Josh hurried out of the room upon seeing Brendon and Dallon. As far as he knew they were still together. Even if they weren't, the last thing he wanted to see was one of his best friends giving another one of his best friends a blow job. It almost as bad as walking in on your parents. Almost.
"Josh, wait," Debby bounded after him, following him into the living room. He turned around and pressed his lips to hers quickly.
"Rain check, okay? I gotta find Tyler and get out of here that was so fucking gross."
"I..." she sighed. "Okay. You still have my number, right?"
"Yeah," Josh nodded. "I'll see you. Sorry we got cut off," he said quickly before walking further into the party.
He scanned the crowd and found Tyler sitting on the couch with their friends from before. He had his arm wrapped around Jenna as she laid in his chest. She looked tired and Josh figured he offered her to lean into him because that was just the kind of person he was. There was an easy smile on his face, probably from just laughing at something that was said. He looked so relaxed. Josh didn't want to ruin that but he was going to lose his mind if he didn't.
As he approached the brunette, his face went from an expression of easiness to concern. "Hey, you okay, J?"
"I um..." Josh's mouth felt dry and no one words came out.
"Josh?" Tyler looked really worried as he took his arm off of Jenna. "Hey, look at me," he stood up and walked to Josh. "What's wrong?"
"Can we go?" He finally spoke.
"Yeah," Tyler nodded. He turned around and bent down to talk to Jenna. "Can I drop Jenna off? She's not having a good time and she's tired," he asked when facing Josh again.
He just nodded as he waited for Jenna to get up. Tyler motioned for Josh to walk towards the door. He heard Tyler mumble a farewell to Pete before following them and leaving the house.
Once they got in the car Tyler started it and turned the air conditioner on. Pulling away from the curb he turned the radio on as well. The soft noise mixing with the engine hum filled the car with a comfortable silence. It didn't last long, though, because Josh broke it shortly after.
"Jen?"
"Yeah, J?" She responded softly from the backseat. Josh could see her from the corner of his eye and noticed she had her head on the window and was looking out of it.
"Are Brendon and Sarah still together?" He asked shakily.
"Yeah. They've been together for two and a half years. If they were split I would know about it. Sarah and I are like you and Ty," she laughed gently.
"Okay. Thanks. Just wondering. They haven't been hanging out together as much anymore and I wanted to make sure everything was fine," he lied.
"Yeah, no, as far as I know they're solid. Is everything okay with you? You look sick to your stomach."
"I'm fine."
Tyler hasn't said a word the whole time but when he pulled into Jenna's driveway he turned around and gave her a smile. "I'm sorry you had a bad time, Jen."
"No it's fine. Thanks for the ride, Ty. I'll text you," she smiled back as she opened the door.
"Anytime," he replied. He watched her get out and head inside her house before pulling away. "Do you wanna go home?" Tyler asked.
"No," Josh replied quietly.
"What do you wanna do?"
"I don't know."
"Do you want me to pick?"
"Yes."
"Okay," Tyler nodded as he took a right turn. He drove for a few more minutes before pulling into a McDonalds drive thru. It was silent as he rolled down his window but moments after they heard the speaker crackle.
"Welcome to McDonalds. What can I get you?" The guy working recited in a monotone voice.
"A medium vanilla and a medium chocolate milkshake please."
"Your total is $6.34 please pull up the the first window," the bored voice spoke again before it clicked off. Tyler did as he was told and pulled up to the window. Josh was about to reach into his pocket to get money out of his wallet but the employee had already opened the window and Tyler was handing him a five and two ones.
"66 cents is your change, have a nice night."
After receiving his change, Tyler moved up to the second window. It didn't open right away like the previous one did so Josh took that as his opportunity to speak. "I could have paid for mine."
"Shut up you paid when we went skydiving let me buy you a $3 milkshake," Tyler cracked a smile making Josh utter one as well.
"Thanks."
"Yeah yeah," he playfully waved him off and looked over when he saw the window open.
"A vanilla and chocolate milkshake?" She asked, verifying their order.
"Yeah," Tyler nodded and grabbed the two drinks and straws, putting the vanilla in his cup holder and handing the chocolate to Josh. "Thank you," she just shut the window in response. "Well then," Tyler clicked his tongue and drove away.
"Where are we going now?" Josh asked, taking a sip from his drink.
"You'll see."
Josh just glanced out the window as Tyler drove. It was quiet once again but it was a comforting silence. Finally, Tyler pulled into a parking space and Josh realized they were at a park. "What are we–"
"Get out," Tyler told him, grabbing his milkshake and leaving the car. Josh followed his order and saw him walk around to the trunk of the car. He pulled out a blanket and came back around to the front. Josh watched as Tyler perched himself on the hood of the car before patting the space next to him. "Hop on."
"Ty, your car is expensive," Josh reminded.
"So what? If you put a dent in it I can have an ass tat on my car forever. Not many people have those," Tyler replied making Josh laugh and roll his eyes as he sat anyway. "Thank you."
Tyler took the blanket and put it around their shoulders. "Rest your head," he said, gesturing to his shoulder with the hand that wasn't holding his milkshake. The red haired boy complied once again and leaned against Tyler. "Now, what's wrong?"
"I don't wanna talk about it right now. Can we just sit?"
"Yeah," Tyler nodded. "Here," he motioned Josh to sit up and scooted closer to the windshield, leaning his back against it. "C'mere," Josh slid back as well and rested his head in Tyler's chest much like Jenna had earlier.
That's what the two did. They just laid there and stared up at the sky. Eventually they began talking but never was the cheating topic brought up. Josh already knew that Tyler was anxious about leaving their friend group for college and the last thing he wanted to do was cause a rift between it.
They stayed there until the sun began to rise. "It's beautiful," Tyler whispered.
"It really is," Josh nodded.
"Not as beautiful as Celine Dione's music though."
"No, never," Josh cracked a smile.
"Did we really stay up all night?"
"Yeah," Josh replied, still smiling.
"You just completed another bucket list item," Tyler nudged his shoulder. "Pull an all nighter."
"You did too. Stargaze."
"I love that for us," Tyler hopped off and grabbed their empty cups, throwing them in the garbage can by the No Littering sign. "C'mon. Let's get you home before your mom has an aneurysm."
"Roger that," Josh replied getting into the car the same time Tyler did. The brunette threw the blanket in the back seat and reversed out.
Josh took the opportunity to pull his phone out and he saw the dozens of text notifications on his lock screen. He glanced through them and a few stood out.
Hayley: hey bud I saw you leave early and Ashley and I hope everything is okay. let me know when you get this (:
Jenna: I know you said you were fine in the car but I worry about you sometimes, J. I love you and I'm here if you wanna talk about whatever
Mom: Hi honey you're not home yet so I'm assuming you stayed at Tyler's. I love you. Stay safe! 😘💕
Pete: thanks for coming dude! I'm sorry you left early. text me if you need anything
Meagan: you okay, Josh? you don't normally leave parties early and I wanna make sure you're alright
Debby: hey Josh, are you free this Friday for that rain check? (;
Dallon: Josh I'm so sorry you had to see that
Dallon: fuck please answer me
Dallon: I talked to Hayley and she said you haven't texted her back either so please let me know if you're okay. She doesn't know what happened though. I hope you let Tyler drive I could smell the alcohol on you
Dallon: hi I haven't slept I'm worried about you please text me when you get this
Brendon: Josh don't tell Sarah
He decided to reply to only one.
To Brendon:
Fuck you