static [joshler]

hold me close

Shadows rolled in as the sun hit the horizon. The April weather brought chilly winds to the two teens. The pair were outside of the Dun household. They sat silently on the backyard porch. It was getting darker by the minute yet they stayed put. The sun setting was beautiful. Both of them individually thought about how they should do this more often. It was peaceful.

Tyler had one knee to his chest. The other one hung off the swinging bench. The front tip of his shoe dragged delicately on the ground as Josh, who was to the right of him, pushed the swing gently with both his feet. Josh was taller than Tyler so he had no problem with controlling the wooden bench bolted to the porch ceiling.

Josh noticed Tyler shiver from the wind in his peripheral vision. He took a glance at the boy and could make out the little goose bumps raised on his once tan skin. He stopped the swing and sat up. He asked the obvious, "Are you cold?"

"A little, yeah."

"Do you need a blanket? I can go get one."

"Um, sure. I don't want to bother though."

"No, its fine. I was thinking of getting one." Josh climbed off of the seat. It rattled Tyler around and swung slightly after he was off. "You can stay here. Unless you want to come inside for a bit."

"Yeah, no, I rather sit on my ass."

Josh fought a laugh. "Gotcha. BRB, bro."

Tyler cracked a smile. "See you later."

The screen door opened back up a few minutes later. The older came out with a plaided blanket. The younger caught the big cloth as Josh tossed it to him. Tyler thanked Josh as he spread out the plaided blanket over the two. Josh cuddled into his blanket then made a satisfied sound.

Tyler pulled it so it was covering him more fully. "Now I'm not cold anymore."

"You are very welcome for keeping you warm."

Tyler laughed. "Oh, yes, thank you so very much. Even though its the blanket on top of me and not you."

"Its my blanket though."

"But did you knit it? No, you didn't."

"I went and got it!"

"Congrats, man. You want an award?"

"Sure. Where is it?"

A tune cut Tyler off from responding. He took the phone out from his pocket and read the number. It was his mom's. He quickly swiped the call away.

"Who was that?"

"I don't know. Just some random call." He lied, noticing eight other missed calls from his family. He didn't realize his family would even care that much that he ran away from home.

Oh wait. He never returned his Dad's car. It still sat parked in Josh's driveway. His parents only cared for their vehicle that they payed for and not their son that they didn't ask for.

"Oh I get those sometimes. They're usually scammers."

"Yeah." Anxiety filled the fragile boy. He thought about what would happen when he finally went to his own home. "Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I stay the night?"

The light on the porch turned on from the sun disappearing. They both looked at it momentarily. The yellowish light illuminated Tyler's brown eyes, so Josh could see his face better. He could tell something was off. He looked almost desperate. "Yeah. That'd be cool. My parents won't mind."

Tyler nodded slowly. "Cool."

He tucked his phone back in his pocket and pulled the blanket over him more when another breeze went by.