drown (joshler)

part thirteen

josh wheeled tyler out into the lobby with his tank of oxygen and his pump to wait for abby to arrive. he wheeled tyler next to a waiting chair and sat down. tyler took a hold of his hand.
they sat in comfortable silence until abby walked through the large double glass doors and checked in at the front desk.
"hey!" josh yelled and waved across the lobby to her. she spun around and waved back as she hurried over.
"hey." she said, immediately glancing down at tyler.
"this is tyler," he said, grabbing onto the right handle of his wheelchair as tyler smiled weakly. "my boyfriend."
both tyler and abby experienced shock upon hearing that statement. tyler had never been called 'boyfriend' in his life, especially by josh, and abby had no idea that josh was gay or in a relationship.
"oh," she said, glancing at tyler again nervously. "okay."
they walked (and wheeled) to the morgue section of the hospital where their mother's body was kept. after deciding that a small burial would be held at the cemetery three miles down the road and a meeting with their lawyer would suffice for abby and josh, josh took tyler up to his room and walked out to say goodbye to abby.
"i didn't know you were a faggot josh." she said as soon as he stepped out of the room.
"you caught me," he said sarcastically, throwing his hands up into the air. "sorry."
"delete my number," she said, turning away. "and don't think that i won't be telling every one of our family members about this."
"like i could give a shit about them!" josh yelled as she walked down the hall. "what a fantastic family reunion." he said under his breath as he turned to go back into room 3009.
tyler heard everything from his room. he was obviously concerned for his... boyfriend?
"are you okay?" he croaked as josh slunk back into the room.
"ill be fine," he said, lying. "she doesn't scare me."
"joshua," tyler said as he slumped into the bed. "as someone who has been lying their entire life, i can tell when other people are."
josh sighed. "you're too damn smart for me, tyler."
tyler put his arm around josh's waist and josh pulled him closer. they sat for a while in silence until tyler spoke up.
"do you really consider me your boyfriend?" he asked.
josh laughed. "i said that because i knew it would tick abby off." he said, looking at tyler and kissing his forehead. "but if it's alright with you i'd like to call you mine."
tyler closed his eyes and leaned into josh's chest. "id like that," he said. "but right now id like two ibuprofen."
"coming right up," josh said as he hopped out of the bed. "you're my number one... headache getter?"
"close enough." tyler said as he laughed. it hurt his ribs but it felt good to laugh because he wanted to. especially at his dork of a boyfriend. he liked it a lot.