Enamored //joshler

9. spilled juice

5067 words

quiet noise disturbs tyler. his eyes open the second his brain wakes up. unfortunately, he's not the heaviest sleeper. soft light peaks through the curtains, falling across the room. josh's body is tangled with his own, his lips parted slightly while quiet snores escape them.

despite how absolutely cute josh looks, his mind starts racing. what does this mean for their relationship? do they have to talk about it now? tyler would rather do literally anything in the entire world than that. he'd rather eat a hundred pieces of broccoli.

it's not that he doesn't want to be with josh. it's not that he doesn't want a relationship. if he's truly honest with himself, he does want one. more than anything.

he wants josh more than anything.

it's just that tyler knows he can't have josh. he can't have a relationship. not in the way that josh would want, at least. not in a "normal" way, whatever normal even is.

tyler doesn't just want a relationship, he wants a caregiver. he can't have one without the other. josh can't be his boyfriend without also being his daddy, but tyler can't ask josh to be his daddy because josh would think he's weird and stop talking to him.

josh has definitely never even heard of age regression. and on the off chance that he has, it's even less likely that he'd be understanding. even less likely than that, he'd be willing to take on the role of tyler's daddy. the odds are just not in his favor. it's possible, but not plausible.

tyler sighs deeply, wincing as it causes josh to stir. he tightens his grip on tyler for a moment before his eyes flutter open. guess he's not a heavy sleeper either.

they hold each other's gaze for quite some time before tyler can't take the silence anymore.

"morning."

"good morning," josh says before shutting his eyes again and nuzzling himself closer to tyler. "you're warm."

the brunette feels himself grow hotter. "you're comfy."

"so are you."

tyler doesn't know how to respond so he doesn't, he just lets his eyes fall shut too. he's not tired enough to fall back asleep so, instead, he focuses on josh's breathing. trying to match his breathing rhythm only results in tyler feeling short of breath so he gives up quickly. did josh fall back asleep? what is he supposed to do now?

"i'm hungry," josh voices, startling the boy.

"me too," tyler admits. his stomach has been growling on and off.

"you think ashley made breakfast?"

"what time is it?" tyler checks his watch. "it's almost noon, so it's lunch time."

"oh, is that how that works?" josh grins.

"yeah, is it not?"

"i'd still have breakfast as my first meal of the day."

"but i want lunch."

"lunch it is, then," josh says, not even hesitating to change his mind. it makes tyler smile. "but i don't want to get up."

"me neither," the younger agrees.

"what are you thinking for lunch?"

"i dunno. we could doordash taco bell?" tyler suggests.

"you're a genius. this is why we're friends."

friends.

josh slowly starts untangling himself from the brunette. it takes every ounce of strength within tyler to not whine in protest. he just internally cries as the warmth dissipates and josh is beckoning for him to get up too.