"it's her. i fucking knew it."

"hm?" tyler glances up from the book he's currently reading, sitting on the opposite side of josh's desk.

the man had been working for the past few hours with absolutely no breaks, even when he started complaining about how bad he had to piss. josh knew he was so close to figuring out who the traitor was, there was no time for anything else.

he watches his computer screen, not looking shocked like tyler had expected. in fact, he's smiling.

"who was it?" tyler asks, setting the book down. he maneuvers around the desk, watching as josh points at the computer screen.

"this is footage from the security camera by the front door. that thing is a piece of shit so the picture was totally blurry, but i had some guys help me fix it. there's no microphone on it but there is one in the security camera at the front gate. so watch and listen."

the man plays the video and audio simultaneously. tyler watches as a girl exits through the front door of the house and approaches the guard at the gate. his name is nathan, or something like that. the girl's back faces the camera the whole time, but it isn't hard to distinguish who it is based on her two-toned hair.

"hey nate," melanie greets him, twirling her hair around her finger. "must really suck that you have to stay out here and can't party with us."

"it's not that bad," nathan shrugs, obviously trying to ignore her. "shouldn't you be inside?"

"i wanted to come keep you company," she says, her words not slurring in even the slightest bit.

"let me do my job. that was a one time thing, mel. i'm not going to get fired over you being horny. find some other guy in there."

"oh, but naaate," she whines, and tyler watches as she presses her body firmly against his. "i don't want some other guy. i want you."

nathan can be heard sighing. he glances out the gate for a few seconds, then over to the security camera. "fine," he says. "but let's make it quick."

tyler feels like he's in the fbi watching it all go down. melanie tells nathan to meet her around the side of the house because she wanted to "clean up a bit." as soon as she was out of his line of sight, melanie opened the front gate.

"it's all clear," she whisper-shouted.

"well done, honey," brendon's voice came through.

the sound of it gave tyler goosebumps, and not the good kind.

brendon snuck through the little opening in the gate, kissing melanie's cheek after it was shut again. it was a little hard to see, but he clearly handed her a wad of cash and told her to "treat herself." brendon then let himself inside while melanie snuck around the side of the house to find nathan.

josh pauses the footage, a sly smile curled on his lips. "i fucking knew it. that stupid bitch. god, i can't believe nathan could be such an idiot. now there's two more people i need to replace. god. fucking. dammit."

"i never liked her anyway," tyler mentions, hoping it will somehow make the situation better.

"honesty, me neither. i just needed her to make me money. if brendon wants her, he can fucking have her."

"well, what do we do now?" tyler asks, the two meeting each other's eyes.

"we could go about this one of two ways. call melanie in here, make her feel like shit, and kick her out, or call her out in front of everybody, embarrass her, and then kick her out."

although that second option sounds a bit mean, tyler can't deny that melanie does deserve it. "i say the second one. you know, that way nobody else gets the smart idea to go behind your back."

"i like your thinking, ty," josh chuckles, pulling the brunette in for a quick kiss. "go gather everyone in the living room. i'll find nate."

tyler nods, giving the man one more kiss before going on a frantic search. it's so hard to find everyone in a short amount of time when their house is gigantic. he starts on the bottom floor first, finding felix and hayley already in the living room. good. two down, three to go.

he searches the rest of the rooms on the first floor, but they're all empty. he goes upstairs next, where the girls' bedrooms are. jenna and ashley are in the latter's room, both laying on the bed watching something on jenna's phone.

"hey guys," tyler says, startling them slightly.

"oh, jesus, tyler! when did you get there?"

"just now," he chuckles. "josh wants us all to meet in the living room."

"uh-oh, what happened?" jenna frowns, tucking her phone into her pocket.

"a lot," tyler smiles sarcastically. "you'll see. you guys aren't in trouble though, you're both fine. have either of you seen melanie?"

"she's probably in her room," ashley says, making jenna help her off the bed.

"okay, thanks."

the brunette leaves the door open for them, then walks a few more doors down. he knocks before entering. melanie sits on her bed, frantically typing on her phone. she quickly glances up when tyler enters, stuffing her phone in her bra.

"what do you want?" she asks, narrowing her eyes.

"cut that shit out," tyler rolls his eyes, feeling unable to hide his dislike of her any longer. "josh wants us in the living room."

"i don't take orders from anyone except for him," she smiles, unmoving from her spot.

"oh my god," tyler mutters. why does she have to be so damn annoying? "listen, you either get up and walk your happy ass down there by yourself or i'll make you."

"you can't do shit to me," she chuckles, crossing her arms over her chest.

"okay, let's go." tyler fully enters her room, now, approaching the girl.

he grabs a fistful of her hair, knotting it inbetween his fingers as he drags her off the bed. "ow! fuck! what's your problem!? i am capable of doing it myself, thank you!"

"didn't look like it to me," he responds, not caring in the slightest bit what she thinks of him anymore.

she betrayed not only him, but josh. she put tyler's entire life in danger just to make a few hundred extra dollars. not only that, but she totally fucked up both his and josh's mental states. tyler shouldn't have to play nice guy anymore. so, he drags her downstairs by her hair despite her complaining the entire time and whining that he's hurting her.

everyone else is already gathered around, including josh and nathan. melanie and him exchange a brief glance before josh clears his throat.

"sorry, she was being stubborn," tyler explains, finally letting her go.

"it's fine, take a seat."

the brunette nods, taking his usual place between felix and jenna. they both look like they're trying to hold in their laughter, seeing melanie's hair a complete mess due to tyler. said girl sits on the end of the couch, eyes now trained on her lap.

"as i'm sure you all know by now," josh starts. "urie was somehow let into our party. now, this party was to celebrate our friend tyler. i can not imagine why anybody would want to ruin it," he pauses, glancing at melanie. she keeps her eyes down.

"but they did. i'll spare you all the details, but what it comes down to is one person in this room is a traitor and another is an idiot."

everyone's eyes turn to nathan, who watches josh fearfully. he keeps his mouth shut, a smart move on his part.

"melanie," josh says next, everyone now turning their gaze to her. "how fucking dumb do you think i am? did that tiny, little brain of yours honestly think for a second that i wouldn't find out?"

she finally looks up, her eyes wet with tears. a dark red covers her entire face as she looks around nervously. "i... he made me do it!"

"he didn't make you do shit," josh snarls, making her flinch. "how much did he pay you, hm? tell me. how much was it worth to you?"

melanie cries now, shaking her head in response.

"how much?" josh demands, venom dripping from his voice. his face is contorted in anger, but tyler doesn't really know how he feels.

it's honestly funny to him how stupid melanie is, but it's not funny that she actually did it. he knows he'd usually be scared by josh's outbursts, but right now he's enjoying them.

"s-six..six hundred," she hiccups, hiding her face in her hands. "i'm s-sorry!"

josh let's out a genuine chuckle. "you're fucking kidding me, right? six hundred dollars? not even a fucking grand? do you realize what he could've done? he could've raped and murdered every single last one of these girls. he almost did rape tyler. that's worth six hundred fucking dollars to you? has jealously really gotten you this fucked up in the head?"

more crying, no response. tyler can't help but smile. she's getting what she deserves, finally. josh is right in everything he's said, and everyone knows it.

"and you, you absolute moron," josh rolls his eyes, pointing a finger at nathan. "you let it happen. you can't just do your god damn job. was it even worth it? was it even good?"

"no," the guard responds, shaking his head. whether it was just to get on josh's good side or if it was actually true, tyler almost busted out laughing at the hurt look on melanie's face.

"hell, even i know it wasn't good and i've never even slept with the bitch!" josh continues his rampage, his anger starting to get the best of him. "nathan, you're fired. melanie, you're out."

"no, p-please!" she begs, while nathan stands there, unsure of what to do with himself.

"shut the fuck up!" the man yells. "i'm sure big, bad brendon will be there to save the day. he loves taking in my used toys. get your shit and get the hell out of our house. now."

tyler can't take it anymore. he clamps his hand over his mouth as a little laugh escapes him. josh's eyes dart to him angrily, but when he realizes it's just tyler, he relaxes a bit. the two share a small smile as melanie gets up and runs out of the front door, crying.

"you too," josh says, pointing nathan in the direction of the door. "out."

once he leaves and the door is shut behind him, tyler finally busts out laughing. everyone, except josh, looks to him as if he's crazy. they're all afraid he'll be the next to feel josh's wrath, but they have no idea.

"something funny, tyler?"

the brunette clamps both hands over his mouth, desperately trying to hold himself together. however, laughter escapes him in a loud snort. josh watches with one eyebrow raised, a bit amused.

"my office. now."

josh starts down the hallway, leaving the boy to calm himself down before getting up and joining him.

"what the hell was that?" hayley voices what everyone has been thinking the entire time.

"no idea," ashley responds.

felix just smiles, knowing tyler is going to be perfectly fine.

the office door shuts behind the brunette, letting him finally double-over with laughter, the sound chorusing throughout the room.

"come on, what's so funny?" josh chuckles. "tell me!"

"i do-don't know," tyler giggles, his bright eyes meeting the man's. "just the look on her face! and she didn't even grab her stuff. a-and everything you said to her! 'he loves taking in my used toys.' god, that was great."

josh finds himself laughing along. "it's true! it feels like i'm always donating to the less fortunate."

that statement only makes tyler laugh harder, his fist banging against josh's desk. "holy shit! that was hilarious, josh."

said man smiles wide, his eyes wrinkling around the sides and tongue captured between his teeth. his eyes gleam, twinkling a muted yellow due to the overhead light. tyler slowly stops laughing, realizing he's never seen josh smile so hard before. he looks happy, genuinely happy.

"what? is something wrong?" josh asks, that happy smile quickly drawing into a concerned frown.

"no, nothing's wrong," tyler assures, desperately wishing that smile would come back.

"what is it, then?"

"you're... well, you're beautiful, josh. you should smile like that more often. it looks good on you," tyler says softly, his lips curling into a smile of their own.

"i don't know what you're talking about," josh denies the fact, maybe not even realizing how big he'd just been smiling. "i smile all the time."

"you pretend like you do," tyler corrects him, taking the man's face into his palms. he gazes into his eyes, searching for that yellow glimmer once again. "it's okay to let yourself smile, josh. you don't have to pretend like you're emotionless all of the time, especially not around me."

josh is quiet for a few moments, and tyler has absolutely no idea what he could possibly be thinking. he doesn't get an answer though, just josh's chapped lips pressed against his own.

his hands cup the man's face tighter, craving to see that smile just one more time. josh pulls away after a few seconds, resting his forehead atop tyler's. "be patient with me. i'm learning."

"i know," the brunette replies gently, combing his fingers through the man's growing curls. "and you're doing so good."

josh smiles, although this one is not quite as big as the one tyler is hoping for. "i like this feeling."

"what feeling?"

"not sure," the man responds. "warm, fuzzy, light..."

"happy," tyler says. "happy or love."

"both, probably," josh decides, pecking the boy once more. "although we're going to have to find a new recruit soon, but i'm not worried about that right now."

"well, what are you worried about?"

"making sure you're taken care of."