Brendon narrowed his eyes at Josh's response of him walking into the kitchen. Did he really just close his laptop as soon as he walked in? Brendon's brain almost rattled as he tried to think if Josh had ever done anything like that before, but he couldn't think of a single comparable situation.

"What are you doing?" He asked, as casually as he could as he sat down on the seat next to his boyfriend. Josh looked at him, but not the way Brendon expected. Knowing Josh, he expected his face to immediately show sign of being flustered or 'caught'. Yet there wasn't, his face showed nothing and for whatever reason Brendons suspicion turned into concern. Josh shrugged softly, eyes falling down onto his now closed laptop.

Brendon frowned as he gently opened the device, and it took a tiny bit for it to start up again and then the browser reloaded. They both sat in silence for a bit letting the images playing on the screen make its way to their brain. Mostly Brendon's.
"Babe.." he started.
"I'm sorry", Josh whispered before he could even continue. Brendon noticed the youngers' hands were trembling softly and he grabbed them quickly. "Hayley sent me the link and I-..."
Brendon shook his head, before turning his gaze back to the screen. "You don't need to be sorry, but why didn't you tell me?"

Josh shrugged again as they watched two hearses stop in front of a big church. His old church. He hadn't seen that place for so many years, and thought he never would again. "I thought you'd... find it stupid? That I might watch." Brendon sighed. "You know me better than that." And Josh nodded, whispering another "i'm sorry" as he tightly held on to Brendon's hand and scooted closer. Brendon gently let his arm fall around Josh's shoulder and pulled him closer, fingers gently caressing the back of his neck. "It's your parents funeral, love. Ofcourse you're watching."

They continued to watch how unknown men in all black suits carried two coffins into the church, people gathered around the red carpet as if it were celebrities or royals. Josh couldn't believe it was his parents who were idolized like this. A funeral for thousands of people, a fucking livestream to go with it, people hysterically crying and praying. Idolized for their disgusting acts. He felt disgusted and embarrassed that he had the same blood as those them, but couldn't get his eyes off the screen.

Two gold decorated coffins, covered in flowers, were put at their spots and the church benches were loaded, and the first person started to speak. Miss Black. Josh recognized her still, feeling his stomach twist as he heard her words of praise and grief.

"Home!"

Even in the midst of all this, it brought a smile to Josh's face when he heard Tyler. Home.
"In the kitchen", Brendon answered.
Tyler started talking as soon as he walked in, but the atmosphere in the kitchen made his talking die down just as fast. Josh gently got hold of the boys wrist, pulling him in and Tyler carefully sat down on Josh's lap. "What is this?" He asked softly, eyes switching between Josh and Brendon.

"My parents funeral", Josh spoke softly as he shortly nuzzeled his nose into Tyler's shirt. The boy always smelled like sweet coffee when he got home after work, and mixed with just smelling like him it was Josh's favorite thing. Or well, one of his favorite things. He had many favorites, if he was fully honest.

"Oh gosh", Tyler just answered ever so softly, now three pairs of eyes glued to the screen. It was about 5 minutes later when Josh suddenly slammed his laptop shut. "That's fucking enough, i can't stand hearing anymore". He gently forced Tyler off his lap and stood up to walk out the room and slam the door shut behind him.

***

"C'mere", Brendon spoke softly when Josh walked into the livingroom a good 10 minutes later. Brendon and Tyler had moved to the couch and gave Josh a few minutes to recover after he had walked out. Brendon reached out his arms towards his boyfriend, as Tyler scooted over a bit to make room for Josh in the middle. "C'mere", Brendon repeated, even softer.
Brendon's tone was comforting as always and Josh sat down between his two boys. Brendon pulled him to his side gently, fingers playing with his hair, as Tyler wrapped his arms around his waist and cuddled up to him. Josh briefly just closed his eyes, trying to breath away the nausea in his stomach.

"You okay?" Tyler asked ever so carefully, not wanting to pry but they had been sitting there for a few minutes now.

"I feel sick. They didn't deserve this." He took a a sharp breath. "The funeral, i mean. They totally deserve to be dead, just... the fact there's thousands of people adoring them is so fucking unsettling and it makes me sick. They shouldn't have a fucking royal funeral, they should've been fucking left for the vultures to feed on."

Tyler almost shrunk hearing the anger spill through Josh's voice. He didn't even know if he had ever heard it, like this. He remembered the anger in his voice after the thing with Tom at work, but that was mostly hidden. This anger raged and was loud and filled with despair and hopelessness and sadness. He didn't like it but he understood so well. He pressed a kiss under Josh's chin, just within reach, not knowing what else to do. Tyler realized he never had been the one to comfort anyone else, or be there for someone. He never had a fair friendship or relationship in which he had to be a support for someone. He felt insecurity wash over him, what if he wasn't capable of doing it? He was for sure never going to be as helpful as Brendon, he and Josh didn't need words they just knew what the other needed and Tyler suddenly felt too much in the room.

Josh sighed, and as response to Tyler's soft kiss returned the gesture by leaving a kiss atop of the boys head. He shook his head and locked eyes with Brendon. "I never told you, but I still have nightmares. About the old days." He pulled Tyler impossibly closer when Brendon did the same with him.
"They have us caught at camp. They're torturing, practically butchering you. Me. And each time i'm not able to get you out and you die and all i can do is watch", Josh spoke softer and softer, afterwards closing his eyes as a tear slipped away.
Brendon was fast to catch it. Wiping it away with his thumb, both hands on the sides of Josh's face, before whispering "i'm so sorry love" and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Josh sighed. "I always had the hope their death would be the end of it all. I had the hope that maybe their... legacy, the camp and all, would fall apart when they were gone. That it was only them poisoning the planet with this shit, but what i saw today... It's not going to stop. At all. They're going to be fucking worshipped at that place and it makes me absolutely sick."

They didn't know what to say after that. They all agreed with Josh's statement, as discouraging as it was. It was unstoppable. If it wasn't them, there'd be plenty of others to do it, no matter how unbelievable it seemed. All lost in their own minds they just sat there for a while, could've been minutes, could've been hours.

"We could burn the place down?" Tyler suggested out of the blue. It made the other two laugh, breaking the heaviness and the tension of the situation. "Gosh i love you", Josh laughed as they all separated. "I mean, just an idea", Tyler shrugged with a soft smile. He was happy to see a genuine smile back on Josh's face. Glad that he could at least do that.

*

"You okay?" Brendon asked once they were sauntering through the isles and as he zoned back in, Tyler nodded. The two were out for groceries just before dinner. Brendon named what they needed, Tyler putting it in their cart. The youngest just hummed, but already saw Brendon didn't buy it.
"It's just.. I realized earlier today that I know nothing about caring for people, comforting someone or supporting, or... I don't know, i have never done that. Earlier today I realized you knew exactly what he needed  and i didn't know shit."
Tyler shrugged."I know nothing about relationships and about being a boyfriend."
Brendon seemed to think about what Tyler just said, meanwhile grabbing the ravioli. "Well not to be cheesy, but you're doing great."
Tyler shook his head. "I'm literally not doing anything, just tagging along for the ride. It's weird?"
"You want to go to fast, baby", Brendon stated clearly as he abruptly stopped walking, making Tyler bump into their cart. "It might not be nice to hear, but you cannot expect to be at exactly the same level as Josh or me. And that's totally okay. We've been doing this for years, you haven't. And that's all there's to it. Josh and I learned a lot together, and now we are learning with you."
Tyler nodded. He agreed, and he knew that, but at the same time it felt shitty. "You're doing so good, baby", Brendon then praised him, softer now as he had stepped closer. "We understand you're in a tougher spot, i can only try and imagine what it's like to get into an already existing relationship. It's brave. But all we need, and all that Josh needed too, is for you to be there. And you are. The rest will come, grow, over time. We will learn together." He smiled. "Your feelings are valid, but the fact you're already expressing this already shows the amount of progress you made baby. It shows you care, you're communicating. You're doing so much more and better then you give yourself credit for."
Tyler sighed and nodded with a smile. He still felt unsure, but also a bit relieved by Brendon's words. "Thank you big guy", he spoke softly as Brendon reached out for Tyler's hand, lacing their fingers together as he looked up into the big brown comforting eyes. Brendon smiled his pretty half-smile looking back at him. "C'mon puppy eyes, let's get home."