Should have brought my library card because I wanna check you out / joshler

Chapter 8

Josh had eventually been able to convince Tyler out of bed and into the bathroom after continuous of chants of 'do it for the vine' and Josh's best attempt at puppy eyes. He'd snuck off after he'd heard Tyler turn the shower on and somehow managed to find the household toaster along with half a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter (crunchy obviously) and decided to make the both of them breakfast at two in the afternoon.

There was a deep pit that showed up in his stomach every time he thought about how empty and dead Tyler had looked in his bed, which was also accompanied by the overwhelming urge to snuggle the taller boy in blankets and comfort food until there was no room for his depression to stay. He tried to push that urge away.The least Josh could do was cook him food and stay with him until he felt better.

Somehow managing to hold a pair of plates and cups in his arms, Josh made his way back to Tyler's room where he made the bed before sprawling over it and leaning over the edge to pluck a random book from the bedroom floor. Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books Retold Through Twitter. He couldn't help but laugh at Tyler's adorably ridiculous taste in novels.

"Hey, Josh?" Tyler yelled through the bathroom door, grabbing the other boy's attention.

"Yeah, what's up man?"

There was a pause before Tyler asked if he could get a towel from the laundry room, Josh did and left the towel in front of the door for Tyler to grab while his back was turned. He eventually came out dressed plainly in black with the now damp towel bundled up in his arms which were exposed and gave Josh an unhindered view of the dark tattoos. He was grateful that Tyler didn't seem to notice the staring.

Josh sat back down on the bed with his legs crossed as he picked the book back up, he needed to see what classic was going to be sent through the shredder next.

There was a soft slump made into the bed as Tyler took his spot next to him, glancing over to see what he was skimming.

"Shoo, I gotta see how Hamlet ends." Josh used one of his hands in an attempt to pat Tyler away while keeping his eyes on the page as the boy next to him snorted in laughter.

"Don't worry about it, Hamlet fucks up and Fortinbras swoops in and saves the day."

Josh squinted down at the book, "How do fourteen bras save the day?" he asked earning himself a soft punch in the arm.

"You loser," Tyler mumbled. "Did you make food?"

Putting down the novel, Josh picked up Tyler's plate of now semi-warm toast and handed it to him after putting his own in his lap.

"Yeah, I'm no chef but I thought you could do with some food." He nudged Tyler lightly and a took a bite out of his peanut butter covered toast and realised he had burnt it slightly. He kept eating despite that.

Tyler didn't respond as he quietly chewed his food, keeping his gaze down at the literature covered floor. Josh frowned.

"Man, you don't have to be embarrassed or whatever from earlier. It happens to the best of us," he said before taking his biggest bite yet and feeling the peanuts crunch under his teeth.

Tyler still didn't respond, nor did he give any indications that he'd heard Josh.

"Do you think I could borrow the book?" Josh eventually asked as he lifted up the Twitterature novel.

Tyler nodded and they went back to eating in a comfortable silence.

///

After a poor excuse and a promise to make up for his lost hours Tyler was back to his usual routine of working at the library. He would be lying if he had tried to say that his latest low moods had definitely left him feeling petty and even slightly mad at himself. You're better than this he had tried to tell himself but he found it hard to believe much of what he said lately. Being back at the library and methodically sorting out books had been oddly comforting for him however as he got to spend hours concentrating on something that wasn't himself for once however that also meant he struggled not to concentrate on Josh too. He'd started sending Tyler reminders every morning to take medication and to have a big breakfast that would have been infuriatingly condescending if they had been from anyone besides Josh, he spoke with a tone that made Tyler believe that Josh knew exactly what it was like being in the position he was. Josh should have been infuriating to Tyler with his brightly coloured hair and little smirk whenever he knew he'd annoyed Tyler and the way he could sprint out of the library and away from the terror of Tyler's broom but he wasn't and that confused Tyler.

"Tyler! It's time for your break," Jenna's head peaked out from behind. Tyler nearly jumped in shock but managed to compose himself quickly and make his way to the break room.

If Jenna had known anything was up with Tyler she definitely hadn't tried to make it obvious.

Tyler nearly walked straight back out of the break room when he realised that Patrick was there, it had seemed that he was even more eager than Jenna to know what was the deal between Tyler and Josh.

In fact when he saw Patrick start to stand up and make his way towards Tyler in an attempt to ambush him, Tyler spun around on his hell and left the staff room along with the loud complaints being made by the blonde haired boy. He opted to spend his break reading in the non-fiction area instead, at this time of day it was usually quite empty and he hoped he could even sneak in a nap if no one could find him.

Grabbing his book for the week out from his bag behind the check out counter Tyler quietly found a beanbag to veg out in away from any prying eyes.

He couldn't help but let his eyes wander over to where Josh was usually to be found in the non-fiction section, swapping his alien novels with random history books except this time Josh was actually there. It took Tyler a good minute to remove himself from the beanbag that seemed to be trying to drown him but before long he had jumped out and was making his way to the Blue haired Menace.

"Hey asshole! You know it's my break right now, shoo!" Josh turned around, startled before scrambling up. "You're just being sneaky right now!" Tyler continued to yell.

He started flapping his hands in the vague direction of where Josh stood in an attempt to usher him out except the only person who seemed to be moving was Tyler.

"Cooking me food doesn't mean you get to keep trying to prove to everyone that aliens are real in my library," Tyler huffed before moving onto pushing Josh on his shoulder who seemed to just be staring at Tyler.

Tyler was about to ask him if he had something on his face before Josh finally moved. Except that he moved the opposite way Tyler wanted him to go, towards him. He squished his eyes shut just as Josh placed a peck on his mouth with his lips, it had barely lasted a second but already Tyler's face was flaring with heat. He opened his eyes to find the backside of Josh as he had begun his weekly ritual of sprinting out of the building away from a broom wielding Tyler. But this time Tyler couldn't move, he wondered for a second if his feet had somehow turned into stone as he slowly processed what had happened. What Josh had made happen.

He kissed him. He kissed Tyler. He was still staring at the door Josh had ran out of even when Jenna was clearly in his line of sight and jumping giddily. Tyler's stomach felt like that too.