Joshler Because I'm: Soft

Part 14

(Tyler's POV)

          "You shouldn't have done that." He growled, stepping towards me. He wore a mask to cover his face. "You're going to pay. And after I'm done with you, so will he." He pointed to Josh, who was tied up to a chair with a gag on, who looked at me with fear in his eyes.

          He quickly came at me with a sharp blade, slashing at me. I was cut numerous times, but I felt powerless. Soon, I was on the ground in a puddle of my own blood, nearly dead. I was hurting so much that I probably would've died if I got cut once more. He injured me as much as he could without actually killing me.

          I laid on the floor and watched as he walked up to Josh, who started shaking and panicking. I wanted to get up and try to help Josh, but I was hurting so much that I couldn't even sit up. I could only watch as tears slipped down my face.

          "Now you'll have to watch him suffer. And you can't do anything about it, you disgusting, sensitive emo." He took out a larger, sharper knife and brought it close to Josh.

          Josh closed his eyes and shook violently. He was so scared, and I couldn't sum up the strength to even get up and try to help. This is my fault. I started crying harder, tears pouring from my eyes.

          He drew back the knife, pointing it to Josh. Josh was quietly sobbing, trying to break free, but it did him no good. Suddenly, the knife was flying through the air, aiming straight for Josh's throat....

          I shot up from the couch. I frantically looked around the room for a few seconds before realizing it was a dream. Tears immediately started building up in my eyes as I curled my knees up to my chest.

          Where's Josh? He's not here.... I don't want him to see me crying so much after a nightmare because he doesn't even know I get them almost every night, but I need to see him. I need to know he's okay.... Is he okay?

          I softly weeped to myself, soaking my pants with tears. I hugged my knees and buried my face, trying to mute my sobs. I was simply unable to pull it together for minutes on end. Anytime I closed my eyes, I just saw Josh like.... that.

          A few minutes later, Josh walked into the room, not noticing my state at first.

          "Good morning, Tyler! I hope you don't mind, I made us some breakfa-" He suddenly froze mid-sentence and softened up. "Hey Ty, what's wrong?" Josh's voice was immediately consumed by worry as he walked over to me and kneeled down.

"J-Josh...." My voice faltered as I saw him, more tears falling. I leaned forwards and rested my head against his chest, still shaking from my nightmare.

"Oh, Tyler, what happened?" Josh frowned as he got up and sat on the couch, rapping his arms around me. I buried my face in his chest and weakly swung my arms around his torso.

"I-I had a.... a nightmare...." I stammered, my voice muffled from Josh's chest. That's ridiculøus. Jøsh thinks yøu're øverreacting. Understandably tøø, cønsidering yøu had a nightmare. I didn't realize I was haunting an eight year øld, yøu disgusting, sensitive emø. I soon started reliving the nightmare again, making my breathing quicken. "It won't stop." I cried into Josh, tensing my shoulders up to my ears.

"Shhh, Tyler, it's okay. It's alright, it's not real. You're gonna be alright, Buddy." Josh comforted me, rubbing my back. "Do you wanna talk about it? It might make you feel a little better? I completely understand if you don't want to, though. No pressure." Josh smiled softly at me and ran a hand through my hair.

"I.... I-I don't want.... I don't want to-to even think about it." My voice expectedly cracked more than once as I spoke, tears building up in my eyes once more as I recalled Josh's hopeless expression from my dream. "It's just.. I-I was hurt, and-and I couldn't move.... and you- you were.... y-you were...." I couldn't finish the sentence before I pulled my face closer to Josh and cried harder.

"Hey, Tyler." Josh pulled away from the hug and placed his hands over mine, moving them to his heart as he looked into my eyes. "I'm okay. See? I'm perfectly fine. And you...." Josh moved my hand to my own heart, holding it there. "You are too. We're okay, Bud. It's gonna be alright." Josh stated with confidence as he brought our hands down, squeezing mine for a moment.

After a minute of looking down at out hands, I leaned forward and rested my head under Josh's chin. He hugged me, but I just stayed still. In all honestly, I needed to be held like that, I didn't have the energy to hug him back. But knowing Josh, he probably understood.

          Finally, after I had calmed down a little, I stopped crying and shaking, and even felt a little better. Josh noticed this and stood up, but I refused to let go of his hand. Instead, I stood up with him, as Josh lead us into the kitchen.

          "I think we should get some food in you, does that sound alright?" Josh asked sweetly, stroking my hand which was in his own.

          "Yeah.... I think I need to eat a little." I mumbled, scooping myself a plate of pancakes and bacon.

          After eating a full breakfast with Josh, I was already feeling much better. I soon got ready for school, Josh doing the same, before we headed out the door at 6:45am. We left early, so we could get me out of the house and moving to forget my nightmare. Thankfully, it worked. Josh held my hand as we walked up to the school, stopping at a bench at around 7:05am.

          Josh sat down next to me and just talked. He brought up the most random things and the craziest stories, keeping the conversation moving. Eventually, I started adding my own stories and commentary into the conversation. We continued this for the next 20 minutes, making each other laugh and smile.

          Soon, we only had 5 minutes left before the bell. Our conversation had died down, so we were just enjoying each other's presence in silence. After a few minutes, Josh placed his hand over mine on the bench, looking over at me. He almost looked like he wanted to say something, but decided not to. Instead, he turned away and started moving his hand. I looked over at him and grabbed his hand, holding it gently, yet firmly. He looked over at me anxiously, but smiled, seemingly calming down while doing so. I smiled back at him, becoming a little shy as he looked into my eyes.