Chapter Text
Josh hated practice. He would never admit it to anyone, but he hated it.
When he was younger, hockey used to be an escape for Josh. He would finish his schoolwork as soon as he could just to get to the rink early so he could get even just a few extra seconds in.
To say he was talented was an understatement. Josh would consistently put up multiple points a game, mostly in goals. When he made varsity as a freshman, no one was really shocked. The whole town was just waiting on what he would do next.
Tyler, on the other hand, had a love/hate relationship with practice. He would tell everyone who asked about how amazing basketball was, and he never found anything wrong with it. However, in his heart, he knew he was slowly losing his passion for it. Was he truthful about it though? Never. Similar to Josh, making varsity as a freshman came to a shock for no one. He had been deemed a “basketball prodigy” within his first two seasons of playing. He loved the attention he got from it.
While they had both heard of each other, the two had never actually crossed paths until they somehow both ended up at the same, 500 person, all boys, Catholic school. While the school wasn’t either of their first choice, they offered both better resources to get scouted for college than every other school on their lists.
The first three years of high school went smoothly for both. They stayed out of each other's way, not by design, just having different schedules. They each broke more records, created their own records, and were both named captain of their teams respectively. By senior year, however, things had changed.
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On the first day of senior year, Josh got up and ready for school, putting on his ironed uniform, and popping in his headphones before walking to school. He enjoyed walking to school, especially before it got too cold, meaning he would have to drive his siblings to school. When he got to school, he placed everything into his locker before heading to homeroom and finding his assigned seat. He looked at the people sitting near him, a few kids he knew from other classes that he wasn’t particularly friends with, a teammate, and none other than Tyler Joseph.
This didn’t bother Josh, just slightly annoyed him. He was aware of how Tyler carried himself being some sort of basketball god, had tons of girls around him at all times, and was just a generally outgoing person. Josh had heard all about Tyler from his sister, Ashley, who happened to be friends with Tyler’s sister, Maddy.
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“Give him a chance, Josh!” Ashley said “You guys are so similar! You both are like…good at sports and Tyler plays the piano! You could start a band!”
Josh laughed at her comment, “We aren’t that similar! We both happen to be athletes, who play very different sports, and honestly I don’t care that he plays the piano! A piano and drums? That’s crazy.”
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In school, Josh tried to avoid Tyler the best he could. They seemed to have pretty opposite schedules, meaning Josh didn’t see him in his classes nor at lunch. Josh was pretty grateful for this, as he tried his hardest to just blend into the background. He got enough attention at hockey, and was fine not being the center of attention at school.
Tyler on the other hand tried to see Josh as much as possible. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t obsessed with him. He would try to pull away from the crowds just to have a glance at him. At home, he would consistently search up how Josh’s games were going, how he was doing, and if there were any updates of him getting scouted for college. Sure, Tyler should have been worrying if he himself would be scouted, but Josh’s life was so much more interesting than his.
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A few months later, both of the boys started to hear back from the colleges they had applied to, and more coaches started throwing offers at them. Tyler had been set on going to Ohio State since he was young. Every practice, every clinic, every game, all for making it to Ohio State. He was overjoyed when he was offered a spot on their roster, all he had to do was be accepted into the school, which wasn’t a problem for the A student. Josh, however, was overwhelmed by his choices. He had toured a good amount of schools, all of which had offered him spots on their rosters, however, none of them felt like a good choice for him. He had offers from Ivy Leagues, which would be good if hockey ever failed him, but did he really want to bombard himself with the work of supplemental essays and keeping his grades above 95s for the rest of senior year? Absolutely not.
Josh decided he needed some alone time. His parents were consistently pressuring him to make his choice, his coaches pushing him extra hard to ensure he had one of those spots he was promised, school work piling up. Josh needed a break. He decided to go to his favorite bookstore. He put in his headphones and drove over. He bundled himself up in a plain outfit, ensuring nothing was showing any of the hockey teams he was associated with.
Tyler, being the best brother ever, decided to take his sister on an early Christmas shopping spree. She requested to go to the bookstore, the record store, and to chaperone her and her friends ice skating trip that Tyler didn’t particularly care about. Maddy also requested that she bring a friend along, which Tyler happily obliged to, as it would give him some time to search around for other gifts.
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In the bookstore, Josh put his headphones in and looked through all of the shelves. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular, just something interesting to read. Judging a book by its cover, perhaps. He picked up a few books and sat at a table in the corner to flip through them. Saying he was shocked to see THE Tyler Joseph standing in front of him would be an understatement.
“Hey, Tyler. What’s up?” Josh said to the taller boy standing in front of him.