The sequel is up by the time you're reading this. It's called Close as Strangers because in case you couldn't tell I'm a 5sos stannie. What? You didn't really think this was the end of them, did you?
Tyler sat on the swing, shuffling his legs back and forth and watching the pebbles fall over his expensive dress shoes. He knew his mom would yell at him for scuffing them up but he didn't really care. He hated them anyway.
He hated the rest of his outfit too. The khaki pants, the collared shirt under the plaid sweater vest. He may have only been nine but he was smart enough to know he was a freak compared to everyone else. His uptight clothing clashed with the shorts, graphic tees, jackets, and light up shoes that his classmates were wearing. That was just one of the few reasons he didn't have any friends.
There was that one kid Pete who hung out with him when they had indoor recess but he knew he was only playing with him out of pity.
"Hey are you almost done on there?" A voice asked, making Tyler look up. He was met with a boy with brown hair standing impatiently.
"Pardon?" Tyler replied, speaking with manners. His mom always said manners were professional. He had to be professional.
"My friends 'n I wanna play on the swings," the boy whined.
Tyler blinked and looked over at the two empty swings next to him. "There's—"
"I've got two friends plus me. That makes three. 'N we wanna sit together."
"Brendon don't be mean he can sit there as long as he wants," another boy walked up, a third following behind him. "You and Dallon can swing I'll wait."
"Josh why're you bein' so nice to him?" The boy Tyler realized was named Brendon asked. "He's weird," Brendon whispered but Tyler still heard him.
"I am not weird!" Tyler defended.
The boy that must've been Dallon did a once over. "You're dress kinda weird. No offense," he added.
"You're the kid with the all that money, right?" Brendon asked, cocking his head to the side
"Yeah," Tyler nodded. "But I don' really care 'bout that stuff," he shrugged. "Being stuck up doesn't get you friends and that's all I want."
Suddenly, the final boy that Brendon had called Josh smiled and stuck his tiny hand out. "Well, I'll be the first," Tyler grabbed his hand and shook it. "I'm Josh."
"Tyler."
The brunette shakily unlocked his phone and pressed on a contact he was all too familiar with. He put it to his ear and it rang five times before going to voice mail. This was the ninth time he's tried to get ahold of Josh and it was currently 8:45. Josh was supposed to be there at 9 and they were going to leave at 9:15 but he didn't think that was going to happen.
A single tear slipped down Tyler's cheek as he was reminded of last night. Even if Josh didn't want to be with him anymore he didn't want to leave him on bad terms. He didn't have a choice if Josh wasn't going to answer though.
Tyler wiped the tear and pressed a different contact this time. "Hello?" A voice spoke when the person owning it picked up.
"How soon can you be here?" Tyler questioned, his lip quivering.
"Ty?" Jenna asked. "What's wrong?"
"Josh and I got into a really bad fight last night and I don't think he's coming with me to drop me off at school. I don't want to pack my car up and leave by myself," he let out a sob and cursed quietly to himself for letting Jenna hear it.
"Babe..." she sighed. "I can't drive with you up there because it's too last minute but I can be there in fifteen minutes to help you load your car."
"Okay," Tyler nodded, running a hand through his fluffy hair. "I'll see you soon. Thank you. I'm sorry."
"I love you. Don't be sorry. I'll see you soon," was the reply before the line went dead.
Tyler set his phone on his bed and let more tears cascade down his face. He had fucked up. Big time.
It wasn't like he meant to make Josh upset. It all just came out. He was mad and hurt and he got defensive, hurting his... boyfriend? Friend? Enemy? In the process. No, not enemy. Tyler could never hate Josh.
He had tried calling nine times but he's texted him at least fifty, apologizing profusely.
Tyler put his phone on silent and tossed it on the far corner of his bed. He had to finish packing. He had to leave in now thirty minutes if he wanted to be there on time.
Tyler was in the middle of getting his toiletries out of his on-suit bathroom when he heard the door ring. "Mr. Joseph!" His butler called. "Miss Black is here to see you!"
"Send her up!" Tyler replied. A few moments later he heard her enter his room.
"Ty?" Her soft voice called.
"In here," he replied from where he sat on his bathroom floor. Jenna walked in and and soon as they locked eyes he started crying again.
"Tyler..." she sighed sadly, sitting down in front of him and pulling him into a hug. "I'm so sorry," she rubbed his back.
"Me too," he sobbed into her shoulder.
The two stayed like that for awhile before Tyler pulled back and wiped his face. "Hey, let's finish packing so you don't leave late, okay?" Jenna suggested, her blue eyes sympathetic.
"Okay," he nodded. "I just have to finish my toiletries and then I'm done. I'm gonna need help loading though."
"Got it."
The two spent the next twenty five minutes loading up Tyler's car. Everything fit now that he had an open seat but just barely. Tyler remembered glancing over his shoulder every so often to see if Josh would just miraculously decide to pull up. He never did.
Once they were finished they stood by his car for a few minutes. "Is your family gonna come out and say bye?"
"No," Tyler shook his head. "My parents are gone and my siblings don't care."
They were silent before Jenna sighed. "I'm really sorry Ty," she said sincerely. "You wanted to leave by 9:15 right?"
"Yeah..."
"It's 9:20," she told him sadly.
"Fuck," he let out. He felt defeated. He felt empty. He felt alone. "He might be running late."
"Twenty minutes late?" Jenna asked. "I just don't think he's coming and I don't want you to get there too late."
"You're right," Tyler replied and rubbed his face. "C'mere," he held his arms opened and hugged Jenna tightly. "Thank you. I love you."
"I love you too," she mumbled. "Call me when you stop to get gas or lunch or something. I just need to make sure you're okay."
"I will be. Bye, Jenna," he told her, hand on his front door.
"Bye, Tyler," she waved with a soft smile on her face. He got in and put his seatbelt on before pulling out of his driveway, his car loaded with everything he'd need.
He made it a good five blocks away from his house before he stopped at a red light. He was against having his phone out while driving but he had to pick music. While he had it out, he clicked on Josh's contact
Except this time he didn't try calling it. He scrolled down to the bottom and his thumb hovered over the 'block contact' button.
This is the one thing I have to leave behind, he told himself, taking a deep breath and pressing it. He pressed the 'delete contact' button too before turning his music up and putting his phone away.
The light turned green and he pressed the gas, driving off away from the place that held the past eighteen years of his life. It didn't matter though. He was starting new. And Josh just wasn't part of that new beginning.
---
"So..." Josh spoke as he sat with Tyler on the playground's play set. Dallon and Brendon stayed back on the swings while Josh got to know his hopefully new friend. He's seen Tyler around and had always been a little intrigued by him. "What do you like to do?"
"Uh..." Tyler paused. "I don' really know. I start basketball in the winter. My mom makes me practice in after school. I gotta shoot 500 baskets before I can come eat dinner."
"What?" Josh laughed. "That's so lame," the eight year old told him. "Do you ever like play outside for fun or play video games or color or anything?"
"Not really. My parents make me do extra homework when I get home so I can be smart and profess'nal when I'm big."
Josh's eyes widened so big he thought they were going to pop out of his head. "You've never played Mario Kart?" He asked in disbelief.
"Nope," Tyler shook his head.
"Are you busy this weekend?"
"I don't know. Maybe. My parents probably are but I don' know if I will be."
"You're coming over and we're playing Mario Kart," Josh decided. "Or else we can't be friends."
"I'll make sure it happens then," Tyler smiled.
Josh woke up the the sun shining through his curtains, temporarily blinding him. "Fuck," he grumbled, his head pounding. He hadn't been hungover since sophomore year. He also hadn't chugged half a bottle of Vodka since well... never. He rubbed his eyes and squinted them as he grabbed his phone to check the time. 9:30. His eyes drifted to the date. Monday, August 8th.
The day Tyler was leaving.
Despite this agonizing pounding in his head, Josh sat up and scrambled out of bed. He was wearing boxers and his shirt from last night but had no idea how he got his jeans off or even got in bed. He went about getting dressed and with his phone in hand, he went to call Tyler in hopes he hadn't left yet. They were supposed to leave at 9:15 but maybe he knew Josh was running late and held off.
Then he remembered the night before.
He stopped, one leg in a pair of gym shorts he grabbed off the floor. "Fuck it," he mumbled, throwing his other leg in. He didn't care about what happened. No matter where they stood he still wanted to say goodbye to Tyler. He pressed the call button and set the phone on speaker. It instantly went to voicemail and Josh began talking after the beep. "Shit, Ty. I'm so sorry. I'm on my way. I know you probably won't get this if your phone went straight to voicemail but I'm leaving now," he paused. "I love you," he took a shaky breath before ending the call. He didn't even throw shoes on, grabbing his keys and racing down the steps in his socks.
"Josh?" His mother began as he hurried to the door. "Where are you going? I got home last night and you had alcohol in your room. I had to take your jeans off and I woke you up so you could get in bed but you probably don't even remember it. You're in huge trouble—"
The blue haired ignored her as he walked out the front door, shutting it behind him. He ran to his car and got in, jamming the keys into the ignition and pulling out. He had no seatbelt on and no air conditioning on but that was the least of his worries. Josh also broke multiple other laws on the way to Tyler's but he couldn't bring himself to care.
When he pulled up the the gate, the security guard smiled at him. "Hey Josh," he said. "Are you here to see Tyler? I just started my shift a minute ago so excuse me if I'm a little tired," he laughed.
"Yeah," Josh nodded, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel anxiously.
He pressed a button and the gates opened. "Have a good day."
"You too," Josh mumbled before entering Tyler's gated neighborhood. He drove the additional block he had to in order to get to Tyler's house and pulled into the driveway haphazardly, feeling dread flood his body when he realized Tyler's car wasn't there. However, he remained hopeful since Tyler sometimes parked it in the garage. Maybe that was the case this time.
He parked his car, not even turning it off as he hurried out and shut the door. Josh ran to the front door and bounded up the steps. He rang the doorbell repeatedly until he was met with an older lady. "What?" She snapped. "Can't you have any patience?" He knew this wasn't the butler (who Josh had met before and thought was a really nice guy) so it must've been the new house keeper Tyler was talking about.
"Is Tyler here?"
She looked him up and down disapprovingly, noting his baggy shorts, old shirt, and socks. "Who's asking?"
"His best friend."
The house keeper then had the audacity to laugh. "Some best friend," she snickered. "He just left fifteen minutes ago. His girlfriend came over to tell him goodbye."
Josh felt his world stop. Tyler was gone. He didn't even get to say goodbye. Tyler just left him.
"Hello?" He heard her ask, annoyance in her voice as she waved her hand in front of Josh's face.
He just blinked, not looking at her. "Damn kids," she mumbled. "Go away or I'll call the police. There's no reason for you to be here," she told him, shutting the door in his face.
Josh swallowed, feeling tears prick his eyes. He didn't want to get arrested so he got back in his car, leaving Tyler's house.
He didn't even wave to the security guard like he usually did when he left the neighborhood. He just sat there, numb, as he drove. He kept driving until he pulled back into his own driveway. Parking, he stayed there and pulled out his phone to send a text to Tyler.
Did you really just leave?
Josh clicked send but was instantly met with a red exclamation point. He tried to send it again but received the same result. That's when it clicked. That's why he got sent straight to voicemail earlier.
Tyler blocked him.
Josh felt everything crashing down and let out a sob as tears began to flow. His best friend, his boyfriend, his other half had just blocked him. He never wanted to talk to Josh again.
The blue haired didn't know how much longer he stayed there just crying. His head was pounding so hard he thought it was going to split open. Suddenly his car door opened and he saw his mother through his teary eyes. "Josh..." she sighed when she saw his state. He didn't reply as she bent down and pulled him in for a hug. "It's okay..."
"He left me," Josh sobbed out. "He just left me. No goodbye. No nothing," he continued. "I hate him, Mom. I fucking hate him," Josh let out another gut wrenching sob into his mom's shoulder.
"I'm sure you don't mean that," she replied softly.
Josh didn't reply. Partly because he was crying too hard to say anything.
But also because he meant it.
He hated Tyler.
But it didn't matter. Tyler was gone.
And Josh was alone.