Chapter Text
He swore it didn’t used to be like this, but it was hard to remember a time where it wasn’t.
It had only been a year and a half, but Tyler swore he’d known Josh for longer.
They met online, like just about every teenager these days. He couldn’t remember whether he met him through a video game or social media, or how their conversation started, or what led to them trading Discord usernames, and even phone numbers later on. All he knew was that from freshman year of high school, Joshua “SpookyJim” Dun had been his best friend.
“Behind you, behind you!” Tyler yelled urgently through a headset microphone. His fingers danced around the keyboard, maneuvering his character on the computer screen around his attackers.
On the screen, Josh’s avatar tried to dodge their opponents’ bullets. His mic was mostly quiet, with the occasional clicking of his keyboard coming through.
A small, quiet, “Tyl… b… ime…” was heard over the sounds of Josh dying in-game. Tyler quickly lifted one side of his headphones off his ear and turned towards the door, shouting “What?” at the voice.
His mother opened his bedroom door. “Bedtime, finish up,” she said before closing it again.
Tyler returned his attention to the computer screen. The enemy fired their last round at them, killing Josh. As soon as his character crumpled to the ground, Tyler didn’t have time to react before his was doing the same.
“Damn it!” he yelled, a little louder than intended.
“Tyler!” his mom exclaimed from the room over.
“Sorry!” Tyler shouted back. “We almost had that one,” he said to Josh.
Josh groaned frustratedly. “I know, we were close.”
“There’s always tomorrow,” Tyler sighed.
“I thought you had practice tomorrow.”
Tyler paused. “Right,” he laughed. Then he paused again as he remembered his schedule for the rest of the week. “Aw, man, I got practice tomorrow and a game on Friday?”
“But,” Josh countered, “the concert is on Saturday.”
Tyler smiled. “Yeah, true.”
“I’m so excited,” Josh said. “And nervous, but mostly excited.”
“Me too. It’s gonna be so weird seeing you not on a screen.”
“Yeah.”
A comfortable silence fell over them. Tyler imagined what it would be like to see Josh in person. He wondered if they’d act the same as they did online, or if it would be unbearably awkward. He sincerely hoped for the former.
“Anyway, are you logging off?” Josh asked.
“Yeah, I probably should,” Tyler said. “Talk to you tomorrow though.”
“Okay,” Josh replied, sounding disappointed. “Yeah, talk to you tomorrow.”
Tyler clicked on the red button to end the call. Shutting down his computer, he yawned, suddenly aware of how tired he was. He picked up his phone for the first time in a few hours, only to see his most recent message was from Josh.
josh: i’m still mad about that game lmao
tyler: we’ll get them someday
tyler: not tonight or tomorrow or friday or saturday but someday lol
josh: i’m holding you to that
tyler: you’re not holding me to much if you’re the one that keeps dying first LMAO
josh: LMAO shhhhhh
Tyler smiled as he brushed his teeth, earning a skeptical look from his brother, who had just entered the bathroom.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“None of your business, Zack,” Tyler said, almost incoherently because of the toothbrush in his mouth.
Zack smirked. “You’re texting Josh, aren’t you?”
Tyler spit the toothpaste into the sink. “Why do you think that?”
“Dude, you’re constantly getting notifications from him. I see your phone light up with his name all the time.”
“Why are you looking at my phone?” Tyler asked, almost angrily. He pushed Zack through the doorway, out of the bathroom, making him nearly double over with laughter. Tyler slammed the bathroom door shut.
He faintly heard his other brother Jay ask Zack why he was laughing, to which Zack sang, “Tyler has a crush, Tyler has a crush!” The only reason he stopped was because their mom scolded them for not being in bed.
Tyler rolled his eyes. “Annoying shit,” he muttered under his breath. As he climbed into bed, he couldn’t help but resume smiling as he continued to do the exact thing his brother accused him of.
josh: there’s no shame in getting carried every once in a while
josh: or like all the time
josh: tylerrrrr
josh: where’d you go?
josh: i’m about to fall asleep
-
tyler: i’m here i’m here sorry
tyler: my brother was being annoying
josh: which one
tyler: zack lol
josh: what was he doing?
Tyler paused for a second before replying.
tyler: nothing nothing he was just being a younger brother
tyler: you know how it is
josh: lmaooo yeah
tyler: agh anyway it’s late we should sleep
josh: ten steps ahead of you
josh: or i guess behind you?
josh: cause i think i fell asleep like 5 minutes ago
josh: my eyes are barely open
tyler: go to sleep idiot
josh: will do
josh: goodnight ty
tyler: goodnight josh
Tyler plugged in his phone to charge and was asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow. He swore it was only minutes before his phone alarm rang.
He opened his eyes, half surprised to see sunlight pouring in through the window. He reached over to snooze the alarm before dozing in and out of sleep. After the third snooze, he knew he had to get up. He finally turned off the alarm and checked to see if there were any messages from Josh.
josh: morning
josh: holy shit i’m so tired
tyler: me too
tyler: i hate thursdays
josh: dude fr
josh: it’s like
josh: so close to friday
josh: but not there yet yk
tyler: you get it
tyler: but hey one day closer to the concert
josh: you’re so right
As Tyler got ready for school, he went over what he was going to wear to the concert in his head for the thousandth time. Black skinny jeans. Band shirt. He’d figure out which shoes he was going to wear later.
It was a simple outfit, but he wanted it to be perfect. He was basically meeting Josh for the first time again. Every outfit variation he could think of always led back to the black jeans band shirt combo.
Tyler threw his practice bag in the backseat of his car before ducking into the driver’s seat. He placed his backpack on the passenger side before starting the engine and the drive to school. Once he pulled into a parking spot, he gathered all his bags and walked towards the locker room.
He dropped off his sports bag in his locker before heading out to meet up with his friends. He waved as he approached them.
“You look dead,” Nick declared.
“I’m so tired, dude,” Tyler said.
“You were on call with Josh again, weren’t you?” Chris asked.
Tyler couldn’t stop a guilty smile from spreading across his face.
Chris turned towards Nick. “I called it.”
“So that’s why you were ignoring me last night,” Nick said.
Tyler’s smile dropped from his face, a look of panic replacing it. “Wait, I did?” he asked, quickly pulling his phone out of his pocket.
Nick laughed. “Gotcha!”
Relief flooded through Tyler’s body. His smile returned as he shook his head. “What was even the point of that?”
The bell rang, signaling students to get to class. The group started walking towards their homeroom.
“To prove that you don’t know when you’re ignoring your two amazing second-best friends who just so happen to be in person with you at least five out of the seven days of the week,” Chris stated.
“Hey,” Tyler said defensively, “I’m seeing him in two days, okay?”
Nick raised his hand and stuck a finger in the air. “Correction, we’re seeing him in two days. The three of us. Chris and I can judge your taste in men in real time.”
Tyler’s jaw dropped in fake offense and he playfully started pushing him away as Chris cackled beside them. “You guys suck,” he said with a massive grin on his face. “He’s a friend. ”
“You keep telling yourself that, buddy,” Chris said.
They approached an intersection in the hallway. “I’ll see you guys at lunch?” Tyler asked.
Nick and Chris nodded and they went their separate ways. Tyler settled into his seat, took out his phone, and swore he didn’t lift his head a single time throughout the entire duration of the class.
Tyler went through the entire school day like that, half dissociated, staring at his phone when he was texting Josh, and staring off into space when he wasn’t. And although he did almost nothing all day, he still found himself relieved when the final bell rang.
His shoes squeaked against the polished gym floor as he went through drill after drill in practice. He dribbled the ball, passing it back and forth between his hands. He crouched to shoot, jumped as his arm extended, and smiled as he watched the ball sink into the basket. He felt ready for tomorrow’s game. For the first time all day, Tyler’s mind was on something other than Josh.
That was short-lived, however. As soon as Tyler grabbed his phone at the end of practice, he remembered that Josh was patiently waiting for him to get home. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his towel, then walked toward the locker room.
Once he was in his car, he let Josh know that he’d text him when he got home. He connected his phone to his car’s bluetooth, pressed play on a playlist, and pulled out of the student parking lot. After getting home, he texted Josh and quickly hopped in the shower.
Tyler promised himself he would do homework while on call with Josh, but their conversation made it hard to focus on anything but him.
“I totally bombed my math test, I know it,” Josh said.
Tyler laughed, fiddling with his headphone cord. “I’m sure you did fine.”
Josh groaned. “I hate algebra so much, it’s not even funny.”
“You’re making junior year sound so enjoyable,” Tyler said sarcastically.
“Yeah, so much to look forward to,” Josh deadpanned. “Fuck, I really don’t want to take the SAT.”
Tyler frowned. “I mean, do you have to? Can’t you get into colleges without the SAT?”
Josh let out a long exasperated sigh. “For some colleges, it’s not required. But my parents want me to take it anyway. It’s already scheduled.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah.”
Tyler looked down and realized he had twisted his headphone cord into a knot.
“Anyway, how was your day?” Josh asked.
Tyler smiled as he started to try and undo the knot. “It was alright, nothing special. Practice was good.”
“Ready for the game tomorrow?”
Tyler shrugged, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Josh couldn’t see him. “Yeah, I think so.”
“That’s good,” Josh said.
“I did pretty well with the drills today, made most of my shots, so I think—” Tyler cut himself off. “Oh my— dude, I don’t know what I did, but my headphone wire is completely jumbled up.”
“Again?” Josh laughed.
“No, seriously, look at this,” Tyler said before clicking the button to turn on his camera. He held up the knotted cord, making Josh laugh even harder. “It’s worse than usual.”
“I think it’s time you get a wireless headset, Ty,” Josh teased.
Tyler shook his head. “Latency.”
“How do you always manage to knot it like that?”
“I don’t know!” Tyler exclaimed, another smile creeping up on his lips. As he moved to turn his camera off, Josh’s Discord icon disappeared, replaced by his actual face.
Tyler froze, then felt his cheeks grow warm. He hoped that his blushing wasn’t visible with the dark lighting in his room. “Hi,” he said, suddenly nervous.
Josh smiled. “Hi.”
Tyler could feel his heart beating in his chest. Josh’s face was illuminated by his computer screen, his background completely dark. His pale red hair was nearly covering his eyes.
“What?” Josh asked after a few seconds had passed.
“Nothing, I— uh…” Tyler stammered, trying to find something to say. He settled on, “You need a haircut,” and gave himself a mental facepalm as soon as the words were out of his mouth.
“What, you don’t like my long luscious locks?” Josh teased.
Tyler looked away, pretending to be focused on unknotting the cord. “No, I just like being able to see your eyes,” he said as nonchalantly as possible.
Josh gave no reply, but every time he glanced up, he was seemingly still looking at Tyler. His smile faded as a concerned expression washed over his face. “Wait, Ty, did you do your homework?”
Tyler’s eyes went wide. He looked at the time in the corner of his computer monitor. It read 10:13. “Shit,” he muttered, dropping the cord and reaching for his backpack on the floor, next to his desk.
Josh laughed as Tyler scrambled to get started on his homework. “Alright, time for me to shut up and stop distracting you,” he said, turning off his camera.
Tyler followed suit, barely acknowledging Josh’s joke, and rushed to finish his assignments. His mom came in at some point, trying to make him go to bed. Tyler had to explain to her that he procrastinated on his schoolwork, earning him a mini-lecture from her about keeping up with studying.
By the time he was done, Josh was asleep in his chair, his gentle snoring occasionally picking up on his mic.
“Finished, finally,” Tyler said quietly, mostly to himself, exhaling the words as he spoke. He sat back in his chair and ran his hands over his face. Tyler looked at the time. It was almost midnight. “Josh?”
A sleepy, “Hm?” was heard on the other end.
“You didn’t have to stay up with me, you know.”
“I wan’ed to,” Josh said, slurring his words.
Tyler couldn’t help but smile. “Well, clearly, it didn’t work, cause you’re passed out on a Discord call with me,” he teased.
Josh let out a sharp exhale, which Tyler took as a laugh.
“Go to bed, Josh,” Tyler said gently.
“Mmm,” Josh hummed. “Yeah, you too.”
“Goodnight, Joshua.”
“Night, Ty.”
- - -
School on Friday was more or less the same as Thursday, the only difference being that Tyler had a basketball game to play in the evening. And although Tyler and the rest of the team played as best as they could, they didn’t win the game.
“And then he falls, but it’s the most exaggerated fall I’ve ever seen. Like, I didn’t even touch the guy! But then the ref blows the whistle and points at me,” Tyler rambled angrily to Josh, who was silent, patiently letting Tyler get his frustration out. He groaned. “Like, what the fuck, man?”
“That’s so unfair,” Josh agreed.
Tyler stopped pacing his room and sat at the edge of his bed, clutching his phone in one hand, and running the other through his hair, wet from the shower. “I feel like I missed every shot I took today.”
“Did you actually?” Josh asked.
Tyler hesitated. “Well, no… but it feels like it.”
“It was just an off-day, Ty, it’s okay,” Josh said comfortingly. “You’re probably also tired from cramming all your assignments last night.”
Tyler let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I guess.” There was a lull in the conversation. “I’m excited to see you tomorrow.”
“I’m excited to see you too,” Josh replied.
Tyler could almost hear Josh’s smile. “Dare I say that I’m more excited to see you than to see the band.”
“What?” Josh asked, laughing in surprise. “You’re more excited to see me than the band we’ve been looking forward to seeing for months?”
“I mean, yeah, we’ve wanted to meet up for a long time now,” Tyler said quietly. “Remember when we realized we were only a couple hours away from each other?”
Josh gave a small chuckle. “How could I forget?”
“It made the possibility of actually seeing you so much more real.”
“How does that even happen? Like, what are the odds that we’re in the same state, let alone two hours away from each other?” Josh asked. “I think I would feel just as lucky as I do right now if we met and you ended up being across the country. Or even out of the country. I’d feel lucky to just briefly cross paths with you.”
Tyler was grinning from ear to ear by the time he was done talking.
“Stuff like this never happens. To me, at least,” Josh continued.
“Josh.”
“Yeah?”
“We’re going to be standing next to each other less than twenty-four hours from now.”
“Oh my god,” Josh yelled. “Don’t say that!”
Tyler dissolved into a fit of laughter. “It’s true though!”
“It is, but that’s— that’s scary,” Josh whispered the last word for emphasis.
“Josh.”
“Tyler,” Josh said in a mimicking tone.
Tyler smirked, even though Josh couldn’t see it. “We get to be in the same room as each other in less than twenty-four hours.”
It sounded like Josh put his hand over his mouth and screamed, making Tyler burst out laughing again.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m done,” Tyler said once he had calmed himself down enough to speak.
“I hate you,” Josh said jokingly.
“You love me,” Tyler shot back.
“I—” Josh started to say something, but got cut off. When he didn’t say anything else, Tyler got worried, thinking the call had died.
“Josh? Hello?”
“Hi.”
“Sorry, I think you cut out. What were you saying?” Tyler asked.
“Nothing, nothing.”
“Alright, well, I’ve gotta get ready for bed, so I’ll be back.”
“Yeah, I should do the same.”
Tyler stood and pressed the mute button. He set his phone where he had just been sitting before going to brush his teeth. When he came back, he tucked himself into bed while waiting for Josh to return. By the time he did, Tyler was already nearly asleep.
“You still awake?” Josh’s voice suddenly came through Tyler’s phone speakers.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Tyler responded, his eyes half closed.
“Aw, Ty,” Josh cooed. “You sound so tired.”
“I did have a game today,” Tyler pointed out sleepily.
“You did, you did,” Josh said. “Get some sleep.”
“Hey, Josh.”
Josh let out a small laugh. “Yes, Tyler?”
“See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow, you dork,” Josh replied.
Tyler smiled.
“Goodnight, Ty.”
“Goodnight, Josh.”