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Though he strongly denies it, Tyler Joseph has a reputation for being ‘clingy’. And by ‘clingy’ Josh means slightly obsessive behavior (not on a serious level, to clarify), instant likes and comments on social media posts, territorial gestures toward people who approach him, and a lot of physical contact. One time Tyler claimed to be a not-hugger-type of guy in an interview, Josh’s head was filled with a million questions because as far as he knew Tyler would never let a chance to hug him whenever he could—even when he was buzzed, no, especially when he was buzzed. Not that he didn’t fancy it, of course. Josh himself liked giving hugs and little pats to the guy. He reminded him of a cat, and Josh liked cats.Even now as he stepped inside their hotel room after quickly swinging by a local high school reunion, Josh was met by a dark shadow sitting on the bed, sulking in the far corner. Josh took a step back out of pure apprehension the moment he flicked the lights on in the cold room. The small frame of a body sitting like one big black smudge emanated so much somber energy he thought he could literally see the veil of darkness hovering around him. Josh cleared his throat, frowning, and slowly closed their distance, like approaching a potentially dangerous (or fragile) wild animal.“Tyler, what the heck are you doing?” he asked, taking his cap off to set it down carefully on his bed.The black ball of condensed melancholy finally shifted and unfurled into a human form. A small face hidden in the shade of his hoodie faced his direction. Eyes rimmed red. Faint tear stains on either cheeks. Soft sniffling. He had been freaking crying.“Shit,” Josh muttered. He rushed over to Tyler’s side and sat on the bed, laying his hand on the sagged shoulder. “What’s wrong? What happened?”Tyler scoffed and buried his face in his knees again. “Like you care.”Okay, so he was the cause of this. “What are you talking about? Of course I care. Talk to me, please,” pleaded Josh, running his fingers through his hair out of frustration.“You…,” Tyler started, voice muffled. Josh had to lean in to catch what he was saying. “…You’d rather spend the evening with your…other friends…than hang out with me like we agreed.”To be honest, Josh couldn’t recall such an agreement. He had vaguely responded positively to Tyler’s pleas for them to wander around every city they visited during their tour at night but he hadn’t known it applied to specifically tonight. Besides, he had informed people in their crew--including Tyler--that he would go out to meet some of his old friends once they arrived in Cincinnati.“I…,” his mind turned blank. “I’m sorry? I, uh, I thought I made it clear that I had plans tonight…and meeting my old friends doesn’t mean I put them over you, Ty.”His head shot up again and locked eyes with him. Somehow the expression had changed. There was guilt, sadness and anguish written all over his face. “Jesus, I’m being ridiculous again,” he murmured to himself, slight panic in his voice making it squeaky. “You shouldn’t be the one saying sorry. I should be. You can hang out with any friend you want. You’re not under any obligation to make me feel better when I’m being a miserable piece of shit over nothing. You don’t-”“Tyler, stop,” Josh hushed him once Tyler started to frantically rant, sounding like he was attempting to convince himself rather than him. He grabbed the singer’s tearstained cheek with his right hand and turned his face toward him so he could look straight into those misty brown pupils.“But…,” he was tearing up again. Not good. “I’m being annoying.”“No, you’re not being annoying,” Josh confirmed. Clingy, yes, but not annoying. “But…I’m not even your-”“-Boyfriend?”Shit. Fuck. What the crap. The word slipped out of his mouth before his brain could filter it. While the external layer of Josh Dun remained calm and composed, there were sparks everywhere and big, red DANGER signs blinking to a frenzy inside the cool exterior. He bit the inside of his cheeks and wished more than anything to acquire the ability to turn back time just so he could undo what he had blurted out a few awkward seconds ago. The wide-eyed expression of Tyler only panicked him more. Josh immediately let his hand drop to the bed and tore his gaze from the singer. Did Tyler’s face turn even redder or was it just his crazed mind creating false images out of hope?“…Yeah,” a defeated voice answered after a moment which felt like an eternity had passed. “I should know my place.”What made this utterly terrible was the fact that Josh really didn’t have anything to say to the bitter laugh that Tyler huffed out. He missed the chance to make a move. Any move. Josh was a coward.So he couldn’t sleep that night. “We’re Twenty One Pilots and so are you!”As Tyler happily yapped out the concluding sentence the following night, Josh smiled alongside him and bowed to the crowd. Thankfully, it was a fine day, and a fine concert that was no different from any other night. Tyler acted like nothing out of ordinary had happened the day before and treated him the way he usually had. Still clingy, but not excessively. Josh mentally let out a relieved sigh. Their relationship was not altered by any—
“Ow!”
Tyler’s ferocious side hug nearly tackled Josh off his feet. He gripped his bare torso so hard with his arms Josh thought his ribcage might break from the pressure. The soft strands of the singer’s hair soon tickled his neck and Tyler turned Josh around to actually pull him into a hug, looking up with a playful grin a moment later. Josh stood there dumbfounded for a second. Yeah. Nice. A hug. It was a usual thing, although he was basically attacked.But…why exactly was he feeling quite aroused by this?“I-I think we should head out,” Josh stammered. Tyler was still holding onto him like a koala on a eucalyptus tree.“Let’s continue in the dressing room, then,” he answered, nuzzling on Josh’s collarbone. Some of those words were caught on the mic and rang out throughout the arena. Oh, the crowd. Josh wanted to be anywhere but the on the stage right now. They were giving the fans ideas.When Tyler finally let go of him, Josh picked off some confetti off his sweat-slicked shoulders and cast an awkward smile at the crowd once before jogging off the stage. He high-fived a few of his crew members as they headed back to their dressing room but his heart was still jittery, mind foggy. With a towel he’d received from someone, he concealed his inexplicable erection and tried his best not to look at Tyler’s back on his way. Well, he was confused.They arrived at the dressing room all too soon. Once the door closed behind them, Tyler turned abruptly with a knowing grin. He perched on the table strewn with makeup products and swung his legs casually. Josh scratched his chin and vacillated between sitting on the couch and approaching his bandmate. He eventually chose the latter.Tyler was acting so weird. So unlike any other day. All of a sudden.“Um…”“I saw it,” Tyler whispered. “I felt it.”“What?” He absolutely had no idea what the guy was talking about.Tyler merely gestured at Josh’s towel with his head. Fuck? Was he talking about his erection? Josh’s face instantly reddened even more (it was already a bit flushed from the enthusiastic drumming performance of the night) and he shifted uneasily on his spot.“It-It happens sometimes.”“When I hug you?”“No! I mean…I mean…” Josh struggled to find the right words but a thought crossed his mind; he’s right. He had tried so hard to neglect it all those years, but it did happen on some occasions. Actually, he’d been aroused by his best friend and bandmate on many occasions. Especially when Tyler was being particularly touchy or clingy. Come on. It was time to be honest with himself when Tyler was not holding anything back at the moment.“Well…yeah.” He gave up. Josh flung the towel on the couch and advanced the singer in quick strides. “I get turned on sometimes when you make physical contact with me.”“Oh.” Tyler cocked his head curiously. “And why is that?”“I don’t know. Because you’re cute?”Shit, he wanted to bite his tongue off. What the fuck had gotten in his head? Just like Tyler wasn’t being himself tonight, Josh wasn’t being himself, either. He had never been so straightforward like this to his friend. Or would they still be friends after this talk?Tyler hopped off the table and inched closer to him. He traced the curves of Josh’s chest muscles with the tip of his finger, closing in the distance between their faces more and more until his fruity breaths were mingling with Josh’s own. His lips stopped when they were hovering an inch away. Josh’s gaze flitted down and then back up. The glint in Tyler’s eyes was half-mischievous, half-serious. He didn’t know how to react, so Josh let his instincts take over.He leaned forward to press his lips into the singer’s warm ones, lazily licking them as he wrapped his arms around the thin waist. Tyler tilted his chin, then parted his lips so Josh could smoothly enter and suckle the insides of his mouth in hazy glee. Josh lifted Tyler up and placed him back on the table as they continued to share the peculiar first kiss that made sense and no sense at the same time. But did it matter? Their minds were elsewhere at this point.They didn’t stop until three bangings on the door made both of them nearly jump out of their skins.
“Josh! Tyler! It’s time to wrap things up!”
The two stared wide-eyed at the closed white door like two teenagers caught doing something naughty in the dark. Seeing no one barging inside, Tyler sighed and then hollered out an “Alright” begrudgingly. Then he rested his arms back on Josh’s shoulders, looking down with a smile. “That was a buzzkill.”“God, you’re so clingy,” Josh laughed.“Says the man turned on by a hug,” Tyler countered.“Hey, you do that on purpose, don’t you?” He complained.“I’m not clingy. And I don’t deliberately try to arouse you.”“Whatever, dude.” There was no point in attempting to accuse him of anything.“But in all seriousness,” Tyler cupped Josh’s cheeks, “I think you’re cute, too.”Josh’s heart fluttered. Well, thank you tongue, for betraying me a few minutes ago. Yes. YES! This odd sensation flipping and flopping in his stomach could be explained at last. He liked Tyler way more than he thought he should, and it seemed Tyler was feeling the same for him. It was a mutual thing.“Does that mean we’re-”“-Boyfriends?”Tyler finished his sentence without hesitation.“Yeah. I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.” Josh nodded with a little too much passion.“So I can call you baby from now on?”“Yes, please,” Josh answered. His heart melted at the thought.“And we can go on dates?”“Anytime.”“Spoon and cuddle whenever?”“Whenever.”“Kiss you when I want?”“Feel free.”“Add a heart next to your name on my thigh?”“I’ll do it for you.” He would.“Never let anyone near you besides me?”“Ye-Well now, that’s uh-”“I’m just kidding.” Tyler giggled. “I’m not that clingy or jealous.”Josh was unsure, but he nodded nonetheless.“Come on, let’s go.” Josh gave Tyler a hand as he jumped back down on the floor to pick his belongings up. Dally more, and their crew would pounce on then as soon as they got out.They packed their stuff and went for the door. Behind it, Mark was standing directly in front of them wearing a smug smile. Josh frowned.“What were you two doing?” He asked.“We…,” Josh faltered.“We were rather occupied,” Tyler peered at Josh with an amused expression.“Doing what?” Mark insisted.“Don’t expect me to say ‘quickie’,” Tyler joked. Josh turned at him aghast.Mark raised his eyebrow, moving from the doorway so they could walk out. “If you plan on it in the future, let me kn--wait, don’t let me know. I’d rather not know.”“I’ll gladly elaborate on the details,” Tyler poked Mark’s cheek playfully and then passed him by. Josh cast an apologetic glance at their friend and followed his newly acquired lover.“Is this your way of announcing the change in our relationship?” Josh whispered.“Do you want me to tweet ‘Hey, Josh is officially mine now, so back off’ instead? Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Let me do it right when we get back to the hotel.”“That’s not a bad idea. That’s a terrible idea.”“I just want the world to see that we’re more than friends, now. More than bandmates.” Tyler stopped in his tracks and pleaded with his pitiful eyes fixed on Josh’s. He was being awfully territorial again.“Let’s be more discreet about this, okay? We’ll let everyone know. Eventually.”“Okay, then,” Tyler pouted.Josh pecked on his shoulder to mollify his mood. “Be patient for me, baby.” A blush immediately formed on his boyfriend’s cheeks. They resumed walking in peace.
‘Hey, Josh is officially mine now, so back off.’
221k likes. 178k retweets. The numbers were continuously growing.“Tyler,” Josh called.“What?” Came back the hardly-sorry reply.