Josh and Tyler were walking side by side, neither of them saying a word. Josh want to bring up what had happened that morning, but he didn't want to make Tyler uncomfortable. The cold shoulder was expected, of course, but that didn't mean it was pleasant.

Just as they were about to walk out of the school, Tyler halted to a stop. He groaned loudly and sat down on the floor. Luckily, no one else was around to witness the boy's odd display.

"Are you alright?" Josh laughed.

Tyler leant back to lay on the ground. "No!"

Josh sat down next to him, his legs crossed. "What's up?"

"Basketball," Tyler grumbled.

Josh raised his eyebrows. "What about it?"

"I've got trainin' tonight," he explained. "God, I don't wanna go."

"You don't have to," Josh said with a shrug.

Tyler sat up. "Of course I do. I'm the team captain, man. Coach'll beat my ass if I don't show."

Josh was about to say something, but he was being interrupted by Tyler yelling, "Fuck!" at the top of his voice.

Josh jerked back at the sudden noise. "God, what now?"

"I missed the last training," Tyler whined. "I'm so fucking screwed. Please, oh, please kill me now. I am begging you."

"I think you're still a little concussed," Josh laughed.

Tyler sighed and stood up. "Well, I gotta go face Hell on Earth."

"Hey, wait, I'll come with you," Josh offered. "You can use me as an excuse. Say you were mourning your dead aunties."

"Aunties?" Tyler repeated.

"Yep," Josh grinned. "Both of the names used for my 'parents' were unisex, so I've decided that I had two moms. They died in a tragic boating accident."

Tyler chuckled. "Truly tragic that they're gone, man. I would've loved to meet them."

"Meet them?" Josh asked. "Tyler, you were their favourite nephew! What, don't you remember our Christmases together?"

Tyler gasped. "Oh, of course! They were truly incredible."

Josh hung his head over-dramatically and pretended to wipe his eyes. "They really were great."

Tyler sighed. "Yeah. Well, you can come to my training, but I don't trust that you'll like it."

Josh stood up and held his hand out to Tyler. "I'm sure I will."

Tyler took his hand and stumbled to his feet. He adjusted his bag on his back and began on his way to the gym, dreading facing Coach more and more with every step.

"Y'know, I used to shoot five-hundred shots every night," Tyler chirped suddenly.

"Woah," Josh said. "That's, like... a lot."

Tyler giggled. "It is. It's the only upside of this situation."

"What about meeting me?" Josh joked, pretending to be offended.

Tyler roller his eyes. "Sure, Mister Mafia-Boy-I've-Known-For-Two-Days."

Josh grinned. They continued to walk together in a peaceful silence, and when Josh looked at Tyler, he noticed something that made his heart skip a beat. Tyler wasn't shaking. For the first time since they'd met, Tyler wasn't trembling in overwhelming fear. That was definitely progress.

Once they made it into the gym, Tyler disappeared into the change rooms. Josh sat down in the bleachers and watched the boys that were already there. When Tyler emerged, he was dressed in a pair of baggy shorts and an oversized Lakers shirt. He met up with the other guys on his team, high-fiving them and laughing at whatever they were saying.

A man that Josh assumed was the coach pulled Tyler away, his movements angry and demanding. Just as predicted, Tyler was getting in trouble.

The shrill sound of a whistle pierced Josh's ears. The players, nearly in synch, lined up and began running back and forth. Josh was honestly getting tired just looking at them.

By the time they started playing a practice game, Josh was unsure of how they were all still upright. The only sign of the previous torture on Tyler's face was a slight blush. Josh respected that immensely, since he knew fully that he couldn't survive three minutes of what that boy had just endured. Josh had been kidnapped and tortured and beaten and stabbed, but it all seemed like nothing compared to the amount of physical exercise that Tyler had just done.

It was all going smoothly until about halfway through. Of course, Tyler had scored about a million goals, and he was going for another one when he was knocked to the ground. Josh expected him to just get straight back up, but he realised something was wrong when he noticed that Tyler was just sitting there, looking up at his teammate with wide eyes. It took him a while to realise it, but Tyler was having a flashback.

Josh had experienced his fair share of traumatic events. It was expected. He practically had flashbacks daily. He had only ever seen Brendon get one, so he was partially inexperienced with helping people get through them, but it was if his natural instincts set in with Tyler. Before Josh knew it, he was bolting down the stairs. He practically fell to the floor in front of Tyler and gently guided him to the change rooms.

Josh's 'natural instincts' disappeared as soon as they were alone. He was left with Tyler, shaking and crying on the floor, and he had no idea what to do.

Josh tugged at his hair. "Shit."