But Who Would You Live For?

Chapped And Faded

Joshua:

Tyler was staying at my house again. It seemed like he stayed here more than his own house these days. Which was perfectly fine with me. I was always happy to have him over. Even if my parents didn't know he was in the house. It wasn't like I was hiding him. He just always showed up really late. My parents never stayed up past 11:00pm on most nights. And when I woke up, he was always gone.

I wondered if his own parents even knew he was gone. Maybe he sneaks out. That's why he only shows up during the dead man hours. But Tyler was an adult. He should be allowed to leave the house whenever he wanted to. Then again, I was an adult and I still asked my parent's permission before doing most things. It was a matter of respect. Especially since I was still living under their roof.

"Are you sleepy at all?" Tyler asked me from his place on my bed.

I actually was. It was almost three in the morning. I thought the shower I just took would wake me up a little but it instead had the opposite effect.

"Nah." I grabbed a random shirt.

"Dude." Tyler jumped up. "What are you doing?"

"Getting dressed?" Wasn't it obvious?

"You haven't even dried off."

"I totally have." I ignored him. Pulling the shirt over my head. Tyler's look of horror made me laugh. "What?"

"You're not dry at all." He walked over to me. Pinching the shirt from my skin. "Look at this. Now the shirt is wet. Even your shorts-"

"It's fine." I shook my head. Purposely to let the droplets of water fall on Tyler.

He stepped back. "That is insane. You are insane." He shook his head. "You're not getting in bed. You're going to wet everything."

"It's my bed. I can do what I want."

"Not tonight you can't. Not until you properly dry off."

"So you're kicking me out of my own bed?" I lifted one challenging eyebrow.

"Yeah." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I guess I am."

"And you think I'm going to listen to you?"

"You'd better."

"No way." I attempted to walk past him. Tyler stepped in my way. "You'd better move."

"You'd better dry off."

"I'm going to count to five. If you don't move in five seconds, there will be consequences." I warned.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do?"

"One." I held up a finger. Tyler just smiled. "Two." He lifted his chin defiantly. "Three." I sighed.

"Four." He said the next number for me and I bit back a smile. "Five. That's five seconds. What are you going to-"

I didn't let him finish speaking. I bent down and grabbed him up by his waist. He was lighter than I expected. Tyler didn't have time to react before I was tossing us both onto the mattress. The springy bed played the role of a trampoline as we bounced up and down for a few seconds. The headboard knocked against the wall in protest. I could feel Tyler shaking with laughter underneath me.

My arms were locked around his middle. His back trapping them in place. His arms and legs had instinctively wrapped themselves around my body when I jumped. To make sure he didn't fall to the floor and hurt himself.

And even though Tyler was my best friend, my mind went to very unfriend like places as we laid there. I'd never been in bed like this with anyone before. My arms around his waist. His arms around my shoulders. Squeezing my face into his neck. My legs in a straight line between his opened ones. Causing my lower body to push down on his.

An unfamiliar bundle of emotion and feeling ran through me. I wanted to stay like this forever. Tyler was too busy laughing to notice my dilemma. His laughter definitely wasn't helping the situation. My shorts became embarrassingly tighter. This wasn't happening. This could not be happening. Tyler was going to notice.

"Dude, your shampoo smells amazing!" He pressed his face into my wet hair and inhaled deeply. "It must be Ashley's."

"What?"

"Are you using your sister's shampoo?"

"No." I faked a laugh. "Shut up."

"You shut up." He pushed me off of him. Separating our bodies. I rolled onto my stomach. Burying my face into the pillow. Pushing my hips into the blanket to hide my problem. "I think you broke the bed or something. Your mom is going to be so mad."

I mumbled incoherently into the pillow. Not saying any actual words.

"What? I can't hear you."

I turned my face to his. "Nothing."

"Are you alright?" He slid impossibly closer to me. Remaining on his back. His face just a breath from mine. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No." I tried to smile away my discomfort. "I'm just a little tired."

"But you said you weren't."

"I know." I bit my lip. Looking into his dark eyes. "But lifting all that weight took my energy. You really need to start working out."

"Yeah, right." He bumped his forehead against mine. "You're the fat one in this friendship."

"I'm totally the buff one." My laugh was more genuine this time. "I just lifted like 300 pounds!"

"300 pounds of pure muscle!" He countered.

"Whatever, fatty." I closed my eyes. Letting myself fall into the sleep I'd tried to ignore.

"You're the fatty." He whispered now.

"Mhmm." I could feel him staring at my eyelids. He wouldn't be going to sleep any time soon.

"Hey, Josh?"

"Hmm?"

"Keep your eyes closed, okay?"

"Wha-"

Tyler's chapped lips covered mine. Sending cheep thrills through my system. I was forced to push myself even deeper into the bed. Both my hands balled into fist. The kiss lasted eight seconds. I know because I counted them in my head. Just a closed mouthed, dry lip touch between bros. When he pulled away, my eyes opened. He was closer than I expected.

"I said to keep your eyes closed." He was blushing. And it was beautiful.

"What was that?"

"An experiment." His answer was automatic.

"What kind of-"

"Goodnight, Josh." He closed his eyes.

"I know you're not really going to sleep."

He grinned. "Don't let the bed bugs bite."

"You're a bed bug." He bared his teeth and I laughed. "Goodnight."