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'josh? josh, it's me, tyler. wake up.'

josh slowly opened his eyes as he felt tyler gently shaking his shoulder. he smiled as he remembered where he was. "hey," he said. "did i fall asleep?"

tyler chuckled. "yeah, you passed out during the movie." he stood up, walking toward the kitchen. "are you hungry? i made dinner."

josh sat up and rubbed his eyes, then stretched. he followed tyler into the kitchen, overwhelmed by the wonderful smell that hit him upon entry. "what did you make? it smells incredible," he said, peering into the pots on the stove.

"not gonna lie," tyler said, "but it's just chicken alfredo from a package." josh laughed as tyler handed him a bowl.

"right. and here i was, thinking you were some kind of gourmet chef." he spooned some pasta into his bowl.

"hey, i mean, whatever works for you. i'm whatever you want me to be," tyler said, gesturing to himself as he dished up his own dinner.

"you can sit in the living room, or at the table. whatever's more comfortable with you," tyler told josh. josh thought for a moment before sitting down at the table. tyler sat down across from him. "good choice. i probably would have made a mess in the living room."

josh laughed and took a bite. "you know, for grocery-store alfredo, this isn't half bad. nice job, joseph," josh said, making them both laugh. josh felt himself becoming more and more comfortable with tyler as they spent more time together. he felt like he could really be himself around tyler, which was nice. josh didn't get to feel like that around anyone, really, except ashley. the two ate in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company, until tyler spoke again.

"so, josh. why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

josh grimaced. "nah, you don't want me to do that. i'm not all that interesting."

tyler rolled his eyes. "oh, come on, i'm sure that's not true. you seem wonderful, josh."

josh felt his face turn red as he blushed at tyler's words. "well, um..." josh said, suddenly nervous. "i don't really go out and do much. i have one best friend, her name's ashley." he paused, trying to think of something interesting to say. "um... i play the drums?" he said, hoping tyler would be interested. he watched tyler's face light up.

"really? that's so cool!"

josh smiled. "thanks! yeah, i just sort of fell in love with it at a young age. it's pretty much my only hobby." he paused to take another bite of his dinner. "well, that and art. but that's not really much."

tyler smiled. "yes, your art. you're very talented, i love your style," he said, as josh practically melted at the sight of his gorgeous smile.

"th-thanks," he said, looking down at his plate. he felt the blush creep back into his cheeks. or had it even left in the first place?

tyler giggled at him. "you're cute," he said. having finished his dinner, he got up and set his bowl in the sink. josh did the same, even though he still had food left-he knew he'd never get to finish if tyler kept saying things like that.

the two boys sat down across from one another on the couch. "so. drums, art... what else interests you?"

'you,' josh thought, but knew better than to say something like that if he didn't want to scare tyler off. "i like going for walks. just quiet ones. there's a nice park by my house that i take walks through sometimes."

tyler smiled. "that's sweet. maybe tomorrow we could take a walk together. i know some good spots."

josh nodded in agreement. "that would be nice." he looked around tyler's spacious living room. "do you think you could show me where you make your videos?" he asked.

"sure!" tyler replied as he stood up, motioning for josh to follow him. he led him down the same hallway as before, and went into the first door on the left. "this is it. it's basically just my office, but i do all my recording stuff in here," he said, holding the door open for josh. josh walked in, amazed.

"this is so cool!" he looked around and noticed fan art hanging from the walls, along with other various gifts from his fans. "hey, that's my art!" he saw one of his pieces hanging on the wall. "i'm really glad you like it so much. this is one of my best pieces, actually." he stood there in awe for a moment before turning back around...

and turning straight into tyler, knocking their heads together.

"oh!" tyler exclaimed, more taken by surprise than he was hurt. josh stumbled back a little bit and tyler reached out to stabilize him.

"are you okay? i'm sorry, i probably shouldn't have been that close," tyler said, brushing the hair out of josh's eyes. josh had a dazed look on his face, too stunned to say anything. all he could focus on was the warmth of tyler's touch, how little space there was between them, and tyler's strong grip on his shoulders, holding him upright.

"i-i'm okay." he managed to get out, and looked into tyler's eyes. tyler smiled at him and loosened his grip.

"next time i'll make my presence more known, so we can avoid another collision." he ran his thumb over the small bump that was forming on josh's forehead. "yikes, i'm really sorry about that. let's go get you some ice."

keeping one hand on josh's shoulder, he steered him into the living room where he sat josh on the couch. he draped a blanket over him, making sure he was comfortable. "i'll be right back."

josh watched tyler walk into the kitchen and grab him an ice pack. his head really wasn't all that bad, but he thought it was sweet how much tyler cared-how tyler was so worried about hurting him. he smiled to himself as he truly realized just how much he liked this boy; and not just as the boy he saw on youtube. he really liked tyler, the real tyler.

josh just wasn't sure if tyler felt that same way about him.

✖️✖️✖️

hey guys!!! wow, finally, an update. i bet ya'll almost forgot this fanfic even existed. it's been what, a month? too long.

this chapter is longer because i felt bad about not updating in so long. so i hope you enjoyed this chapter! i'm going to try to start updating more regularly again, but my schedule is still really hectic so just be aware of that.

however, i can assure you that there won't be another one month gap between updates. :)

thanks for reading guys! love you all. <3

mik

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