to all the glowing eyes ✎ joshler

june 26

josh is a night owl. well, at least he is one now. he's grown used to sleeping at 4 am thanks to work he has to do or just for the fun of it. there isn't a reason for him to be up right now at 2:38 am, but he is. there's no classes later on today, staying up won't affect him terribly.

with jim sleeping by his side, he's got very little liberty to move since he doesn't want to wake him up. he's confined to scrolling down his boring instagram timeline until jim moves or wakes up to drink some water. he gets suggested a few people for him to follow, friends of friends or accounts he might like. he notices that tyler's account is being suggested to him, a few of his high school friends follow him. there isn't much thought to it but josh immediately presses the follow button.

it takes a few seconds for his action to sink in. "oh, shit," he whispers to himself to not catch much attention from jim as he continues to sleep.

not even a minute passes before he gets a follow from tyler in return. he's awake at this ungodly hour too... josh takes the opportunity to go into his account and check his posts out. there many pictures of different cities around the world, cities like nashville and rome to name a couple. josh always wanted to fly around the world; it's cool to see tyler had the guts to adventure out and see new places. there's a few pictures of tyler with a crowd of people, and him holding up a book. the cover is coal black, the edges of the pages a blood shade of red.

it looks like the old journal. he wonders if he chose to have it be that way.

something makes him go into his messages and look up tyler in there. it seems like they haven't texted in 4 years, give it or take. while he swallows his pride and little sanity he has left for the night, josh opens the conversation and types a 'hi' into the chat. he sends it and hopes for the best.

tyler j.: hi !
tyler j.: i see that you're awake too

josh: yeah. can't sleep
josh: why are you awake?

tyler j.: anxiety

josh: i'm sorry, ty

tyler j.: it's okay, i'm feeling better

josh: how was your day?

tyler j.: it was good. had an interview about my book. i think it went well.

josh: oh damn, i forget i'm talking to a famous author

tyler j.: i'm not that famous

josh: you're famous to me

tyler j.: well thank you. you're very kind
tyler j.: i need to go to sleep soon btw
tyler j.: i have a book signing tomorrow
tyler j.: today? time's weird

josh: really? i'd love to go and see you

tyler j.: you don't have to...
tyler j.: but i can send you the info in the morning

josh: okay!! i'll see you there

tyler j.: yeah. can't wait!
tyler j.: goodnight, josh

josh: goodnight, ty

the inside of josh's stomach feels like it's full of butterflies tickling at his sides. he giggles like a teenager in love. his cheeks feel hot and probably have a red shade on them as if he put on makeup to get them that color. it's been ages since he's felt like this about someone. of course it's tyler who makes his knees who weak and his heart do cartwheels after being numb to love for a long time.