Enamored //joshler [✔️]

26. forever

3695 words

josh opens the passenger door for tyler and helps him inside. he buckles tyler in snuggly, kissing the tip of his nose before shutting the door and getting in the car himself. tyler doesn't bother asking for aux, content with the quiet background music josh puts on. he wriggles in the passenger seat excitedly, fiddling with the seatbelt.

"daddy?" he asks, looking to josh.

keeping his eyes trained on the road, josh reaches out and squeezes tyler's thigh, making the boy squeak. "yes, baby?"

"where we goin'?" he asks, prying josh's hand off his leg and squeezing it gently.

"it's a surprise," josh responds patiently, casting tyler a sideways glance.

"can't you tell me now?" the boy whines, putting on his best puppy dog eyes and pouty lip combination. "pweaaase?"

"nope," josh responds casually, lacing their fingers together and resting their hands on the center console. "but i promise you'll love it."

"it's fun?"

"it's a lot of fun," josh confirms.

"like a lot of fun?"

"so much fun," he emphasizes, his smile matching tyler's as he briefly glances at the boy.

"'cause it's my birthday?"

"yep, exactly."

"did you know it's my birthday, daddy?"

"i did know that. happy birthday, sweetheart."

"daddy," tyler giggles, "you're silly."

"i'm not silly, you are," josh protests, only making tyler laugh harder.

"i love you," he beams, cheeks sore from how wide his smile is.

"i love you so much, ty baby."

their chatter falls short as tyler turns his attention out the window. josh pulls into the parking lot of a recreation center, earning a confused look from tyler.

"daddy? where are we?"

"we're going ice skating, honey," josh explains, lips drawn in a pleased smile.

"really?" tyler hides his open-mouthed smile behind his hand. his eyes are lit up bright with excitement.

"yes, really," josh chuckles. he unbuckles his seatbelt and walks around the car to tyler's side, helping him out of the car.

"never been ice skating before," tyler mumbles, more to himself than to josh. he takes the older's hand, hooking his index and middle finger around josh's ring and pinky finger as they head inside. "is scary?"

"it's not scary," josh assures, letting tyler swing their hands as they walk. "i'll be with you the whole time. it'll be lots of fun."

tyler's heart pounds in his chest, feeling both excited and nervous as josh pays for them to enter the rink. there's a lot of other people around, making him shrink inside himself and hide beneath the arm josh wraps around his shoulders. he guides tyler to one of the benches and sits beside him, the outside of their thighs pressed firmly together. josh begins untying his shoelaces so tyler follows his lead, his fingers trembling slightly.

he hears collective laughter and looks for the source of it, finding a group of girls standing nearby in a tight circle. one of them glances over at him and he quickly looks back at his shoes, his chest tightening. are they laughing at him? are they talking about him? what did he do? does he look funny? do they know he's little right now?