felix stops by the gym while tyler and billie are in the middle of their punching session. it takes him a bit by surprise; billie wears boxing gloves but tyler's knuckles are bare except for a few layers of tape.

"whatcha guys doing?" he asks, blinking in surprise as tyler slugs the punching bag another time.

"oh, you know, working out our emotions," billie responds. tyler is too caught up in focusing all of his energy into punching the shit out of this thing.

felix laughs. "that's good, i guess. doesn't that hurt, tyler?"

the boy pauses, glancing at his swollen knuckles. he shrugs and throws his hand again, only noticing how much it hurts now thanks to felix. "yeah, a little."

"you know, if your knuckles are bruised it means it's probably a good time to take a break."

tyler shrugs again, clenching and unclenching his fist. he winces a bit, annoyed with felix. "it didn't hurt until you said something."

"oh, sorry. carry on. pretend like i was never even here."

tyler tries to do just that, but he can no longer concentrate. he looks to felix, finding the man watching him amusedly. "what?"

"nothing, i'm just impressed."

"why?" tyler scoffs, feeling a bit insulted. it just feels like everyone is out to get him today.

"you're using the right technique," felix points out. tyler smiles a bit, remembering how much he struggled when felix first began teaching him.

"yeah, josh helped me."

"what? so i'm not good enough of a teacher?"

"guess not," tyler laughs, carefully unwrapping his hands. he clenches his hands into fists again, testing to make sure nothing is broken. he thinks he's fine, so he discards the tape and joins felix and billie. "has josh talked to you?"

"yeahhh," felix responds. "he feels bad."

"good," tyler states, then sighs. "i feel bad, too."

"you should go talk to him about it," billie suggests. "i don't know what you guys were arguing about, but you shouldn't stay on bad terms."

"maybe you're right."

"she's definitely right," felix agrees. "you know it's hard for him, tyler," he adds, indicating he knows exactly what the two got into a disagreement over.

"i know. it was wrong for me to even suggest that. i don't know why i did, i shouldn't have."

"it's okay," he assures the brunette. "josh isn't upset with you. he's upset with himself."

"yeah, because i made him upset with himself." tyler frowns. "where is he?"

"his room, i think."

tyler nods, glancing between his two friends. "okay, i'm gonna go talk to him. wish me luck."

"good luck!"

"you got this," felix smiles.

"haha," tyler laughs sarcastically. he leaves the two alone, making his way down the hall. jenna and ashley pass him on the way, in a heated debate about whether disney or nickelodeon is better.

"nick," he calls out, to which ashley responds, "exactly! thank you!"

jenna whines, yelling out a "screw you" to tyler who just smiles as he stops outside josh's bedroom door. the smile quickly vanishes as he knocks.

"come in."

a bit fearfully, tyler steps into the room. josh sits in his usual chair, reading the same book from before. pete sits on his bed (in tyler's designated spot, mind you), legs dangling off the side as he faces josh. he looks a bit upset, josh looks annoyed.

his mood shifts the second he notices tyler. he quickly sets his book down and motions towards the door.

"out," he tells pete.

"but-"

"out."

the man rolls his eyes, feet stomping against the floor as he storms out. he bumps into tyler on the way, the latter looking at him in a mix between shock and disgust.

"what the hell is his problem?" tyler asks, taking his rightful spot on the bed.

"nothing," josh sighs, moving to sit beside the boy. he takes one of tyler's hands into his own, softly rubbing his thumb along the backside. "i'm sorry."

"i'm sorry too, i shouldn't have-"

"what happened?" the older questions, his thumb trailing along tyler's purple knuckles.

"punching bag," tyler dismisses. "i shouldn't have asked that of you, josh. i'm sorry."

"i shouldn't have reacted so harshly," josh shakes his head. "you didn't do anything wrong."

"yes i did," tyler argues. "i asked too much of you. it's not my place to do that, and i'm sorry."

josh looks like he wants to say something, but he must decide against it. he keeps his lips pursed, eyeing the boy's bruises.

"why was pete in here, anyway?"

the man groans. "he's annoying as hell. he came to complain about how nobody here likes him, including me."

tyler just rolls his eyes. "well, it's true."

"i know. i know you guys don't want him here, but we need him. we haven't been making as much and he'll help with that."

"why don't we just open our house up to the buyers? you know, like... like brendon does."

josh raises an eyebrow. "you want me to turn our home into a whorehouse?"

"what? i- no. it was just a suggestion."

"this is your guys' safe place," the man says, shaking his head. "i don't want to do that to you."

"yeah, sorry, it was a dumb idea."

"tyler," he says, making the boy's heart jump. something about josh saying his full name like that just drives him crazy. "it's okay, really. it wasn't dumb, i understand the reasoning."

"okay," he mumbles, finding himself smile as josh kisses his temple. he can't help but ask, "was pete flirting with you?"

"trying to," josh mutters. "i was just trying to read my fucking book and he kept going on and on."

"why didn't you tell him to get out?"

"it was funny," josh admits. "i've never seen someone so desperate."

tyler smiles a bit, despite the small ache in his heart. josh found pete flirting with him to be amusing? what's up with that?

before he can question further, josh decides to change the subject. "you're toughening up, huh?"

tyler looks at the bruises on his hands. "yeah, i guess so."

"you probably still wouldn't be able to take me, though."

he chuckles. "is that a challenge? last i remember, i pinned you on the ground."

"because i let you."

"oh, really?"

"really," the older smirks. "care to prove me wrong?"

"um, yes, i do. let's go."

"let's go?"

"let's go," tyler repeats, hopping off the bed and holding his hands in a fighting stance. "right now."

josh laughs. "how could anything so adorable stand a chance?"

"oh, now you're really going to get it."

__a/n__

this chapter is short and bad, sorry