Wait to start the song.

"Hey, Ty, you just get home?"

Tyler shook his head at his friend who stepped into his room, looking at him with squinted eyes. "Nah," he answered. "I've been here for like 20 minutes. I just always look tired."

Brendon laughed, walking over and shoving Tyler by his shoulder. "Shut up," he said playfully as he picked up the pack of cigarettes his younger friend had on his desk. He shook it before opening it, seeing there was less than half a pack left. "Need me to get you cigarettes?"

"I can pay for 'em, Bren," Tyler said, finishing pulling on his jeans and going to grab his wallet off of his desk, only to be stopped by his older friend.

"That's not what I asked," he said, eyeing Tyler knowingly as they both smiled at each other.

Tyler nodded, ducking his head after. "Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah, could you?"

Brendon grinned, patting Tyler on the back and leading him from his room. "You know I got you," he said softly.

Tyler simply nodded, walking into the kitchen where his mom was finishing up cleaning the dishes from dinner. "Hey, Momma," he said, catching the attention of his mom, who smiled back at him. "We're gonna head out now."

"Okay, baby," she said with a smile. "You guys coming back tonight?"

Tyler looked to his older friend, who rose an eyebrow at him. "Are we gonna be drinking?" Brendon simply nodded, Tyler nodding back. "No ma'am," he directed at his mom. "We're gonna be drinking so we'll probably just crash there."

His mom nodded. "Smart boy," she said. "If you guys wanna come home, though, you can always call me. I'll come get you."

The boys both nodded, thanking her as Tyler pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Love you, Mom," he said. "See you tomorrow!"

"Love you," she called back. "Have fun, be careful!"

"We will!" Both boys called back to Tyler's mom as they left the house and clambered into Brendon's car. "So," Tyler spoke as they pulled away from the house, "what's the occasion for the party this time?"

Brendon chuckled as they headed toward the gas station. "It's Carmen's 18th birthday party, apparently. Her birthday was last month, but Jake decided he wanted to have her party when her parents were out of town."

Tyler nodded with a laugh as they pulled into the gas station parking lot, Brendon unclicking his seatbelt and turning toward his friend. "Want anything else while I'm in there?"

Tyler shook his head, leaning back against the seat with a soft smile. "Nah, I'm good, Bren. Thanks."

The older friend simply nodded, closing the car door and heading into the gas station. Tyler pulled out his phone and decided to scroll through Instagram while he waited on his friend. His feed was full of all of the same bullshit as every other day; posts from popular kids who followed him for some unknown reason, a couple of uploads of Ashley's latest paintings, and a wild abundance of posts from Ryan containing slice-of-life photography.

His smile started to grow however as he came across a picture of Josh lying in his bed, only his feet visible as his dog lies across his lap and his TV shows the Netflix logo across the screen. Its caption simply read:

night in ft my dude #jimdun

Tyler laughed softly as he double tapped the photo and slid his phone back into his jean pocket just as Brendon exited the store. When he opens the car door, he smiles widely at Tyler and hands him his cigarettes and a can of Peach Peace Tea. "I know you said nothing else," he started as he climbed into his seat and shut the door, "but they finally restocked the Peace Teas, and I figured you'd want one."

Tyler smiled gratefully, hugging the drink to his chest and batting his eyelashes playfully at his friend. "My hero," he said with a laugh. "You know me so well."

The two friends then set back on their journey to Carmen's house, jamming to songs from Tyler's Spotify playlists and talking nonsense while Tyler sent snaps to Ashley, Dallon and Ryan, telling them they'd be there soon.

When they finally arrived, the party was well underway and they immediately headed into the house to the kitchen where Ashley said the rest of their friends were. A cheerful reunion and a few drinks later, Brendon took off with Dallon, while Ashley and Ryan went to go "dominate the beer pong table," leaving Tyler to shake his head fondly and laugh to himself before heading to the backyard.

There was not a single soul hanging around, which Tyler was thankful for as he headed to the trampoline at the far end of the yard. He slipped off his Vans and climbed through the mesh covering, immediately lying down and staring up at the stars. It was relatively nice out for January, although Tyler still had to slightly bury himself into his hoodie.

After a few moments, he pulled out his phone and went back to his playlists and clicked on a song before slipping his headphones into his ears. He crossed his arms behind his head as his music filtered through his ears.

It's been like this for a couple of years now, since Tyler's mom started letting him go to parties with Brendon. He doesn't mind a drink every now and then, but he hates getting drunk. So, after the first hour or so, he always lets his friends disappear and he sneaks off to any secluded spot he can find and just waits for Brendon to say he's ready to leave, or he takes Brendon's car home and picks him up the next morning. It's a good system.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been lying there, but after some time he felt a soft shake on the trampoline and startled a bit, looking over only to see a smiling Josh Dun looking at him with crinkled eyes as he laughed gently. "Sorry," he says sincerely, "I didn't mean to scare you."

Tyler laughed gently, shaking his head and taking out his headphones. "You're good," he said. "Kinda just figured you were Brendon, actually."

The teen shook his head gently, smiling again. "Just me, I'm afraid." He then motioned to where Tyler was lying down. "Mind if I join you?"

Tyler shrugged, shaking his head as he scooted over a bit, Josh slipping off his shoes and rolling onto the jumping pad until he landed against Tyler's side, the two boys laughing as he settled and the trampoline stopped bouncing. "So," Tyler started, breaking the slight silence, "what brings you here?" After a questioning look from the other male, Tyler continues, saying, "You had posted on Instagram that you were having a night in with your dog."

Realization crossed Josh's face as he laughed gently. "My brother's here at this party," he explained gently. "Some girl in his class invited him. My mom thought I was going with him, so when she saw me at home, she flipped and told me I had to come here and wait for him to be ready to come home."

Tyler made a face. "That sucks," he supplied. "You could be here forever, then."

Josh shrugged. "He doesn't really get plastered, just drunk enough to be a giggling mess. It's been a couple hours since he's been here, it shouldn't be too much longer until he's ready to leave."

Tyler nodded, pulling his phone to check the time, only to hear Josh gasp from beside him. "Holy shit," he said, "you listen to Knuckle Puck!?"

Tyler felt himself smile as he nodded excitedly. "Hell yeah," he answered. "They're one of my favorites." He then picked up his headphones and offered one to Josh. "Wanna listen?"

Josh nodded vigorously, taking the device from Tyler and slipping it into his ear just as Tyler restarted the song and pushed play.

The two then laid there, silently jamming out as the song filled their eyes. Tyler was so happy at this moment. Other than Ashley and sometimes Brendon, no one else really listened to the same music he did. Growing up in a small town in the middle of Texas, the two most known genres were country and rap, not really pop punk or rock. It was very refreshing to the brunet to have someone not only know what he listens to but also be able to jam out with him as well.

"God," Josh said as the song continued to play, "I was beginning to think I was the only one here who didn't listen to country music. I swear I was about to go insane."

Tyler laughed, his eyes crinkling as he stayed staring at the sky. "I completely understand," he said, turning his head to look at the curly headed boy. "I was the same way until I started hanging out with Ashley. She's the only person I know who listens to what I do. Well, and now you, too."

Josh smiled, turning his head to look at Tyler. "I'm honored to be included in the awesome music crew," he said with a light chuckle.

Tyler chuckled back, the conversation dying out peacefully as they both turned back to the sky. Not too much later, Josh's phone chimed and he checked it with a soft sigh. "My brother's ready to leave," he said, his tone hinting at regret.

Tyler nodded, taking his headphone back from Josh. "No worries, man," he said with a soft smile. "Thanks for hanging out with me."

Josh nodded, smiling back to the brunet. "Anytime," he said genuinely as he climbed off of the trampoline and began putting his shoes back on. "Hey, uh," he started nervously, "do you need a ride home? When I came in it didn't look like Brendon - or Dallon, for that matter - were even close to being ready to leave."

Tyler thought over it for a moment, checking the time on his phone and wincing to himself. It was after midnight, and he knew his mom was already asleep, so he definitely didn't want to disturb her by calling for a ride this late.

"You can stay at my house if you want," Josh suggested. "I know it's hella late."

Tyler bit his lip to contain his smile at Josh's use of the outdated word, and he found himself shaking his head. "You can just take me home," he said with a light laugh. He copied Josh in climbing off of the trampoline and slipping back into his shoes before heading back to the house with his friend. They found Josh's brother easily, watching as he said goodbye to a group of guys he was hanging around before he followed the two older teens out of the house.

They climbed in Josh's car - the teen ordering his brother to sit in the back so Tyler could sit in the front - and headed back to town and away from Carmen's house.

"I'm Jordan, by the way," the younger boy says, his words slurring a bit as he reached forward to shake Tyler's hand.

"Tyler," said boy answered, putting his hand back in his lap after the handshake ended. Josh smiled at the interaction before turning up the radio and pushing play on his phone, the sounds of With Confidence immediately filling the car.

Start the song. It's That Something by With Confidence.

"I don't know where you came from," Josh started, looking to Tyler to sing along.

"You broke foundations while I'm," Tyler filled in as the two started singing together.

"Falling down the middle! Crawling round a little!"

The two older teens could hear Jordan groaning in protest from the backseat as they kept singing, his hands covering his eyes. "Damn it," he said, just loud enough for them to hear, "another Josh."

The boys laughed loudly as the chorus started up and they were both screaming to the lyrics. "I think I found that something. I think I'll finally breathe right in. I think I feel that love I won't give up. I think you soaked into my skin!"

"God," Jordan groaned again as they pulled up to their home, "get a room, you guys."

As the younger teen jumped out of the car and hurried up to the house, Tyler felt himself blush as he smiled to himself and played with his hands in his lap.

"Don't mind him," Josh said, his cheeks equally as tinted. "So, how do we get to your house?"

Tyler felt himself shrink in on himself at the idea of Josh seeing his home. From the looks of Josh's home, his own was probably one fifth of the size. He was half tempted to tell Josh the wrong address, but he was also afraid of getting a curfew ticket while he walked to his actual home so he sighed gently and gave Josh his address.

They drove in comfortable silence, the only sound being the music flowing through the radio and their voices singing along. Soon, they pulled up to Tyler's house and he smiled sheepishly to his friend. "This is me," he said softly.

Josh bit his lip momentarily, holding his hand out to the younger boy. "Give me your phone," he said, smiling.

Tyler smiled back handing Josh his phone as he held his hand out for the other's as well. They traded phones and added each other's numbers before handing them back and smiling widely at each other. "I-I guess I'll see you later," Tyler said, starting to climb out of the car. "Thanks for the ride home."

Josh nodded softly. "Anytime, Ty," he responded, watching as Tyler smiled back once again before closing the door and walking up to his front door. Josh waited until he made it inside the house, pulling off of the curb as soon as he did.

Inside his home, Tyler locked his front door and headed straight to his room, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. Slowly, he felt a smile creep onto his face, biting his lips to try and contain it as he stripped from his clothes and put on a pair of basketball shorts, opting to leave his shirt off for the night.

The doe eyed boy climbed under his covers, aimlessly scrolling through his social media to make himself fall asleep when he got a text notification and felt his face heat up.

josh dun 👽: just letting you know i made it home safe :) sleep well, ty

Tyler swore he could've spontaneously combusted at that moment, his entire face flushing red as he opened the text and began replying.

thank you for letting me know! sleep well, josh :)

He then plugged his phone into his charger, setting it on his desk and rolling over to face the wall, smiling as he fell asleep with visions of dark, curly hair and a wide smile.