the relationship arrangement// tyler joseph

chapter four

on wednesday, tyler woke you up bright and early because you had told him the day before that you wanted to go swimming. he thought that it was only right that you get to pick something do to for one of your dates, so now you both were in his car making the drive for the lake.

when you arrived, the first thing that tyler did was pull his shirt off and jump into the water, despite the fact that it was a little chilly. then again, it was a hot day outside, so maybe the water would feel refreshing. you were still hesitant to go all the way in, though. you slowly inched in, stopping when the water just reached your waist.

meanwhile, tyler was already soaked, his hair wet against his forehead and drops of water dripping all down his chest. when he looked back at you, a mischievous smile spread across his face.

"tyler, don't!" you yelled at him with a giggle, already knowing what he was about to do. but there was no use, because he wasn't going to listen to your pleading. once he was close enough, he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you under with him. when you came back up, tyler was laughing at you, so you splashed water up at his face in fake annoyance.

he grabbed onto you yet again, dragging you along with him as he waltzed farther out into the water. when he finally decided to stop, you spoke. "let go of me."

"okay," he said with a smirk, letting his hands fall off of you. you tried to take a step back, but then realized that the water was too deep for you right here. it went a bit above tyler's shoulders, so you knew that you wouldn't be able to stand here. he did that on purpose.

"really?" you asked him with a smile, reaching your arms out to wrap around his neck because it was too tiring to try to stay above the surface on your own. he accepted you back into his embrace, holding you tightly against him.

he looked so pretty in the sunlight, with his chocolate eyes shining and his skin tinted with gold. you wanted to reach out and touch his hair, but weren't too sure if you should. you had to keep reminding yourself that technically, he was your boyfriend. there was nothing weird about touching him. so, you decided to just do it.

as you pushed some of his wet hair back from his forehead, he stared at you intently, seemingly happy that you were touching him in some way. "i want you to do that more."

"what? touch your hair?"

"yeah. i like it."

you wondered if he meant that he only wanted you to do it this week, while you were actually together, or if he wanted you to continue doing it even when you were just friends. you thought that it would be weird to touch his hair like that if he were only your friend. you couldn't have imagined doing it before you became his girlfriend. but truthfully, you liked it too, and you didn't want to have to stop.

amidst your staring, tyler seemed to think it was the perfect opportunity to push you off of him and throw you back into the water. when you came back up for air, you started splashing him uncontrollably. it was really the only thing that you could do to get back at him.

"alright! we're even!" he called, squeezing his eyes shut and wiping the dripping water off of his drenched face.

after a while of swimming and splashing water at each other continuously, tyler offered to take you for ice cream to make up for the many times that he had caught you off guard and pushed you underwater. so now you were waiting in line at the nearest ice cream store, looking into the freezers and deciding what to get.

"maybe i should just go with vanilla," tyler said, studying the different flavors.

"are you serious?" you grimaced, completely appalled by his decision. there were so many options. anything could've been better than just plain vanilla.

"yes. is there something wrong with that?" he asked, looking up at you and placing a hand on his hip.

"there's a lot of things wrong with it," you argued.

"well, now i'm definitely getting vanilla."

when the person behind the counter took your orders, tyler went with vanilla as he said he would, and you chose something much more valid and tastier than he did. you even told him that he would enjoy yours more, but he insisted that he wouldn't. so, of course, you forced him to try it. you took a spoonful of it and brought it to his mouth. when he finished, he stared at you and didn't say anything.

"so? what do you think?" you asked.

"it's awful," he stated.

"liar." you shook your head and continued eating yours.

"try mine." he stuck the vanilla cone out to you and you hesitantly licked it.

"it's okay. but mine is better and you know it."

after taking a few more spoonfuls, tyler called your name and pointed to the side of his mouth. "you got something right here."

"do you have a napkin?"

"nope. don't worry about it though. i got it," he replied, leaning towards you.

"what?" your eyes widened as his face came closer and closer. he didn't answer you, instead, he tried to stifle a smile as he licked the ice cream from your skin, his tongue gliding over your lip as he did so. your mouth was slightly hanging open, so completely flustered by what he had done. you could feel your face quickly becoming hot, and you knew that tyler would notice the red tint that was surely on your cheeks.

"you know what? you're right. it does taste kinda good!" he teased. you were still staring at him in bewilderment.

"you are so weird," you told him with a slight laugh. he was staring at you now with a glint of admiration in his eyes, and his lips were curved into a small smile.

"you're really pretty, by the way" he said out of the blue. his words felt like a huge fluffy blanket enveloping you in its warmth, and you didn't know how someone could be this sweet. one second he was making sarcastic comments, and the next he was complimenting you. was this how he flirted?

"oh, thanks. you look pretty too," you replied shyly. you tried to seem nonchalant about his compliment but in reality, it felt like you were melting. he was chuckling to himself, and you could just tell that he loved getting reactions out of you. and quite honestly, you loved that he did it too.