forty eight

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After the scene had unfolded, they agreed to play Tyler's Wii for a little bit.  Josh had connected it to the tv, and asked if the system was used before he received it, since it was a little scratched and smudgy.  Tyler didn't care in the end, because it still worked just fine.

They played games for hours until Zack enters, holding Ruby in his hand as she mewled out in protest, attempting to writhe herself out of the older man's hold.  Poor Ruby.

"It's getting a little late, isn't it?" Zack says as he sets the cat on Tyler's desk chair, shooting Josh a hinting look.

"Yeah, I guess so," Josh says just as the two finish the level, and Zack leaves again to bring up the rest of Ruby's stuff.  

Josh gets up, "Your brother wants me out—so I'll see you tomorrow?"

Tyler nods sadly, but then he remembers how he wanted to play Josh a song, and he speaks before he can stop himself, "I wanna show you something first."

And Tyler's a fucking idiot because he's not sure he's quite good enough yet, and he probably needs more practice, but Josh perks up at his statement, curious and excited, and Tyler doesn't wanna take it back and disappoint him.

So, he smiles to his boyfriend and hesitantly sets up his keyboard on his desk.  He gently moves Ruby to the floor so he can sit at his desk chair instead.

"Are you gonna play me something?" Josh asks enthusiastically as he moved to stand behind the addressed boy.

"I'm gonna—uh—attempt to," Tyler nervously readies his fingers over the keys, "Dedicated to us, yeah?"

Tyler takes in a breath, he's got this, he's had a lot of practice.

And he shakily presses the first key, focusing himself the best he can as the other boy watches intently.  Josh is listening, and he wants him to love what he plays, and that puts a lot of pressure on the brunette.

He winces each time he makes a mistake, but he quickly recovers and keeps going like normal, hoping Josh doesn't notice how off a misplaced note sounds.

It wasn't a long song at all, and he's soon pressing the final key, moving his hands away from the instrument to place them in his lap instead.

Then Josh is clapping, "That was perfect, baby boy!"

And Tyler grins uncontrollably, cheeks tinging pink, "Thanks, Josh."

The door is pushed open again as Zack peeks in, most likely to see if Josh has left yet, and Tyler's can't help but feel that his older brother has been really fucking annoying today.  Like, his pissbitch.  Haha remember that one?

Josh must've thought something similar, because he's holding his arms open for the smaller boy, "Alright, I should really go now."

Tyler quickly stands and clings to Josh, pressing himself as close as he can.  Josh chuckles as he wraps his arms around his waist, giving him a tight squeeze.  The hug isn't as long as Tyler would like, but he doesn't protest as Josh pulls away, the two exchanging their byes before Josh leaves for the night.

And Zack is still standing there, what the fuck does he want?

"Yeah?" Tyler asks, tilting his head at his older brother.  The man steps into the room and sits on the chair the younger was previously, sighing a little before he speaks.

"I've been an asshole today, huh?"

Fuck yeah, he was.

Tyler only shrugs instead; he doesn't wanna risk setting the older man off, if you can imagine.

"Yeah, I was... I'm sorry, T-bro, I'll make it up to you, okay?"

Tyler hesitates a moment before asking one of his biggest questions, "Why don't you like Josh anymore? You seemed to have liked him during Thanksgiving..."

Zack sighs again, slouching down in his seat as he gestures to Tyler's bed, wordlessly telling him to sit.  Tyler quickly complies as Zack rolls over to the edge of the bed.

The younger boy's both eager to hear Zack's reasons, and dreading them at the same time.  It's like taking a hard ass test and feeling that you might've passed it, but at the same time, you're not entirely sure because it's just... so hard.  That probably doesn't make any sense, none of this makes any sense, this is just a whole clusterfuck.

"I get these... vibes from him, you know? Bad vibes."

...Is he fucking serious?  Zack sounds like a fucking idiot to Tyler right now, why would he be getting bad vibes from Josh, but not Tyler himself, and he's the one who actually knows and spends time around him—unless he's lying, because there's a reason worse...

"Um... is it because Josh is a boy? And I like him?"

This seems to spark annoyance in the older man, and he visibly does his best to contain it as he speaks, "Tyler, I'm not a homophobe."

Tyler wants to push and get a real answer, but he doesn't wanna get fucking decked right now, either, so he only nods, "Okay."

"Okay," Zack smiles at the younger boy, standing from the chair, "Let's go make dinner, I haven't eaten since we were driving today."

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thank you guys, i love you! <3

ps i dont even know what song tyler played my apologies

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