the school week passed quickly and before tyler knew it saturday came around; the day brendon and josh invited him to "a secret spot" that apparently he would love, according to them. they told him that the only thing he needed to bring was himself (and obviously his oxygen tank, as josh had joked), so that's just what tyler did. he sat on the curb in front of his house, head resting in his hands as he waited to be picked up by his friends.

soon enough the familiar black jeep pulled up in front of him and he hopped into the backseat, noticing the picnic basket sat on the floor next to him.

"a picnic?" he asked with a small giggle, opening up the top of the basket to see a bunch of juice boxes and peanut butter and fluff sandwiches.

"do you have something against picnics?" josh scoffed, tapping his fingers to a random beat on brendon's shoulder.

"no, i just find it cute." tyler smiled and josh raised his eyebrows in surprise before shrugging and joining tyler with a bright grin of his own.

"what can i say? we're all cute people, we deserve cute picnics."

"touché," brendon mumbled without taking his eyes off of the road.

it wasn't long before they were pulling into the dense forest, parking the car at the beginning of a small trail that led to god knows where. tyler lugged himself along with his tank out of the vehicle, following behind his friends as they began to walk down the trail. their pace was fast, which was fine at first, but tyler quickly found himself panting and out of breath. he willed himself on despite his fatigue, wanting to prove to himself that he could do it. he knew that josh and brendon would slow down if he just asked, but he was stubborn and pushed on.

brendon was the first to notice tyler lagging behind, a good ways away from the group. brendon rushed to his side in worry, josh following his lead, stopping in front of tyler.

"i'm sorry for walking so far ahead, we can take a break if you want." brendon's tone was concerned and it rubbed tyler the wrong way.

"i'm fine," he snapped, a fit of coughs escaping after his words. "let's just continue."

brendon haphazardly agreed, paying extra attention to the way tyler's breaths were uneven and staggering. he could tell tyler wasn't actually okay, so he stopped abruptly.

"josh, lean down. tyler, get on josh's back for a piggyback ride. don't bother protesting because it's not gonna work."

tyler sighed but did as told, climbing onto josh's back with a hum of relief at the way his lungs were screaming a million 'thank you's at him. he still wheezed and coughed and had difficulty catching his breath, but anything was better than the sensation he was going through before as he struggled with each breath he took.

brendon carried tyler's oxygen tank as they walked along, time slipping away as they made their way to their special location. tyler gasped as the forest came to a clearing of rocks, overlooking a cliff with a short drop to a lake below. the turquoise water was still and peaceful, begging for that serenity to be disturbed by the three boys.

"d'ya like it?" josh asked and set tyler down, letting the brunette properly observe his surroundings.

"it's beautiful." he was absolutely speechless at the sight, at a loss for words.

"like i said; a cute picnic for cute boys, so why not a beautiful place for beautiful boys?" josh smirked and quietly congratulated himself for the smooth remark, loud enough so that tyler and brendon could hear he was proud of his words.

"joshua dun or sappy love poet? nine out of ten scientists get it wrong," brendon teased, placing the picnic basket on the cool stones beneath them. they all sat crisscross applesauce, raiding the baskets as they grabbed the food. they packed enough so they could each have three juice boxes and two sandwiches, figuring that would be enough for three growing boys.

"i don't mean to sound insensitive, but are you able to swim?" josh asked through a mouthful of food and tyler thought over his answer for a moment. he could swim, he just wasn't supposed to, especially in a lake like the one below them. he knew he should tell the truth, but he didn't want to stop brendon and josh from having fun, or seem different for that matter.

"yeah, i can swim." tyler shrugged, anxiety bubbling in his stomach as he knew he shouldn't have lied. but the way josh lit up at his affirmation made it impossible to take his statement back.

"awesome! brendon and i have this rope that we tied to a tree and we use it to jump into the water down there, it's super fun." josh stripped himself of his t-shirt and jeans and walked over to a tall tree that overlooked the edge of the cliff, unraveling the rope from around its branches so it hung in front of him. he pulled it back with him and took one last glance at his friends, running forward with the rope in his hands. he jumped forwards and swung his body with the momentum of the rope and let himself go, falling into the crystal clear water with a loud shout of 'fuck yeah!' as he fell.

"do you guys do this a lot?" tyler looked at brendon curiously and the dark haired boy diverted his attention to the brunette.

"yeah, it's kinda like our spot. we don't really bring other people so you should feel special," he chuckled. tyler's heart swelled at the thought that he meant enough to josh and brendon that they would take him to their spot. it was a new feeling for him, for people to genuinely enjoy his presence instead of just inviting him places because they felt bad for him.

josh came back up, body soaking wet and hair messy. "you guys gonna join?"

brendon looked at tyler as if he was saying 'why not', taking his clothes off so he was in his boxers, leaving tyler the only clothed member of the group. he slipped his jeans off of his legs but left his shirt on, thanking himself for making the choice to wear a long shirt that morning. he took his tubes out of his nose and walked to where josh and brendon were.

"are you sure you'll be okay?" tyler could hear the concern in brendon's voice and he noticed the way his eyes begged for honesty, but he stayed to his stubborn ways and assured them he would be all right.

brendon then asked them to clear the way and repeated josh's previous actions, swinging into the lake with a huge smile on his face. it was an endearing sight; the way brendon's eyes gleamed with happiness and small dimples made themselves known on his cheeks.

tyler was pulled from his reverie by josh's voice, his words barely registering in his mind but he was able to make it out.

"panties, huh?"

"oh, shut up. you're such a fuckboy, i can't believe brendon never figured out that you aren't straight," tyler scoffed playfully, self consciously pulling at the hem of his shirt.

"he can be oblivious to some things," josh said. "when he has his mind set on a certain idea he tends to see past anything that could refute it."

"what do you mean?"

"i, on the other hand, am not oblivious to things. i know he likes me," josh chuckled, peering over tyler's shoulder to where brendon became visible over the rocks he was climbing. "don't mention it around him."

tyler nodded at josh's mumbled words, glancing to where josh's attention was focused on brendon as he approached them.

"your turn, tyler," brendon urged, grabbing the rope and handing it to tyler. "you know what to do, right?"

"yeah, i'm all good." the thick rope felt heavy in his hands and his breathing quickened, something that he knew would add to the list of reasons this whole thing could possibly go wrong. he ignored his lungs begging him to step back, to give it up, and took one last breath, running forwards and gripping onto the rope as his body became weightless. between his labored breathing from the anxiety and his panting from fatigue after running, his surroundings began to spin around him and he felt sick. he let go of the rope and allowed himself to fall.

he felt the impact of his body hitting the water, sinking below the surface from the force, but everything after that became a blur. he didn't know how long it was before he came back up to the surface, but he was able to register the warm feeling of another body pressed against his own as he was carried to the shore.

tyler went in and out of consciousness, the only thing he was able to constantly feel was the burning of his lungs as they begged for a sweet release from the misery he put them through.

that, and the distant shouting.