Enamored //joshler

5. game night

5269 words

tyler's sitting in the same spot ashley left him when brendon finally gets home. the brunette gasps at the sound of the door opening, his head snapping in that direction. he smiles at the sight of his friend.

"brennie!"

"hey, ty. i've been trying to text you for the past twenty minutes. i stopped at starbucks and wasn't sure if you wanted anything."

tyler looks at his phone, frowning. he taps the screen. it doesn't turn on. he taps his watch. it doesn't turn on either.

"dead," he says, the word a bit muffled by the pacifier in his mouth. he holds out both electronics to brendon who happily replaces them with a blueberry muffin. tyler didn't see him even holding it!

the brunette gasps, carefully setting his pacifier aside as he starts nibbling on the treat. "s'yummy. t'anks!"

"of course, little man."

brendon disappears upstairs for a minute or two, presumably plugging in tyler's dead devices. once he returns, he sits right next to the boy and wraps an arm around him to pull him in for a side-hug.

"what've you been up to since ashley left, hm?"

tyler points at the tv screen.

"ohhh, i see. watching bluey, huh?"

tyler nods.

"well, do you still wanna watch or do you wanna do something else?"

tyler shrugs. "i 'unno," he says with a mouth-full. "snuggles?"

brendon cracks a smile. "sure, ty."

tyler giggles excitedly, setting the muffin wrapper aside. he repositions himself so that he's sitting sideways on the couch, pouring as much of himself over brendon as possible. his legs are strewn across the older's lap, one arm wrapped around the front of him while his head rests in the crook of his neck. brendon adjusts the blanket to cover both of them, making sure to grab tyler's paci because he knows he'll ask for it. he puts one arm around the boy's shoulders and rests the other over his legs.

sure enough, he hears tyler mumble the word, and he's quick to plop the pacifier between the boy's lips. they sit like that for a while, both watching bluey and snuggling contently. tyler loves his friends. they mean the absolute world to him. he's so unbelievably grateful for all of the different ways in which they care for him. he could never thank them enough.

at first, it was really weird to share this part of himself with anyone. i mean, it took him about four whole months before he finally worked up the courage to tell his friends. they were all a bit confused at first, not quite understanding what exactly he was talking about. the dynamic between them and tyler while he was in little space was a bit awkward at first.

they weren't sure how to act, and he wasn't comfortable really letting himself regress fully. it was something that, at that time, he'd only let himself do privately for almost two years. it was a learning experience for all four of them, but luckily tyler's friends are quick learners and they have never made him feel ashamed for who he is. in fact, they've been great at encouraging the boy and helping him regress anytime they know he needs it.

don't get tyler wrong, his friends are great, but he really wishes he had a daddy. someone who's a best friend, lover, and caretaker all wrapped into one precious package. he thinks of his friends more like informal caregivers. sure, they look out for him and help him when he needs it, but a daddy would go above and beyond.

god knows tyler could use a little structure and routine in his life. it's hard taking care of himself. some days he goes to bed way past when he knows he should be sleeping, others he doesn't drink a single sip of water, and sometimes he even forgets to brush his teeth!