CATEGORY: Fluff, angst
FEATURING: feminine!Tyler and jock!Josh
TRIGGER WARNINGS: SEVERE TRANSPHOBIA, ABUSE, AND LANGUAGE! PLEASE READ SAFELY!!
PROMPT: Josh finds Tyler crying in the bathroom at school, and tries to help.
WORD COUNT: Approximately 1,910

Tyler was a peculiar boy.

He did things, for instance, that many boys didn't. He painted his nails, a new color every week. He didn't like sports (besides basketball), and was much more happy to talk about other things, like music or boys. He wore almost-clear strawberry lip gloss, because it felt right. And he wasn't shy about wearing 'feminine' colors like pink or purple.

Yes, Tyler was a bit different. While some of the things he said or did made the other people in his school give him swift, unfriendly looks. He was safe. He was happy. He was a ray of sunshine.

One day, however, that changed.

The day Tyler got beat up, he was wearing eyeliner.

It was his first time ever using makeup, so he messed it up several times. He'd borrowed it from his sister, Madison, after asking first of course. Tyler's mother was perfectly happy with Tyler the way he was; she never tried to make him change anything. Tyler's father didn't really care one way or another, and neither did Zack. Tyler's youngest sibling, Jay was too young to completely understand it. Madison and his mother fully supported him, though, and he appreciated them quite a bit.

It took several tries, but he finally did it. His eyes seemed to pop with the black eyeliner around them. It wasn't terribly thick, of course, but it was enough.

It felt wonderful.

Happily, Tyler went into his room to get his backpack. It was nearly time for school, and he had to be ready. After slinging the black bag over his shoulder and tying his combat boots, he glanced up into the mirror.

Tyler wore a gray jacket over a very pale pink t-shirt. His white nails peeked out from his slightly-long sleeves. He also wore a pair of skinny jeans, which tucked nicely into his boots.

He headed downstairs. "Mom, I'm going to school!"

"Alright, have a nice day!" she shouted from the kitchen. She would probably be home most of the day; she worked from home, while Tyler's father had an office job.

Tyler walked out the front door. He was feeling happy and confident, due to his eyeliner. It felt purely Tyler.

It was a nice day out, for autumn. The trees were all just turning, lit up in different shades of brown, orange, yellow, and red. Tyler admired the colors as he walked.

He only lived a few blocks from school, so the walk was brief. He went to his locker first, as he'd been meaning to tidy it up for a while now.

"Is that makeup?"

Tyler turned to see a boy everyone in school knew: Brendon Urie.

Brendon was popular, but he wasn't very nice to some of the less popular students. He had given Tyler several harsh glares before when he'd spotted the smaller boy's painted nails and pink shirts, and had even made a rude comment or two before as Tyler had passed by, but had never approached him directly.

Tyler decided to be brave. He swallowed, and nodded. "It is."

Ryan, one of the members of Brendon's clique, laughed. Brendon's other friend, Dallon, snorted. Brendon himself only smiled crookedly.

"I don't know if anyone's mentioned this to your face before, buddy, but you look a little ridiculous in all that getup." Brendon looked Tyler over again. "Boys don't wear pink."

"Maybe I'm not a boy, then," Tyler retorted.

Silence.

He'd never said it aloud before.

Never even let himself think about it.

Brendon shook his head. "Disgusting." He held up his middle finger to Tyler as he walked away, and Ryan and Dallon laughed as they followed him. Brendon cast a final scathing remark over his shoulder as he left.

"See ya later, you piece of trash."

Tyler was worried, but he did his best not to let it show. He went to his classes like normal, took notes like normal, and learned like normal. He wasn't bothered in class at all, even in classes Brendon, Ryan, and Dallon were in. He started to hope that they'd forgotten or dismissed the incident from that morning.

When lunchtime came around, Tyler realized he had forgotten to bring his food that day. He had been so excited about his eyeliner that it must have slipped his mind.

Tyler walked to his locker to get his rainy day lunch money, which he always kept just in case. He unlocked the locker, and the creak of the small metal door was the only sound in the hallway.

Then, footsteps.

Tyler turned toward the noise, only to be shoved to the floor. It was Brendon.

"There's no room for sick people like you here," Brendon spat. He had Ryan and Dallon with him, but they were hanging back a little, letting Brendon take charge.

Tyler's hands and butt hurt from landing on the floor. "People like me?"

"Faggots," Brendon said with his characteristic crooked grin. "None of us want you here, bitch."

Tyler tried to get up, and Brendon swung his fist. Tyler went back down as pain flashed through his face. He was going to have a black eye, for sure.

Brendon leaned in close, menacingly, and Tyler shrunk away.

"Tell anyone about this, and you'll only get more. Understood?"

Tyler was shaking, but he managed a response. "U-Understood."

"Good." Brendon turned and walked down the hallway, like nothing had happened. Ryan and Dallon trailed after him, but Dallon cast a pitying look over his shoulder at Tyler.

Tyler decided to just lay there on the floor for a while.

After almost ten minutes had passed, Tyler slowly got to his feet. His hands and butt ached, of course, from the fall, but his face hurt a lot more. He stumbled down the hallway and into the boy's bathroom.

Looking into the mirror, Tyler found that it was even worse than he'd thought. There was a huge black, blue, and purple patch on one side of his face, starting just above his eye and splashing over his cheek.

Tears began to form in his eyes, making his vision blurry. He tried to make it to the door, but then stopped. If he went out there, somebody might see him, and besides, what if Brendon was out there?

He leaned his back against the wall as tears started to run down his face, and he found himself sliding down against the wall to huddle on the floor with his knees to his chest. He held his face in his hands, trying to hide his tears, and the terrible bruise.

Tyler heard the door to the bathroom swing open. Was it Brendon? Afraid, Tyler slowly moved his hands away from his face to get a look at the student.

It wasn't Brendon. Through his blurred vision, Tyler could see that this person was more muscular, and didn't have any tattooos. Tyler hid his face again.

He just wished the student would ignore him and go away, but he had the opposite reaction. The boy had been heading to the sink, but had stopped at the sight of Tyler. He crouched down on the floor in front of him. "Hey, are you okay?"

Tyler turned himself away from the boy. Normally, Tyler was very social. He liked making new friends, and talking to new people, but right now all he felt was fear.

"No, hey, it's okay, I promise." (A/N: I swear if I get one "I'm Not Okay" joke I'm going to lose my mind) The boy reached out to him, but Tyler shied away. He let himself peek through his fingers at the student.

He was of average height, though a bit more muscular than the average student. He had short, dark brown hair, almost black, and the biggest brown eyes Tyler had ever seen. He had tiny gauges in his ears, black ones, and a nose ring. Tyler recognized him, though he didn't personally know him. It was one of the stars of the high school football team, Joshua Dun.

Tyler had admired Josh from afar for almost a year. He was really cute, and he was really nice, too. He wasn't like Brendon; he didn't abuse his popularity. In fact, he was twice as kind to unpopular kids.

"Why are you crying?" Josh asked softly. His voice was quiet, like he was trying not to spook Tyler.

"B-Brendon," Tyler managed. He'd stopped sobbing, but tears still flowed from his eyes.

"What did he do? Did he hurt you?"

Tyler took his hands off his face to reveal his bruised, black and blue skin. His eyes were red and sore from crying, and no doubt the eyeliner that had first gotten him in trouble was smudged everywhere.

"Oh, no," Josh breathed. He grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and held it under the cool water of the skin for a few moments. He wrung some of the water out and pressed it to Tyler's face.

The cool water made his face hurt a little less, especially his eye. He took the towel from Josh's hands and held it by himself, wiping the tears away from his face with the sleeve of his other arm.

"How did this happen?" Josh asked. He still kept his voice soft, and Tyler found it a bit comforting.

Tyler sniffled. "I was--I was wearing eyeliner this morning, and he noticed and called me some bad names. I-I forgot my lunch and so I went to my locker to get some money, and h-he pushed me down, and told me nobody w-wanted me here. He hit me." Tyler felt tears in the corners of his eyes again.

To his surprise, Josh wrapped his arms around Tyler in a hug. One of Tyler's hands was still being used to hold the wet cloth to his face, but he wrapped his free arm around Josh. The other boy's hug was warm and comforting, and Tyler finally managed to stop crying.

"Let's get you to the school nurse," Josh said. He stood and offered his hand to Tyler. Gratefully, Tyler took his hand, and Josh pulled him up.

Neither boy made a move to let go of the other's hand.

Josh squeezed Tyler's hand as they walked down the hall. "After you see the nurse, I'll take you to the principal's office so we can report Brendon, okay?"

Tyler felt fear clutch at his heart, remembering Brendon's threat, and he shook his head.

Josh turned his head to Tyler, looking confused. "He hit you, sunshine. I don't want him to do it again. Or hit anyone else, for that matter."

Tyler felt a small bit of happiness at the nickname, but he shook his head again. "He said if I told anyone, he'd h-hit me again."

"I won't let him do that," Josh promised. He squeezed Tyler's hand again.

Tyler looked to Josh and saw kindness, and maybe something a little more. "Promise?"

"I promise."