smile. || joshler ||

Ch. 18

When Josh woke up, it was due to the fact that his alarm went off. He almost forgot he had school, and when he turned it off, he had a weight on his chest.

A smile made it's way to his face when he remembered that Tyler was now his boyfriend, but then he frowned since the bruise was still there; a painful reminder that Tyler's dad hits him. He couldn't even understand why in the world someone would hit their own child, let alone someone as sweet and nice as Tyler.

He pressed a kiss to Tyler's cheek, and slowly moved away from the boys hold, then left the room and went downstairs where he saw his mother cooking.

She narrowed her eyes on Josh, causing him to freeze, since that meant trouble, "So, when we're you going to tell me that Tyler stayed the night?"

"Um, Tyler stayed the night," He said with an innocent smile. His mom glared and he groaned, "Okay, well, he came over last night and he..got in a fight with this kid, and you were asleep so I didn't want to wake you."

She scoffed, "And he couldn't go home?"

"His dad was... he was out for the night and Ty lost his key. He needed me and I helped him out," He replied smoothly.

"So, why was he sleeping so cuddled up to you? Is there something I need to know?"

"We're dating," He smiled sheepishly, still getting that funny feeling in his stomach at the thought of Tyler being his boyfriend

His mom chuckled, giving her son a kiss on the head, "That's nice, Tyler seems like a sweet boy."

Before he could reply, they heard footsteps coming downstairs and Tyler walked in, but was wearing a sweater instead of the pajama shirt Josh gave him. It was Josh's sweater, and he knew he was wearing it to hide the cuts.

"Alright, I'm going to work. Don't miss the bus boys, and Tyler, you can stay over whenever you want, but no funny business. So, that means no locking doors and keep your hands above the waistline." Josh's mom winked.

They both blushed as she walked out and when she was gone, Josh walked over and pressed a kiss to Tyler's cheek, "Morning."

"Morning," He replied with a small smile.

Josh poured two bowls of cereal and frowned seeing Tyler not eating his. "What's wrong? Do you not like this kind?"

"I-I'm just not hungry," He told Josh, taking a drink of milk.

Josh gave him a confused look, "You sure baby? I can-"

Tyler choked on a bit of his drink, and Josh's eyes widened. He patted the boys back and asked, "Are you okay?"

"S-Sorry," He said, blushing fiercely, "You...you called me baby, I just-I always wanted a guy to call me that-oh god, I shouldn't have told you that. I sound like an idiot!"

Josh looked at him in amusement, he got up, taking the bowls and moving them to the sink, "Well, baby, why don't we get dressed? You can borrow some of my clothes."

Tyler giggled, nodding and when they went upstairs, he secretly let out a relieved sigh, glad the eating subject was gone.

-

The day was boring, once lunch came around, Josh made his way to the cafeteria, ignoring the stare he got from Jade. He headed to Tyler's table and when he sat down, Tyler gave him that big, loving smile reminding him of last night.