Warnings: Profanity, small anxiety attack, angst

Word Count: 4245

Request: josh and bed sharing 😭😔💕✌🏻

Author's Note: Hopefully this super long fic makes up for my sporadic posting schedule! I hope you enjoy it :)

*     *     *

"Here, let me get that for you," Tyler said, grabbing your duffle bag from where it had been crammed into the backseat.

Shortly after waking up drenched in sweat, you had received an email from your apartment building that the air conditioning had stopped working overnight and was in the process of being repaired. That part had been manageable, even if it meant sitting on the couch in an oversized t-shirt directly in front of a fan on full blast, but by the time lunch rolled around, a second email had come through saying the issue was much bigger. The estimated time until it would be fixed?

Three days.

You had called Tyler immediately, asking if you could crash on his and Josh's couch until the issue was fixed. After ten minutes, and what you assumed had been a household meeting, you got the confirmation that you would have a nice, air conditioned place to stay until your own building was back up and running. Half an hour later, you were speeding down the highway towards Josh and Tyler's house on the edge of Columbus, a duffle bag full of your essentials tossed into the backseat.

"Thanks," you said, slamming the trunk closed after him and hitting the lock button until the car beeped. "And thank you again for letting me crash here until my building is fixed. I don't think I would have lasted another hour in that heat."

"It'll be nice to have you around."

"I doubt Josh shares that sentiment," you snorted. Ever since you and Josh had met, there had always been a sort of rivalry between you two: he teased you about not going on enough dates while you teased him about going on too many. This, of course, was only an elaborate coverup for how you truly felt about him.

"You'd be surprised, he actually seemed pretty excited to have you around."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I've known him for three years, of course I'm sure."

You followed him into the house, instantly reveling in the feel of cool air washing over your body. Tyler, not even slightly phased by your reaction, continued to walk straight into the living room and dropped your stuff onto an unoccupied chair in the corner. This, you assumed, would be your closet for the indefinite future.

"Where's Josh?" you asked, realizing that you had been inside the house for more than thirty seconds without hearing a sarcastic remark.

"Out on a run. He should be home soon."

"In this heat?" You looked out the window, as if to confirm that the sun was still, indeed, shining.

"I don't claim to understand his actions," Tyler said, holding his hands up in defeat. "Want anything to drink?"

"I'm ok, but thanks."

You finally sat down and kicked your feet up on the coffee table, allowing yourself the first moment of true relaxation since you had received the email from your building earlier that morning. Tyler continued on into the kitchen. The sound of cupboards being closed and cups clinking together filled the once-quiet house.

You were about to ask Tyler about a recent date that he had been on when the front door swung open, letting in a gust of warm air. The conversation was immediately forgotten as Josh stepped through the door, his chest still heaving beneath his sweat-stained top. Strands of hair were pressed to his forehead, but he quickly ran his hands through them and pushed them back, making a mess of curls on his head. He started to look your way, so you quickly averted your eyes. The magazine on the table sure was interesting, huh?

"Hey, Y/N," he said. You could detect his shortness of breath in the way he was talking.

"Hi," you said, shooting him a smile as if this were the first time you had laid eyes on him. "Have a nice run?"

"It could have been better."

He bent down to untie his shoes. His shirt - which really should have been considered a tank top, considering how much of the sides he had cut away - fell forward, revealing his sweaty chest underneath. You only stared for a moment before ripping your eyes away, already feeling your cheeks get hot. It just so happened that this was the moment that Tyler walked into the room. He caught your eye and wiggled his eyebrows, which earned him an eye roll.

"You know you want him," he mouthed.

"Shut up," you mouthed back.

Josh finally stood up and stretched. Though it was tempting to glance at him, you kept your eyes fixated on the posters hanging on the wall. Tyler already had too much ammo to tease you with as it was.

You were relieved when Josh finally went upstairs and you no longer had to overthink every glance in his direction. Tyler collapsed down onto the couch next to you and took a long sip of his drink before kicking his feet up onto the coffee table.

"Should I even say it?" he asked.

"It wouldn't work, Tyler."

"How do you know? Have you dated him before?"

The shower started to run upstairs.

"I don't need to date him to know."

"I'm sorry, Y/N, but that's a little ridiculous."

You turned to look at Tyler, letting your head roll back so that it was rested on the cushions. He took a sip of his drink and raised his eyebrows, waiting for your answer.

"It's not! All it takes is one glance at us to know that we're complete opposites, and we're always poking fun at one another about it. He's outgoing, confident, charming, willing to take risks... we really couldn't be more different."

"Haven't you heard that opposites attract?"

"Haven't you heard that's bullshit?" you scoffed.

"Are you kidding? Josh always flirts with shy people because he thinks it's cute."

"Well he's never flirted with me, so that must mean that he doesn't think I'm cute."

"Now that's bullshit if I ever heard it," Tyler snorted.

"Name one time Josh has ever flirted with me."

"Are you kidding? You two were all over one another at the arcade the other night."

"I was trying to beat him at skeeball!" Tyler shot you a look. "What?"

"All I'm going to say is that he wasn't having a skeeball competition with anybody else."

You rolled your eyes, "Whatever, Ty."

"Come on, Y/N, will you at least give it a shot? One date?"

"I'm not putting our friendship at risk for the sake of one date that wouldn't tell me anything."

Tyler sighed loudly. "One," he said, dramatically holding up his pointer finger, "one date is not enough to ruin a friendship if the friendship is strong enough. And two," his middle finger flicked up to join the first, "one date is enough to tell you everything. How many times have you called me after a first date to tell me about how it wasn't going to work out?"

You crossed your arms across your chest. Tyler was right and you both knew it.

"I'll try, alright? But I'm going to take it at my own pace. And I don't want there to be any meddling."

"No promises," Tyler grinned - a pit formed in your stomach - and leaned over to bump your shoulder with his own.

Before you had a chance to plead with Tyler not to get into the middle of it all, Josh came back downstairs. He was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a loose tank top, though it wasn't as revealing as the one he had worn on his run. His hair, no longer sweaty, was still soaking wet and falling in loose curls around his face. Water dripped from them, running down his collarbone until they hit the hem of his tank top. Tyler gently reached over and pressed on your chin so that your mouth was no longer hanging open.

"What did I miss?" Josh said, grabbing the neck of his tank top and using it to wipe away a stray droplet of water.

"Not much," Tyler chimed in before you had a chance to. "We were just talking."

"Were you dying of boredom without my presence?" Josh grinned.

"You wish," you scoffed. Tyler shot you a look, clearly unamused by your sarcastic remark in place of flirting. You shot him an apologetic smile when Josh wasn't looking.

"So, Y/N, Tyler said you're going to be staying with us for a few days," Josh said. He slowly made his way into the living room and lowered himself onto a chair, obviously still feeling the effects of his morning run. His legs stretched out, making his shorts slip just a little bit further up his thighs. The hangnail on your thumb suddenly became very interesting.

"Unfortunately," you said, looking up for just a second to meet his eyes.

"Oh, come on, am I that bad?" he stuck out his lower lip. You chewed on your own to hide the smile threatening to overtake your face.

Distracting was a better word.

"Tolerable," was the one that left your mouth, however. "Most of the time."

"You know," he said, holding his hands up in defeat, "I'll take it."

"What have I gotten myself into?" Tyler sighed, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling.

Josh answered, "Three days-"

"-give or take-" you chimed in, wincing a little as you pulled on the hangnail too hard.

"-of fun."

"Fun," he nodded. "Right."

*     *     *

"Alright, I'm back," Tyler said, gently sitting back down on the couch and resting his cup of water against his legs. "Everyone ready?"

You and Josh answered with mumbled agreement. After a busy afternoon of reading and writing music - ok maybe your afternoon wasn't that busy - the three of you had settled in the living room to watch the latest Netflix series together. The plan had been to only watch a few episodes and then go on a late night drive together, but it ended up sucking all of you in. Now, half past midnight, you were all still lounging in the living room watching the fifth episode of the series.

"This is the last episode for me, though," you said. "I need to sleep at some point."

"Good plan," Josh nodded.

You turned to smile at him - the two of you had been getting along really well all night and you were beginning to think you might be able to follow Tyler's suggestion after all - but your eyes went directly to his phone. His fingers were flying across the screen as he typed out a message to someone whose name you couldn't quite make out. It only took one winky face emoji for you to figure out the nature of the message he was sending.

Maybe you didn't even need one date to tell you everything.

Josh slipped his phone back into his pocket and you pushed yourself a little further into the couch, stretching your legs just enough that you could jam your toes into Tyler, a form of subtle punishment for getting your hopes up. He playfully pushed them away and you relented, not wanting to make him genuinely angry. He had only been trying to help, and it's not like he had any control over Josh's dating app habits.

You tried to get comfortable and pay attention to the show, but thoughts about Josh kept creeping back into your mind. It didn't help that the fan in the corner of the room kept carrying the scent of his shampoo towards you. It was clean and nice and reminded you of mornings on tour when Josh would join you at the table to eat his cereal and ask you how you slept and tease you when you would tell him he was in your dream. Because that's what you did: you teased one another and poked fun at your dating habits and most definitely didn't flirt.

You pulled your sweatshirt up over your nose so that the only thing you could smell was your laundry detergent and the musty smell of your apartment that lingered on everything you wore. Now was not the time to have a crisis about your relationship with Josh and overthink every little interaction you had ever shared.

Thankfully, the show started to get interesting and your thoughts were quickly overwhelmed with trying to keep up with what was happening on the screen. Even though he was right at the corner of your vision, Josh was far from at the forefront of your mind.

"No way!" Tyler said, sitting up so fast that the water in his lap spilled all over your legs and the couch. He was still too preoccupied with the plot twist to notice. "She was- and he- you're kidding!"

"Tyler!" you groaned, already feeling the water soaking through the material of your sweatpants to your legs.

"Oh shoot," he said, finally noticing the mess he had created. "Hold on."

Tyler quickly set his cup down and ran up the stairs. You gently removed your legs from the puddle that had formed and tried not to drip more water all over the place.

"So much for having a dry place to sleep," Josh said.

Shit. You hadn't even thought of that.

"I'll just steal Tyler's bed," you sighed. "It's his mess, he can pay the price."

"Good luck with that."

Tyler returned, now carrying a number of towels in his arms. He haphazardly tossed them onto the couch and started to pat at them, which seemed to be doing a surprisingly good job at soaking up the water. You grabbed one of the smaller ones and started to dab at your sweatpants.

"Hey, Dun, want to stop flirting and get off your phone for long enough to help us clean up this mess?"

"I don't know, looks like you have it covered," he said, looking over his shoulder.

"We do," Tyler said, glancing at you.

"So it's cool if I head up to bed?"

"Go for it."

"Goodnight, guys."

"See you tomorrow," you said.

"Goodnight."

You watched as Josh disappeared up the stairs and around the corner. After your talk with Tyler earlier in the day, tonight had not gone like you had hoped.

"Don't even say it because I'm really not in the mood to hear it," you said, standing up and throwing the towel down on the couch. "And don't turn around."

"Roger that," he said. You could hear him continuing to dab water off the couch.

A new sense of frustration washed over you as you stripped off your sweatshirt in favor of an oversized Death Cab for Cutie shirt Tyler had bought you as a "congratulations for completing your first term of college" gift. He had given it to you the same day he announced he wouldn't be coming back next term. At the time, you had been afraid that your newly formed friendship with him wouldn't last, but here you were years later.

"Where am I going to sleep tonight?" you asked, failing to keep the edge of frustration out of your voice. You tossed your wet sweatpants over the back of the chair and pulled on your pajama shorts.

"With Josh."

You snorted, "Very funny. You know, I'm beginning to think all the stuff you said about him flirting with me was bullshit."

"It's not bullshit and I'm not kidding."

You finished tucking your clean sweatshirt away in your bag and turned to face Tyler, expecting him to have his usual dorky "got ya" grin on his face. When you realized he was just casually scooping up the now damp towels, your stomach sunk.

"You're not serious?"

"I am!"

"Tyler Joseph, you are not making me sleep in the same bed as Josh."

"Watch me."

You started to sprint towards the stairs - Tyler couldn't kick you out of his bed if you were already in it - but Tyler was faster, even with the towels in his hands. He took the stairs two at a time and slipped into his bedroom, closing the door just before you could get a foot inside.

"Tyler, please," you said, grabbing the door handle and jiggling it.

"Work it out." His voice was muffled through the door.

You sighed. Once Tyler had his heart set on something, there was no changing his mind about it. That door was not going to open until he wanted it to, and your unwillingness to sleep in the same bed as Josh was not a good enough reason for him.

You stood in the dark hallway for a few minutes, contemplating the options that currently stood in front of you:

Suck it up and ask Josh if you could stay in his room for the night.

Sleep on the wet couch and deal with the discomfort.

Go home and spend another night in your sweltering apartment.

Sleep on the floor.

You groaned and childishly stomped your foot against the ground, not liking any of your choices. On the other side of the door, you could hear Tyler casually getting ready for bed without a care in the world. He didn't have to worry about a broken air conditioning system or a stupid boy or where to sleep.

Stupid Tyler.

"Is everything ok out here?"

Could this night get any worse?

"Yeah, sorry," you said, turning to face Josh. Your jaw nearly dropped upon seeing him. Sure, you had seen him in pajamas countless times on tour, but never like this. He was wearing a pair of Adidas sweatpants that were resting way low on his hips. You couldn't help the way that your eyes slid up his torso until they met his. Some of his curls were falling into his eyes, which you really hoped meant he couldn't see how blatantly you were ogling him right now. His mouth curled into a smile around the toothbrush that was half-hanging out of his mouth. Think, Y/N, think! What were you going to say? "I just thought I would be able to bargain with Tyler since he... you know, with the couch? But since I'm standing in the hall, you can probably figure out how that went."

"Classic Tyler," Josh said, pulling his toothbrush back out of his mouth so he could speak. "You know, you could sleep in here if you wanted. My bed is big enough for the two of us."

You hated that Tyler's plan was working.

"Um, yeah, sure. I just need to finish getting ready for bed."

"Cool, just hop in whenever you want."

How was he being so nonchalant about this?

"Will do," you said, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up. He laughed quietly and disappeared back into his room.

You took your time going through your nightly routine, trying to put off having to be in the same bed as Josh for as long as you could. Tyler was probably laying in his own bed right about now, completely alone, feeling satisfied with the work he had done in pushing you and Josh closer together. The thought of it was enough to make you want to kick down his door and chew him out for putting you in situations like this, even if deep down you knew he was just trying to help you out.

Josh was already in bed when you walked into his room, scrolling through his phone. His torso was no longer on full display, but the light of his phone was illuminating his features. You made an effort not to stare as you walked over and slipped under the covers. The blanket was thick, but the fan at the end of the bed was producing enough air to offset the warmth. Besides, any amount of cool air was an improvement from the absolute hell that you had woken up to earlier that morning.

"Are you comfortable?" Josh asked. They were the first words you had exchanged since you entered the room.

"Yeah. Thanks for letting me sleep in here, by the way."

"I wasn't about to let you sleep on the soaking wet couch. You're supposed to be comfortable while you stay here, not dealing with an issue that's just as bad as a furnace apartment."

"Tell that to Tyler," you snorted.

"You should give him a bad Yelp review."

You and Josh both laughed.

"I'll do it first thing in the morning."

The two of you exchanged some more small talk before finally deciding that you should get some sleep. After your friendly conversation - that featured a few flirty remarks on both sides - you were feeling a little bit better, though you couldn't deny the tension you felt now that the room was quiet. It was like you could feel every little shift in his sleeping position and all the heat radiating off of him and hear every tiny change in his breathing.

And it was making it very hard to get some sleep.

You carefully rolled over onto your other side, which meant that you were now facing Josh, hoping that the change in position would relax you a little bit. After checking the time, and realizing you had spent nearly half an hour trying to fall asleep to no avail, you closed your eyes and tried to calm your mind. All you had to do was get to sleep, then you didn't have to worry about Josh anymore. He would become a problem for you to deal with in the morning.

Unfortunately, sleeping Josh had different ideas. He rolled over, leaving his nose inches from yours, and flailing his arms all over the place. Your hands were just barely touching, sending tingles into your arm and erasing what tiny bit of tiredness you had managed to accumulate. You could feel your heart pounding in your chest from just that tiny bit of contact.

And you were supposed to spend all night in a bed right next to him?

Suddenly overwhelmed, you shot out of bed, tripping a little over the mess of blankets you had made while trying to fall asleep. Josh sat up instantly, his hands splayed out on the bed behind him, holding him up. He squinted, looking around the room until his eyes landed on you.

"Are you ok?"

"I can't-" you heaved, "I can't do this. I'm sorry."

"Do what? What's going on? Are you awake? Am I awake?"

"We're both awake," you said, resting a hand on your chest.

Josh slowly threw the covers off of him and got up, walking around the bed until he was standing across from you.

"What is going on, Y/N?"

"It's just you and me in the bed and it's overwhelming and I don't know what to do." The words were spilling out of your mouth before you could stop them. "First it's the teasing and Tyler's remarks and the pretty people on Tinder that are so much better than I'll ever be and now I'm here in your bed and you're right there and I can't sleep because I can't stop thinking about all of it..."

"Hold on, slow down, I don't understand," Josh said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I like you, Josh, a lot. And I know I tease you and act like I don't, but I really, really do."

Josh closed the space between you, resting his hands on your cheeks with just enough force to finally get you to look at him. His eyes were shining.

"Can I kiss you?"

"Please."

His lips crashed into yours and he tasted like toothpaste and smelled like shampoo and his skin was warm underneath your fingertips but not sweaty and you were completely lost in him. You liked the way his calluses brushed against your cheeks and how his lips fit perfectly with yours. You liked a lot of things about him, really.

"Sorry, that was really embarrassing," you mumbled when he finally pulled away.

"It was cute."

"Me practically falling out of your bed because our fingers brushed for half a second and then ranting at you incoherently at two in the morning is not cute," you laughed.

"If I brush against your fingers right now, will it happen again?" Josh smiled, leaning close enough to you that his nose pressed against yours. His fingers ghosted the length of your arm and eventually brushed against your hand, his pointer finger just barely curling against yours.

"All my cards are already on the table."

"I like your cards."

"What?" you giggled.

"I don't know where I was going with that," he laughed with you.

"Thirty seconds into this... whatever it is and you're already losing your cool."

Josh grinned. "What can I say? You just do that to me."

"Alright, that's it, we're going back to bed," you said, grabbing Josh's arm and dragging him back towards the bed.

"What do you think Tyler will say when we tell him about this?"

"I can already see the look on his face when we tell him he was right," you sighed, sliding back under the covers. Josh joined you and opened his arms, inviting you to lay on his chest.

"If it makes you feel any better, he has to deal with us for the next few days."

You smiled, "If we're lucky, he has to deal with us forever."

"I like the sound of that."

When Josh leaned down to kiss you again, the entire world faded away.