Colors // Joshler

// 62. The World Went Blue //

There was one day in particular, about a week after the discussion Tyler had had with his mother, that changed everything.

It was Tuesday afternoon, and Tyler and Josh were in Tyler's room. As per request, the door was open. Instead of the usual cuddles and kisses, the boys were physically separated. Josh sat on the window seat, petting Ruby, and Tyler sat on the floor, little black notebook and pencil in hand. The two boys had spent most of their time together that day studying, but after a while, they had taken a bit of a break. The sun was just going down, and Tyler knew that Josh would probably have to go home soon, but he was trying not to think too much about it.

For what had seemed like ages, Tyler had felt that he was on the very verge of something. A breakthrough, a moment that would alter everything. The perfect painting, he believed, was just beyond his grasp. All he had to do was reach out and find it.

The problem was, he didn't entirely know how. And that was frustrating.

With a slight sigh, Tyler glanced up at Josh. The blue-haired boy had stopped petting Ruby, who had jumped off his lap to sleep on the bed, and he was now looking out the window. 

And then the sun completely disappeared behind the horizon, and Tyler's world became that strange, in-between place known as dusk.

Dusk is a beautiful time of day. It is neither day nor night--the sky is still blue, but it is darker, and there is no visible sun. The world, it seems, is blue. The temperature starts to drop, and something feels both strangely unreal and wholly awake about the whole situation.

When the world went blue on that day, Josh went blue with it, and the inspiration that Tyler had been desperately searching for hit him like a truck.

"Don't move!" he said quickly, before Josh could turn his head and destroy the inspiration. Quickly, he flipped to a blank page in his notebook, and started sketching, glancing up at his lover every so often to make sure he was getting all his features right. Josh looked so beautiful, almost ethereal, bathed in that blue light, glancing out the window with his head tilted just so, his eyes dark and his curly blue hair wild and untamed. Everything about this scene was perfect.

It was a bit of a sudden, odd request, but to his credit, Josh didn't move. Not a single word slipped past his lips as he stayed perfectly still, letting Tyler do what he needed to do.

There were places that he fixed--lines erased, blurred, redrawn across the page. But after only five minutes, it was done. Tyler had just drawn not the perfect sketch, but the perfect first step for the painting he had always wanted to create. It captured all he needed to capture.

Carefully, he closed his notebook. HIs heart wasn't racing--rather, he felt as if it had dramatically slowed. He breathed in. "You can move now."

Josh quickly scrambled off the window seat and onto the floor, crawling over to Tyler. "What was that for?" he questioned, a bright spark of curiosity in his eyes.

The door was open, but Tyler didn't care. He pulled Josh in close, kissing him.

"A masterpiece."

A/N: Heyo, sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been going through a general writer's block, but I think it's finally going away! Any thoughts on this chapter?