𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙎 || 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿

19 - Snowy Day

Saturday, December 18th:

Finals were over, marking the last bit of school for the year. Josh had found that he and Tyler's presentation had gone rather well, though he didn't remember most of it. He was too focused on Tyler and how he spoke and how he looked and everything to do with him. When he saw that they got 95%, however, he figured they must have done something right.

Snow was falling that morning, light as it floated down to the ground from the gray sky. Josh stood in the snow, smiling up at the clouds for a moment, admiring the weather. He always loved this time of year.

As he breathed out, he could see his breath dissipating into the air in a puff of steam. He leaned against the cool metal of his car, and grinned widely as the door to the house he was in front of opened. Out stepped Tyler, who was actually wearing a coat this time, along with a beanie. His brown hair stuck out from under it, and Josh thought he looked adorable.

When Tyler walked up to him, a large smile on his face, Josh pulled him in by the waist and kissed him. The smile Tyler gave him when they pulled away was enough to make his heart swell with happiness.

"Hello to you, too," Tyler joked. Josh smiled warmly at him.

"I missed you."

"It's been one day," the younger boy reminded him.

"One day too many," Josh replied.

"You're a dork."

"Not as much of one as you."

They shared little smiles as they got into the car, Tyler climbing into the passenger seat. He then turned to look at Josh, who began driving.

"So, where are you taking me?" Tyler inquired, garnering a secretive little smile from Josh.

"You'll see," he simply said, leading Tyler to let out a sigh of feigned exasperation, though he was far from exasperated.

Shortly thereafter, they arrived at a large hill, thankfully with no one on it. When Josh parked, Tyler looked at him, confused.

"What're we doing here?" Tyler questioned, and Josh held up a finger, telling him to wait. He got out of the car, prompting Tyler to follow, and opened the trunk, revealing two sleds.

"I figured we could do something fun today. Y'know, to celebrate finals being over and stuff," he explained.

"I haven't been sledding in years," Tyler told him. He took a sled into his hands, looking at it a moment before abruptly turning towards the hill and beginning to run. "Race you to the top!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Josh grinned, grabbing a sled, shutting the trunk, and running after Tyler, who had a considerable head start. Tyler made it there before him, slightly out of breath and cheering at his victory. When Josh reached him, he laughed lightly, his breath coming up in steam, admiring how happy Tyler looked. Admiring how Tyler smiled at him, how he could now recognize the smile as fondness without doubting himself.

Josh then put his sled in the snow, giving Tyler a mischievous grin before jumping on it and starting down the hill, shouting, "Race you down!"

He heard Tyler yell, "Wait!" with a laugh before he started going down the hill as well. Josh slowed himself, letting the other boy catch up. Once Tyler was right next to him, he shoved the other boy off his sled, earning a little yelp from him as he fell. Josh then reached the bottom, laughing as he ran back up to help Tyler up, who was also still laughing.

"That was mean!" he exclaimed, his hands buried in the snow and a grin on his face.

"I'm sorry," Josh said unapologetically, holding his hands out for Tyler to take. Tyler grabbed them with his freezing, wet ones, and once he was standing Josh held Tyler's hands between his. "They're so cold," he observed, rubbing them a little bit.

"Yes, well, that's what happens when they go in the snow," Tyler told him, his tone mocking, as though he was explaining something to a small child. Josh gave him a deadpanned look, but still held his hands.

"You're not very nice."

"I'm not the one who pushed the other into the snow."

Josh rolled his eyes, but his large smile betrayed it. He then dropped one of Tyler's hands, still holding the other as he pulled him up the hill again. They went down a few more times before they both agreed it was too cold to be outside, and they got back into Josh's car, Josh cranking the heat as they blew on their hands to try to get some feeling back into them.

"So," Josh started, turning to Tyler, "what do you wanna do now?"

"We could go back to my house," Tyler suggested. "Nobody's home, and we can watch a movie or something."

Josh smiled. "That sounds great."

So, he drove back to Tyler's house. Tyler insisted on making them hot chocolate before they headed back into his room, Tyler closing the door behind them in case anybody decided to come home. They settled on watching The Polar Express, sitting on their separate bean bag chairs and sipping their hot chocolate.

About halfway through the movie, Josh stopped paying attention. He was focused on Tyler and wanting to be closer to him. Part of him still thought of that as a bad thing, something that was forbidden, and he had to remind himself that Tyler felt the same way, that he knew he felt the same way and therefore shouldn't be scared anymore.

So, as dramatically as possible, he threw his head back and groaned, "Tyler," dragging out the syllables.

"Yes?"

"You should come sit over here."

Tyler gave him a skeptical look. "There's no room."

"Sure there is," Josh assured him. Tyler hesitantly made his way over to Josh, sitting down in front of him.

"No, there's not."

Josh rolled his eyes before motioning for Tyler to come closer. Once he did, Josh quickly scooped him up into his arms before he could protest and sat him down so that he was on his lap, his legs slung over Josh's and his arms around Josh's neck.

"See? There's enough room."

"You're ridiculous," Tyler muttered, placing a kiss on his cheek. It made Josh feel warm inside and made his stomach swirl with butterflies. "Now shut up and watch the movie."

So, he did, his arms wrapped around Tyler and his head leaning against the other boy's. He pressed a little kiss to his hair, and heard Tyler let out a small hum of contentment, making him smile. Everything was perfect.