the boy on the bridge ✔️

16. oh boy

Chapter 16 — oh boy

"Oh, come on, it's not even that funny," Josh argues, albeit feebly so, covering part of his face with his hand.

He is at the bridge once again, not alone, of course — the bridge boy is there too. After Josh's little absence, they have quickly recovered and returned to their old routine; going to the bridge every night and just sit there and simply talk. They don't have to plan about it beforehand, they just meet every day.

"Okay, okay," the brunet reaches out and pulls Josh's hand away from his face, "I won't laugh anymore," he says, stifling his laughter as best as he can. However, his resolve only holds for a few seconds and he burst out laughing again.

Josh wants to frown, or at least pout, showcasing his upset but he can't. Not when the other boy still has hand in his. Giving his hand a little squeeze that somehow manages to reverberate throughout Josh's whole body, the bridge boy places both their hands on the few inches of space between them. He doesn't completely remove his hand then either, a few of their fingers overlapping over one another.

That shouldn't be a big deal. Just fingers touching. That happens. Sometimes accidentally... and sometimes not. But that shouldn't make Josh's heart pound the way it does right then.

Josh realises that it's quiet now; the bridge boy has stopped laughing. Why did he stop laughing now? Slowly and forcibly, he brings his eyes up and is met directly with the latter's green ones. Breath catches in his throat. He didn't realise they were sitting so close that Josh can count his eyelashes. Josh didn't know boys can have such pretty eyelashes. It's almost as if the blond is stuck in a trance; he wants to look away, yet he doesn't, and it's not like he can anyway.

Josh doesn't know if he's only imagining it, but there is a hint of hesitance and doubt behind those green eyes. He allows himself to wonder for a second, only for a second, if the other boy feels the things he does too — the way heat rises up to his cheeks just from a look from him, the way his heart beats crazily in his chest like now just from a single brush of skin. He quickly gets rid of the thoughts though, not wanting to build sandcastles in the air.

Josh gives him a small smile hoping to ease whatever doubts he had in his mind. It works for him — whenever he thinks something bad or ridiculous and he sees the bridge boy smiling at him, it just... helps. The boy does possess a wicked smile — the good kind though.

Josh turns away after that, and a new wave of warmth spread through him when his hand receives another squeeze. Neither of them says anything about the brief contact though, and moves on with their conversation.

Josh told the bridge boy about how he tried to make dinner for him and his sister — tried being the functional word here since his attempt at cooking went up in flames. It wasn't that funny really, but for the brunet it more than was and had a good laugh. Josh can't find it in him to be annoyed though; it is nice to hear him laugh.

"Did you guys have dinner after that or not?"

"I would have cooked again," the blond starts to say, but stops momentarily when the boy beside him lets out a snort.

Josh narrows his eyes at him and the latter quickly apologises, setting his lips in a straight line, promising to keep quiet.

"But my sister stood her ground; she said and I quote, 'I wish to eat tonight, not next month. Thank you very much,' and picked up the phone and ordered pizza. We had pizza," he concludes, and then sighs, "Okay, fine. You can laugh now,"

"Your sister sounds amazing," the other boy snickers, "God, I would like to meet her one day,"

A very offhanded and casual comment. He probably and yeah, most definitely didn't mean anything by it. But Josh stiffens at that. He imagines this curly-haired boy and his sister meeting, and maybe his other friends too. Not an absurd idea really but the more Josh thinks about it (and he only needs mere seconds to do that), the more intimidating it becomes.