In Love with a Lunatic (joshler)

5. Peppermint Schnapps

(*First Date -Blink-182)

Sunday
November 24

Tyler stares into the mirror, adjusting his sweatshirt. He smiles widely before quickly dropping it. He sighs and pulls his phone out of his pocket as it vibrates.

Lunatic:
Bring your skates

Tyler responds with a thumbs up emoji before shutting the bathroom light off and walking to his bedroom. He grabs his skates from his bag and struts to the living room, sitting on the couch and leaning back against the cushions with another sigh.

Tyler is sort of excited to go out today. It's the first time he hasn't drank in fifteen days. He's craving something. Anything. And with his anxiety being on high alert, he knows he'll cave at some point.

The last two weeks, if he wasn't at the stadium, he's stayed home and in bed, depressed about his recent loss and, even more recently, feeling sorry for himself about the incident at the competition last week. He's hoping a day out will help take his mind off all of it. Josh had a way of doing that, and as much as Tyler didn't want to admit it, he liked that about the hockey player.

It's currently the end of November. Thanksgiving is this week and Tyler is on break until the following Monday. He's not ready for it, honestly. His birthday is also coming up and he isn't ready for that either. He's just not ready to move on with life. He knows Thursday will be hard without the one family member that typically brought his family together in the first place.

The previous week, he wanted nothing more than to call his grandma and tell her about making a fool of himself on the ice. Hear her say it's going to be okay, that every skater has their moment. But he couldn't do that. Hearing those words from his mother meant little to nothing, he's too ashamed to keep putting it on Dallon, and his coach's words just didn't hit the ear the same way. He was forced to deal with what he was feeling, alone.

The brunette snaps out of his thoughts as a knock sounds at the door. Letting out a breath, he stands up and walks to the door, opening it. Josh smiles kindly and holds out a small daisy. Tyler's face blooms pink in surprise. He bites his cheek to keep from smiling before looking up at the man in the hall.

"Thanks, Dun," he says quietly, taking the flower from the boy's hand.

Josh smiles more, "I like seeing you in regular clothes. It's rare."

Tyler normally is always in leggings or sweatpants with a hoodie, sweater, or one of his skating outfits. Today, he decided on a pair of maroon colored loose fitting cargo pants with several pockets and flaps on both legs, a snug gray sweater, fitting his torso, and a pair of hightop black All-Star Converse.

The brunette takes a moment to soak in Josh's outfit. He has on ripped skinny jeans, a pair of black Doc Martens, and a hybrid jacket of denim and sweatshirt materials. Tyler hates himself for finding the hockey player so attractive.

Goddammit.

"Shall we?" Josh asks after a few moments of silence.

Tyler meets the man's eyes again and nods lightly. Shutting the door behind him, he locks the deadbolt and follows Josh outside to his car.

-

"Are we almost there? I have to pee."

"Like...five more minutes."

"Where are we going?"

"A surprise location."

Tyler rolls his eyes, "Ugh, you're one of those guys."

Josh chuckles, "Yes, I am. Don't deny it; you love it."

Tyler shakes his head but looks out the window to prevent the man from seeing him smile. He does love it. Whenever somebody takes time to do something special, it makes him feel fuzzy inside. It's been a while since anyone did that for him. Looking down at the daisy in his hand, he smiles softly, twirling the stem between his fingers.