Next Semester

19. whoppers

1146 words

As promised, Josh made Friday's class Halloween themed. Rather than do the writing prompts and editing work they typically did, he had them analyze different horror book passages for symbolism, motifs, and double meanings. Tyler would never admit it to Josh, but the lecture was actually kind of fun. The man also passed out candy, and when he did, he set two pieces down on Tyler's desk instead of just one like he had for everyone else. When Josh returned to his desk, Tyler discreetly pulled out his phone and texted him:

Tyler: playing favorites i see

Josh: I don't know what you're talking about.

Tyler: joshhh you gave me whoppers :(
Tyler: you gave me 2 pieces of candy but one was whoppers BOOOO

Josh: Aw, man. I didn't know you didn't like them...they're my favorites.

Tyler: then u can have mine
Tyler: we're the perfect pair

Tyler tried not to think too much about what he even meant by that and he really hoped Josh wouldn't either. He glanced up at the man to gauge his reaction and his heart skipped a beat
when he saw the man smiling at him.

Josh: We were meant to be best friends, clearly.

Tyler: why did you get lame candy
Tyler: where are the milk duds

Josh: I did not get lame candy! I got very normal, average Halloween candy.

Tyler: then why are there whoppers in my hand rn joshua

Josh: You have never called me by my full name... how deeply have I offended you with those Whoppers?

Tyler blushed a little at the realization that he hadn't called Josh by his full first name until now. It felt intimate and personal, like Josh was just some friend of his. He was glad that the man didn't find it weird because he would have buried himself alive if that were the case. He knew he and Josh were friends, but he didn't want to accidentally overstep boundaries and make things weird.

Tyler: deeply. i expect a full apology WITH tears later.

He watched the man stifle a laugh at his desk and internally celebrated.

Josh: How about you get to root through all of my candy and pick your favorites?

Tyler: oh i was gonna do that anyway dw

Josh: You're ridiculous. Get back to your work, Whopper-hater.

Tyler: Josh-hater** :)

Tyler looked up to see Josh playfully glaring at him before rolling his eyes and replying

Josh: You don't get any candy after class now.
Josh: You could never hate me. Who else would put up with you all the time?

Tyler: you're right...i could never hate you

••

"Dude, you seriously need to up your candy game," Tyler complained as he dug his hand through the pumpkin pale Josh and displayed his candy in. The two were back in his office before Tyler had to go back to his dorm and wait for Hayley to get out of class so that they could get ready for their big Halloween party. He didn't really have a reason to be with Josh other than to just hang out, but the man definitely didn't mind the company.

"You just have a horrible taste in candy," Josh countered, "How do you not like anything in there?"

Tyler shrugged, "I'm very specific about my candy and yours is not cutting it."

Josh laughed and walked around the desk to glance into the bucket himself. The younger blushed at how close they were now, but Josh didn't seem to notice, "Seriously, you don't like anything in there?"

Not being able to trust his voice to not shake, Tyler just shook his head. He was getting a lot better at not flustering around Josh, but in moments like these he just couldn't help it. He could feel Josh's warmth radiating off of him and his cologne was beginning to fill the air around him. Josh stuck his own hand in the bucket and brushed Tyler's to get a packet of whoppers out, "Fine, all the more I get to eat." He walked away and sat down on the couch to flip through a small book he had been holding in his other hand.

Tyler's hand felt like it was shocked by a live wire where Josh had touched it, but he pulled it out of the pale and shrugged, "Less bad candy I have to eat." He tried not to hold his breath as he sat down next to the man on the couch, leaning over to see what he was reading. It was in old English and only about 200 pages long, "What's that?"

"Oh, some classic that I have to teach at some point," Josh shrugged, not looking up from the book, "It's not too bad."

Tyler held his hand out for Josh to pass him the book and the man laughed lightly at the gesture, but passed him the book regardless. Tyler flipped through it and read sentences here and there, but scrunched his nose at it, "Ew, it's about war?"

"Not really," Josh sighed, "It's hard to explain without having you read the entire thing." The younger passed the book back to him and shook his head, "I won't be doing that."

The man laughed and nudged the boy with his shoulder, "It's not a bad book! It's just old."

With their shoulders still touching and Josh smiling at him like that, Tyler couldn't help but blush. He cleared his throat and shook his head, "I'll take your word for it." Josh was silent for a few moments as he stared at the boy next to him, but eventually he leaned back into the couch and broke their physical contact, "Oh, well. What time is your big party tonight?"

Tyler slumped a little, "10:30," he groaned. Josh shook his head, "I still can't believe you're going."

"Me neither," the brunet ran a stressed hand over his face, "I'd rather do anything else."

"And there's no getting out of it?" Josh's tone was softer as he looked at Tyler with slight concern in his eyes. That same swell rose in the boy's chest at the idea of Josh caring about him, but he tried to brush it off, "No, but it's alright. I'll survive one party."

He hoped he would survive one party.

"Do you have a costume?" the older asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Tyler rolled his eyes with fake exasperation,
"Hayley's making me wear a skeleton hoodie she has."

Josh nodded, clearly pleased with the answer, "You'll make a great skeleton."

"I'm going to look like an idiot."

"I don't think you're capable of looking like an idiot," Josh grinned, his lopsided smile growing more and more as he spoke, "I think you'll look great no matter what."

Tyler, obviously, blushed at the comment, "You're giving me a little more credit than I deserve."

"Never," Josh shook his head, "I know you'll be the best looking skeleton there."

Maybe Halloween wasn't all that bad.
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a/n

eeeek i'm so excited for this fic you guys have no idea
i hope you're as excited as i am mwahaha (i apologize in advance for what is about to happen)

-mare