Intimidation ♡ joshler

sixty

Tyler's chest is burning and his calves are threatening to snap in half as he finally finds himself at Josh's front door, struggling to catch his breath and tears not yet ceasing.  The likeliness of Josh's parents being home did cross his mind as he ran, but now it's safe to say that they're not home, seeing that there aren't any cars parked near the house.

So Tyler knocks on the door with a shaky fist, and he doesn't have to wait long before the door is opening, and Tyler must look absolutely ridiculous right now, but he needs Josh right now, so his current appearance is one of the least of his concerns.

And Tyler sees Josh at the door, eyes worried and bruised, and his nose is also bruised badly, and there's a healing split on his lip, and Tyler's worried too, because he just knows that his parents did this to him.

"Ty," Josh speaks softly as he reaches out to gently grab his chin, tilting the younger's head to the side, brows furrowing, "Please tell me what happened to you."

Tyler opens his mouth to respond, only to emit a pained sob, and the older boy immediately pulls him into the house and out of the cold so he can wrap him into a tight hug instead.  Tyler presses himself as close as he physically can, burying his face into the crook of the other's neck and continues to cry into it, and Josh lets him, keeping one arm securely around Tyler's waist as he moves his other hand up to run his fingers through the smaller's fluffy hair.  Tyler has always found this to be soothing, and now is no different as they work on calming him down and making him feel safe.

Tyler eventually regains composure, and he pulls away enough to speak clearly, "I-I'm okay now."

"Good, good. Think you can tell me what happened?" Josh asks, tone still gentle and comforting, and Tyler nods as he pulls away completely to allow Josh to lead him into the living room.  They sit on the couch, and Tyler's quick to lean against the older's side, head resting on his shoulder, and Josh leans his head against Tyler's to return the gesture.

"Uhh... I guess it started, uh, after you left my house Saturday morning?" Tyler starts, and he feels Josh nod against him, "Yeah, so like, Zack ended up telling me that I, like, act like a little kid, I guess since I'm childish and overly leechy."

"Leechy?" Josh asks, and it occurs to Tyler that he's never brought up his leech simile with his boyfriend, and he flushes sheepishly.

"Yeah, like, I feed off of affection until people get sick of me, I guess. So metaphorically, I'm a leech."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting affection, baby boy," Josh assures him, and after all this time, Tyler still doesn't seem to be used to the name as he blushes once again.

"But I excessively seek it."

"Still," Josh reassures, shifting their position a little to wrap an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders, "That doesn't make you a leech. You're more like a cuddly little cat."

"Or a monkey that, like, gets real comfortable with someone—too comfortable, and then pees on someone," Tyler brings up, and Josh chuckles a little at that.

"Monkeys are cute, even if they apparently pee on people."

"I guess so," Tyler shrugs before he picks up where he left off, "But yeah, Zack said that I acted like a little kid, so I got upset and, like, locked myself in my room the entire weekend. Uh, I guess that made it really awkward and tense between us, yaknow?"

Josh nods, and Tyler continues again.

"You know how we sit on the bleachers on day ones?"

Another nod.