Crushing (Joshler)

32. Routines

Start the song. It's Flowers (feat. Nori) by In Love With a Ghost.

Josh was exhausted and sore when he got home from practice. His entire body felt heavy with it as he made his way into the apartment. He smiled when he saw one of Ashley's sticky notes on the oven. His muscles were so fatigued that he had to hold onto the staircase railing to kick off his shoes without falling over. There wasn't even enough energy left inside of him to react when Alligator immediately sprinted down the stairs at his arrival, circling around his feet and purring.

As much as Josh appreciated Ashley keeping up the routine of leaving him sticky note instructions, he didn't have enough energy to do anything but go to sleep. He couldn't help but grin when he read the note though.

Dinner in the oven, Ashley and Tyler upstairs. xx

A second sticky note was stuck beside Ashley's. This one had messier handwriting, and said:

There's a muffin and a cookie in the bag on the counter. Pete bought them for you! -Tiny

Josh smiled at both of the notes, leaving them stuck to their assigned locations as he forced himself to go through the motions of his routine. God. Josh was so fucking glad he'd thought to shower in the locker rooms before the exhaustion could truly claim him. It took every ounce of energy he had left just to quickly eat the chicken and vegetables that had been kept warm for him in the oven and the maple cookie Pete bought him. He left the muffin for tomorrow. Then he was heading upstairs. He stopped in his bedroom doorway just long enough to register that only Ashley was sleeping in his bed. Suddenly, he felt very awake.

Tyler hadn't gone back to his apartment, right? He wasn't in danger, was he? He wasn't with Brendon? Maybe it was solely because of how tired Josh was, but he was suddenly incredibly concerned for Tyler's wellbeing. He couldn't imagine any other explanation for Tyler being gone. He abandoned his duffel bag in the hallway before making his way down the hallway, opening every door and finding them empty until he reached Abbie's room.

Relief washed over him when he saw Tyler curled up on top of the covers, his arm dangling over the side of the bed as he snored against the textbook still open beneath his cheek. Josh chuckled quietly.

"Don't fuckin' scare me like that, dumbass," Josh muttered under his breath.

He carefully slid the book out of Tyler's grip before shifting him so he could slip the younger man beneath the covers. Tyler grumbled against his throat, but allowed himself to be moved. Once Tyler was finally in what Josh believed would be a comfortable sleeping position, Josh stripped down to his underwear and climbed into bed behind Tyler. He wrapped an arm around Tyler's waist, feeling his sore muscles relax for the first time in hours. His smile widened when Tyler tangled their fingers together, pulling Josh's arm just a little bit tighter around him.

"You sleepin'?" Josh asked quietly, his drowsiness manifested in a thickening of his accent, making it far closer to the Cajun accent he'd inherited from his dad, before he'd spent most of his childhood training himself to sound like the rest of his classmates in Alabama.

Tyler hummed. "Studying," he murmured into his pillow. "Just taking a break."

Josh smirked at that, pressing a kiss to the side of Tyler's neck and another to his shoulder. "Long break," he observed.

"Can't help it. Too sleepy," Tyler whined quietly, making Josh's smile spread.

"What're you workin' on?" He asked, as if there was even the slightest chance Tyler was going to wake up and finish it tonight.

Tyler yawned, allowing Josh to gently pull him in closer until he could smell the herbaceous scent of his own shampoo in Tyler's hair. Something about that made Josh feel a bit dizzy, causing his aching muscles to relax a little bit more into the mattress. If he pressed a couple more lingering kisses to Tyler's shoulder then, it was nobody else's business.