the three lovebirds walked hand-in-hand into the school, wondering eyes fixed on them as they gleefully strolled through the halls. tyler's locker was the first stop, as it was closest to the entrance, and josh opened it for the boy whose newly free hand found refuge in brendon's once it dropped from josh's own. josh had an exceptional memory and after his first encounter with tyler at his locker, he memorized the combination, his gut telling him that it wouldn't be the last time he would be helping tyler. and oh, was he right.

"we have pre-calc first, right babe?" josh checked as he slipped tyler's extra books and binders into his locker, not wanting the frail boy to have to bear more weight on his shoulders than what was absolutely necessary. the last thing he wanted was for his angel's back to hurt.

"you are correct," tyler mumbled as he over-exaggeratedly swung his and brendon's hands back and forth.

"why do i have to be in honors," brendon groaned. "i could've had a class with both of you!"

"at least we have lunch together," josh said, wrapping his arms around brendon's waist and pressing his heated cheeks against the crook of the raven haired boy's neck. tyler smiled at the sight of his boyfriends sharing affection, never finding himself getting tired of the way they interacted.

many people would probably feel as though you would get jealous when in tyler's position, but it wasn't like that. instead of the heart wrenching envy that most would imagine would plague his every thought, there was an overwhelming sense of safety and security that sent waves of fondness rattling through his body in its place. his predilection for their puppy love was something that jutted out against the other muddled interests of his mind, constantly rushing through his head as a reminder of how much he loved it.

"the bell should be ringing any second now so i have to get going," brendon said, half-heartedly prying himself from josh's grip as he turned in the opposite direction. "bye, babes!"

josh chuckled, waving goodbye before linking arms with tyler and walking in the direction of mr. healy's room.

"how do you think people will take the news of our relationship?" tyler pondered, leaning into josh's side as they entered the classroom together. the yellow haired boy lifted tyler's tank off of the ground for him, not wanting to have a repeat of the first day of classes. seeing tyler humiliated made his heart ache and he never wanted it to happen again.

as they sat in their seats at the back of the room they could feel the lingering eyes on them, most likely trying to piece together what was going on between them and brendon. josh pulled tyler closer to his side, giving his shoulder a squeeze of reassurance and redirecting his attention to mr. healy as he jogged into the room as the bell was ringing.

time went by at a grueling pace, but both boys were thankful for the company they provided each other in the tedious class. as the bell rang tyler giddily sprang up from his seat, tugging josh towards the art wing as the yellow haired boy was whining about how he thinks tyler's death grip on his arm may have broken his wrist, words laced with very obvious sarcasm that made tyler giggle.

they took their spots at the back table and began setting up their needed tools for ceramics, which consisted of mainly clay and various sculpting tools. josh spent most of the class on his phone, texting brendon, and no matter how much tyler complained about wanting to say hi to brendon, josh just shook his head slyly in opposition.

"why can't i say hi?" tyler whined, trying to peer over josh's shoulder to view his phone screen. "he's also my boyfriend, y'know."

"you'll see him at lunch, okay? just be patient, angel." josh kissed tyler's forehead before locking his phone and shoving it back into his pocket, continuing to sculpt the clay into a shape.

so as soon as their class was dismissed tyler was maneuvering his way through the crowds of students that swarmed the halls, trying to get to the cafeteria as quickly as possible. he was underwhelmed as he was the first to get to the table, seating himself at his spot as he watched brendon and josh walk towards him, fingers intertwined as they whispered quietly to each other.

the table filled up like normal, everything still going normally as chatter flowed through the group of friends. that was until josh cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the people seated around him.

"i don't really know why i turned this into a big announcement, fuck," josh grumbled. "i'll just be blunt, i guess. tyler, brendon, and i are dating."

tyler's eyes widened in shock at the random confession, because although he knew they wanted to start being more open with their relationship, he still feared rejection from the small group of people he could call his friends.

and from the way many of their faces twisted up into a look of confusion, it seemed that easy acceptance was not a very realistic idea.

"so you're in an open relationship," ashley shrugged, popping a grape into her mouth and smirking in a way that showed she thought she was correct.

"no, it's not an open relationship," brendon sighed, grasping josh's hand in his right and tyler's hand in his left. "there's no cheating involved, and there's no two-way relationship between anyone. all three of us reciprocate feelings for one another. it's called a polyamorous relationship."

"you can't date more than one person at once, it just doesn't work that way." awsten shook his head in disapproval, a few friends nodding along in agreement with his statement.

"it's not very difficult to understand," tyler countered, voice shaky as nerves began to kick in. "it's just like dating one person, except there's two of them. everything else is the same."

"let's just drop it," ashley interjected, obviously not wanting to continue with the conversation. tyler expected people to be confused, but he thought they would at least try to understand instead of immediately turning the idea down. it hurt but he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

rejection from peers was sure as hell not going to change anything about their relationship.

•••

this isn't very good and i apologize

it took me a while to write it and it's not the best but hey, at least it's something

i hope you're all doing well and that you're making sure you're getting enough to eat and drink!! always remember to stay hydrated :))
-carina