i'm not a stalker, promise. ☻ joshler

fifty four

"yeah, i haven't seen you guys in a little bit. i've missed you." tyler said, walking over to his mom and dad. his mom gave him a hug and so did his dad.

his parents lead him into the living room where they all sat on the couch. his parents facing him, and him facing his parents. suddenly, tyler realized this probably wasn't going to be the lighthearted talk he was expecting. it felt much different than it had a few minutes ago.

"so, how've you and josh been lately?" his dad started, he didn't actually seem interested though.

"good, we got a car and he took me out for my birthday. and look," tyler thrusted his hand towards them, showing his parents the promise ring. "he gave me this." a smile crept over tyler's face, thinking about the night made him so happy.

"that's not a, you know," tyler's father started but tyler shook his head and cut him off.

"no, no. it's a promise ring." he explained.

"good," his dad muttered under his breath but tyler still caught it. so did his mother, who glared at him slightly before deciding to speak.

"so, honey, you're probably wondering why we wanted you to come over." his mom started.

tyler just nodded.

"well, this is nothing against you or josh..." that sentence sort of angered tyler. what do they mean nothing against him or josh? "but, we think you need to start doing something with your life. other than josh."

tyler felt a pang in his heart, he never really thought about this sort of thing. he stayed silent.

"tyler, you've finished high school, and have your diploma... but you're twenty one now and haven't really made an effort to do anything with it. you're a really smart kid. you can't rely on josh for everything." kelly, his mom, elaborated.

"you guys live in an apartment, have a pet, it sounds nice. but you can't stay like that forever, you know? you need to get a job to help support you guys if you plan on staying with josh. it's not fair that he has to do everything, honey. even if you don't get a job, you need to at least start going to college so you can get a job in the future."

tyler sighed, looking down at his hands. what they were saying was pretty true. he understood where they were coming from, but it did make him feel kind of bad. he didn't really realize that he was practically living off of josh.

"we just," his dad chimed in, "don't want you to waste your life. we want you to become something."

"of course, we're not saying you have to. but, it would be better in the long run. we really think you can do more with your life than this." his mother finished, reaching out and rubbing tyler's shoulder gently.

"sweetie... how are you feeling?" kelly asked.

tyler was a bit started by that question. how was he feeling? mostly confused. but also pretty disappointed in himself. was this really how his parents saw him? as someone who was doing nothing with their life? he really hoped not.

"confused." was all he said. he didn't want to stay there. he didn't feel right. he felt pressured. so he stood up.

"tyler, honey, where are you going?" she asked. he shrugged.