S L O W T O W N

City Lights - Part One

It was just a bus ride, but it was the bus ride from hell. Tyler, crammed between two snotty children with Josh seated in front of him, was scared.

He was terrified.

Josh would turn to look over the seat every now and then to make sure Tyler was okay, and every time Tyler would give a smile. Though he wanted to scream and curl up into a tiny ball, hiding from all the new faces and  just being in the presence of anyone, Tyler knew Josh would look after him.

They payed their fairs as they clambered from the sweaty crowded death contraption and Josh immediately tucked Tyler under his arm to pull him out of the flood of others also exiting the bus.

Fuelled with instinct, the feeling of many hands clawing his fragile skin, Tyler tried to push Josh away but as soon as he did, he nearly fell back into the zooming street into the path of an oncoming car. Josh's reflexes grabbed Tyler by the collar and pulled him forward, colliding together with a small thump, Josh backing into a shop window, followed by Tyler landing on him.

"Jesus Christ Ty what are you doing?" Josh chastises him, holding him close and away from anyone else. "We only just got off the bus," Josh sighs but Tyler is so nerve racked from being touched by so many people, finger nails deep in his bones and crushing him, he starts to cry, holding onto Josh tightly, knowing Josh would be the only one to ever touch him without wanting to tear his own skin off, without needing to scrub and scrub until he bled desperately trying to rid dirty fingerprint imbedded in his veins.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles, desperate to not cause a scene and end up with more eyes on him, more hands asking if he's okay, more attention that wasn't from Josh. Josh pats him on the back, hugging him slightly before peeling him off, still gripping his shoulders tight and unaware that Tyler was mid break down.

"It's fine, lets just, have a goodnight, I wanted to show you something, but it's a bit of a walk," Josh shoves his hands into his pockets, Tyler clinging to his arm  like a bad smell, terrified to let him go in case someone dragged him away. "Did you want to grab dinner first?" Josh looks down to the small boy, his eyes wide as he begins to calm down and forget the fingers snaking over his delicate soft skin, he begins to take in everything around him, neon signs lighting up his pretty brown eyes, new sounds other than his own screaming and begging filling his skull.

There's beeping, there people talking, Tyler can even hear some gentle Latin music from a shop down the road. His grip tightens on Josh's arm when he looks up to him, the way the pink and yellow bursts of colour tint his pale face makes something in Tyler's chest tighten.

It's not a bad feeling, he thinks, is something new, he likes Josh's face a lot, especially when it's light up with colours Tyler has never seen glow so brightly, and vividly. Josh is smiling now, eyes dancing across to lock with Tyler's own awe struck gaze.

"Yes," Tyler nods, the fur of Josh's parka finding its way into his nasal cavities, he fights back a sneeze and rubs his nose with one hand. "I'm hungry,"

"What do you feel like eating?" Josh weaves out of the way of a pole, Tyler not moving over to let him pass it properly. Tyler can only stay focused on Josh, fear of losing this beautiful creature before him.

"I dunno," he shrugs, looking around the streets. "Pizza?" He nods in the direction of a small, partially empty pizza shop.

"Oh nice choice!" Josh beams and tugs Tyler in the direction of the crossing. Tyler grips tighter as they cross the road, Josh clearly in pain with finger nails tearing through his jacket and stabbing his flesh, but he doesn't dare move Tyler, not in the middle of the road.

Once across and now entering the small shop, Tyler half hides behind Josh, just shrugging and nodding to his head to questions, the large, wobbly chef across the counter eyes Tyler like fresh pepperoni, Josh notices and guards Tyler, the questions thrown at them mostly in Tyler's direction.

There's a new knot in Tyler stomach and it's not what he feels when he ganders at Josh.

There's something unnerving about this man, Tyler thinks, or maybe it had just been too long since seeing the outside world.

"So do you wanna wait?" Tyler snaps out of his trance and looks to Josh with a reserved grin.

"Yes, outside?" Tyler suggests and Josh agrees with enthusiasm. As they head outside, Tyler glances over his shoulder, chubby man leaning across the counter, eyes glued to Tyler's ass. He quickly looks away when they lock eyes, pushing further into Josh's side.

Vomit, Tyler wants to vomit.

Tyler bites back a  scream as soon as fresh air intrudes his lungs, Josh taking no notice, continuing the now one sided conversation as Tyler's mind reels. He feels eyes all over him, and he knows there's now someone who's joined the night who shouldn't be there. The bright lights dull and colourless now, there's a new set of eyes from across the road and they're piercing red, he wants to look at Josh's face again but the pulsing through his head makes him sick. Tyler holds back a hurl and coughs instead.

Tyler isn't looking at the glowing eyes, he isn't even listening to anything now, a tune he had created the night before filling his head to block the crying, holding onto the image of a brightly lit Josh.

"Hey?" This catches his attention and Tyler looks up, Josh staring at him. "You okay?" Concern scrawled across the tallers' face.

"Yes," Tyler nods knowing he's lying. "I am fine,"

"Are you sure?" Josh tilts Tyler's face towards his with two fingers, hoping he'd give something away in his eyes, nothing giving way.

"Can we just get the food please?" Tyler begs and Josh sighs with a quick nod.

"Okay Ty, whatever you say,"

Tyler waits outside, hands shoved way down into his pockets to stop the itching. He takes a deep breath, holds it and lets it go.

'You'll be okay, it's fine, Josh is here, it's fine, you'll be fine,' Tyler repeats over and over, a broken drone of his conciseness mumbling over and over. He looks up to catch some more lights, and he sees them, there's so many.

He hopes that spaceman will come back soon to take him away to a place with pizza.

These lights are pretty, he tells himself, but he knows something prettier, a sort of alien to his own mind.

Before Josh's hand even reaches Tyler, Tyler's gaze snaps to him, now smiling, he's okay now, Josh is back, and after a feed Tyler knows he's going to feel better.

Maybe it was food that Tyler has missed, the weeks of trying to survive off nothing but potato and the snacks Josh provided made his stomach angry at the thought of never trying to eat anything else.

"Hey Josh?"

"Hey Tyler?" Josh goes to pull his hand away, but Tyler grabs it with ease, there's no spark this time that zaps him away, there's nothing telling him he should back up, there's no one screaming until it's throat bleeds trying to let him know he shouldn't be near another person, and the glowing ruby iris' have lost their gaze, wandering off but the body drawing closer, so Tyler laces his fingers in with Josh's, grips tight to feel safe.

"Show me some more lights,"