soaked with his tears. I nodded and looked down at him. "You will, love. I don't understand what you're going through, because I don't have any siblings, but I understand what it's like to lose someone really close to you," I ran my hands through his knotted green hair. He sniffled softly and wrapped his arms around me tighter. I guess that was his way of saying sorry. We stayed like that for another moment before Josh lifted his head up and looked at me. "Thank you.." he smiled weakly, leaving a platonic kiss on my cheek. I smiled softly and stood up, helping him up off of his bed. "Put some clothes on and come downstairs. Ty and I brought Chipotle," I smiled softly. He chuckled quietly and nodded. I walked out of the room, Josh closing his door behind me.

I walked down the stairs, seeing Tyler sitting on the couch with Laura, talking quietly. When I came into the room, she stood up, saying that she had to go run errands. "I trust you three not to burn the house down?" She joked, causing Tyler and I to laugh. "We make no promises," Tyler said with a chuckle. Laura laughed and shook her head. "Behave, you guys. And, thank you, for looking after Josh. It's wonderful to know that he has such caring friends." She smiled and walked out the door. A few minutes later, Josh came downstairs, wearing a long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans. "Hey, man," Tyler said, standing up and walking over to Josh. He pulled the green haired boy into a tight hug, letting Josh hug him gently in return. "Hi," he said softly, resting his head on his best friend's shoulder. Josh looked over at me and a shot him a small smile, which he returned. He pulled back from Tyler and smiled softly at him before joining us on the living room floor, sitting around the coffee table to eat our food.

There was a knock on the door about forty five minutes later, and we were all done eating. Tyler stood up to answer it, when Belle burst in the door, closing it behind her quickly. She was dripping wet. She looked up at all of us and smiled, pushing her soaked blue hair out of her face. "Hey, guys!" She laughed softly. Josh stood up and ran over to her, asking her what happened. "It started pouring while I was walking here! I got stuck in the storm and I had to run here," Belle giggled softly, slipping her shoes off her feet. Josh took her into his arms and walked her up the stairs to get her some dry clothes. Tyler and I were cleaning up the garbage from our lunch and talking in the kitchen while Josh was upstairs with Belle. It was quiet for a moment before Ty spoke up.

"Hey, Nessa, can I tell you something?" he asked, wringing his hands nervously.

"Of course, Tyler. What is it?" I looked at him, raising an eyebrow slightly. He looked at me briefly before looking back down at his feet. "Tyler, just look at me while you're talking to me. What's got you nervous all of a sudden?" I tilted his head up so he could look at me. He swallowed slightly before speaking quietly.

"You."

I stared at him for a moment before he continued. "Look, Nessa. I've known you for about four months now, and I haven't been wanting to say anything because I didn't want to ruin our friendship and--" "Tyler, what the hell are you going on about? You're starting to scare me. Do you hate me o-" Tyler wasted no time. He pulled me close and pushed his lips against mine gently. My eyes widened slightly in shock before I kissed him in return. He pulled away slowly before looking a me in the eye, a nervous smile on his face.

"I am hopelessly in love with you, Vanessa Leigh Ann Costello. And I don't think anything is going to change that."