Warnings: None

Word Count: 5610

Author's Note: I hope all of you enjoy the first part of the spooky special! :)

*     *     *

Tyler's POV

The sounds of whatever song was playing on the radio carried softly into the bathroom as I stood brushing my teeth. I bopped my head slowly from side to side, barely matching the rhythm of the drums. Sunlight filtered in through the window on the far side of the room, illuminating half of my body. A few shadows danced across my face as I stared at myself in the mirror, scrutinizing my appearance.

The song came to an end, which I took as my cue to spit out my toothpaste and rinse my mouth. In my bedroom, I could just make out the sound of my phone vibrating on the bedside table. I dropped my toothbrush into its holder and leaned closer to the mirror, using one hand to run over my scruff. It was getting long, but not long enough for me to consider taking the time to shave it down. After taking a couple moments to run my hands through my damp hair and fix it to my liking, I headed into my bedroom to see what I had missed.

My phone was lit up with a couple messages from the group chat that I had with Josh and Y/N. I read over them as I walked out to the kitchen to make myself some cereal.

Y/N: good morning, my dudes

Josh: good morning :) you're up early today

Y/N: casper woke me up early this morning because he wanted to go on a walk. trust me, i wish i was still sleeping :p but at least i have you two to talk to all morning :)

I sighed. Three messages in and the two of them were already starting the flirting for the day. It was something that I had quickly grown used to. I had never really been bothered by their near constant back and forth, although I was bothered by neither of them being bold enough to just admit their feelings for the other. Even if I tried to step in and hint at their mutual feelings, they both brushed it off as me playing around.

That's why I had come up with my master plan.

Tyler: good morning

After sending my message, I set my phone down on the counter while I made myself a quick bowl of cereal. My hands had been off my phone for a grand total of five seconds before it buzzed again. I looked over at it while I poured my cereal.

Y/N: ty! how's it going? now that you're both up, are plans still on for today? it's day one of our spooky extravaganza!

Josh: i'm down if you two are

I put the cereal away before sending my response.

Tyler: i'm in. i'll pick you up around noon?

Y/N: are you picking up josh first? :(

Tyler: it makes the most sense, so yes

Y/N: just once i want to be the one who gets picked up first

Josh: maybe you would get picked up first if you didn't live on the opposite side of town

Y/N: it's not my fault!

I shook my head as I grabbed a spoon. I had watched this same exact argument unfold hundreds of times before, and it always ended the same way.

Josh: hmm i think it is. there are plenty of houses for sale

Y/N: you think i can afford them? not all of us have money from all our successful albums and tours, joshua

Josh: you were the one who said you wanted to get picked up first!

Tyler: alright, you two, i'll see you at noon

I set my phone down on the coffee table without waiting for a response and sank into the couch. The remote was already sitting on the cushions, making it easy for me to grab and switch on the TV. My phone vibrating against the coffee table soon become nothing more than background noise.

*      *      *

Josh dug his hands deep into the pockets of his sweatshirt as he walked down the path towards my car. He smiled as he opened the door and slid into the passenger seat, immediately moving his hands in front of my air vents.

"My heater isn't working properly," he explained, skipping over a hello. "I've been in sweatshirts and sweatpants since last night."

"Do you have someone coming to fix it?" I asked as I pulled out of the driveway.

"Yeah, there's some people stopping by to take a look today. I'm hoping they can get it fixed by tonight."

"If not, you can always come crash at my place. I wouldn't want you freezing to death."

"Thanks."

After a few more minutes of warming up his hands, Josh leaned back in his seat and dropped his hands to his lap. He yawned loudly as he did so.

"Yikes, sorry."

"Tired?" I laughed.

"Yeah. I was up late talking to Y/N last night."

"How late?"

"Like, I'm not sure, three in the morning, maybe?"

"Oh geez. Are they ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. They're fine."

"Why so late, then?"

"I just really like talking to them. I don't know what it is."

"Yeah, you do."

"Stop."

I turned and shot Josh a look. His cheeks were dusted pink, but he had been in the car long enough that I knew it wasn't from the cold outside.

"Come on, man. You've already told me how you feel about Y/N, there's no need to hide it now."

"It's not that." He shook his head. "I'm just... I don't think it's going to happen. I can't keep letting myself get my hopes up like this."

"Josh, you and I both know there's something there."

"Is there?"

"Yes."

And I was going to make sure that both of them finally realized that.

*      *      *

Your POV

"It's colder than I thought it was going to be," you said as you stepped out of the car. The makeshift parking lot was jam packed with cars and families making their way towards the farm. You pulled your sleeves down a little further over your hands.

"This is what my house felt like last night," Josh said, pulling his beanie a little lower on his head. "It was awful."

"I told you that you could have come over! But somebody didn't want to make the drive."

You just barely noticed the way Tyler turned to Josh with raised eyebrows out of the corner of your eye. A brief desire to ask what that look was all about crossed your mind, but you decided against feeding into it. It was probably better that you didn't ask.

"It was like one in the morning and you were already in bed! I didn't want to make you get up."

"Hey, I am not going to listen to the two of you bickering all day. Let's go," Tyler said, tilting his head towards the entrance of the farm.

"Can we get something to drink?" you asked, falling into step with the boys. "It might be nice to have a warm drink to carry around so our fingers don't freeze."

"Yes!" Tyler grinned at you. "Let's get donuts too."

"Good thinking."

You held a hand out to Tyler who happily engaged in the high five. Josh smiled at the two of you and shook his head.

"Hey, did I already say you look nice today, Y/N?" Josh added.

You looked down at the jeans and flannel combo you had opted for today. It hadn't looked particularly special when you were studying yourself in the mirror, but you couldn't deny the butterflies in your stomach at Josh's compliment.

"Thanks, Josh," you smiled. "You look nice too."

A gust of wind hit right as you finished speaking, prickling at your cheeks. Josh's face immediately flushed a dusty shade of pink, and you were unable to tell if the color was from your compliment or the cool air. Biting back a sigh, you turned away from Josh and continued to follow Tyler through the crowd towards the building that housed donuts and hot cider.

"Ok, what are we thinking?" Tyler asked. You didn't immediately register his question at first, you were too busy enjoying the relief from the crisp autumn air outside.

"Powdered sugar," Josh answered immediately.

You turned to him with furrowed eyebrows, "You would rather have powdered sugar than pumpkin donuts?"

"Just one or two," he shrugged. "I like powdered donuts."

"What are you thinking, Ty?"

"I definitely want a pumpkin donut. Or maybe a cinnamon one? I can't decide."

"Oh wait, they have a variety bag," Josh chimed in, stepping closer to you. He rested one hand on your lower back as he used the other to point at the menu. "See it? Three powdered donuts, three pumpkin donuts, and three cinnamon donuts."

"Would you be willing to trade your pumpkin donut for my powdered sugar one?" you asked.

Josh looked at you, furrowing his eyebrows slightly. "I think I could be convinced."

"Then I think that sounds good. Ty, you in?"

He nodded, "I'm in."

You made casual conversation with the boys as you stood in line. Josh continued to stand close to you, not that you were complaining. His close proximity meant it was easier for you to take in his body heat, as well as the faint laundry detergent scent coming from his sweatshirt. The only part you weren't enjoying so much was Tyler shooting you knowing looks every so often.

With donuts and warm drinks in hand, you found a nice stack of hay bales outside to sit on. They were tall enough that they blocked most of the wind, making the temperature much more bearable. You got comfy on one of them and immediately reached into the bag for your first donut.

"Cheers," Tyler said, holding out his own donut.

You giggled as you tapped your own treat against his and Josh's. Josh immediately took a large bite of his donut, covering most of his mouth in powdered sugar. You watched in amusement as he attempted to lick most of it off, but there were some spots he couldn't quite reach.

"Need help, Josh?" you asked.

"What?"

"With the..." you trailed off, instead gesturing vaguely towards your own mouth.

"There's more?"

"Just a little," you laughed.

He sighed and tilted his chin out towards you, "Alright."

You gently reached out and brushed the excess powdered sugar away with your thumb. Josh's skin was smooth beneath your fingertips and it was hard to resist the urge to just run your fingers along his bottom lip. He had such nice lips.

"Did you get it all?" he asked.

"Yeah," you said, snapping yourself out of your daydream. "Try to be a little more careful next time."

"No promises."

"What's the plan after this?" Tyler asked, joining the conversation. "Pumpkins?"

"I think that makes sense. I'd rather not stay here too long since it's freezing out," you answered.

"Agreed," Josh nodded.

"Are we still going to your apartment to carve pumpkins?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah. We can order some pizza and watch horror movies too."

"Awesome."

"Hey, do you think I could do a backflip off this hay bale?" Josh asked, completely redirecting the conversation.

You took a second to assess your surroundings, then nodded. "Totally."

Josh wasted no time in stuffing the rest of his donut into his mouth and climbing up a couple hay bales. After taking a moment to make sure nobody was in his way, he flipped off the hay bale and landed gracefully on the dirt. You bit back a smile at his proud smirk as he adjusted his beanie.

"You think I could do a flip?" you asked.

"Y/N," Tyler warned.

"Sure, but only if I'm there to spot you," Josh said.

"Of course. There's no way I'm flipping on my own."

"Please be careful," Tyler said.

"I will be."

Josh held a hand out to you and helped you up onto the taller hay bale. Flipping seemed a lot scarier now that you were up here.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea," you said.

"It's ok, I've got you," Josh smiled.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

You listened carefully as Josh told you exactly what to do, although you were struggling to listen while he had one of his hands pressed firmly into your back as he spoke. Once you felt like you knew what you were doing, you gave Josh the ok.

"On my count, ok?"

"Ok."

"Three, two, one, jump!"

You leaned into Josh's hand and kicked your legs up over your head. His other arm caught your legs and helped them get all the way over so that you landed firmly on the ground beneath you.

"Woah, wait, I did it," you grinned, stumbling slightly into Josh after your landing.

"Yeah, you did." One of his arms was still wrapped around you, holding you close to his side. You were pressed up against him, still reeling from the adrenaline rush of doing a backflip... well, kind of.

"Impressive," Tyler garbled around the donut in his mouth.

"Hey! Was that my cinnamon donut?" you asked.

Tyler's eyes went wide as he realized what he had done. You shook your head and unwrapped yourself from Josh to instead go sit next to Tyler again.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," he sighed, swallowing down the last bit.

"It's ok, Ty, but you do owe me now."

"I think that's fair."

You sat around a while longer until you and Josh finished the last of your donuts. Once they were gone and Tyler took the opportunity to show off his residual basketball skills by tossing the crumpled bag into a trash can, you headed off to the hay ride that would take you to the pumpkin patch.

"How do we do this?" Tyler asked, watching as the tractor slowly grew closer. "Do we hang on to the sides or something?"

"No," you laughed. "You get inside and sit down on the hay."

"More hay?" Josh sighed. "My allergies are going to start acting up."

"You'll be fine," you said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "It'll be five minutes at most."

"If you insist."

"The most important rule is to not fall off, alright? Because that's bad news for everyone involved."

"Don't fall off," Tyler nodded. "I think I can manage that."

The tractor pulled up in front of you and you quickly helped the boys up and onto a hay bale. Other families filled in the space around you. A couple teenagers were giving Tyler and Josh prolonged glances, but you hardly even noticed. You had known the boys long enough to tune things like that out now, although there were still many times where you ended up taking pictures for a fan or two.

"It smells like gas," Tyler commented, wrinkling his nose up.

"You sure it's not your hands?" you grinned, bumping him with your elbow.

"Oh, come on," he laughed. "That was too easy."

"I'm sorry! I couldn't resist."

Tyler shook his head. Next to you, Josh was furiously rubbing his hands - which were now a lot redder than the last time you had seen them - together.

"Put your hands in your pocket!" you said, reaching out to push them closer to his body. "They're going to freeze."

"I think it's a little late for that," he laughed, but still put them in his pocket nonetheless.

After a few more minutes, the tractor came to a stop at the edge of a field of pumpkins. There were parents all over the place, chasing their toddlers as they happily smacked pumpkins and tried to climb all over them. You were already on the lookout for a perfect pumpkin to fulfill your vision.

"Where should we start?" Tyler asked.

"I don't know, I'm overwhelmed," Josh answered.

"Do you guys have an idea of what kind of pumpkin you want?"

"I want a big one," Josh said. "Like a really big one."

"I'm just going to see what calls to me," Tyler said. His hands were also dug deep into his pockets as he looked around. "I don't really have anything particular in mind."

"Ok, then let's start wandering around."

You led the boys through the field, occasionally pausing to survey a pumpkin here or there. Josh took any opportunity he could get to show off his strength by picking up excessively large pumpkins for you to look at. None of them had caught your eye yet, however.

"Wait!" Tyler called out. You stopped walking and turned around, only to realize that he was nearly ten feet behind you.

"Did you find one?" Josh asked.

"I think so."

You and Josh wandered back to where Tyler was bent over a pumpkin. It was a little oddly shaped with weird bumps here and there, but he seemed completely pleased with it. After taking a moment to brush some dirt off, he scooped the pumpkin into his arms.

"What do you think?"

"I think it's the perfect pumpkin for you, Ty," you smiled.

"Agreed."

Tyler lugged his pumpkin around while you and Josh continued to look at the pumpkins. You eventually found one that you liked: it was nice and round, had a smooth surface, and didn't seem to be rotting anywhere that you could see. Plus, it wasn't too heavy which meant you would have no problem getting it back to the car.

"Alright, Josh, it's all up to you now."

"Oh geez," he smiled. "That's a lot of pressure."

"It looks like there's a lot of big pumpkins over there," Tyler added. "Should we start there?"

"Good idea."

You and Tyler followed after Josh with your pumpkins in your arms. Tyler's pace started to slow, and for a moment you thought he was going to stop completely. It wasn't until Josh was out of earshot and he beckoned you closer that you realized that this was deliberate.

"What?" you asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"What's going on between you and Josh today?"

Your shoulders dropped in annoyance, "We're not really doing this, are we?"

"You two are flirting nonstop! Did something happen that you didn't tell me about?"

"No, nothing happened. Josh is just being friendly."

"So I suppose that you wiping powdered donut off his lips was just friendly too?"

"Yes!" you whisper-yelled. "I would have done the same thing if you had food all over your face."

"I can guarantee you that there would not be that much love in your eyes if you were wiping food off of my face."

"There was no love in my eyes, what in the world are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"There's nothing going on. Josh and I are friends and that's it, alright?"

"Yeah, alright," he said sarcastically.

"Hey! What are you guys doing all the way over there?" Josh called.

"Sorry, we just needed a rest!" Tyler answered, playing it off like nothing was going on. "It's hard carrying around pumpkins while you keep aimlessly wandering around."

"I found a good pumpkin."

Before you made your way over to Josh, Tyler made sure to get in one last comment.

"I think there's more there than you're choosing to see."

*      *      *

Josh's POV

I smiled as Tyler sang along to the Halloween music that Y/N had put on as background noise for our pumpkin carving escapades. They were sitting across from me, carefully cutting out the top of their pumpkin so that they could start scooping out all the insides to start carving. That's what I was currently doing with one hand as I munched on a piece of pizza with the other. Across from me, Tyler, aside from singing, was carefully sketching out his design on the face of his pumpkin.

"Hey! Watch the wood floors," Y/N warned as some of my pumpkin guts went flying and landed dangerously close to the edge of the trashbags we were sitting on. "And Casper. I don't want him covered in pumpkin by the end of the night."

"Sorry," I mumbled around pizza, glancing at where Casper was curled up next to Y/N. "I'll be more careful."

"What design are you doing, Ty?"

"I'm trying to do a skeleton," he said, holding his pumpkin out for a moment to get a better look at it. "But I'm struggling to get the design right."

"That's why you're a musician and not an artist," I joked.

"Hey! Who said music isn't art?"

I held up my hands in defeat and the both of us erupted into laughter, resulting in me nearly dropping my pizza onto the ground. Y/N shot me a look, but they were smiling.

"What about you, Josh?"

"I'm doing an alien, which I'm sure is a shock," I laughed.

"Oh yeah, I never could have seen that one coming."

"We have to stay on brand," Tyler chimed in.

"What design are you doing, Y/N?"

"I was thinking a ghost. You know, spice things up instead of just doing a normal face."

"I like it," I nodded.

I admired Y/N as they worked on their pumpkin. They were chewing gently on their bottom lip as they sketched out their ghost design on the front of the pumpkin. My own pumpkin was completely forgotten until Tyler kicked my leg, drawing me back into reality. He held up a pumpkin seed and pretended to throw it at Y/N. My mouth immediately curled into a grin as I grabbed a seed from inside my pumpkin. After taking a moment to line up my shot, I tossed it at Y/N and immediately went back to pretending to clean out my pumpkin.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Y/N looking between Tyler and I. It was taking all my energy to not let a smile completely overtake my face. Once they finally gave in and went back to working on their design, Tyler and I shared a look and nearly burst into laughter. Since they were distracted again, I grabbed another pumpkin seed and threw it at them. Unfortunately for me, they were ready this time and looked up before I had a chance to go back to looking innocent.

"Josh," Y/N said, drawing out the vowel. "You're not throwing pumpkin seeds at me, are you?"

"Of course not," I said, but the smile that I was trying to hide was completely evident on my face.

"Liar!" they laughed, grabbing their own handful of pumpkin seeds and starting to toss them at me. I quickly reached into the bag of discarded pumpkin insides and started to throw them back at Y/N. A couple of them missed and skidded along the hardwood floors and under the couch. "You're going to have to help me clean those up!"

"You started this!" I said as I threw another seed at them.

"Did not!"

We continued to throw pumpkin seeds all over the place until I finally ran out. Casper was running around, attempting to catch the pumpkin seeds in his mouth. More than once, he nearly crashed into Y/N, throwing them off their rhythm. Tyler mostly ignored the entire thing and continued to work on his own pumpkin, enjoying the peace of not having small objects hitting him in the face every few seconds, despite the fact that this war had been his idea in the first place.

"Are you two done?" he asked once the seeds finally stopped flying.

"For now," Y/N said, shooting me a look.

"I'll call a truce if you do."

"Deal."

I held out a gross pumpkin-goop covered hand. Y/N studied my hand for a moment before giving in and shaking it anyway.

"Good. Now no more pumpkin projectiles," Tyler laughed.

"Pumpkin projectiles," I repeated with a snort.

Things went back to being peaceful for awhile. The three of us were working away on our pumpkins and talking about potential snacks Tyler could make for the party that he was hosting tomorrow. My pumpkin design was going well, or at least, well enough that you could tell it was an alien. As for my artistic ability, that was an entirely different story.

Deciding that it had been long enough since the last time I messed with Y/N, I started to hatch a plan to bother them yet again. They had been pretty consistently skipping over songs, which involved them turning their back to me for a couple seconds while they waited for one they liked enough to let play. This was also the perfect opportunity for me to take the tool they just so happened to be using to make their ghost design.

"Don't like this song," Y/N huffed, setting down their tool and yet again turning their back to Tyler and I. While they were distracted, I scooped up the little scraper and tucked it beneath my leg where they wouldn't be able to find it. Tyler took notice of this and immediately began to smile.

I watched as Y/N turned back around and reached for their tool, only to find the spot where they had left it empty. They began to look around, even going so far as to lift up their pumpkin to see if it had somehow slipped under there. Tyler and I were barely containing our laughter, which Y/N eventually took notice of.

"Alright, which one of you has it?" they asked, crossing their arms.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Tyler said.

"Oh, come on," they huffed. "I know I'm a bit absent-minded at times but there's no way I misplaced an entire pumpkin tool."

"What does it look like?" I asked, pretending to be concerned.

"It's a little, like, orange tool. This big," they said, holding their fingers up for reference. "Wait, hold on a second. I'm still not entirely convinced that you didn't take it."

"Does it look like this?" I asked, grabbing it from beneath my leg.

"Yes, thank you," they said, reaching for it. I wasn't ready to give in so easily, so I pulled my arm back and out of Y/N's reach. They frowned and scooted closer to me, reaching their arm as far as it would go. "Josh! Give it here," they laughed.

"No way."

"Josh! Come on."

They moved forward, grabbing onto my bicep and trying to pull it towards them. I resisted, but not so much that I would accidentally punch something if they decided to let go all of a sudden.

"I thought we had a truce," they laughed as they tugged on my arm.

"We had a truce for... what was it? Pumpkin projectiles?"

"That was it," Tyler chimed in.

"You two are the worst."

I tried to move the arm that was supporting my body a little further back, but I miscalculated how much weight was on it and ended up falling straight back onto the hardwood. This caused Y/N to tumble right on top of me, leaving our noses only a few inches apart. I didn't have to look in a mirror to know that my face was the brightest red that it had been all day.

"I'll be taking that, thank you," Y/N grinned, taking the tool out of my grip that had now loosened significantly.

I was still in a daze when Y/N fully climbed off of me and went back to sitting behind their own pumpkin. Tyler was looking at me with raised eyebrows, but I was avoiding his gaze. There were already enough butterflies in my stomach as it was and I didn't need Tyler's taunting look to make them even worse.

"Are you two almost done with your pumpkins?" Y/N asked as if nothing had happened. "I want to start the movie soon."

"What movie are we watching?" Tyler asked.

"I was thinking The Conjuring. One of the best horror movies there is. Is that ok with you two?"

"Fine with me."

"Yeah," I said, swallowing hard. "Me too."

*      *      *

"Do you have any other blankets?" I asked, noticing there were only two sitting on the couch.

"No, those are all I've got. We can share, if that's ok with you?" Y/N asked, raising their eyebrows.

"Yeah, that's ok. I'd rather not be alone under a blanket by myself while watching a horror movie, anyway."

"Agreed," Y/N smiled. "And there's no way that Tyler is going to want to share a blanket with anyone."

"Definitely not."

I grabbed the larger of the two blankets and got settled on one end of the couch. Y/N always liked to sit between Tyler and I, especially when watching scary movies. They always joked around, saying that they felt safe with two celebrities on either side of them.

"Coming?" I asked, holding the blanket up for them to get comfortable.

The microwave went off in the other room, drawing their attention away. "Let me grab that, then I'll come get comfortable."

"Sounds good."

I stared at some of the posters that Y/N had on their walls while I waited for them to return with snacks. Most of them were for movies that they particularly liked or bands that they had gone to see, although Tyler and I didn't have the honor of being hung in the living room. Y/N always said that it was too cheesy to have their best friends on the wall, especially when they had guests over.

My looking around was interrupted by Casper joining me on the couch and plopping himself down right next to me. He looked at me for a moment before resting his head on my thigh and blinking up on me. Unable to resist his puppy dog eyes, I happily scratched at his fluffy ears.

"Ok, snacks are here!" Y/N grinned, returning with a bowl of popcorn and a bag of candy.

"Smells delicious," I smiled.

"Thanks, I made it in the microwave," they giggled. "Casper, down."

I once again held the blanket out so that they could crawl under it once Casper was out of the way. They sat down next to me, leaving a small gap between us. I tried my best to mask my disappointment, but then decided that for once I wanted to make a bit of a move.

"You know, if you get a little closer to me then we can wrap the blanket around us a little tighter. It would be warmer."

Y/N looked at me for a moment before they began to smile. "Good idea."

They scooted closer so that our legs were now pressed together, sending tingles all the way up to my scalp. Tyler would undoubtedly have some comment about this situation, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Y/N was cuddled up next to me and that was more than enough to combat anything he had to say.

"Tyler!" Y/N called. "Are you almost done?"

"Yeah, I'm coming! I was just trying to get the bleeding to stop."

"I should have gone in there and helped him," Y/N sighed. "If he wasn't capable of carving a pumpkin without injury, I should have known he wouldn't be able to bandage it, either."

Tyler appeared from the bathroom a few minutes later, now sporting a spooky bandage on his finger. He let his gaze linger on the two of us cuddled up under the blanket, but didn't immediately make a comment. He just grabbed his own blanket and got comfortable on the other side of Y/N.

"Only two blankets, huh?" he smiled.

"I don't have that many blankets here, Ty. I live alone."

"I just asked a question!"

Y/N rolled their eyes and grabbed the remote from where it was sitting on the coffee table. The movie hadn't even started and I could already feel my heart starting to beat a little harder in my chest, although that could have just been because Y/N was pressed up next to me.

"Ready?" they asked, hovering over the "Play Movie" button.

"Ready," I nodded.

"Ready."

Thirty minutes of the movie had passed and it was going surprisingly well. There hadn't been anything too scary, and I was beginning to wonder if it was really going to live up to all the hype that Y/N had given it. Tyler had even fallen asleep on the opposite end of the couch and was now snoring lightly. Next to me, Y/N was watching the screen intently.

I was about to make a comment about the movie not being scary when the music ramped up and the first of what would eventually be many scary scenes played out on the screen. Without realizing it, my hand flew out and grabbed onto Y/N's arm, gripping it tightly.

"Ow, Josh," they laughed softly. "My arm."

"I'm sorry," I said, immediately loosening my grip. "I just wasn't expecting that to happen."

"That's kind of the point."

I let out a long breath of air. Maybe watching a scary movie hadn't been such a good idea. Y/N must have noticed my distress, because they reached out and put a hand on my arm.

"Hey, it's going to be ok. I'm right here."

They slowly moved their hand along my arm until their fingers were laced with mine. All of the fear seemed to instantly melt away as I held their hand in my own. When I gave Y/N's hand a light squeeze as thanks, I was met with one in return.

Maybe Tyler was onto something.