Josh fiddled with the cassette tape in his hand. Truth be told, he had never actually used one before that day. Brendon had, though, so they listened to the mixtape together.

There were some decent songs on there. They were nothing like the ones that he had heard on the radio. Josh decided that his favourite was Blitzkrieg Bop, which he recognised from a movie. He wasn't sure what movie, but he remembered liking it.

He sat sat up as Tyler walked by the couch. "Hey, Ty, I've got a question."

Tyler halted to a stop. "Yeah?"

Josh shoved the mixtape in his pocket subtly. "Do you, like, play music?"

"Piano," Tyler replied. "Why do you ask?"

Josh shrugged. "You just look like the sort of guy. Do you, like, want a piano?"

Tyler tilted his head to the side. "Can you afford that?"

"I think you're forgetting that I'm rich," Josh chuckled.

Tyler looked down at his hands. "I mean... I have- had a keyboard."

Josh raised his eyebrows. "Oh, well, we can go get that."

"Really?" Tyler asked, looking shocked.

Josh grimaced as a slice of guilt settled in his stomach. "Of course. You're allowed to go home."

Tyler smiled and bounced a little. "Great."

With that, he turned and made his way to his room. Josh stood up and found his shoes, tugging them on and immediately sitting back down. Tyler emerged a moment later, a duffel bag nearly as large as him swung over his shoulder.

Josh laughed at the sight. "Are you preparing to kidnap someone?"

Tyler rolled his eyes. "I need to get some stuff. I already had some clothes in my backpack from when I... y'know, tried to run away, but I was expecting to buy more. I'm running out of shirts."

Josh pushed himself off of the couch and swung open the door. "Alright. I'll go get Brendon."

He made it to Brendon's door within seconds. He knocked on it louder than necessary and grinned when a messy-haired Brendon opened it, looking angry about being disturbed.

"Where you sleeping or having sex?" Josh asked.

Brendon playfully shoved his friend. "Shut up."

"Oh, so it's the latter," Josh beamed.

A boy with equally ruffled hair appeared beside Brendon. He pushed himself under the elder's arms and smiled.

Josh's eyes widened. "Ryan? Oh my God, this is incredible! My favourite couple, finally together! You guys were in seperate counties for way too long."

"What do you want, Josh?" Brendon sighed.

"I need you to drive Tyler and I to his house," Josh said. "Unless you're... busy."

Brendon narrowed his eyes. "Give us five minutes."

He shut the door and Josh shook his head. He crossed his arms over his chest and leant against the wall. When Brendon re-emerged, neatened up and with Ryan by his side, the trio walked back to Josh's apartment.

Josh wasn't fully aware of everything in Brendon and Ryan's relationship, but he knew the general story. They met online, on Omegle, and "immediately fell in love". It was a slower process than that, of course, but Brendon was completely obsessed. After long-distance dating for two months, Brendon told Ryan everything. Josh thought it was a bad idea, but it all ended up working out. Ryan knew about the whole Tyler situation, too. Brendon made a vow to never lie to him again, and it seemed that he had kept it.

They had a nice relationship. It was everything that anyone could ever want. It was everything that Josh wanted, too, but it was unrealistic. No one, especially not Josh, got what they had.

Josh was shaken from his thoughts when Brendon called his name. He blinked, seeing his friend staring at him expectantly. Ryan and Tyler were behind him, probably just meeting.

"You alright?" Brendon asked.

"You zoned out," Ryan added.

Josh took a deep breath and smiled. "I'm fine. Now, let's go."

The others nodded and followed suit as Josh walked out the door. They made their way to the car, with Brendon and Ryan in the front and Tyler and Josh in the back.

Ryan, Brendon and Josh chatted, but Tyler stayed silent. His nerves were growing by the second. He didn't know what to say or do, or how to explain the situation to his younger siblings. What if they thought that he abandoned them?

Tyler closed his eyes and leant his head against the window. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he would figure it out along to way. As long as his parents didn't come home, everything would be fine.