Split (Tyler Joseph x Reader x Josh Dun)

Seven

You sit up abruptly from your position next to Tyler. Josh is now standing in front of you two, holding your best machine with both hands. He bites his lip and looks between you and Tyler, calculating the situation. Despite the fact that nothing particularly romantic happened between you and him, you can't help but feel guilty sitting here in front of Josh, especially with the subtly masked look of disappointment on his face — a look that you could never miss but a look he thinks he could hide.

You finally speak up, breaking the silence and, hopefully, the tension. "Thank you so much! You're amazing, Josh," you say sincerely, taking the machine from his hand. You smile up at him, forcing a small grin out of him in return.

Tyler stands up to join you. "I can take that if you want, Y/N," he says, pointing to the beat machine you're holding.

"No, it's fine, Ty. Thanks though." Tyler frowns but doesn't argue back. The three of you are left in silence as you make your way out of the station. All thoughts of meeting the dreaded David have left your mind, until...

"Y/N! There you are!"

Your heart sinks at the sound and you squeeze your machine as if it would magically make the situation any better. Neither Josh nor Tyler look very happy as your boss comes into view from around the corner. Please let this be over, please let me just leave, please, please, please, you beg frantically.

Out of some instinct, Josh steps slightly in front of you, and Tyler, who is holding your hand, tightens his grip. You look away from David, like he won't acknowledge you if you don't either.

Without even letting you greet him, he launches right into speech as he usually does. "I saw your letter of resignation," David says in an almost condescending tone. "I'm very sorry to see you go." He puts emphasis on the last part, as if he's accusing you of something. Your eyes flicker over to Josh, who's visibly annoyed.

"Haha, yeah, well, y'know..." You trail off aimlessly, with no idea what to do or say. When nobody says anything, you try again. "Uh, I think Josh, Tyler and I should get going." Once again, you laugh nervously, now beginning to walk past David, with your two friends trailing just behind you. Goodness, one thing you definitely won't miss from your job is David. To see any brightside in the situation, maybe in the future he'll be a fun story to talk about... Hopefully.

But before you can even make it past, you feel a hand on your shoulder. You jump at the sudden touch, immediately sensing that something is off. Upon turning around, you see David with his hand on you, looking annoyed; not only is he just touching you, but his grip is tight and his muscles are tensed up, the veins visibly flexing out of his hands. You can already feel panic to rise as you desperately look to either of your friends; you would yank his hand off your shoulder but your hands are tied with the beat machine in your hands.

Josh steps closer to David before Tyler can. "Hey, man," he says surprisingly calmly. "What's your deal? Leave Y/N alone and move on. She obviously isn't interested, wasn't from the start, so get over yourself."

You bite down on the tip of your tongue nervously. After all these years, you still get surprised when one of them sticks up for you, especially since they've always seemed to be encouraging you to do the same for yourself.

David glares at him for a moment before finally letting go of you. "Fine, then. I don't want a slut like that around here anyway. Good riddance," he spits.

You freeze in your tracks at those words. Your stomach drops, you immediately feel sick and your mouth falls slightly agape at the words that oddly hurt. You didn't care what David in particular thought and said about you but... It still hurt, somewhere, somehow. Meanwhile Tyler and Josh also turn back around, their blood obviously boiling. "What the hell?" Josh asks incredulously. "What'd you just say?"