seven
It was the biggest game of the season. The last game of the season, actually. The one that defined them as a team. If they won, they came out as winners. The principals would throw a school wide pizza party. They'd be kings.
If their rival school won, on the other hand, they'd feel like every day was a walk of shame.
Tyler was nervous. And excited. He had a lot of expectations on him. As the best junior on the team, his coach expected a lot of him. Tyler's extended family had come in to see this game. Gerard promised not to get kicked out.
Gerard had come to all of his games. It was really sweet. And he always got kicked out in the last five minutes. He thought of increasingly rude things to say. Tyler couldn't help but giggle every time.
Tyler was so anxious that he sent a text to Josh five minutes before the game. He hadn't asked Josh to come. He didn't want to mess up in front of him.
TyJo: josh?
Spooky Jim: Yeah love?
Tyler loved petnames.
TyJo: i'm scared.
Spooky Jim: You'll do great baby
Spooky Jim: Make sure you look over at Gerard when you have the chance :)
Tyler almost froze as he was herded out onto the court. He snuck a side glance over to where Gerard was always sitting, and sure enough, there he was, lounging on the bleachers. And Josh was sitting right next to him. They were both wearing shirts with Tyler's face on them. "Oh my god," Tyler whispered as he sat on the bench.
Josh gave him a big grin and a little wave while Gerard put both of his thumbs up. Tyler managed to weakly smile back at them before he heard the whistle. It was game time.
Games always went by with Tyler experiencing them in fragments- he was always running, so he only focused on the important parts. The parts that made feel. Like the fact his coach thought he was good enough to keep him in the whole time. That his teammates thought he was the go to guy to pass the ball to. That Tyler only missed one shot in the whole game.
That Tyler made the very last shot, the winning shot, of the game.
He actually thought he couldn't be happier, until he looked over at Gerard and Josh, who were screaming louder than anyone else in the whole gym. Tyler saw Josh mouth something to him, but he was surrounded by the team and was bad at reading lips. He'd ask him after.
Later, Tyler was sitting on the hood of Josh's car outside of the school, hands shoved in his pockets, while Josh and Gerard stood in front of him.
The other juniors from the team passed by and, unfortunately, saw Tyler. Joe, the guy who (involuntarily) sat with Brendon in English, told the group to stop and stepped out to ask Tyler, "you want to come to Steak and Shake, Joseph?"
Tyler stared at them for a moment, before shakily saying, "um, uh, no, that's uh, that's okay."
Apparently the stutter threw Joe off, because he took a glance at Josh and Gerard, frowned, and asked, in an almost threatening tone, "these fags bothering you?"
Tyler stiffened, and so did Josh. Tyler wasn't sure if the question freaked him out because of the slur or because of Gerard, who was already a bright enough red in the face to match his hair.
"No, I-"
Tyler was cut off by Gerard shouting, "what the fuck did you just fucking call us, douchebag?"
Gerard looked like he was about to launch himself, so Josh quickly wrapped his arms around the smaller boy. Gerard's feet were off of the ground and lightly kicking, and he was struggling to get out of Josh's grip. It almost would have been comical if Gerard hadn't still been screaming.
"I'm fine, guys, really," Tyler said firmly, and Joe shrugged and the group resumed walking.
Josh made Gerard go sit in the backseat like a child after that.
Josh grabbed Tyler's wrist before he could open the door. "Tyler," he said softly. "You're, uh, really good at basketball."
Tyler blushed and looked down at his shoes.
"And also," Josh said, taking a deep breath. "I love you."
This kind of shocked Tyler- he and Josh had only been dating two and a half weeks. They talked every night. Tyler tested out poems on Josh. Tyler felt the same way. He just hadn't really expected Josh to.
"I love you too," Tyler whispered, smiling as he looked back up at Josh. He'd never seen Josh grin so widely before.
The blue haired boy then kissed Tyler's cheek and opened his door.
"Are you guys done confessing your fucking love to each other, or what?" Gerard asked, his arms crossed.
Josh grinned. "I forgot you were good at lip reading. Work on your damn anger issues."
"Fuck off Dun."
The teens drove in silence for a few minutes, until they turned onto Tyler's street.
Tyler tapped his foot nervously a few times before clearing his throat and speaking.
"I'm going to tell my parents tonight."