LAUGHTER LINES

cross my heart and hope to die

"joshua! stop, it hurts!" tyler giggled and choked, his hands flying every which way in the air, Joshua smugly grinning down at the younger. tyler was very ticklish, and now knowing of the trait, joshua took advantage of the fun, controlling laughter.

tyler shouted in protest, legs kicking wildly and soft punches going to joshua's arms. being smaller with bad coordination was a tough life style for dear tyler, but he had his big hero joshua come along and stretch his big fat muscles to protect him.

though, certainly not from himelf.

"please! joshua, i'll do anything!"

"anything?"

"yes, anything!"

joshua settled his hands away from the smaller boy's body, sitting partly from tyler as he caught his breath. tyler continued giggling, a bright smile glued to his face. just looking at the other brought the biggest and hapiest feelings to tyler, in form of face gesture or in form of a beating race of his heart.

tyler prepared for joshua's demands, as the only way to be able to breathe was to bribe his way out of the "tickle torture", joshua's nickname for the madness brought upon his friend.

"what will it be, sir william?" tyler spoke of a high, british accent; poorly done might it be. the darkly brown haired boy pondered, tapping his pointer on his chin and hummed, he wanted to gather as much as he could for tyler's punishment.

joshua made sure that it took him a long time to decide, as tyler was a very impatient seven year old that hungered for the fast lane. with joshua thinking, tyler groaned and picked at the grass that lay neatly on his front yard, chucking a few pieces at the other. giggling, joshua finally apposed an answer, tyler sitting up and eyeing him of the decision.

"ice cream!"

"ice cream? is that what you want?"

"duh!"

"well, you took so long! how was i supposed to know what you wanted?" tyler hissed, crossing his arms and eyebrows nitting into a fine dark line. joshua smiled a toothy smile, tossing a leaf in tyler's directon.

"you're my best friend, i thought you would know!"

"i'm not a mind reader, though, silly!"

tyler shook his head, a loose smile appearing on his features as he hosted himself up off the lovely greeny grass. tightly grabbing joshua's hand, tyler pulled the boy into his house, searching for his mother. "mommy! joshua wants ice cream."

"over here, dear!" A soft voice hollered, the boys tracing the sound and pulling on big smiles towards tyler's mom. with his attention on tyler, joshua waited for his friend's mom to generously take them to get ice cream. mom's approval was enough to send the two into excitement and they raced to the car, speeding pass tyler's dad on his way in from work.

"just off to get the boys ice cream, care for some?"

tyler's parents chatting in the distance, joshua and tyler laughed as they hopped into the car. tyler opened the driver's seat door and Joshua frowned in the back.

"you're not gonna sit with me?" tyler smirked, shaking his head and continuing to place himself in a position of driving.

"nope, i'm drivin'."

"don't leave josh alone in the back." tyler's mom commented, tyler's grin drooping. tyler climbed in the back beside joshua, giggles already firing up. joshua poked tyler's leg and turned his head away, staring out the car as they began to exit tyler's neighborhood.

"why did you do that?"

"do what?"

"poke my leg, why did you do that?"

"i didn't do that."

"but i saw you do it."

"but i didn't do it." joshua held his lips in a tight line, tiny laughs escaping softly from his mouth. tyler eyed him confusingly, he certainly did see joshua poke him. joshua bit his lip to keep from laughing out, tyler's mom staring from the rear view mirror that looked down on the two in the back from above.

"what? but you did, i saw!"

"you saw wrong."

tyler laughed, bit confused but watching Joshua unfoled with laughter was enough to get him wilded up. tyler's mom shook her head, smiling at the duo.

"you two are silly."

                            ***

creamy soft served, gooeyness dripped from the waffle cones tyler and joshua grasped tightly in their little hands. tyler gasped everytime joshua's ice cream dripped off his cone and onto the table. what a messy eater, tyler teased and dissapointingly nodded. joshua snickered and wiped it off with his hand, smearing the sticky onto his thighs from under the table.

mom sighed in a loving manner as she waited for the kids to finish. with their hands washed from the icky sticky, as tyler's mom called, everyone was off on the road again.

tyler watched as the sun began to go down, tucking away under the tall mountains. joshua, instead, watched tyler gaze at the sun. A soft, warm feeling arose in his stomach and he reached to clutch tyler's hand in his.

joshua enjoyed being around tyler and his family. mostly tyler, though. tyler was such a sweet person that he warmed joshua's heart, specifically when his eyes came contact with his own. joshua never wanted to leave tyler's side, promising every chance he got and loved the affect the words had on tyler.

As they stopped in joshua's driveway, mothers speaking and joshua's siblings teasing, the friends said their goodbyes. joshua hugged tightly, tyler inhaling his scent of strawberries and flowers.

taking as long as two minutes, the two didn't want to part. they held each other gently while joshua twiddled tyler's hair with his fingers. joshua lay his head in the crook of tyler's soft skinned neck and tyler sighed, rubbing joshua's back and swaying them.

"promise you'll be back with me, again?

"of course!"

"you won't leave me next time, right?"

"cross my heart and hope to die."

"don't die, joshua!"

"not literally, you goof!" and a whole other set of giggles arrayed.