glory days ↣ joshler ✓

31. Panicking

Josh was freaking the fuck out.

He liked his best friend.

He didn't even think he liked boys. That was Tyler's thing!

He had gotten an hour of sleep because he spent the whole night panicking. He had no idea how to approach this. Did he tell Tyler? Did he not? Suppress? Release?

What did that make him? Bi? Pan? He had no fucking clue. He still liked girls. Tyler was the first boy he had ever liked. And it was terrifying.

Josh and his five friends (including the guy he has a crush on) were sitting at the picnic table at their campsite, eating cereal out of red plastic cups and using plastic spoons. It was nine thirty and after they finished breakfast they were going to pack up and head home.

Josh had to sit in a car with Tyler for half an hour.

How was he supposed to survive that without freaking out even more?

"I don't wanna go home," Tyler spoke, making Josh's heart flutter. "I'm gonna be bored out of my mind. And I have to avoid my family even more than I did."

"Come live with me. You can cook me food," Ashley offered.

"Hell no," Tyler scrunched up his nose. It was so cute Josh was going to melt.

"Cooking is Jenna's thing," Sarah piped up, nudging her best friend.

"Nuh uh," Tyler shook his head. "I can cook too."

"You can?" Hayley asked in surprise.

"Yeah he makes good ass homemade pizza," Josh replied, not even realizing he spoke. Everyone looked at him and his face got hot. "Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Tyler asked, setting his feet in Josh's lap. It was something he did on occasion and vise versa but Josh was already losing his fucking mind and a part of Tyler was right by his dick.

"I don't know," he cleared his throat. "I have to piss I'll be back."

"Thanks for the imagery," Hayley laughed as Tyler lifted his feet so Josh could get up, walking off. He didn't respond as he made his way to the communal bathrooms that were about two minutes from where they were camped out.

He entered one of the stalls and took a shaky breath, running a hand through his faded hair. He was too panicked to think about how he needed to re-dye it.

He paced around the small space for a few minutes before he heard footsteps outside of his stall. He stopped.

"Josh?" A soft voice asked. It was Tyler's.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, are you okay? You looked kinda freaked out."

"Mhm," Josh nodded even though Tyler couldn't see him. He took a deep breath before opening the door and meeting Tyler's cute yet concerned face.

"Are you positive? You know you can tell me anything."

"I'm sure..." he trailed off, not wanting to look Tyler in the eye. "Hey could you catch a ride back with Ashley or Sarah by any chance? I have to meet my family for lunch as soon as we get back," he lied. "It was the only way they'd let me go."

"Oh uh," a look of hurt flashed across Tyler's face for a split second but it was gone in the blink of an eye. "Yeah. I'm sure Sarah and Jenna would be fine with me going home with them."

"Cool, thanks," Josh forced a smile on his face and began to walk out.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist and he looked over to see Tyler, a distressed look on face. "Are you mad at me?"