may be a bit triggering? like homophobia, mentions of death and abuse
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"Hey, Tyler," Josh speaks lowly as they sit in their Latin class, and Tyler hums quietly in acknowledgement, "You remember how you said that you were gonna go see your parents and siblings?"
"U-uh, yeah," Tyler whispers back almost inaudibly, twirling his pencil between his fingers—another one of his many nervous habits. He already knows what his friend wants to know about, and it's honestly not even that serious, he just doesn't really like to think about it at all.
"Why don't you live with them?"
"Well," Tyler starts with a shrug, "It's, like, kind of a long story."
"Are you okay with telling me later if I give you my phone number?" Josh offers, and Tyler nods in agreement.
"Okay."
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Josh Kiks Tyler his number just as Tyler enters his bedroom after dinner later that night.
Tyler dials the number received—checking it a thousand times just to be sure it's right—waiting anxiously for his friend to pick up as he tries to get comfortable in bed. He doesn't have to wait long before he hears shuffling on the other end of the line, then his friend's voice.
"Hey."
Tyler doesn't say anything for a brief second, a bit overwhelmed by his nerves. He takes in a breath to calm himself, reminding himself that it's just Josh, and talking on the phone is nothing much more different than talking in person.
Tyler lets out a breath, "Hey."
"How are you?" Josh asks, tone gentle, as if he could hear how nervous Tyler is.
"I'm alright, what about you?"
"I'm also alright," Josh returns, and Tyler doesn't know what to say after that, so he just hums in response. After a beat of silence, Josh speaks up again, "So... About your parents and siblings? If you're still okay with telling."
"Sure. So, like—uh—you know how I'm gay, right?"
Josh laughs a little and hums an affirmative sound, so Tyler continues.
"Yeah, I came out to them a few years ago in eighth grade. Jay and Maddy—my brother and sister—they seemed pretty chill with it, but my parents..."
"They didn't like it?"
"No, no, they didn't..." Tyler shakes his head, feeling his eyes start to well up as he remembers their reactions, "They're huge christians. like, my mom—she got really upset and almost cried and my dad was just... really pissed off."
"Did he hit you, Ty?"
"No, he raged and had a huge angry rant... Like, I knew my parents were—homophobes, but I didn't think it was quite to that extent, like they didn't even acknowledge me anymore after I came out—my mom wouldn't even look in my direction, and my dad just always had something overly homophobic to say.
And a f-few days later, I was hanging out with Madison because her friends had bailed on her on girls night or something... and she wanted to talk about boys with me. So—uh, I was talking about a boy in my class, but my dad heard me so he—"
Tyler laughs to himself a little, though his laugh was a humorless one; his dad's next move was just so petty that Tyler had to laugh, despite how upset the memory made him.
"Yeah, my dad heard me so he threw a Bible at me and yelled about how being gay is a sin, and, like, that was the last straw for me, so I called Zack and told him everything and asked if I could stay for a little while. It ended up being a permanent arrangement."
Tyler finishes, and Josh sighs a little.
"That's... That's not good, Tyler. And Zack's actually letting you near those assholes again?"
"I mean, it'll be nice to see my siblings again... I really miss them."
"You guys aren't in touch?"
"Nah, they didn't have phones; my parents thought they were too young," Tyler says, and neither of them say anything for a moment.
"Hey, Ty?" Josh finally speaks again, and Tyler hums, "Want me to tell you about my family? Since you told me about yours?"
And Tyler really wants to know, he's a curious little shit, but he doesn't want Josh to feel obligated to tell, so he makes this known, "You don't have to if you don't want."
"No, I don't mind telling you," Josh laughs a little, and Tyler can hear shuffling from the other end of the line before Josh speaks again, "As you already know, I had a sister too, named Ashley."
Tyler perks up a little, "Oh, yeah, I've been wondering about her."
"Yeah? What do you think happened to her?"
"I don't know, drugs?"
"Smart boy," Josh confirms, "I'll tell the story."
"Okay."
"I've mentioned that she had anxiety, right?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, she had anxiety, and she didn't pick a very healthy coping mechanism, obviously," Josh picks up again, and Tyler listens intently as his friend speaks, answering some of his many questions he's had about the other boy, "I didn't find out until she got really dependent on them, but I still tried my very best to help her get over the drugs, you know? She was doing really well at some point, too—managed to stay clean for, what, a month and a half? I was so proud of her, and she seemed so proud of herself, too. But, um... I don't know, something happened one day while I was out with some friends; I came home and found out she had relapsed—she overdosed, she didn't make it."
Josh sniffs when he's done, and Tyler's eyes widen as Josh's breathing begins to sound my labored.
Is Josh crying?
"J-Josh?" Tyler whispers into the phone, heart heavy as Josh lets out a shaky hum, "I'm so-sorry that happened, Josh."
"No need to apologize," Josh says, voice shaky as he speaks, "W-well, that's my sister. So, I'll tell you about my parents too."
Josh is silent for another moment as he collects himself before continuing, "I'm not close with my parents at all—actually, all three of us fucking hate each other; they're always fucking arguing with each other, and they both always fucking bring me into the argument—they feel like they need me to validate their points, which confuses me because they usually don't even give a shit about me, so why does my opinion matter to them? They're both fucking dumbasses so I almost never agree with either of them, and then they get pissed when I disagree. If the argument gets heated enough, they feel the need to fucking put their hands on me—and you know me, Ty, I don't take shit from anyone, so I swing back—unless it's my mom, I'll just shove her away and she'll back off."
Tyler waits a second to make sure it's his turn to talk before speaking, "How often do you guys fight?"
"Not too often," Josh answers, "I try to avoid them as much as I can—Actually, I'm at Brendon's house now. I'd go to yours, but I don't think Zack likes me too much."
Tyler's brows furrow, confused by Josh's confession, "What makes you, uh, say that?"
"He keeps looking at me weird. You haven't noticed?"
"Um—no, I-I haven't."
"He makes it painfully obvious, Ty," Josh murmurs, humming a little to himself.
"I don't know why, you treat me really nice," Tyler speaks up.
"I don't know, it's alright, though. I don't care how Zack feels about me as long as you like me."
A blush heats Tyler's face once again, and he finds himself giggling a little at the understatement.
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okay so i think next chapter will be a slight time skip to the weekend where they celebrate ty's birthday.
thanks guys! <3