Tyler was exhausted.

He had stayed up until one in the morning working on homework he didn't do over the weekend. Since his dad was home Saturday they spent the day together and then went over and had dinner with Jenna's family after church on Sunday. It was the weekend that every single of his AP classes decided to assign him homework.

"Hey, Ty," Josh nodded as he, Brendon, and Ashley walked past. Tyler noticed they were making their way towards the front of the school.

"Are you skipping?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah," Brendon replied. "We were just goin' tell ya. We didn' figure ya wanted ta come with."

Tyler had to make a split decision. He could either suffer through all his classes for seven hours while he ran on five hours of sleep or he could skip class and start his attempt to impress his new found friends so he doesn't lose them from being a buzzkill.

The brunette shoved the rest of his books in his locker and slammed it shut, walking over to the group. They all stopped and looked at him, confused looks on their faces. "Well?" Tyler asked. "The bell's gonna ring in a few minutes."

The three stood there in shock for a moment before Ashley spoke. "Huh," she replied before she kept walking.

"What?" Tyler asked.

"Didn' think you'd want ta," she said simply, pushing open the door and holding it for her friends.

"Well I did. I'm exhausted and the idea of sitting in class for however long we'll be gone makes me want to cry," Tyler replied, hoping his lie was enough to cover his true reason.

"Amen," Josh breathed out into a laugh. Tyler looked over at him and laughed as well.

"You two just goin' keep actin gay or get in Josh's truck?" Brendon joked as he got in the passenger side.

Tyler blushed at the words and he crawled in the back behind Brendon and next to Ashley and Josh obviously went to the driver's seat. Hopefully this wasn't going to be a bad decision.

---

Josh pulled into the parking lot of an old park. Tyler could tell people didn't frequent the lot much or at least not to actually use it as a park. Trash was littered everywhere due to the fact that the two trash cans Tyler could see were filled to the brim as if they hadn't been emptied out in months.

They four got out and Josh lead them towards the playground. As they got closer, Tyler noticed how gross and rusty and cracked everything was. This place was definitely not used very often. The pink haired stopped once they reached the swings. There were technically four swings but one of them was unchained on one side so only three were useable. Ashley and Brendon each took one and Tyler watched as Josh took the last one.

"C'mere," Josh held his arm out to Tyler. Tyler hesitantly complied and let out a squeak when Josh pulled him down onto his lap.

"Josh—"

"Does this make ya uncomfortable?" Josh whispered in Tyler's ear, sincerity audible. His lips grazed Tyler's earlobe as he spoke and the brunette shuddered against it.

"No— yes— I don't—" Tyler began.

"Do ya like boys, Tyler?" Josh asked, turning Tyler's head so they were staring at each other. Tyler got off Josh's lap and stood there, feeling vulnerable. Despite this, Josh pulled him back down but this time so Tyler was sitting sideways, making it easier for the two to look at each other while they talked.

He looked down in shame as he answered. He knew they wouldn't judge him because Josh was gay and Brendon was bi but he still felt disgusted with himself. "Yeah," he whispered, the self-hatred seeping through.

"Why are ya lookin' at the ground?" Josh grabbed Tyler's chin so he was looking back up.

"Because it's not normal to be anything other than straight. I've grown up super religious my whole life and I still am. The churches I went to when I was younger drilled into my head that being gay was bad. Boys liking boys was bad. My dad doesn't care and he tells me all the time how much he accepts me but I still can't help but hate myself."

Tyler didn't know why he was spilling all the information to Josh. Maybe it was because he was there to listen to his confession or maybe it was because he felt like he trusted Josh despite only knowing him for a week. Maybe he was just too willing to look at the good side of people. He didn't know.

"Ash? Bren?" Josh looked over to his right at the two who were talking and doing something on their phones.

"Yeah?" Brendon called without looking up from his phone.

"Can ya two go out ta my truck 'nd get the pack of cigarettes 'nd lighter in the glove department?"

Brendon looked like he was about to say something but Ashley just stood up and began tugging him towards the parking lot.

Once they were out of earshot, Josh looked back at Tyler. "'M goin' do somethin', 'kay?"

Tyler nodded, not knowing what Josh meant. However, the pink haired slowly leaned in and attached his lips to Tyler's. The brunette was surprised as first and was about to pull back but his heart swelled with happiness and he found himself pressing his lips back.

This was his first kiss and he didn't have any idea of what he was doing but that didn't matter because Josh led the kiss for him. It was sweet and gentle. Josh's nose pressed into Tyler's and he could feel the cool metal of the older's nose stud. They pulled apart and they were both smiling slightly. "That..." Tyler began.

"Did ya enjoy that?" Josh asked. "Did it make ya happy?"

Tyler stopped for a moment, nodding slowly. "Yeah. It did."

"So fuck whoever has an issue with ya bein' gay. Embrace it, Tyler. Hell, I told ya I get the shit kicked outta me for likin' boys 'nd I still don' let it get ta me. I know it's easier said than done but don' be ashamed. There are goin' be people that don' agree but there are still people that love ya no matter what, 'kay? Ya said ya got your dad 'nd if ya need it ya got me 'nd those two losers," he gestured to Ashley and Brendon who were walking back towards them.

"Okay," Tyler nodded, smiling slightly. "Thank you."

Josh smiled back and pressed a kiss to Tyler's forehead, making him blush once again.

"Here loser," Ashley grabbed out a cigarette for herself and Brendon before tossing the pack to Josh who caught it effortlessly.

"You smoke?" Tyler's eyes widened. "I assumed it was just one of you."

Josh grabbed the lighter from Ashley and lit his. "I don' do it often," he blew smoke out away from Tyler's face before handing the lighter to Brendon. "Neither do they. We jus' do it when we're bored. We ain't addicted for some reason."

Tyler watched as Josh inhaled the nicotine and blew it out once more. "Is this what you usually do when you skip class?"

"Yeah," Brendon cut in. "We come here a lot 'nd just talk or smoke outta boredom. We don' smoke if we're not together usually. Ash does it when she's stressed as fuck sometimes but that's it."

"Do ya wanna try?" Josh asked, offering the cigarette to the 15 year old.

Tyler stopped. He had always been told to say no to drugs and peer pressure. This wasn't peer pressure though, right? Josh was simply asking. He wasn't forcing Tyler into it or making fun of him for not doing it.

Tyler really wanted to fit in with his new friends. Besides, none of them are addicted to smoking so he probably won't get addicted either. "Okay..." he trailed off, grabbing the stick from Josh. "I don't know what to do."

"Jus' inhale through this end," he pointed to the gold side by his mouth. "Not a lot or you'll throw up. Make sure ya take a deep breath too," Josh pointed out. "Hold it in your mouth for a second then exhale."

Tyler's was shaky as he brought the cigarette to his lips. He mustered up a deep breath he thought would be good enough and inhaled. However, he could barely keep the smoke in his mouth for a fraction of a second because he instantly coughed it out.

"That happens," Ashley assured. "The first time ya smoke ain't goin' be perfect."

"Do ya wanna try again?" Josh asked. "I got most of a pack if ya wanna build up a tolerance."

The event Tyler had just endured wasn't even enjoyable. He hated the smoke entering his body and it made him feel nauseous. He didn't get the appeal with smoking. Despite that, he really wanted to impress his friends. Besides, once he builds up a tolerance he can just smoke with them for fun and not feel left out.

"Okay," Tyler nodded. "Let me try again."