Warnings: Profanity, brief anxiety attack, lots of angst

Word Count: 2539

Author's Note: I got a request for a very angsty third (and final) part to this series! Hope you guys like it 💕

This was never supposed to happen.

You had told yourself from the moment the divorce was finalized that you wouldn't go for his best friend. That no matter how badly he had hurt you, he didn't deserve that low blow. Of course, that was before Josh had looked at you with those gorgeous brown eyes of his and told you that he was in love with you for the first time.

The two of you had been dating for six months now, and in that time you had felt happier than you ever had with Tyler. Even your worst days with Josh were better than your best with Tyler. For the first time, you knew what it felt like to be totally loved and appreciated. Josh took every opportunity that he could to wrap his arms around you, give you soft kisses, or do something as simple as resting his knee against yours during family dinners.

You still felt a pang of guilt every now and again. Even though Tyler had hurt you, it still seemed unfair to turn around and start dating his best friend. Josh had assured you that it was fine countless times, but it still didn't sit quite right.

"Y/N?" Josh asked, snapping you out of your daydream.

"Hmm?"

"You doing ok? You've been staring at the wall for awhile and I don't think you've blinked once," he said. His mouth turned up slightly at the end.

"I'm fine," you said, smiling to reassure him. "Just thinking about everything."

Josh nodded, "I think I'm about to post the announcement."

Anxiety immediately creeped its way into your mind, taking away any excitement that you had about finally announcing your relationship with Josh. You slid along the couch so that you could look over his shoulder, one of your hands rested lightly on his arm. He already had a caption typed out, although you couldn't quite make out what it said from where you were sitting.

"You're sure you want to do this?" you asked, trying to mask the way your voice shook.

He turned so that he could look at you, a smile on his face, "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

You grabbed his cheek and pulled him into a kiss. Knowing that Josh was confident in this decision helped to alleviate some of your fear. Even if everything went wrong, at least you would still have him.

"Posted," he said.

You grabbed your phone and opened Instagram. Josh's post appeared at the top. It was a picture of the two of you that he had taken a few months back. He was kissing your cheek as you laughed. You scrolled down so that you could read the caption.

joshuadun i've kept this on the downlow for quite some time, but i just wanted to let the world know that i love this human more than anything. she's pretty cool, even though she snores a lot. @y/n, how's that for official?

"I'd say that's pretty good," you smiled, leaning your head on Josh's shoulder. "Now to wait for all hell to break loose."

"We don't need to worry about that," Josh said, taking your phone and setting it on the coffee table. "All we have to focus on is one another."

"You're right," you sighed.

You and Josh sat and talked for awhile, completely ignoring your phones. It was a nice distraction from all the worries that were bouncing around in the back of your mind. Him playing with your hair also helped to calm you down.

Josh's phone began to vibrate against the coffee table. You sat up, allowing him to reach forward and grab it. As he answered the call, you managed to catch the name of who was calling.

Tyler.

"Hello?" Josh said, immediately getting off the couch and walking into another room.

You couldn't quite make out what Josh was saying, but it sounded heated. He walked back into the room a few minutes later, no longer on the phone, looking frustrated.

"Tyler is coming over."

"What?" you muttered, immediately feeling your stomach sink.

"He wanted to talk in person."

"Does he know I'm here?"

"Yeah, I told him." You wondered how Josh was staying so calm.

"Should I leave?"

"No, he said he wanted you here."

"Oh," you said, trying to ignore how the room was starting to spin. "Josh, I need you."

Josh was at your side in seconds, lightly resting his hand on your leg until he had an ok for more physical contact.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked, his voice calm and gentle.

"A hug. I'd like a hug."

Josh slid his arms around you, pulling you close to his chest. Your head was tucked under his chin. You held onto him tightly, allowing yourself to feel that he was here with you. That you were safe.

It had been close to a year since you had seen Tyler last. He had walked out the door with his last suitcase, not even taking a second glance back at you. You had sat on the couch and cried for hours after he left, stuck alone in the one place that reminded you of him the most. The image of him leaving was still so clear in your mind.

You hadn't even noticed Josh humming at first, your mind had been too clouded with thoughts of what was going to happen when you finally saw Tyler again. It was quiet, but you could just barely hear him over the sound of your heaving breaths.

"How are you doing?"

"Better," you mumbled. "I'm terrified, Josh."

"It's ok. I'm going to be here the entire time. I won't let him do anything that you aren't comfortable with."

"Thank you, Josh. I love you."

"I love you too."

It was quiet while the two of you waited for Tyler to arrive. You could tell that Josh was worrying, even though he was trying not to show it. He was tapping his fingers more than usual, a nervous habit of his.

You both jumped when the doorbell rang. Josh looked over to you and started to get up, but you grabbed his wrist.

"Together," you reassured him with a smile, gently pulling him towards you.

He gave you a quick kiss, "Together."

You could hear Josh greeting Tyler on the other side of the wall. It was quiet, so unlike the usual yelling that occurred when the two of them were together. Your breathing began to pick up as you heard their footsteps on the hardwood floors.

You watched Tyler's legs as he walked over and took a seat in the armchair, not daring to look at his face yet. The couch dipped slightly as Josh sat down next to you. He didn't reach out to make physical contact with you like he usually did.

"Hey, Y/N," Tyler said.

You felt your breath catch when you heard his voice again. Sure, you had heard him speak in interviews with Josh countless times, but there was something different about hearing it in person.

"Hi," you said, finally looking up at him.

Tyler looked pretty much the same as the last time you had seen him, aside from the fact that his hair was now cut short. He was only looking at you, as if Josh wasn't even in the room with the two of you right now. Your hands were shaking, but you hid them in the folds of the blanket that was over your legs.

"What did you want to talk about?" Josh asked, his tone defensive.

Tyler leaned back in the chair, gesturing casually between the two of you, "This."

He was putting on an act, you could tell from his mannerisms. This was affecting him more than he wanted to let on so he was playing the part of the tough guy taking control of the situation. You may not have seen him in close to a year, but you had loved him at one point. There were things about him that you couldn't just forget.

"How long has it been going on?" Tyler added.

Josh started to answer, but you spoke first, "Six months."

You saw Josh turn to look at you out of the corner of your eye, but you didn't meet his gaze. Tyler looked at him, pulling Josh's gaze away from you.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you were going to freak out, so I wanted to make sure that my relationship with Y/N was actually serious before I told you."

"I think I have a right to freak out considering she's my ex-wife."

You felt the tension rising in your chest, causing your fists to clench. Their raised voices were only stressing you out further.

"You divorced her, Tyler!"

"That doesn't give you the right to start dating her less than a year later!"

"You don't have a say in who I date, regardless of your history with them."

That was it.

"Stop it! Both of you!" you said, standing up from the couch. "I'm sitting right here and both of you are acting like I'm some toy that can just get passed around. I'm my own person, alright? I can't help who I fall in love with and you two need to stop acting like you're the only people who have a say in this situation."

They were both looking at you in shock. Neither of them had expected you to have an outburst like you had. Tears were brimming your eyes from the frustration and stress. It was time for you to take control of the situation.

"Tyler, I need a straight answer," you said, lowering your voice to a normal volume. "Why did we get divorced?"

His mouth struggled to form words as he looked up at you, color rising to his cheeks. He eventually mumbled a quiet, "I don't know."

"Bullshit. I can see it in your face, you know exactly why."

He looked between you and Josh for a moment. You stared him down, arms crossed, waiting for an answer.

"I, um," he started quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I ended things because I was scared."

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. That was an answer that you hadn't been expecting.

"What?"

He twisted his hands together as he searched for the right words, "I was terrified of how much you meant to me. I showed you parts of me that nobody had ever seen before. My heart stopped every time I looked at you. You took my breath away, Y/N. You could have told me to do anything and I would have. No hesitation. I felt vulnerable and it terrified me."

Things were finally beginning to piece themselves together, "So why did you leave?"

"To protect myself. I thought that if I pushed you away then I could convince myself that I didn't love you anymore. I could hide away the pieces of me that I didn't want anyone to see. It was easier to isolate myself, even if it meant hurting you. That's why I never offered an explanation."

"But why lie in the interview?"

"I'm not proud of what I did, Y/N. Like I said, I was scared and I didn't want people to get the wrong idea about me. I knew that it was going to break you. That it wasn't fair. But I didn't see any other option."

You almost felt bad for Tyler, but then the memories of everything that had happened came rushing the back. The nights spent crying because you felt so deserted. Barely being able to get out of bed because life seemed so hopeless. Thinking you were going to have to move away from the city that you had grown to love. All because Tyler was afraid of being in love.

"There were so many other options!" you snapped. "You can't even begin to understand the toll that this took on me. I could have helped you, Tyler, but instead you just gave up on me. Who cares, though? As long as your reputation is intact, right?"

"I'm sorry, Y/N. I really am."

You shook your head, "No. I won't accept that. If you were sorry, you wouldn't have left the way that you did."

You were done, unable to stand looking at Tyler for even another second. Without another glance at him, you left the room and headed straight for Josh's bedroom.

"Y/N, please," Tyler started to say.

Josh cut him off, saying something that you couldn't quite make out from where you were on the stairs. You hastily wiped a tear away and picked up your pace, wanting to be hidden away from the world.

Josh's comforter was warm. You pulled it up around you, leaving just your head exposed. Hot tears were running down your face, leaving damp spots on his pillow. Your chest was tight and not even deep, shaky breaths seemed to alleviate it.

Josh came upstairs some time later. You had no idea how much time had passed, you had been too busy crying and letting negative thoughts bounce around your head to pay much attention.

"Y/N, hey, what's going on?" he said, taking a seat next to you on the bed.

"Is he gone?" you squeaked.

"Tyler? Yeah, he left."

"Am I an awful person, Josh?"

"What? Why in the world would you think that?"

You started sniffling again, "I was so mean. He apologized and I just walked off."

"Alright, come here," Josh said, helping you into a sitting position. He pulled you close so that you could lean into his chest and wrap your arms around him. "You aren't awful just because you didn't accept his apology. What he did to you was terrible and no matter what his reason was, you didn't--and don't--deserve to be treated that way. Apologies don't always need to be accepted."

You sighed, "I guess you're right."

The room was quiet, aside from you sniffling every so often.

"What did you two talk about once I walked off?"

"Just how things are going to be from here on out. I explained more about why I didn't tell him about the relationship earlier. He tried to guilt me a little for dating you, but I brushed it off."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. None of this is your fault. Falling in love is a two way street, and if I thought it was a bad idea I wouldn't have pursued it."

"I love you, Josh. So much. Thank you for taking care of me."

"I love you too. And I'd do anything for the person who makes me the happiest."

You turned and pulled Josh into a kiss. He moved a hand to your cheek and wiped away your tears with his thumb.

It was still hard for you to believe that someone could care for you so much. After everything happened with Tyler, you hadn't been sure that true love even existed. But after a few months with Josh you realized that it did exist.

And it was right here in front of you.