come back // joshler

16: Josh & Tyler

"Y-you..love m-me..?", Josh asked with his eyes wide. Tyler gently smiled at the boy.

"Yeah", Tyler replied, causing Josh to shake his head slightly. Tyler was still holding on to the other boy's chin lightly, forcing Josh to look straight at his face. "What's wrong?"

"I just don't g-get i-it. Why would you l-love me?", Josh mumbled on the verge of tears. Tyler wrapped his arms around him gently, rubbing his back. "Why m-me..?"

"Why not?"

"I-I'm a horrible p-person, Tyler", Josh quietly mumbled into Tyler's shoulder. "Y-you deserve better."

"But I don't want anyone else", Tyler answered, holding Josh a bit tighter. Yeah, maybe Josh wasn't the best person, but he never did the same mistake twice, and he always learned from his mistakes, and that meant he wasn't completely rotten, didn't it? "I want you, and you're not a horrible person. Never were, never will be."

Josh just sobbed into Tyler's shoulder, letting Tyler calm him down. He listened as the boy whispered encouraging things into his ear and smiled slightly.

"You're worthy, Josh. You're kind, you're never angry for long, you care for people and you never leave anyone in trouble. You're beautiful, inside and out."

The bell rang again, signalling the end of Tyler and Josh's math class. Tyler pulled away from the hug he and Josh were sharing and looked at the boy, who's eyes were red and bloodshot, who's lip was trembling and who's cheeks were tear-stained all over. He gave him a sympathetic smile before he spoke up. "Are you feeling better?"

"Y-yeah", Josh slightly nodded. "Thanks, T-Ty.."

"Anytime, Joshy", Tyler grinned, and Josh blushed at the new nickname. "We have arts class next, do you feel okay enough to go?"

Josh nodded and Tyler entwined their hands together, leading Josh down the hallway. He made sure Josh was following and looked back every now and then. The action made Josh blush slightly, and he couldn't help but cover his face when Tyler looked at him the next time. Tyler just chuckled and eventually the two reached their classroom. Josh stepped inside before Tyler, poking his head in first to make sure it was empty. The two found a table to sit at, and Tyler sat down. Josh fumbled with the strings on his hoodie, suddenly shy.

"What is it, Joshy?", Tyler asked with concern laced in his voice. "You can sit down, y'know."

"N-no, I j-just..", Josh stuttered, losing all of his confidence at once. Tyler made him so nervous. "I.."

"Tell me, please", Tyler pleaded. He was getting worried of what was wrong.

"I-I, um, a-are we gonna g-go o-on a d-date..?", Josh quietly asked, and Tyler smiled at him.

"Of course. And hey?", Tyler started, and Josh gave him a questioning look. "You don't have to be so shy, it's alright."

Josh nodded and carefully sat down beside Tyler. Somehow the chair seemed closer than the last time they had sat beside each other in art class, but Josh wasn't complaining. He felt Tyler's hand grab his, and his thumb starting to lightly rub the top of his hand. He looked at Tyler and gave him a small smile, and Tyler smiled back at him. Soon enough the rest of the students had all found their way in the classroom, and the teacher got there too. She couldn't give anyone detention for being late since she herself was late for twenty minutes and she didn't know who had been there on time and who hadn't.

"Alright, class", the teacher, Ms. Harding, started, waiting for the students to settle down. "Today you'll be working in pairs with the person you're sat next to, just to make my job easier. We'll be drawing with a live model, the model being your pair. I'll pick the drawer and the model, and next class we'll switch."