farm boy // joshler

8

tyler's point of view

"maybe you are dumb." i giggle a little, still shy and slightly nervous about the conversation.

"i am." he leans forward a little, and my heart goes haywire. he kisses my cheek and i bite my tongue, trying to ignore the burning in my face. "but so are you." he laughs in my ear and i push him away.

"shut up." i laugh with him, the movie completely forgotten by both of us.

before we know it, the credits are rolling and josh is still giggling about a joke he told.

"are you tired?" he looks at me and i shake my head, looking down at my hands.

"no. i think i want to paint my nails actually," i pull my knees up to my chest, looking down at the chipping of the polish that was there previously. "but i don't want scott to make fun of me."

josh's face falls a little. "i'm sorry."

"no, it's okay," i take his hand in mine. "the paint would chip off again while we were in the garden anyway."

"well," he sighs, "if you're not tired, what do you want to do?"

"can i watch you paint?" i ask, not realizing until after i've said it how creepy it is to ask something like that.

"oh. um, sure. i made you play for me and scott, so i guess it's only fair." he stands up and stretches. "come on."

i follow him down to the basement and watch as he gathers his supplies and plays quiet music.

"i always listen to music while i paint," he says, dipping his paintbrush in a soft brown color as he begins to paint my hair. "hope you don't mind." his harsh strokes against the canvas perfectly portray the texture of my hair, and i run a hand through the mess on top of my head.

"not at all."

he fills in my eyebrows with individual lines, painting each hair as precisely as he can.

i take a seat on an empty crate to the left of him, but he doesn't notice. he's completely in his zone, swaying slightly with the music and utilizing several different shades of brown to make my hair more realistic.

an arctic monkeys song begins to play quietly and i recognize it immediately as love is a laserquest.

i hum softly and josh seems to catch this, turning to look at me.

"you like this song?" he pauses to clean his brush and choose a different one, then offers me a small smile.

"i do." i smile back at him. "one of their best songs in my opinion."

"i like 505 personally." he swirls a brand new shade of brown across his pallete and starts in on my irises.

"that's a good one," i stand up and step closer to him, watching his brush drag across the canvas repeatedly. i yawn quietly and he looks over to me.

"are you ready for bed now?"

i shrug. "i'm okay."

josh puts his brush down and pauses his music. "you yawned. classic sign of tiredness."

"fine." i cross my arms over my chest. "i'm a little tired. so what?"

"so," josh pauses and starts to clean up, "we have to work tomorrow, and you'll be sleepy."

"i'm a big kid. i can handle myself, joshua." i stick my tongue out at him when he turns to look at me.

he shakes his head and finishes cleaning. "come on, big kid. one of us has to be responsible."

i follow him upstairs, knowing he's right. once we get to the top of the second set stairs, he stops at his bedroom door.

"goodnight." he smiles a little and opens his door, disappearing behind it without another word.

"goodnight," i mumble the word, knowing he can't hear me anymore. i walk into my own room and close the door. i lay on my bed and stare up at the ceiling.

like a teenage girl, i rethink everything that happened tonight, reanalyzing his words and actions.

now that it's established that we both have an interest in each other, i'm not sure what the next move should be. am i supposed to make a move? is he?

the dynamics of the situation are unbeknownst to me, and i eventually give up, rolling over to lay on my stomach and close my eyes, allowing myself to drift off to sleep.

-

"so, you boys take care of the animals today so tyler can get sone experience. i'll handle the fruits and veggies." scott takes a sip of his coffee and i nod.

"alrighty." josh takes a seat next to me, his own cup of coffee in hand.

"what day is it?" i ask, looking back to scott.

"i do believe it is friday." he smiles.

"heck yeah it is," josh smiles too, "that means tomorrow is diner day."

"diner day?" i look back to josh in confusion.

"yeah. there's this little diner up the road that we go to every saturday. uncle scott has a crush on the owner." he elbows me gently and scott shakes his head.

"i do not." he stands up slaps josh lightly across the head. "hush, boy."

josh just laughs and i smile at the sound.

once we all finish our breakfast, we head to the feilds to start our day.

josh leads me all the way to the back of the property where the horses roam.

"this is blue." he stops to pet a dark black horse, running a hand through its hair. "she's the oldest." he moves on to a red-brown horse that is significantly smaller than the first and scratches behind its ear. "this little guy is otto. he's just a baby."

josh introduces me to the last two horses, honey and bear, and gives them some food before showing me where it's kept and where the other supplies (brushes, saddles, etc.) are stored.

after the four horses, he takes me to two goats, followed by three pigs and seven chickens.

he shows me the way to properly care for each animal, where the different food items are stored, and the right amount of seed to spread for the chickens in order to collect their eggs.

we finish in a little over an hour and then we go back inside.

"there's not much to the animals." josh shrugs. "they're pretty chill most days. whenever one of them is giving birth though, it can be a little messy."

"most births are," i add.

"so, we have the rest of the day to ourselves. what do you want to do?" he opens the fridge and hands me a bottle of watter.

"what is there to do?" i shrug and open my water to take a sip.

"not much. there's a theater about ten minutes away, a few stores five minutes past that... oh! there's a bowling alley not too far from here. you like bowling?"

"are you asking me on a date?" i feel my cheeks warm and paint themselves pink.

"i think i am."

"id love to."

(an: read keeper and protector by talktoemspooky thanks)