Mentors - A Joshler Fic

Chapter 8

Josh's P.O.V.

“Stop moving.” I said laughing at the way Tyler face scrunched up as I tried to apply makeup to his face.

“It tickles though,” he giggled as I dragged the brush across his cheeks.

“I’m almost done just try and be still for one more minute,” I replied concentrating on covering up the worst of the now mostly faded bruises so Tyler could go back to school. Once I was happy with my work I placed the concealer back in my mom’s make up bag and handed Tyler a mirror so he could see himself. “What do ya think,” I asked?

“It looks great, thanks Josh.”

“No problem, Ty. Anything for you.”

“I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said as I reached and pulled him onto my lap and held him in my arms. He leaned his head against my chest and I smiled looking down at his content face. I didn’t know what I was doing but it felt right. I was just winging it and I never winged anything. But my feelings for the boy in my arms, seemed to make all common sense evaporate from my mind. I was running on instinct now. And my instinct was to hold the beautiful boy in my arms and to kiss him. So I did.

I leaned my head down and touched my lips to his and he leaned into the kiss deepening it. I could have sat here for a lot longer kissing him but we had to get to school. “Ty,” I said breaking apart from him. “We’ve got to get to school.”

“Ugh do we have to go?”

“Yes I’m afraid so,” I said standing up and pulling him up as well.

I drove us to school, and dropped Tyler off by the front doors before going to park my car in the student lot. I walked inside and went to my locker to get a few things that I needed for class. I was just closing my locker when someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to see Debby. My girlfriend. She smiled at me and leaned and planted a kiss on my lips before I could even speak. “Hey babe.”

“Hey Debs.”

“So tonight after school do you wanna go out to dinner and maybe catch a movie, it’s been forever since we’ve had a Friday date night.”

“Oh um I don’t think tonight's gonna work out.”

“Okay what about tomorrow night.”

“Um I don’t know yet, I’ll text you and let you know.”

“Sounds good baby,” she said wrapping herself around me as we walked towards her homeroom class. “I’ve missed hanging out with you, we haven’t had any alone time in forever,” she said looking up at me from under her eyelashes.

“I gotta get to class,” I said when we got to her classroom, I turned in the other direction and raced away from her ignoring her comments. I could feel it now, an immense guilt for cheating on Debby. I hadn’t even thought of her when I kissed Tyler. I felt like an awful human being. I had two choices, I could either break up with Debby and be with Tyler and get to kiss him whenever I wanted. Or I needed to cut off whatever sort of relationship I had with Tyler and be faithful to Debby. Both options were painful to me. But just the thought of not being able to hold Tyler on my lap and kiss him and protect him, that option hurt the most. And it was that desolate feeling that that thought provoked that made my decision scarily easy.

I was going to leave my girlfriend for a boy. But not just any boy, Tyler. And somehow at the absurdity of the situation it wasn’t that scary because it just felt so right. It felt so right to love Tyler. It was early to call these feelings love but it was headed in that direction. I walked into the classroom and right away my eyes went to the back of the room where he sat. I couldn’t help but smile in his direction and it warmed my heart to see that he gave a shy little smile in return. And in that moment all I really wanted to do was kiss those lips.

I walked over and took my seat and got caught up in my friend’s conversation. I didn’t see Tyler again until the last period of the day when we met in the library. We took our seats next to each other at our table and Tyler pulled out his math textbook. We worked on actual schoolwork for the majority of the period, but I couldn’t resist cracking stupid jokes here and there that would make Tyler erupt in a fit of adorable giggles. When the bell rang we walked to my car together and I drove us back to my house. I told Tyler to go on into the living room while I grabbed us drinks and a snack.

I went in and saw him sunken in the couch cushion and I went and sat beside him and pulled him onto my lap. He snuggled into me and I wrapped my arms around him and it was in this moment that I could breath a sigh of relief. “Did anybody give you a hard time today?”

“No, it was okay. Nobody paid me any mind.”

“Good,” I said leaning down and planting a kiss on his head. I breathed in the smell of his coconut shampoo. I reached over and picked up the can of coke and opened one and handed it to Tyler and then I opened one for myself. I gave Tyler the bag of chips to hold and we sat there eating and watched TV for a bit. It was nice to just hang out with him, and to feel him breathing softly and contently. I hated to have to end our time together but when five o’clock rolled around I had to drive Tyler back home. I dropped him and gave him a quick kiss before he got out of the car.

“Bye Ty,” I said waving as he walked up to his house.

“Bye Josh.” I drove home thinking about how I was going to break up with Debby. I didn’t want to hurt her but I suppose that was inevitable now. It made me sad, the idea of having to hurt her. But I knew where my heart was and it was no longer with Debby, it was at one time but no more. Now my heart was with an adorable, shy, tiny, boy named Tyler Joseph. And I had to smile at that.