Hold Me Down (Peterick) ➳ Book 3

Nineteen

That wasn't even the end of Tyler's tale; however, Josh had hyperventilated himself into unconsciousness after failing to escape the confinements of the car he had unwillingly become a hostage in. Though Tyler was faintly disappointed, he didn't mind the silence now engulfing the car. Josh hadn't been very understanding of Tyler's sensitive hearing after all; he was quite the screamer when he could be.

Tyler wasn't as mad as he usually way when it came to people not behaving in the way he wanted. Partially concerning, Tyler quick to chalk it up to having some form of emotion similar to that of companionship. Like he had told Josh before, he couldn't love.

He'd never had his heart broken, never been wronged by one of the world's most powerful feelings. He had simply never needed it, so he had done away with it, effectively losing the capacity to love. Not even the confession from Josh could bring the feeling alive.

In the passenger seat Josh was painfully aware of several things. One of the biggest ones was Tyler's betrayal. The others varied in ranks of severity; somewhere in his mind he was piecing it together that Tyler was going to kill Patrick, and as he came to this conclusion he also made it his mission to protect the man at all costs.

Having been with Tyler for as long as Josh had he knew the ways in which he operated. He knew the way he almost never needed sleep or food. Or really anything. It was like he was running on gasoline, making him as nonhuman as one could be.

Weakly, Josh opened and closed his eyes several times, groaning as he stretched.

"Nice to see you're awake."

Josh fought against every muscle in his body to not do anything that would ruin the plan.

He inhaled sharply, and was left to quickly cough out the saliva that had been breathed in wrong.

As expected, Tyler didn't care, but that meant Tyler hadn't heard what Josh was thinking.

Though highly unlikely—though what was possible at this point—Josh assumed Tyler could read minds. He was too much of a slippery character to not be a snake, but he seemed to go beyond even that. If nothing else Josh was convinced Tyler could smell his intentions, so he did his best to sound and act as innocent as possible when he shyly asked Tyler for a snack.

"Sure," Tyler replied coolly as he kept his eyes on the road.

As Josh dug through the supplied the vague idea that he could strip to absolutely nothing and Tyler wouldn't notice flitted through his mind. He held back a laugh as he pulled out two bananas.

In minutes they were gone, the peels having been tossed out the window. Tyler, like Josh, didn't like bananas. But that was one thing Tyler didn't know.

The sun was slowly sinking in the sky when the feeling hit Josh. He slapped his hand to his mouth, the colour in his face turning greenish.

"Tyler," he whimpered through his hand, fighting to keep the nausea at bay.

"What?" He looked over to see a green faced Josh, silently pleading with him. And though they had a schedule he complied.

Tyler pulled over in front of a modestly sized house and went about opening Josh's door. The minute he tugged it open, Josh was out of the car and had disappeared into the house before Tyler registered it.

Unbeknown to Tyler, it was the bananas that made Josh sick, but even Tyler knew there was no way Josh would be able to continue on tonight.

So he set up a bed near the bathroom for Josh and found some form of entertainment for himself. He was in the kitchen pouring two glasses of water when Josh walked in looking not as green but still pale. He wasn't recognised at first, giving him a chance to watch as Tyler dropped something into the left glass.

Acting as if he'd just walked in, Josh yawned to let Tyler know he was there.

"How're you feeling now?" Tyler asked.

"Still nauseous, but better," Josh replied, taking not only the left glass that Tyler held out to him but the right one as well.

"Josh?"

"Come lay with me. Please?"

And not giving him much of a choice Josh wandered back towards the bedroom.

When he knew Tyler was behind him he took a long swig of water and set it down on the left side of the other.

He pulled Tyler further into the room and closed the door behind him.

"What're you doing, my little mynx?" Tyler asked in an amused sort of way.

Josh shrugged, a blush growing on his cheeks, and pulled Tyler closer. His fingers inched towards Tyler's shirt, his hands trembling as they did so.

"Josh." Tyler's hands were on his. "I can't love you."

"I don't need love," Josh replied, and to his surprise Tyler helped Josh take his shirt off.

Tyler was in control for the most part, testing out the new waters of whatever this was, but he couldn't lie and say he didn't like it when Josh tried to be dominant. Tyler would laugh, an oddity in itself, causing Josh to blush and become quite submissive.

It was a mixture of passion and love, even Tyler had to admit the feeling of something else was there; though he dare not name it. Their bodies tangled together under the sheet, the only movement being their chests as they regained their breath.

"Water?" Josh asked, reaching over and handing Tyler a glass.

The two drained them in seconds, curling back up together and listening to the rain on the window and the clock on the wall.

Each minute ticked by and Tyler's eyes seemed to be growing heavier. Was it him or did Josh seem more awake? Were his eyes heavier? He shrugged it off. Maybe it wouldn't be bad to sleep for a few minutes.

Tyler's breathing had just evened out when Josh retrieved the small packet of pills from Tyler's jeans. He went to the bathroom and filled his glass again, letting the pills fall one by one into the glass. As they dissolved he walked back into the bedroom, retrieving a discarded pillow as he did.

He climbed on the bed, straddling Tyler's waist, mustering the courage.

One minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

Tyler, so deep in a medicine induced sleep, didn't stir as his supply of oxygen was cutoff. Nor did he fight as the last bit of life left him.

Gingerly the pillow was set beside him.

After making sure he was dead, Josh went to the bathroom and drank the glass of water and rejoined Tyler in bed. With a final kiss to Tyler's still warm lips, Josh laid down and closed his eyes.

Miles away Pete opened up a final message from Josh.

I couldn't let him kill Patrick. And I couldn't live without him.