Our Wrong Choice - Joshler

Chapter 1: The Fallout

 A beam of orange light from the streetlight outside the window lit the malignant expression on Josh's face as he shoved his clothes into the duffle bag at Tyler's feet. Despite the loaded silence within the hotel room, Tyler could hear a man's ragged coughing in the room next door. Josh's disappointment hung palpably in the air as he forced closed the zipper on his bag. He turned wordlessly and headed for the door, tossing his keycard on the dresser.
Abruptly, Tyler stood from the edge of the rumpled bed and cleared his throat. Josh froze for a moment before turning reluctantly to face him.
"What, Tyler?" Josh asked without inflection, his duffle hanging from his shoulder.
"I- I don't want you to go like this," Tyler mumbled, unable to meet his friend's eyes.
"Like what? Like a 'hook up?' Like a 'friend with benefits?' Because last time I checked that's all this was," Josh challenged, the anger rising in his voice for the first time.
Tyler ran a shaking hand over his face, "y-you're my best friend, Josh."
Josh gave him a bitter laugh and took a step forward.
"Oh, so that's why you lead me on?" Josh inquired his brown eyes blazing with malice, "that's why you brought me here tonight, to let me down 'gently?' That's why you let me believe that there could ever be a future?"
"Josh, what do you expect from me? You know that... I love Jenna. You know that the label would flip if they found out," Tyler reasoned, the pleading tone in his voice surprising him. He stepped toward his friend slowly, his hands outstretched in front of him as if approaching a wounded animal.
"I expected you to be honest with me... I expected you to be honest with yourself, at some point. Don't pretend that this has anything to do with the label. We both know you don't give a damn," Josh spat, stepping back toward the door.
Tyler sighed and was surprised to find tears rising in his eyes.
"I didn't mean for it to go like this," the short-haired man exclaimed suddenly, quickly crossing the room to place his hands upon Josh's tense shoulders.
"How did you think I'd react, Tyler? Did you think I'd just smile and say it's okay that I have loved you for years and spent too many nights holding you while you tossed and turned in your sleep? Did you think I'd just forget?!" Josh began to shout as he coldly brushed Tyler's hands off. Tyler tried to shush him, but Josh only spoke louder.
"You thought that you'd just bring me to this stupid hotel and feed me stupid pizza and kiss me in this stupid, goddamned bed and let me think everything was okay, only to drop the fact that you've basically used me for the last 2 years? I get it, Tyler. I understand what it's really about, though. You're too scared to admit it. Too afraid of the consequences of your actions. But what you didn't think about was the consequence of dragging your best friend and person who loves you more than anything through the mud. Now, I'm leaving. Don't try to stop me."
With that he grabbed Tyler by the back of his hair and kissed his lips so brutally, Tyler thought they might be bloodied when he pulled away. Despite that, his eyes fluttered closed and his hands took on a life of their own, reaching to caress Josh's stubbled cheeks. However, before he could touch him, Josh had pulled away and pushed Tyler out of his space.
"Call me when you need me in the studio and no sooner," Josh said adjusting the strap of his duffle bag. With that, he was gone with nothing more than a slam of the door.

-
"Tyler? Are you okay?" A voice asked pulling Tyler from his thoughts. He forced his eyes from the grass in front of his feet and turned to face his wife.
"Huh?" he muttered as the blonde took his hand.
"You okay, Ty?" Jenna inquired, her blue eyes filled with concern, "you've had a thousand-yard stare going for like ten minutes."
"Oh, yeah," Tyler vocalized, forcing a smile, "just working out a song in my head."
"Oh," Jenna breathed, her radiant smile returning, "you want your notebook?"
Tyler shook his head and kissed her on the cheek, "it's cool, I'm going to go see if dinner is almost ready."
Jenna smiled and nodded as he stood and walked from the patio, leaving her to chat with Zack and Tatum. He slipped in the sliding glass door and instead of heading for the kitchen, where he could hear his mom talking with Madison and Will, and instead crept into the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind him. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Josh's phone number. As expected, it went to voicemail shortly after.