save (joshler)

josh's house

tyler noticed as soon as he got into josh's car that it smelled like josh; peppermint, laundry detergent, and taco bell.

the whole ride there, tyler was a bit nervous but he couldn't tell why. he had been nervous before, but never like this. he had been more nervous than that moment in the car, but it was a different kind of nervous. one he hadn't discovered before. he'd heard people talking about it, people would call it butterflies. and right then it did feel like little butterflies were flitting against the walls of his stomach. but wasn't that a feeling you only got when you liked someone? tyler had never gotten that feeling around anyone, even amee.

to suppress the feeling, tyler looked over at josh. he squinted as he stared at the road ahead, concentrating hard. josh has soft skin.
what? where did that thought come from?

when tyler stepped out of the car, he was taken aback by the looks of josh's house. it was a light green and it had lots of windows. to be honest, he didn't really know what he was expecting. but maybe something a bit more... emo.

tyler shook his head. he hated his brain sometimes.

as they walked through the door, tyler was overwhelmed by the smell of cleaning products and sweet spring flowers. the house was beautiful, with blonde wood floors and a high ceiling. the walls were a calming lime color. daylight poured in through the clean windows. through the living room tyler spotted a petite woman scrubbing some dishes clean. she noticed the boys and practically dropped the plate, but caught it at the last second. she hustled out into the living room, an enormous smile on her face.

"joshie! you brought a... friend!" she extended her hand to tyler. "hello, pleased to meet you. i'm mrs. dun."

josh's face turned a bright red and tyler giggled at it. he took mrs. dun's warm and soft hand and shook it.

"nice to meet you ma'am i'm tyler."

"oh! you're that joseph boy on the basketball team, huh?" she draped her washcloth over her shoulder.

"um, yeah! do you watch school games?"

mrs. dun shook her head. "no, but joshie does and he tells me all about it when he gets home!"

"mom-" josh said, his face tomato red.

"you know, josh really loves basketball! you guys should play together sometime-"

"mom!" josh said, louder. "tyler and i are here for school work."

"oh! i'll leave you boys to it then! bye pumpkin!" she kissed josh on his cheek.

his soft cheek.

shut up! tyler told his mind.

they headed up the carpet stairs together and down a hallway strewn with baby pictures of joshua and his brothers. he was such an cute kid! tyler couldn't help it.

"josh, these baby pictures are adorable!" he giggled.

"oh, i try not to look at those. just reminds me how ugly i am now compared to when i was a baby."

"josh, what are you talking about, you're attractive!"

awkward silence. josh stared at his shoes to hide his red face.

shitfuckshit tyler thought. what the fuck joseph, you fucking fag, cover it up, quick!

"w-well, um that's what uh, uh amee says her friends say, y'know, locker room talk 'n' stuff." he shrugged. "ha, girls!" it was so fucking awkward.

josh laughed nervously. "yeah, i guess."

they continued down the hall until josh swung open the door to his room. to tyler, this seemed like the only place in the house that didn't smell of windex and pollen. instead, it smelled just like josh. peppermint, laundry detergent, taco bell, and best of all, that special josh smell that no one else had. being in josh's room made tylers pure heart beat a little faster. the walls were plastered with band posters, and the bed was a mess. tinfoil animals were strewn about. in the corner was an electronic drum kit with headphones plugged in. on the shelves were various hair dye colors.

"sooo... you like basketball?" tyler said, disturbing the silence.

"i guess so." josh said. no, that was a lie. josh knew so. he loved basketball. except he had started going to the school games more so he could watch tyler make all the baskets. basketball was where tyler was happy, every break, he had a huge smile on his face.

"wanna play some ball? we can go over to my house, i have a hoop. screw science class, y'know?" tyler asked. he was wringing his hands.

"yeah i'd love to play, except i suck at it.  but we don't need to go to your house. i have a hoop in the backyard."

"sweet!" tyler said, and dashed out of josh's room.

startled by tyler's sudden departure, josh stood still for a second before he realized ty was going out back to play. he sprinted after him, glee overcoming his insides. tyler wasn't here to do schoolwork! at least not anymore. he was here for josh!

don't get your hopes up, loser. said the voice in josh's head. if you have little to none friends now, how could you expect someone as popular as tyler to even want to be friends?

josh smiled. "oh, go away, party pooper." he said to the voice. he was too happy to be brought down now.

he leapt down the stairs and into the backyard and saw tyler had already made a couple shots. as he passed through the screen door, his mom yelled,

"joshie, what about your schoolwork?"

josh peeped his head back through the door. "mooom." he hissed. "i'm making friends! isn't that what you want?"
he popped back through the door and joined tyler.