zap! ; joshler

sweetpea

joshua was nearly off the walls with excitement as he waited for tyler to arrive, making sure his house was clean and everything looked presentable. he knew he was being silly by freaking out over such a small thing, but he didn't want tyler to think he was a slob! he wanted his house and family to leave a good first impression.

as the doorbell rang, joshua was running into the front hall so he could answer the door before any of his other family members could. tyler was standing there, hands clasped behind his back as he shifted back and forth on his feet, his tiny frame covered in a sweater that was much too large for him and a pair of leggings. he looked smaller than usual, if that was even possible, and joshua thought he looked adorable.

"hi, ty! c'mon in," joshua said, stepping aside so tyler could enter his house. the two boys stood awkwardly in silence for a few moments before joshua stepped forward, pulling tyler tightly against his chest in a hug. the younger boy giggled and happily hugged joshua, pulling back after a few seconds.

"i was thinking we could watch a movie or something, if that's okay with you," joshua offered and tyler nodded in agreement, joshua not pushing him to speak, wanting the boy to be as comfortable as possible.

the two walked down the stairs to joshua's basement, where the fully furnished TV room was located. it was joshua's favorite place in his house, spending most of his time there, watching movies and TV shows whenever possible.

"do you like cats? my cat, pumpkin, is down there, but i can move her if you want."

"o-oh, i-i l-l-love c-cats!" tyler exclaimed, face lighting up with the mention of the animal. joshua was happy tyler was a cat person, as he wasn't sure he could be with someone who didn't like cats.

they sat on the couch together, at least a foot between them as joshua searched through the netflix movies, waiting for tyler to speak up when he saw a movie that caught his eye.

"th-that o-o-one! c-can we-we w-w-watch l-l-lilo an-and st-stitch?" tyler gasped, excitedly perking up. joshua smiled at his choice, about to press on the movie when pumpkin came trotting into the room, jumping in between them on the couch.

"this is pumpkin, she's really social and loves attention," joshua chuckled, watching as tyler slowly held his hand out, letting pumpkin sniff it before he pet her head, the animal leaning into his touch and purring happily. "she likes you!"

"i-i l-l-like h-h-her, too-too!" tyler giggled, moving closer to the cat, therefore moving closer to joshua as well. by the time the movie started, pumpkin was in tyler's lap and joshua decided to scootch even closer, using his cat as an excuse. he was just sitting there so he could pet pumpkin, definitely not because he wanted to cuddle with tyler.

admitting his feelings to himself brought an onslaught of thoughts he had never had before. it was almost as if he had opened a gate and every forbidden thought came flooding in, taking over his mind with the silly desires that could only be labeled as a crush. he suddenly wanted to hold tyler's hand and cuddle him and sometimes, although not too often, he even wanted to kiss tyler. crazy, right? if joshua wasn't sure before, he sure as hell was at that moment when he brought his arm around tyler's shoulders, the stereotypical movie-date move he had seen in countless numbers of movies.

tyler didn't seem to mind, though, leaning closer into joshua's side and humming in comfort. his laughter filled the air around them and joshua couldn't help himself from laughing as well, tyler's giggles contagious to him. the brunette was pulled tightly against joshua, the space between them nonexistent as they simultaneously pet pumpkin, the aura extremely peaceful.