It was the middle of the night. A sliver of moonlight shone through the crack in the curtains, illuminating a stripe on the bed. Stars sparkled in the sky above. The dead of night created a peaceful, serene silence. No one was awake. There was no sense of danger looming overhead. Everything was quiet.

Until Josh woke up screaming.

Josh jolted straight up in his bed and screamed at the top of his lungs. His screams pierced the silence like a bullet. He clawed at his bare chest, his dirty fingernails creating even more cuts and scrapes over the whip lashes.

"Josh?"

He began to hyperventilate. The darkness taunted him. The silver light coming from the moon did not drown the shadows. They seemed to be climbing out of the walls, the ceilings, the floors.

Someone was coming after Josh. Someone was going to take Josh away. Someone was going to hurt him.

"Josh-!"

He desperately gripped the sides of his head, pulling out tufts of thin green hair. His chest rose and fell quickly with every pained breath. The voices inside his head screamed, so Josh screamed back.

When his voice finally gave out after so much screaming, Josh started to mutter and whisper and twitch like an absolute madman.

"Josh!"

He faintly heard someone yelling his name, but his mind wouldn't let him comprehend anything. It kept repeating the same thing, over and over again: Time to wake up. Time for another round.

"Not the fire," Josh muttered, his wide eyes filling with misty tears. He stared down at his legs, covered by the thin sheet. All of the muscles in his body tensed. His lungs tightened. He couldn't breathe. It felt like he was drowning.

He gripped the sides of his head tighter and leaned over, putting his head between his legs.

"Don't take me Dallon, please I promise I-I..." Josh murmured. He rocked back and forth a bit and squeezed his eyes shut. "D-Don't get the whip, p-please. I promise I'll shut up. Just don't get the whip. N-No. Not the fire. Please."

Tears poured down his face. He gasped desperately for air. He still couldn't breathe. He still couldn't think and hear or see or understand anything around him. He was stuck inside of his own nightmare.

"Josh!"

Josh suddenly felt a hand touch his arm. His first instinct was that this person, whoever it was, was going to hurt him. Every touch was to hurt him, or to take him somewhere to be hurt. This person was going to take Josh away and hurt him.

Josh sat up slapped the person, right in the face with the back of his hand.

The loud SMACK sounded through the small bedroom.

It made Josh snap out of his daze. His eyes widened, and his hands went up and covered his mouth once he realized what he had done.

Tyler was sitting there in the darkness, head down. His hand held his cheek.

"Tyler..." Josh breathed. He reluctantly scooted forward and removed Tyler's hand from his face. His fingers gently brushed over the red, stinging skin.

Tyler looked up at him. His face didn't look angry, not in the slightest. Instead, there was sadness in his eyes.

"I-I-" Josh stuttered. He scooted closer and carefully took Tyler's face in his hands. "I'm sorry, Tyler. I j-just-"

Tyler simply shook his head and wrapped his arms around Josh, pulling him into his bare chest. Josh squeezed his eyes shut and curled up in Tyler's arms.

After a while of simply holding him and soothingly rubbing circles into his back, Tyler finally spoke up.

"Josh?" He whispered, softly pressing his lips against Josh's forehead.

Josh didn't answer. He didn't know what to say.

Tyler sighed deeply and held Josh tighter.

"What were you talking about?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper. He was so quiet, he could hear Josh's heavy heartbeat. "When you woke up."

Josh took a deep, shaky breath. He struggled to breathe through the tears streaming out of his eyes.

"Was that what they did to you?" Tyler continued, his fingers lightly tracing shapes on Josh's back. "They...they hurt you like that?"

Josh nodded and cringed. He curled even closer to Tyler, hiding his tear-stained face in his bare chest.

"I'm sorry, Josh," Tyler said, planting another kiss on Josh's forehead. "I know it means nothing compared to what you've been through, but I'm sorry."

Josh cried even more.

"But it's over now, Josh." Tyler ran his hand through Josh's curly green hair. "I love you, and I've got you. They don't. And they're never gonna have you again. You're with me now, Josh. It's over."

"N-No Tyler," Josh choked back his tears and wrapped his arms around Tyler's waist. "It's never over. And it won't be over until I'm dead in the ground."

Tyler stared blankly at the wall. Even though his expression was emotionless, a million things were going on behind his eyes. Countless thoughts raced through his mind, but he couldn't hold on to any of them.

All Tyler could do was hold Josh in his arms as he wept.

✗✗✗✗✗

Soft morning light poured in through the crack in the curtain.

The peaceful silence was gone.

It was replaced by distant, quiet white noise. The humming of machinery, the chirping of birds, the chatter and footsteps of people walking down the hall.

Tyler's eyelids fluttered opened. He stared at the ceiling for a few moments before slowly sitting up in his bed. He stretched his arms over his head and cracked his back. He closed his eyes, inhaled, and held his breath.

When he exhaled and opened his eyes, he looked down at the other side of the bed.

Josh was lying there, sleeping soundly on his pillow. His messy green hair was swept across his forehead, a few curly pieces hanging in front of his closed eyes. His vibrant tattoo sleeve seemed to glow in the soft light.

Tears stained his pillowcase.

Tyler rubbed his tired eyes.

He laid back down, shuffling under the covers and cuddling closer to Josh. He closed his eyes and sighed in satisfaction. The warmth radiating off of Josh's body made Tyler feel safe and secure. He hadn't felt that way in a long time.

"Josh," Tyler opened his eyes and softly nudged him. "Josh."

It took a few more nudges before Josh finally woke up. He groaned as his eyes squinted open. He blinked a few times, then looked down at Tyler.

Tyler smiled a little. He somehow couldn't stop smiling.

"Josh," he said again. Simply saying his name felt good. He'd been away for too long; he'd been alone for too long.

The corner of Josh's lips tugged up into a small, sad smile.

"Tyler," he whispered, his voice hoarse from sleep.

Tyler's smile slowly faded. He lightly traced his finger along Josh's skin, across his collarbone, down his tattooed arm.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, placing his hand softly on Josh's cheek.

Josh sighed and closed his eyes. He seemed to melt into Tyler's touch, taking in the warmth from his hand on his cheek.

"Better, I guess," Josh replied quietly, lifting one shoulder in a shrug.

Tyler pulled his hand away and planted a kiss on Josh's cheek instead.

"Anymore nightmares?" He asked hopefully.

Josh licked his dry lips and slowly inhaled. He looked down as he exhaled, averting his eyes from Tyler.

"Be honest to me, Josh," Tyler said. His voice was firm, yet gentle.

Tears pushed at the back of Josh's eyes, but he blinked them away.

"Yes," he answered, chewing on his bottom lip. "More nightmares."

Tyler let out a disappointed sigh, but it came out more as a soft whine.

"I love you, Josh."

"I love you, Tyler."

Tyler slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips against Josh's in a long, passionate kiss.

When Tyler finally pulled away and opened his eyes, he saw Josh's wide eyes staring back at him.

"What?" He asked, furrowing his brow.

Josh didn't respond, only continued staring at him, mouth slightly agape.

Anxiety began forming at the edges of Tyler's brain.

"What is it, Josh?" He pressed, propping himself up on one elbow.

"Tyler..." Josh shook his head in disbelief. "It's...it's your eyes."

"Wha-what about them?" Tyler asked, his voice shaking.

"Go look at them," Josh said simply. He was still staring, wide-eyed, at Tyler.

Tyler raised his eyebrows at Josh in confusion before slowly sitting up. He stood up and wrapped a sheet around his waist. He looked back at Josh once more, then walked over to the mirror hanging on the opposite wall.

When he finally saw his reflection, Tyler gasped. With one hand holding the sheet around his waist in place, his other hand reached up and brushed his cheek, right under his eye.

"They're..." Tyler started, but his voice slowly trailed off. He looked at his reflection one last time before turning around to Josh, who was sitting up against the headboard.

Tyler broke out into a smile.

"They're brown."

✗✗✗✗✗

Tyler stood on the stage, staring down at his Clique below him. They were shouting, dancing, singing, screaming, hugging, laughing.

Tyler couldn't help but smile.

"Hey!" Tyler yelled into the microphone hanging from the ceiling.

The thousands of Clique members went silent and looked expectantly at the stage.

When they saw Tyler and Josh standing there, they broke out into a thunderous applause.

Tyler glanced over at Josh and offered him a small smile.

When the cheering finally died down, Tyler reached out to steady the swinging microphone next to him.

"Glad to see you all are finally happy," Tyler said, smirking down at the huge crowd of Clique members.

"Glad to see you're happy too!" Someone toward the back of the pit shouted.

Laughter spread throughout the crowd, and Tyler actually joined in.

"Yeah, yeah," he jokingly rolled his eyes and began walking slowly around the raised stage. He couldn't take standing still for too long. "Don't get used to it. We all know we've just got something to celebrate, now don't we?"

Josh felt the heat rise to his cheeks as the thousands of people standing in the pit below him began to cheer and chant his name. It made him think back to his initiation, seemingly ages ago.

Missile Kid.

"I'd like to say a few words, if that's alright with you guys," Tyler said. He started pacing back and forth, the Clique watching his every move. He brought glowing white microphone hanging from the ceiling with him.

"First of all, everyone's got the week off-" Tyler began, but was interrupted by deafening screams once again.

"Hey!" He shouted into the microphone, stopping his steps. "Shut up!"

The crowd went silent.

Tyler rolled his eyes and continued his pacing.

"Next, thank you to everyone, and I mean everyone, who aided in Missile Kid's return. We did this. Not me. We."

The Clique cheered. And this time, Tyler let them.

"And I know you guys aren't the most welcoming..." Tyler said, looking at the Hard Clique in particular. "But any Sinners that were recruited, treat them the same as if they were in the Clique. It looks like they might be one of us."

At the front of the pit, Alex wrapped his arm around Jack's shoulder and pulled him into a tight hug. When they pulled away, they smiled brightly at each other and laughed. Alex left his arm draped across Jack's shoulder.

On the side of the pit, Youngblood, Mr. Benzedrine, Horseshoe, and Donnie stood together. Mr. Benzedrine kissed Youngblood's cheek and jokingly took his fedora, putting it on top of Horseshoe's curly hair. Donnie laughed.

Josh smiled down at the Clique. His Clique.

This was it.

This was home.

Tyler suddenly stopped walking and looked directly down at the thousands upon thousands of people below him.

Even though these past months had been emotionally draining, especially on Tyler, he was still the leader of the Clique. He was still Mad Gear.

But he wasn't Blurryface anymore.

The corner of Tyler's lips pulled up into a smirk.

"Things have shaped up to be pretty odd, haven't they?"

✗✗✗✗✗
✗✗✗✗✗

End of Act Two.

Again, I'm really sorry for the late update guys. I wanted to end this Act right. I didn't want to rush it and force it out simply because of the deadline.

And thank you to everyone in the last update chapter that told me not to worry and to take my time. Thank you for being accepting and wonderful and I love you all.

A bonus chapter will be up tomorrow.

And actually, I wasn't planning on writing an Act Three.

Do you guys think I should? Would you like that?

Thank you so so much for staying with this and supporting both the book and me. It makes me feel so happy that people enjoy what I've created, and I can't thank you enough.

I love you all my kiddos. ♡

- Liz.