Josh woke abruptly and the first thing his clouded brain acknowledged was the red digital numbers on the clock, reading 3:14 am, glaring brightly at him in the suffocating, seemingly endless darkness.
Josh blinked and rubbed his eyes, wondering what could have woken him at this hour; he had no recollection of any dreams and his alarm wasn't due to go off until 8 am. He stretched his hand out to the other side of the bed, searching for the comfort of his boyfriend, but all his hand touched was cold duvet.
He turned and realised Tyler was gone; at this time in the morning, it could only mean one thing.
|-/
After creaking open the bedroom door quietly and walking down the stairs, he heard his first tinkles of music coming from the basement. It sounded weirdly off-key, and what once could have passed off as syncopation now sounded more like irregular beats of random piano notes. Knowing Tyler, something was very, very off.
Josh ran down the last few steps and went through the dark, cold kitchen. He threw open the basement door and practically jumped down the stone steps, turning the corner to see Tyler behind his brown piano, his beautiful face appearing gaunt and weary, illuminated slightly by an old bulb swinging lightly from side to side, hanging from the ceiling.
"Tyler?" Josh hissed, jumping back and forth on the balls of his feet atop the cold tiles.
Tyler jumped, previously engrossed in his fingers flitting carelessly across the keys. He looked up at his red-haired partner and the weak light from the bulb illuminated the tear streaks on his face.
Josh didn't think; as soon as his eyes saw those tears he flew across the room, narrowly dodging the edge of the piano to kneel down beside Tyler, his thumbs wiping them away as Tyler gulped and squeezed his eyes tightly as if to stop himself from letting his emotions unleash again.
"Tyler, babe, what happened? Did he come back?" Josh questioned, stroking Tyler's soft brown hair. Tyler nodded, not trusting himself to speak lest his tears come back. Josh softly kissed his boyfriend's hair, Tyler's body beginning to shake uncontrollably.
"I'm so sorry, Josh. I just had a dream and I woke up and I just had to play something to make it go away, I didn't mean to wake you too, I just felt like it was the only way I -" he trailed off, his eyes beginning to leak again, soft sobs coming from him. Josh hugged him tighter, kissing his tear-stained cheeks, murmering "it's okay, let it all out," multiple times whilst Tyler clung to him like a monkey. After a couple of minutes, Tyler's breathing regained control and his grip on Josh softened. Josh slowly stood up, bringing his petite boyfriend with him.
"Come on, I think it's time we go get some warmth."
|-/
Half am hour later, the pair were lying in bed, both enveloped in the black and white duvet and each other. They were clinging onto each other, staring into each other's eyes and seeing only love and affection. The reading light overhead was turned on, emitting a weak yet somehow comforting soft shine onto the double bed in which they lay.
After a couple of seconds with only the sounds of their breathing and the ticking of the wall clock being heard, Josh spoke.
"Tyler?"
"Yeah?"
"The next time something like that happens, can you wake me up?" Josh requested, staring into his lover's eyes, wary of any detection of distrust or confusion. "I know music is your outlet, but this isn't something you should go through alone. I want to be with you, helping you."
Tyler stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Okay. I think that's a good idea. I don't like being without you," he admitted. "I do want you to be with me when it happens, but it's always at the worst time. I don't like waking you either. You don't get enough sleep."
Josh laughed gently. "Oh, Tyler. I would sacrifice all the sleep in the world just to be with you and to know you're safe."
Tyler wriggled closer to his boyfriend, smelling the familiar scent of lavender and vanilla from his t-shirt whilst Josh rubbed his back.
"Josh?" Tyler whispered, breaking the comfortable silence.
Josh, never taking his eyes off Tyler's, whispered, "Yes?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, Tyler. With all my heart and forever and ever."
"Oh for God's sake, Dun, why do you always have to show me up like that?" Tyler scolded playfully, hitting Josh lightly on the top of his dyed hair. Josh laughed and started tickling Tyler, who squealed and curled into a ball protectively, only coming out when Josh kissed his bare neck.
"I do love you, Josh. Honestly. Even if I don't use every word in my vocabulary to prove it," Tyler said softly, stroking Josh's cheek.
Josh smiled. "I know, Tyler. And I love you, no matter how much you complain."
Tyler's eyes welled up again, but this time positively. He closed the short space between them and kissed Josh on the lips lightly before putting his forehead to Josh's so they stared lovingly into each other's eyes.
Josh reached over and turned off the reading light before once again closing the gap between them, kissing him with all the love he had, wrapping his arms around his small, damaged yet perfect boyfriend.
Credit to: Alienontheplanet on a03.
