isle of flightless birds [twenty one pilots stories]

it's no one

Josh needed less phone time.

Josh is crying as messages berate him fully and bare every message sent in confidence as he had poured his soul out to the person on the other end of the line.

He knows he should just block them and pretend he didn't know them.

He also knows he could never do that.

Josh relied on the other a lot, just not in the same way. While his date mate used him to feel better all the time, attempted their life over and over, Josh relied on the good times. He never got help when he felt terrible, but when he felt good and they felt good, it was so good and he couldn't get rid of that.

Also he was afraid of the other dying, or doxing him.

Josh gave a soft sigh as he put his phone down and curled up, trembling a little. He didn't want to be talking to the other anymore, but he still jolted a bit when the phone buzzed again and again and again and he grabbed the phone.

"Josh?"

Josh flinched a bit when Tyler called for him, shoving his phone into his pocket.

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to sleep any time tonight?"

Josh pulled his phone out again (he always did that, in out, in out, in out), glancing at the time, and his lip curled to be pinned by his top teeth. It's nearly 2 am. "Yeah, later! I'm just a little busy!"

"With what?"

Josh doesn't respond, because Tyler is climbing out of his bunk and coming up to Josh's and opening the curtain and staring at him and...

Josh hid behind the phone, trying to hide the tears still streaming, still showing his heart ache.

Tyler is silent as he stares into the dark bunk, before he moved to climb in with Josh.

Josh doesn't fight it for a moment, because he's used to this, shifting to allow Tyler in before he gave a strangled noise.

"Wait, not tonight."

Yeah, Tyler definitely knew something was up now.

He pries immediately, because part of him wondered if that's what he needed to do a long time ago.

"What's wrong? What happened? Is it the person you've been texting?"

It's questions, and Josh doesn't know how to respond. He swallowed. "Nothings wrong, I'm just in need of alone time. Nothing happened."

Tyler doesn't believe it, and his facial expression shows it.

It's a moment of tense quiet as the two stare at each other, before the phone buzzes and lights up and Josh's tear stained face is so *obvious* that Tyler's stomach rolls.

Tyler immediately snatches the phone, ignoring Josh's jolt and panic to try and grab it back.

Tyler opened the phone, reading the message aloud a little before his voice tapered off and fell into some dark abyss that was threatening to eat Josh alive.

Tyler's eyebrows furrow.

'You keep trying to say your problems are so important! You know what I've gone through, you know the shit I've been through and you still try and pretend like you can-'

Tyler throws the phone.

It doesn't land anywhere where it would get hurt, and Josh immediately snatches it back up to quickly read and shake and answer and try to pretend it doesn't hurt and that Tyler isn't staring, he's staring, oh god he's **staring**.