Enamored //joshler [✔️]

21 (part 1). hot chocolate

4388 words

halloween has passed and the bitterly cold november air has rolled in. tyler and josh both have exams before they go home for thanksgiving next week, so the two haven't been together as much as tyler would like. his exams are never too bad, but josh has been studying nonstop for days.

tyler sits in the living room with ashley, his laptop resting on the arm of the couch while a notebook sits flat against his thighs. his pen is moving rapidly, trying to recite the notes on his computer from memory. he's been doing pretty well, but he just can't seem to get a few sections to stick.

ashley is watching friends, the sound serving as a distraction to tyler every other minute, but he won't ask her to turn it off.

black ink draws across the page filled halfway with scribbles. tyler spills as much as he can remember as quickly as he can muster, not wanting to forget anything. he works for a few minutes straight until suddenly his mind is drawing another blank.

he cannot for the life of him remember the difference between the two forms of the sapir-whorf hypothesis in cognitive psychology. a frustrated sigh escapes him, the hand that's not holding his pen raising to his hair and curling a lock around his finger.

his eyes raise to the tv, suddenly very interested in the scene unfolding between joey and chandler. he watches for only a minute before casting his attention back towards his notebook, and then he feels frustrated all over again.

stupid sapir-whorf hypothesis.

it probably won't even be on the exam anyway.

"taking a break?" ashley's voice sounds from beside him.

he glances at her, his finger twisting the same lock atop his head over and over again. "yeah, i guess so."

"you've been studying all day," she points out, placing a piece of popcorn in her mouth, "and you didn't even come down earlier to eat dinner."

"dinner?" tyler frowns, "what time is it?"

"i dunno, late."

he glances at his watch, noticing it's nearing eight pm. his eyes widen slightly as he quickly retrieves his phone from his pocket. he has a few missed text messages from josh. was he really that focused that he didn't even feel his watch vibrate?

josh 🧸:
i miss you so much baby boy

did you eat?

i want to kiss you

i hate studying i'm so bored

can i come over and kiss you?

the last text had been sent about 20 minutes ago. tyler can't help but smile at the messages, his thumbs clumsily moving across the screen as he quickly responds.

hi daddy i miss you so much too

sorry i was very focused (and also distracted by friends)

no i didn't eat :\\ kinda hungry

did you?

pls come over and kiss me i'm done studying

he raises his gaze to ashley who's watching him with a smug grin.

"what?"

"oh, nothing," she shrugs, "just... you're so in love."