Warnings: Alcohol use, drunken shenanigans, one really bad pun, a brief confrontation

Word Count: 7173

Authors' Note: This chapter is pretty long, I know, but there were a lot of little details we wanted to include. Regardless, we hope you enjoy the chapter! :)

*     *     * 

Tyler's POV

I finished emptying a bag of chips into a brightly colored bowl and set it in the middle of the counter among the rest of the snacks. My entire morning had been spent making spooky DIY snacks from recipes that Y/N, Josh, and I had collected off of Pinterest. Overall, I was pretty pleased with how everything had turned out, although what everyone else would think had yet to be determined.

My phone buzzed against the counter while I was throwing the chip bag into the trash. I hummed quietly as I wandered over to it and picked it up, scrolling through what messages I had missed. Similar to the morning before, Josh and Y/N had already started some conversation between themselves.

Y/N: what costumes are you dudes wearing tonight? i can't decide :/

Josh: i haven't decided on anything yet. i was thinking we could do a trio costume or something.

Y/N: a trio costume! that's a great idea :)

By the time I was caught up with their messages, a plan had already formulated in my head. If I played my cards right, I could get Josh and Y/N into a couple's costume without them even knowing. While it may not get them to admit their feelings, it definitely had the potential to give them a shove in the right direction.

Tyler: hey! what if we do the skeleton onesies from a couple years ago? comfortable, easy, and it doesn't require buying anything new

Unbeknownst to them, I already had my own costume ready to go, completely separate from the old skeleton onesie. I tapped my foot impatiently against the wood floors, waiting for their replies. If one of them wasn't totally on board with the idea, then I would have to do some serious convincing to make sure they ended up following through.

Y/N: ooh, why didn't i think of that? that's perfect! you in, josh?

Josh: yeah, i'm in!

I smiled, giving my fist a little shake of success. Now all I had to worry about was getting them to my house without either of them changing their minds or figuring out my master plan. Thankfully, that was a problem for later. Right now, my top priority was finishing all the decorations for the party.

That, and figuring out the next step of my plan.

*      *      *

A door towards the back of the house creaked as I was hanging some fake cobwebs over the fireplace. I immediately stopped what I was doing and listened, waiting to see if the noise would repeat itself. My doors were always locked at all hours of the day and as far as I knew, there shouldn't be anyone at my house today until the party started. Deciding that it had probably been a sound effect from the music I had playing, I brushed it off and went back to decorating.

There was another sound a short time later, although this time it sounded more like my floors creaking than it did a door opening. Now a bit more paranoid than I was before, I set my decorations down on the mantle and walked into the kitchen where my phone was sitting. While there was still a chance it could be the music playing over the speaker system, something about the proximity of the sound gave me a feeling that it wasn't. Once the music was off, I slowly crept towards the hall closet where I kept a baseball bat for situations like this.

With the bat in my hands, and my nerves somewhat calmed now that I had something to protect myself, I started to creep towards the source of the noise. I wanted to believe that I had worked myself up over nothing because of it being the day before Halloween and all, but I couldn't shake the feeling that someone, or something, was in my house.

Just as I was about to round the corner in the hallway, someone jumped out from behind the wall and scared me. I registered the bright red hair just in time to stop the bat mid-swing and avoid knocking Josh out cold.

"What the hell?" I said, bringing a hand to my chest. "How did you get in here?"

"I used my spare key to get in the back door and scare you," Josh grinned. "Did it work?"

"Work? Josh, I nearly knocked you out cold."

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

He gave me a pat on the shoulder as he walked down the hall. I took another moment to compose myself before joining him.

"Where should I put my bag? The guest room?" he called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, that's fine."

After some discussion, we decided that Y/N and Josh should spend the night at my place so that we could get an early start on our ghost hunting trip tomorrow. It was the grand finale of what Y/N had deemed our "Spooky Extravaganza" in order to celebrate Halloween this year. This was also the reason I had been talked into throwing a Halloween party.

While Josh put his things away, I wandered back into the living room to finish putting up decorations. There were only a few final touches and some food that needed to be laid out before the house was ready for tonight.

"Where's your costume?" Josh asked as he wandered back into the living room.

My eyes went wide, but thankfully my back was to Josh so he wasn't able to see my surprise. I quickly thought of a lie that I hoped would be believable.

"I haven't put it on yet. I, uh, didn't want it to get sweaty while I was decorating."

"You've been hard at work, huh?" he laughed, a sign he had bought the lie.

"Yeah. Decorating is tough."

"Do you need any help?"

I stepped down from the fireplace and glanced around the room, looking for anything that seemed out of place or under-decorated. If I was being honest, I was pretty impressed with the job that I had done on my own.

"I think I just have to get some more food ready, if you want to come help with that."

"Sure."

"How have you been since we last saw each other?" I asked as I began to grab food from the fridge.

"I've been ok. Mostly just sleeping, you know?"

"You mean you didn't stay up until three talking to Y/N again?"

"No, not last night. They were tired and I wanted to let them sleep," he said, barely containing a shy smile.

"Shocking."

"Hey, not all of us fell asleep ten minutes into the movie last night."

"I was exhausted! Being around two people who are clearly in love with one another but won't admit it all day is tiring."

"Shut up. We are not in love with one another."

"Sure, Josh."

"Although..." he trailed off.

I looked up from the platter that I was working on and raised my eyebrows at him. "Although?"

He reached up and rubbed at his neck, "Well, last night, when we were watching the movie... I got scared at one point and Y/N kind of... grabbed my hand, I guess? And held it for the rest of the movie."

I took the dish towel that I had thrown over my shoulder and dramatically tossed it down on to the counter before resting my hands against its edge.

"Tell me again why you don't think they feel the same?" I said.

"It didn't mean anything," he shrugged. "I don't even know why I brought it up. They were just trying to comfort me because they know I don't like scary movies. Y/N is way out of my league, anyway. It's not going to happen."

"Josh. Did you hear what you said to me? About them holding your hand?"

"Yes, and I told you that they were just being comforting."

I sighed and pushed a hand through my hair. Though I was trying to hide my exasperation, I could tell that Josh knew I was frustrated with him.

"Listen, we have the party tonight and ghost hunting tomorrow. There's going to be plenty of opportunities for you to hint at your feelings for Y/N. I'm not saying you have to admit anything, but can you at least try to be a little flirty?"

He shrugged, "I don't know how."

"It's easy! Look, just watch me do it."

Josh watched in confusion as I wandered over to the freezer. Inside were a number of rubber gloves that I filled with water the night before and left in there to freeze so that I could use them in punch at the party. I grabbed one of them and carried it back over to Josh.

"See, right here we have Y/N's hand," I said, gesturing to the glove. "Now, stay with me, Josh, say you two are walking, ok?"

Josh answered with a hesitant, "Ok."

I started to mimic walking, making sure to swing the glove back and forth for added effect. "Ok, so you're at the party or looking out for ghosts. All you need to do is turn your body a little and let your fingers gently brush against theirs." I demonstrated. "Now this is the important part. If they turn their hand to catch yours when it swings back, then you know you're in. If they don't, then you pretend it was an accident and move on."

"And how do you know this is going to work?"

I sighed as I started to peel the glove away so I could properly add it to the punch, "I don't, but you're never going to know if you don't take a chance. Whether you think Y/N shares your feelings or not, you can't deny that the two of you have a deep bond. I don't want to see you pass that up because you're scared, alright?"

Josh rubbed at the side of his face. "You're right. I'm trying to make a move, I really am. I just get so nervous around them. Like, when they smile? And the whole room just lights up? It gives me butterflies every time and then I forget what I was trying to say because everything else fades out and I can't do anything but smile like an idiot."

"And that's exactly why you need to pursue this. I've never seen you this in love with somebody. Y/N is special, Josh. Don't lose that."

"I know," he said, snapping himself out of his lovesick daze. "Trust me, I know. Speaking of Y/N, when are they getting here?"

I checked the time on the stove. "Anytime now, although they did text and say traffic was worse than usual."

"More time for me to amp myself up, I guess."

"Exactly," I grinned.

*      *      *

Your POV

You admired Tyler's skeleton pumpkin as you walked up to his front door. Despite the mishap with Tyler cutting his finger, he still managed to end up with a decent looking pumpkin, It looked nice among the other decorations that he had taken the time to hang up outside his house, most of which were other skeletons.

You adjusted your backpack a little before knocking on the door. Josh opened it almost immediately, a bright smile on his face. You returned it as you stepped inside the house and kicked your shoes off by the door.

"Hey," Josh smiled.

"Hi, how's it going?"

"Great. I like your costume, by the way."

"Thanks, I like yours too," you giggled.

"You two wasted no time getting friendly," Tyler said, arms crossed as he slowly wandered in your direction.

"I'd get friendly with you too if you actually had your costume on," you retorted.

"I didn't want to get it sweaty while I was decorating! I'll put it on when people start getting here."

"It looks amazing in here, by the way." You took a moment to look around at all the decorations. "You really outdid yourself."

"Thanks. I know you were really excited about this Halloween party, so I wanted to make sure it lived up to your spooky standards."

"You definitely met them."

"When is everyone else getting here?" Josh asked.

"Fifteen minutes or so. At least, that's when they're supposed to show up."

"Are you going to get changed, Ty?" you chimed in.

"I will! I will."

"We need to all match!"

You could have sworn you saw a smirk pass over Tyler's face, but you decided to brush it off. He probably just had some crazy plan to scare everyone at the party later which, while concerning, was not something that you needed to immediately deal with.

"Also, where should I put my stuff?" you asked.

"The guest room is fine."

"Ok."

While the boys wandered off to the kitchen, you went down the hall to drop your belongings in the guest bedroom. You had always liked Tyler's house; something about it being near the woods on the outskirts of Columbus had always comforted you and made it feel like a second home to you. Maybe it was the fact that the boys were always around when you were at Tyler's too.

The boys were whispering hurriedly when you walked into the kitchen, but quickly stopped once they took notice of your presence. You simply smiled and took a seat in one of the stools next to Josh.

"This food looks really cool, Ty. You nailed the DIYs," you said, admiring some oreo spiders he had made.

"Thanks. You should have seen me when I was working this morning," he laughed. "The kitchen was a complete disaster of half-finished projects for a while."

"I can only imagine."

"Oh, I should probably go get dressed before people start showing up. Feel free to play darts or something while you wait. Just make sure not to get covered in paint."

Tyler grinned at the two of you before disappearing down the hall. Josh was quiet for a moment before he turned to you. "Darts?"

"Sure."

You got up and followed Josh into the dining room where Tyler had set up a game of what he and Josh had deemed "Spooky Darts". A selection of water balloons were currently pinned to the wall, each full of red paint. Behind them was white paper, so that when the balloons popped, it would end up looking like blood splatter. You still remembered the proud look on the boys' faces when they came up with it.

"You want to throw first?" Josh asked, holding a dart out to you.

"You know I'm not good at darts," you laughed. "But I can try."

"I can always help you, if you need it."

You swallowed hard, unsure if you should take Josh up on the offer. Maybe you could really mess up this throw so you had an excuse to ask him for help the next time around. Yeah, that was definitely an idea you could get behind.

You tossed the dart at the makeshift dartboard, but ended up missing and nearly hitting the wall beside it. Your hand flew to your mouth to cover a gasp, but it quickly turned to laughter as you turned and saw the look on Josh's face. He was smiling widely as he twirled his own dart in his fingers.

"This doesn't even feel fair," he laughed.

"I tried!"

"Here, let the professional show you how it's done."

You watched with crossed arms as Josh lined up a shot and tossed a dart at the wall, easily hitting one of the balloons and popping it. He turned to you with a proud smirk, making you shake your head.

"Alright, Mr. Professional, why don't you help me out then?"

"Gladly."

Josh wasted no time in stepping closer to you and wrapping his hand over yours, helping you hold the dart in what he insisted was the "correct" position. You tried to pay more attention than you had when he was explaining backflips yesterday, although a game of darts definitely had a lot less risk involved. Before you knew it, he was helping you toss a dart directly into a balloon at the other end of the room.

"See? That easy."

"I guess you just teach me something new every day," you smiled.

Josh bit down on his lip and turned away from you, probably in some attempt to hide the blush on his cheeks. You wanted to tease him about it, but decided that was a bad idea when there was a good chance you looked just as flustered as him. Instead, you wandered towards the balloons to pick up your darts. Unfortunately for you, Josh had other plans.

Just as you had collected your second dart, a balloon popped near your head and splattered paint in your direction. You had just enough time to register what was happening and jump back to avoid getting paint over the majority of your clothes, but you still felt a few splatters cover your cheeks.

"Josh!" you squealed, but it quickly turned to laughter. "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't!" he joined your laughter. "I'm so sorry, Y/N."

"You're going to pay for that!"

Without a moment of hesitation, you swiped your finger through a particularly large glob of paint and started to run after Josh. He tried his best to dodge you, but, not wanting to ruin Tyler's carefully placed decorations, ended up backed into a corner. With a satisfied smile, you reached up and drew a line of red paint right down Josh's nose.

"Ok, I think that's deserved," he laughed.

You hadn't initially realized you were pressed up against him until he started to laugh and you felt the movement of his chest against your own. Every point of contact was immediately on fire and you quickly took a step back, not wanting to make things uncomfortable. Before either of you had a chance to say anything, Tyler finally emerged from his bedroom, wearing something that definitely wasn't the skeleton onesie the three of you had agreed on.

"What do you think of my costume?" he... well, you weren't entirely sure what expression he was making. He currently had a sheet thrown over his head, complete with uneven cut out eye holes and drawn on fangs. Around his neck was a classic vampire cape that flowed out behind him.

"Are you a... vampire ghost?" you asked.

"Exactly. I couldn't decide which one I wanted to be, so I figured why not both?"

"Isn't that, you know, not possible?" Josh added. "Since they're both undead?"

Tyler sighed dramatically, "Because every other Halloween costume is so realistic."

"Besides, what happened to our trio costume?" you frowned.

"Yeah, now it just looks like Y/N and I did a couple's costume."

A lightbulb immediately went off in your head. There had never been a trio costume in the first place.

"I wanted to stand out because I'm the host! Not to mention that the two of you make such a cute couple, I didn't want to intrude on that." You didn't have to see Tyler's face to know that there was a huge smirk plastered on it. "Also what did I say about you two getting dirty? You both have red paint all over your faces."

"Yeah, I'm going to go get cleaned up," you sighed.

You brushed past Tyler, making sure to give his shoulder a little bump, as you made your way to the bathroom. As soon as the door was shut behind you, you leaned against it and took a deep breath. Everything was fine, it was just a matching costume, not a confession of your feelings. Tyler had put you and Josh into far more awkward situations before and it had never been an issue.

Maybe it was holding Josh's hand yesterday that was adding a whole new layer to the energy between you and Josh today.

With a sigh, you pushed the thoughts from your mind and bent down over the sink to carefully scrub the red paint away. Your focus tonight was going to be on the party, that was it. Between tour and your generally busy schedule, it wasn't often that you got to have nights like tonight where everyone was together and you definitely weren't about to let Tyler put a damper on that.

Josh had already cleaned up by the time that you finally emerged from the bathroom. The boys were once again in the kitchen, standing around the snacks but doing their best not to eat any before the rest of the guests arrived.

"Do you think it would be too cheesy to play some of our music at the party?" Tyler asked.

"Maybe a little, although I did see that Heathens got added to some Halloween playlists," Josh answered.

"I think you could get away with two of your own songs, but not much more than that."

"Fair enough."

Your conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. The three of you turned in its direction, hoping to catch a glimpse of who the first to arrive was, until Tyler finally skipped off to answer it. A few moments later, Mark and Brad were standing in the entryway, proudly displaying their costumes. Or at least, Mark was.

"Mario and Luigi, I like it," Josh laughed.

"No, no, no, you're mistaken," Mark grinned. "I'm Markio."

"Do you have a clever pun for your name, Brad?" you asked once you finally caught your breath after laughing.

"No," he deadpanned.

"Alright," you nodded.

"We tried Bradigi, but it didn't have quite the ring to it that we were going for."

"You were going for."

"Alright, let's get this party started," Tyler grinned.

*      *      *

The party was in full swing now. Tyler's living room was full of your friends in a variety of spooky costumes, most of whom were also tipsy. You were currently on the couch, nursing your own drink and watching the partygoers try to hold conversations with their drunk friends as they munched on Tyler's creative snacks.

Josh collapsed down onto the couch next to you without warning, nearly making you spill your drink down the front of your onesie. You held back an insult, knowing he didn't do it on purpose, and instead braced yourself to listen to whatever message he had brought you this time.

"Some people are playing Uno, if you want to join," he said, letting a silly smile grace his lips. "It's a drinking game, but you can drink whatever you want. Doesn't have to have alcohol in it."

"Are you going to play?"

"Mmmhmm. And I want you to come sit next to me." He leaned into you slightly as he spoke, making heat rise to your cheeks.

"Ok, I'll play a round of Uno."

You stood up and helped Josh follow after you. He grabbed two more drinks for the two of you as you passed through the kitchen, and even went so far as to grab an entire handful of spider Oreos. You had to hold back a giggle when he dramatically winked as he did so, as if he had somehow pulled off the greatest heist of the century.

"Come on, Josh."

Tyler, Mark, Brad, and a couple other people were already sitting around the floor, preparing their own drinks for the start of the game. You sat in the empty space next to Tyler and Josh wasted no time in plopping down next to you and sitting close enough that his knee was practically on top of yours. Tyler shot you a look because of this, but you simply shook your head and picked up the cards that were being dealt to you.

"What are the rules?" Mark asked.

Tyler went over the rules of Uno: The Drinking Game - another of his and Josh's creations - while everyone sorted through their cards. You were trying to pay attention, but Josh kept leaning over and bumping your arm. When you would ask him what he wanted, he would just respond by saying he didn't want you to forget that he was sitting next to you; something about him being tough competition.

"How many Red Bulls have you had tonight?" you asked as you noticed Tyler taking a long sip out of a familiar blue and silver can. The "ghost" part of his outfit had long since been discarded - he said it had been too difficult to eat with it on - for the cape and a pair of plastic vampire teeth instead. This also, naturally, included Tyler doing his best vampire hisses at people when they passed.

"Four. Wait, no, five? I've lost track."

"Are you going to be able to sleep tonight?"

"Do I ever sleep?" he laughed.

"Fair enough."

You rearranged the cards in your hand so that it would be easier for you to play the game. Just as it was about to start, Josh nudged your arm yet again, although this time he had a gift.

"For good luck," he whispered with a dorky grin as he tried, and failed, to slyly pass you an Oreo.

"Thanks," you said, pressing your lips together to avoid laughing too loudly. When you didn't immediately eat the Oreo, he raised his eyebrows and pressed your hand closer to your mouth.

"Alright, Brad, you start."

The game ended up going pretty well, although Josh was now considerably more drunk than he had been at the start, if that was even possible. He was now leaning on you completely shamelessly and reminding you how cool you were at every opportunity. You would be lying if you said you weren't enjoying it.

"Where are you going?" Josh whined as you started to stand up. The game had long since ended, but your group had decided to stay sitting and swap stories over drinks.

"I was just going to get some water."

"I'll go with you."

This, of course, required you to help Josh stand back up. As soon as he was on his feet, he wrapped an arm around you - insisting that it was to help him balance - and walked with you into the kitchen. Even when you reached up to grab a cup, he kept one arm firmly around your waist.

"Wait, no way!" A familiar voice cut through the noise just to your right. "I had no idea you guys were dating."

You sighed and turned to face the figure, playing nervously with the cup in your hands. "We're not."

Her eyebrows furrowed, "You're not? So... that's not a couple's costume?"

"It's not," you said, forcing a smile and making a mental note to chew Tyler out later. "And the only reason he's hanging on to me is because he's drunk. He has a habit of hanging onto people when he's drunk."

"Yeah, I remember."

"Yeah."

You were glad when she finally walked off, and also when Josh decided to keep his mouth shut. Once you had taken a second to calm your breathing back down, you refilled your water and walked back into the other room. Tyler helped Josh sit back down on the ground, though he did have a mind of his own when it came to where he was sitting. Rather than sitting next to Tyler, which had been Tyler's intention, Josh ended up cross legged across from you.

"Hi, Josh," you smiled.

"Hi, Y/N," he said, giving you one of his famous crinkly-eyed smiles. His nose scrunched a little too, making you nearly melt on the spot.

"How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful. In fact, I feel almost as good as you look."

You ignored the stares of everyone else sitting in your makeshift circle and kept your eyes on Josh. Sure, he could be a bit of a flirt when he got tipsy, but you had never experienced anything quite like this.

"Thank you."

"Mmmhmm." He paused for a moment and then craned his neck so he could look at Tyler. "Hey, Tyler."

"Hey, Josh."

"Hey, hey, did you know that your voice is really nice? I like when you sing."

A shy smile passed over Tyler's face and he mumbled a quiet thanks. Josh, obviously pleased with this reaction, then turned back to you.

"I don't have a nice voice," he shook his head while maintaining very serious eye contact with you. "I just play the drums and then I get calluses all over my hands. Look at this."

He held a hand right up to your face. You gently grabbed his wrist and pushed it away from you so that you could actually see what he was trying to show you. His eyebrows knit together in confusion for a moment before relaxing again.

"You don't have that many calluses, Josh. Your hands are very nice."

"You think my hands are nice?"

You held back a laugh, afraid it might upset him. "Yes, very nice."

"But look at your hands."

He somehow managed to wriggle his one hand away from your grip and grabbed yours. You ignored Tyler's stares as Josh very delicately picked up your hands and rested them on top of his fingers so that he could look at them. His thumbs ran gently over the backs of your palms, just barely ghosting against your skin.

"See? You don't have any calluses. And your hands are so much smaller than mine. Look."

Once again, your hands were being pulled in all different directions by Josh, this time to press your hands together so that he could see how much bigger his hands were. He very carefully lined up the bottoms of your palms for the most accurate depiction.

"My fingers are so much longer than yours!" he grinned, obviously pleased with himself. "Can you feel all the calluses on my hand?"

"Yes, I can."

"What about now?"

You tried not to jump as Josh slid his fingers between yours and closed his hand. Slowly, yours did the same until you were essentially showing off your hand holding to the entire group. Josh, of course, didn't mind, but you could practically feel every set of eyes that was watching you.

"I still feel them."

Josh sighed dramatically and let your hands fall, though he kept your fingers interlaced. "That's not fair. I don't want you to feel my calluses when we hold hands, that's embarrassing!"

"It's not a big deal, Josh."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Hey, you know who has really small hands?" he smiled, changing the subject in an instant. He answered his own question before you had a chance to. "Tyler."

"Hmm?" Tyler asked.

"Bro, let me see your hands."

Tyler reluctantly held his hands out and Josh finally scooted away from you to investigate. He did the same thing he had with you where he delicately held Tyler's hands in front of his face, but you took notice of the fact that he wasn't gently running his thumbs over the back of Tyler's palm. That made you smile.

"Your hands are so small and soft," Josh said. "I wish my hands were small and soft."

"Thanks, I think?"

The room went quiet as the song that had been playing came to an end. You immediately recognized the beginning of the next one that played, considering you had heard it at countless concerts. Tyler was already looking at you when you went to shoot him a look.

"You really did it," you laughed.

He shrugged, "Just the one. I couldn't resist."

"Tyler!" Josh gasped, squeezing his friend's hands a little tighter as he looked up to meet his eyes. "This is our song!"

Josh dropped Tyler's hands in an instant and began to air drum in time with the song, much to the amusement of everyone around him. You sighed and took a long sip of what was left of your drink.

It was going to be a long night.

*      *      *

People finally started to leave around one in the morning. Josh was still drunk and following you around like a lost puppy, though he had sobered up somewhat. You were just glad that he hadn't ended up puking in the middle of the living room, which had been a concern at one point.

"Ok, I think it's time for us to head out," Mark said, clapping his hands together. "Brad, you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Wait!" Josh called, pulling his head up from where it had previously been resting on your shoulder. "I have to say goodbye."

"We all do," you laughed.

You watched as Josh walked up to Mark and firmly placed his hands on either side of his face.

"Mark, I love you so much," he said. "Thank you so much for taking awesome pic- videos of our concerts."

"It's no problem, bud," Mark smiled, giving Josh a firm clap on the shoulder.

"And Brad!" Josh continued, doing the same to him as he had done to Mark. "Wow, your beard is so nice. I love you, man."

Brad nodded, his lips firmly pressed together. "Sounds about right."

Once they were out the door, it was finally just you, Tyler, and Josh left. You were exhausted, but the house was a mess and you didn't want to leave Tyler to clean up everything by himself, especially since you knew Josh wouldn't be any help.

"Where do you want to start?" you asked, turning to Tyler.

"I say we start in the living room and work from there."

"Good plan."

*      *      *

Josh's POV

"Y/N!" I called.

"What?" they answered from the other room.

"Will you come sit on the couch with me?"

I listened as their footsteps grew steadily closer. When they appeared around the corner, my face immediately grew into a smile.

"I'll come sit with you once Tyler and I are done cleaning. If you want it to go faster, then you can help."

"I am helping! By eating these chips," I grinned, holding up the bag for added effect.

Y/N shot me a look before they turned and walked back into the other room. I could hear them and Tyler quietly talking, but I couldn't make out anything they were saying. The crunching of chips echoing in my head was doing nothing to help that, either.

The bag of chips was nearly gone by the time Y/N finally joined me on the couch. I immediately laid down and rested my head in their lap, eager to be close to them. Normally I would be too scared to even graze their hand on accident, but something about the alcohol in my system was giving me all the confidence I needed.

"Is this ok?" I mumbled.

"Yeah, you're fine."

"Good, because I didn't want to move."

Y/N laughed and rested a hand on my head. They slowly started to brush their hands through my hair, nearly lulling me into a sleep. When Tyler started to talk too, I knew there was no way that I would be staying awake for more than a few more minutes.

I floated in and out of sleep until Tyler finally shook me awake for good and told me I should move to the guest room. When I started to protest, he shot me a look and nodded in the direction of the hallway.

"Are you going to be ok getting dressed?" Tyler asked. He was leaned in the doorway while I stumbled my way towards the bed.

"I'll be fine," I mumbled. "Where's Y/N?"

"Josh, I know you..." he turned and looked over his shoulder, "...love them, but you don't need to be with them at every waking moment."

"Yes, I do!"

"I'll be right back. You get into pajamas."

Tyler shut the door and walked off before I had a chance to say anything else. While I waited for him to return, I slowly shuffled around the room to grab my pajamas and get changed into them. I felt a lot more comfortable once I was in sweatpants and a t-shirt instead of my skeleton onesie.

I was about to call out for Tyler when I heard him talking to Y/N just outside the door. Letting my curiosity get the best of me, I slowly crept towards the door and put my ear up against it.

"Where did you want to sleep tonight? I can take the couch, if you want me to. Tomorrow is going to be a long night and I know you already don't sleep well away from home," Tyler said.

"Are you sure? I really don't mind taking the-"

I suddenly pulled the door open, making both Tyler and Y/N jump. They watched me with raised eyebrows while I took a moment to process what I had just done.

"They can sleep in here with me."

"Josh," Tyler sighed.

"I need them to protect me! Tomorrow is Halloween which means there will be scary creatures out."

Tyler looked to Y/N, who simply shrugged. "I mean, it eliminates the problem of who has to sleep on the couch."

"If you're cool with it, then I won't stop you."

"I'm sure it will be fine," Y/N smiled.

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning then."

"Goodnight, Ty."

"Goodnight!" I chimed in.

"Good luck with him," Tyler laughed.

"Thanks, I'll need it."

I smiled as Y/N walked into the room with me and Tyler walked off down the hall. While Y/N dug around in their bag for pajamas, I collapsed back down onto the bed. It creaked a little from the sudden weight.

"Damn," Y/N muttered.

"What?"

"I'll be right back."

I watched as Y/N quickly opened the door and disappeared from the room, hopefully not to tell Tyler that they wanted to sleep on the couch, after all. The mere thought of it was upsetting.

When Y/N returned, they were wearing an oversized t-shirt over a pair of sweatpants, much like me, although I was sure that it wasn't their shirt. They tossed their skeleton onesie down onto their stuff and started to scroll through their phone.

"Whose shirt is that?" I asked.

"Tyler's?" they said, looking up at me. "Why?"

"Why are you wearing Tyler's shirt?"

"Because I forgot pajamas and didn't want to sleep in the onesie."

"Why don't you wear my shirt?" I frowned.

They finally turned off their phone and slipped it into the pocket of their sweatpants. "Because you don't have any extras here and Tyler does. Is somebody jealous?"

"No," I huffed, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. "I just think you would look better in my shirt."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Here, take it."

Y/N tried to stop me, but it was too late. My shirt was off and sitting in a small heap next to the bed. When they raised their eyebrows at me, I simply gave them my sweetest smile.

"Now you can wear it."

"I'm not going to wear your shirt, Josh."

"Why not?" I whined. "I took it off just for you."

I could have sworn that I saw a hint of a smile cross Y/N's face, but they were too far and my vision wasn't quite clear enough for me to be able to tell.

"I'm already in Tyler's shirt and I'm not going to take it off just to put yours on."

"Do you like him better or something?"

"No, I-"

"Are you in love with Tyler?"

"I'm not in love with Tyler," they sighed. "He's my best friend and nothing more."

Y/N slowly wandered over and took a seat next to where I was laying on the bed. They were close enough that I could feel the body heat radiating from them, but not close enough that I could move to touch them without making my intentions obvious.

"I'm in love with someone."

"Who?" they asked softly.

"I can't tell you. It's a secret."

"You're such a tease," Y/N laughed, shoving at my leg. "I really thought you were drunk enough to tell me your secrets."

"I'll never tell you my secrets," I grinned.

"I'll get them out of you someday. Now, are you ready to go to bed?"

I stuck my bottom lip out, "I want to talk to you more."

"We can talk tomorrow."

"Please, Y/N?"

"I'm really tired after tonight. Can you please not make this difficult?"

"Ok."

I got under the covers while Y/N got up and flipped the overhead light off. There was still a lamp sitting on the bedside table, casting weird shadows onto the walls, especially when Y/N walked around the bed.

"Are you comfortable, Josh?"

"Yep."

"You don't feel like you're going to puke, do you?"

"Nope."

"Ok, then I'm going to turn the light off."

The room looked different in the dark, and my drunk state wasn't doing anything to help the weird patterns that were dancing on the walls. I pulled the blanket up a little closer to my neck, hoping it would help me feel a little more secure. Just as I was about to shut my eyes, an idea popped into my head.

"Y/N?" I whispered.

"What?"

"I'm cold."

"That's probably because you threw your shirt on the ground. I'm the perfect temperature."

I sighed. This wasn't going as planned.

"Will you cuddle with me?"

"Josh, I'm not going to cuddle with you. Just put your shirt back on."

"I don't want to. I like sleeping shirtless."

"Then get another blanket and stop complaining."

"No, Y/N," I whined.

"Joshua Dun, drunk or not, it is not my job to baby you."

"Please, I just want to cuddle with you. It's cold and I don't like the dark."

"Well if you would actually close your eyes and stop talking, you might fall asleep so you don't have to deal with it anymore."

"I'm not going to be able to fall asleep, I'm too paranoid."

Y/N was quiet for a moment. At first I thought they had finally given up and decided to ignore me, but then they shifted closer to me, bringing their pillow along with them.

"Where do you want me?"

"Could you just like... wrap around me, maybe?"

Y/N hesitantly slid one of their arms across my chest. Their hand went up to rest on my shoulder, sending familiar tingles down the length of my arm. I used one of my arms to wrap around them and rest on their hip, holding them close to me. They laid their head just above my collarbone, making it so that I could feel the steadiness of their breath against my skin. I was suddenly very glad I had decided to take my shirt off earlier, even if it had been for a dumb reason.

"Is this helping?" they asked.

"Yeah. Are you comfortable?"

"Mmmhmm. Are you?"

"I've never been more comfortable in my life."

"Me too."

"Goodnight, Y/N."

"Goodnight, Josh."

I was asleep within minutes.