dallon isn't at school the next day.

he isn't there on monday after the weekend passes.

and he still isn't there on tuesday.

rumors quickly spread that his parents filed a missing persons report because they hadn't seen nor heard from him in days. josh doesn't know what to make of it all. he is the only person who knows tyler had been with him in what would've been close to his last, if not his last night around. he hasn't told anybody this, afraid of... well, he isn't sure what he's afraid of exactly.

that tyler had done something? no way. not his tyler.

frank and mikey have been speculating that whatever got to oliver is the same thing that got to dallon, whether that be an animal or a crazed killer. this only makes josh more sure that tyler has nothing to do with the kid's disappearance.

he looks up from his phone, away from the theories his friends are spewing in their group chat, to glance at tyler. said brunette is laid next to him, both boys sprawled across tyler's bed with their noses in their phones.

tyler hasn't said anything about dallon being missing, but then again, josh hasn't asked. he didn't ask him about their date that night or about how their hook up was. quite frankly, he just didn't care to know. tyler isn't usually one to hide these kinds of things, though, and often tells josh against his will.

not this time.

tyler hasn't said anything about how their night went. he hasn't made josh listen to all of the sultry details or imagine the explicit things him and dallon did to each other.

"what?"

tyler's voice breaks him from his thoughts. josh blinks at his friend, struggling to find words.

"i- what? nothing."

"you're staring at me," tyler points out, his lips twitching in the slightest of smirks.

"you've heard about dallon, right?"

the words are out before josh can even pause to think about them. tyler's expression goes blank for a moment before slowly turning to confusion. "what about him?"

"well..." josh hesitates, glancing at his phone when he feels it buzz. it's a message in the group chat from frank.

wait josh wasn't tyler with him the other night before he disappeared?

fuck. he totally forgot he mentioned that when telling frank and mikey about his crush on tyler.

"well what?" tyler urges, eyes flickering to josh's phone.

he's quick to set it face down on the bed, giving tyler his full attention. "you know he's, like, missing... right?"

"missing?" tyler scoffs, rolling his eyes. "yeah, right."

"he hasn't been to school in almost a week," josh emphasizes.

"i don't think he's missing," tyler shakes his head, only continuing when josh raises an eyebrow. "he's totally ghosting me."

"ghosting you?" josh repeats, chuckling in disbelief. he's never heard of anyone ghosting tyler before. he can't imagine what would drive someone to do that. "why would he ghost you?"

"i think i scared him," tyler mutters, looking more annoyed than anything to be talking about this situation.

he places his phone face down on the bed beside josh's, turning onto his side to fully face the older. josh copies his actions in rolling over, the two now laid facing each other with less than a foot between them. at the close distance, josh's stomach is full of butterflies.

"scared him how?"

"because, joshie..." tyler takes a moment to exhale deeply before a playful smile tugs at his lips. "...he was so vanilla."

josh nearly chokes on his spit, needing to take a moment to cough and sputter before he's finally able to clear his throat and respond wide-eyed.

"huh?"

"oh, come on. i've told you about that kinda stuff before," tyler laughs, reaching across the space between them to smack josh in the arm.

"yeah..." josh chuckles softly, really hoping his face isn't as red as it feels. tyler has told him all about the different kinds of things he's into in the bedroom, but it's nothing josh ever thought was too much. in all honesty, he thinks he would be into the same things tyler talks about, maybe even more so than the brunette himself. "but... he wasn't into it?"

"i guess not."

it's obvious from the way tyler is grinning at him that josh's face is, in fact, bright red.

"oh," josh hums, shyly averting his eyes before adding, "weird."

"it is weird!" tyler agrees, "i've never had anybody not into me before. i mean, he took me home right after we finished. he didn't text me after, and now he's not showing up to school. i think he doesn't want to see me. i mean, what did he expect? i'm tyler fucking joseph, not some vanilla bitch."

josh laughs at that, the wrinkles around his eyes matching tyler's as he joins in. "i don't know what he expected, but i don't think he's just ghosting you. people are saying his parents filed a missing persons report. he must not have come home after he dropped you off."

"wait, really?" tyler's eyes widen before a snort of laughter escapes him. "oh, that's a good one. serves him right."

"tyler! i'm serious," josh insists. "i'm not kidding. frank and mikey think he might've gotten killed by the same thing that killed oliver."

tyler's smile falters, eyebrows drawing together. he reaches out and grabs a fistful of the front of josh's shirt, leaning closer to the older. "they really think that?"

the sudden movement sends josh's heart racing. he hates having a stupid crush on his best friend. how is it that tyler is so easily able to make josh feel some type of way?

"yeah..." josh's voice is small, unsure. "i don't know, though. it could just be a coincidence."

with a nervous gulp, he slowly lifts a hand to rest atop tyler's. the contact of his warm skin sends tingles throughout josh's body, electricity running through his bones. tyler doesn't respond. his eyes alternate between viewing their hands and holding josh's stare. his expression slowly relaxes, a warm smile replacing the prior frown. josh finds himself getting lost in those striking eyes, entranced by their dark, rich beauty.

he's not quite ready yet to truly accept that he really does have feelings for tyler, for his best friend. accepting such would also mean accepting that he's something other than straight, which he's also not ready to do. girls are safe. josh knows girls. he knows what they like and how to please them. they don't make him nervous.

you know who does?

tyler.

sure, josh knows tyler too. he's heard all of the things he likes and heard how to please him, but hearing and doing are two totally different things. tyler has so much more experience to go off of; josh is sure to embarrass himself.

tyler loosens his grip on his shirt now, gingerly raising his hand to josh's face. the latter's fingertips brush down his forearm as he does so, goosebumps forming in their trail. tyler's hand rests delicately on josh's jawline, his thumb rubbing tenderly back and forth across josh's lower lip.

josh can feel his heartbeat in his ears. he inhales shakily, challenging himself to hold tyler's eyes as the boy slowly drags his thumb downwards, parting josh's lips slightly. the ghost of a smirk rests upon his lips, and josh watches mesmerized as tyler's tongue slowly glides across the pink flesh.

tyler's voice pierces the thick silence. "you wouldn't be like that, would you joshie?"

josh's mouth has gone dry, his voice cracking lamely as he attempts to speak. "like... like what?"

tyler hums lowly, his thumb still slowly tracing along the older's lips. "you wouldn't be scared of me."

"of course not." josh is quick, almost too quick, to respond. he realizes this, a deep blush settling on his cheeks as his heart pounds against his ribcage.

"yeah," tyler murmurs, using his thumb to ease josh's mouth open slightly. the finger nearly grazes past his lips but never quite does, instead once again running along the soft flesh. his gaze is predatory, but josh would be lying to claim he isn't insanely hard right now. "you'd do anything i say, wouldn't you?"

josh's thoughts are clouded with lust. he needs tyler desperately right now, dying for him to help relieve the building pressure between his legs.

despite knowing damn well tyler is right and he'd do absolutely anything to please him, josh knows he isn't ready for this yet.

"tyler..." his voice is barely above a whisper, hesitant to ruin the moment. "stop... we can't."

the brunette is quick to withdraw his touch, and josh whines—like actually whines—at the loss. they lay facing each other silently for a few moments, josh attempting to read tyler's face to figure out what he's feeling.

disappointment? annoyance? confusion? nothing?

he's totally unreadable.

"tyler-"

"stop," the boy interrupts, shaking his head. "we don't have to talk about it."

"but-"

"it's fine," he insists, sitting upright. he pulls his legs in to sit criss-cross, his gaze casted down towards his lap as he picks at a loose thread on his jeans.

"hey, ty, i'm sorry." josh follows his actions in sitting, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. he sighs when tyler shrugs it off.

"don't be. you're not gay."

the words are laced with venom, a heavy weight sinking in josh's stomach as he sits with the harsh remark. a sharp exhale blows past his lips as he stands and starts gathering his things. no part of him is ready to admit anything to tyler yet, and now he feels too awkward to stay any longer.

tyler watches silently as josh stuffs his things into his backpack, the tension still heavy between them. once josh is ready to go, he prepares to leave without saying anything.

he places his hand on the doorknob, hesitating before he sighs and turns towards his friend.

"i'll see you tomorrow, ty."

tyler nods, picking at his fingernails as an excuse to avoid meeting josh's eyes. "bye, joshie."

the latter is quick to leave after that. tears threaten to spill the entire way home as he drives in silence and replays the night's events. he'd clearly hurt tyler by rejecting him, but josh doesn't understand why. tyler wasn't even upset after josh turned him down the first time.

at least, he didn't seem like he was...

okay, but tyler was also clearly upset that dallon had "rejected" him in another sense, so maybe his reaction wasn't personal. the boy does like to be the center of attention, so maybe it was just too much of people saying no to him back-to-back like that.

yeah, that has to be it.

once josh is parked in his driveway, he's quick to send tyler a text that he made it home safely. he heads inside, holding his breath as he gently shuts the front door behind him. the last thing he wants right now is to be pestered by his family.

he quietly trudges upstairs to his room, shrugging off his backpack. his phone vibrates with a response from tyler.

kk <3

a sigh of relief escapes him, lips twitching upward slightly. tyler must not be as upset as he thought. another message comes through.

miss you already loser

it's not uncommon for the two friends to tell each other that, but for some reason this time it sends a tingle down josh's spine.

miss you too ty

he heads towards his bathroom, realizing he forgot to respond to frank earlier.

i talked to ty. he thought dallon was just avoiding seeing him. said dallon dropped him off at home at the end of the night and didn't text him after. he didn't realize he was missing. he must not've made it home after dropping him off

josh turns on the shower, letting the wet droplets cascade over the back of his hand until it reaches his desired warmth. he turns on a playlist from his spotify, the sound of the music filling the bathroom as he strips down and steps into the hot water. his mind is still swirling with thoughts of tyler, but despite how hard he tries to brush them aside, his thoughts are relentless.

although he would never admit it to anyone, he just might let himself think about all of the different ways he'd please tyler.

...and he just might happen to moan tyler's name along with a string of curse words when he finishes in his hand and onto the shower floor.

(a/n: OKAY OKAY OKAY

WE'RE VENTURING INTO NSFW TERRITORY LOLLL

i haven't written smut in a long time so i'll probably be bad at it and i apologize in advance, but it still won't be for a while longer (ik ik tomatoes tomatoes)

i also didn't plan for tyler to be a power bottom in this but it's happening whether you like it or not :D

thanks for reading! <3)