Colors // Joshler

// 54. Lack Of Blue In The Atmosphere //

As the days wore on, Tyler and Josh only grew closer. They walked to school together every morning, ate lunch together, walked home together. Usually, after school, they'd go to Josh's house, but sometimes to Tyler's instead.

At the Dun residence, the boys would be openly affectionate towards one another--cuddling on the couch, holding hands as Josh led Tyler upstairs, that sort of thing. If one of Josh's siblings caught them, Tyler would feel a flicker of pale lavender, but nobody at Josh's house ever made a big deal about it, if they mentioned it at all.

At Tyler's house, Tyler was much more distant when family was around. He'd only cuddle and kiss with Josh when they were in the safety of his room, and only give him platonic affection otherwise. Josh didn't bring up why--he knew without asking that Tyler was still coming to terms with his own sexuality, and that he wasn't ready to share it with his family just yet.

Tyler himself was pretty sure his family wasn't homophobic, but he remained unsure how they would react. Truth be told, Tyler didn't spend much time with his family--before all of this Josh business, he'd spend all his time either at school or in his room--and so didn't know how they truly felt about boy-on-boy relationships.

In the end, Tyler just preferred to be at Josh's house. He felt more comfortable with being with Josh there, since he knew for sure that the Dun family didn't mind.

One afternoon, as Tyler and Josh lazily laid in the cool grass of Josh's backyard, the blue-haired boy brought it up.

"Do you ever think about us just...being us around your family?" Josh had asked slowly, as if unsure how else to put it.

Tyler had thought about it, many times. Now, he closed his eyes and pictured him and Josh walking hand in hand into his house, comfortable, and uncaring about what others might think or say. He tried to picture the looks on the faces of his parents and siblings--surprise, anger, distress, relief--but he couldn't.

"I do sometimes." He opened his eyes again and glanced over to the boy at his left. Josh was laying in the grass at his side, eyes looking up at the overcast sky. Despite the lack of blue in the atmosphere that day, it was a bit warmer out than it had been, and they had been able to leave their jackets behind in the house.

"What do you picture?"

"I can't picture anything," Tyler confessed. This was a bit frustrating to him; he was one to frequently imagine and go through situations in his head, and this one was kind of a roadblock. "I don't know what to picture."

"Maybe you could ask them how they feel about it, and say it was brought up at school," Josh suggested. "If you want to."

That was one of the many things that Tyler loved about Josh--the latter was always making sure that the former was comfortable.

Really, he was a bit curious about how they would react, and it was better to be safe than sorry. Tyler cuddled close to Josh's side, and gratefully accepted the blue-haired boy's arm around him. "I'll bring it up soon."

He would never get the chance.