Tyler crosses his arms across his chest and looked out the window. He couldn't stop shaking.

Him and Josh ended up getting a lift to school with Brendon. He had a nice car- a classic, definitely expensive Mercedes. Tyler has a decent amount of knowledge amount of cars (mainly '67 chevy impalas from a certain show) and he could recognise the type. How Brendon bought such a nice car, Tyler didn't know.

Tyler summoned up his courage and cleared his throat. "So, Brendon. How'd you get a car like this?"

"It's my boyfriend's," Brendon replied, his voice slightly shaking.

Tyler nodded. "Cool. He has good taste."

Brendon smiled, seeming relieved. He must have been worried that Tyler was homophobic. That nearly made the teenager scoff. He was literally married to a guy. Besides, even though wasn't entirely sure of his sexuality, he was positive that he wasn't straight.

Tyler sighed and leant his head back. Why was he thinking about that? He had just been married off to the fucking Mafia by his parents. His parents had sold him to pay off their debt. Tyler closed his eyes as the full realisation hit him. Did his parents even care? Why were they even involved in the mafia, anyway?

Josh must have noticed that Tyler was freaking out, because he gently touched his shoulder. Tyler flinched away and opened his eyes, making Josh draw his hand back and smile guiltily.

"Sorry," Tyler sighed.

Josh shook his head. "It's not your fault. I understand."

"You say that a lot," Tyler said.

"Do I?" Josh asked.

Tyler nodded and looked down at his shaking hands. He began fiddling with his sleeves.

"It's because it's true," Josh explained. "You're in a shit situation, and I want to remind you that it's everyone else's fault except you're. You really had no say in the matter. You obviously didn't want to do this."

Tyler shrugged. "It's not your fault either, y'know. This is... I mean, this is really fucking weird, and I kind of wanna cry whenever I look at you, but I'm aware of the situation. I'm not mad at you."

"Now kiss!"

Josh's head snapped to Brendon. "Shut up, B."

"This is payback!" Brendon said. "It's payback for that time I was FaceTiming Ryan and you started making fucking sex noises!"

Tyler let out the smallest laugh and Josh grinned. He could see Brendon smiling from the rear-view mirror, too.

"All right, kids, time for school," Brendon said in an unusually deep voice as he pulled to a stop.

"You sound like my dad," Tyler snickered.

He suddenly froze, as if a realisation just dawned on him. His smile fell and he grabbed his bag slowly, pulling it over his shoulder as he got out of the car. He hadn't noticed before, but he had stopped shaking for a while. When he looked down at his hands, though, he could feel them trembling even more than before.

"You alright?" Josh asked as he walked around the car.

Tyler looked at Josh. He looked at the sympathy and the worry on his face, and he wanted to scream. He wanted to be angry and violent, and he wanted to run away and never return. He wanted to kick and yell at everyone that had gotten him into this situation, but he couldn't. Because, if he did, they would hurt him again, wouldn't they? Because that's who they were. That's who Josh was, and who Brendon was. That's who his parents were. His mom, who made him cookies and tucked him into bed every night when he was little. His dad, who made bad jokes and dropped him off at school every day. Did they even care? Did they repulse Tyler so much that they were willing to send him off to live with the mafia?

"Tyler?"

Josh's voice brought Tyler out of his thoughts. He looked at the older boy, his eyes watering, and he turned away without a word. He ignored Josh's calls behind him and pushed open the school doors. He made his way to his locker and leant against it, catching his breath. He spotted his best friend, Ashley, and inhaled deeply.

"Everything is fine," he muttered as his made his way towards his friends.