band aids ↠ joshler ✔

t w e n t y t w o

(surprise! double update! whoo?)

-

5 months until

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josh never realized how hard confessing your love to someone really was.

talking was never hard for him. he planned on telling tyler as soon as tyler returned from therapy.

but now, a month had gone by, and every single day josh tried to admit it to tyler.

he never imagined it would be this hard to say "i love you" to the person you really loved.

he said he loved his old girlfriends and boyfriend, but this was entirely different. he loved tyler more than anything in the world, and yet, he couldn't bring himself to admit it.

"it's not hard at all," brendon whispered to him one day at open, "just open your mouth and say it. not hard, easy!"

but every time josh opened his mouth to say it, something caught in his throat and he would end up talking about either aliens, cats, or drums.

he was a mess.

"i think m-my spirit an-nimal would be..."

"i'll tell you right now," josh smiled, "you'd be a hedgehog."

"hedgehog?! w-why?" tyler laughed in response.

"because you seem like a hedgehog."

"oh y-yeah? then what w-would you be?"

"me?" josh asked, standing briefly and placing his hands on his hips, "i'd be a shark."

"a shark?!"

"yep. either a megalodon or a hammerhead."

"b-blockhead sounds more likely," tyler smiled, his cheeks flushing red.

"ouch. that hurts, dude, it hurts my soul. i need a new roommate now..."

tyler laughed, lightly hitting josh in the arm.

and josh loved every millisecond hat tyler spent smiling.

he decided to try again, "ty, i , uh..."

"breakfast, crackheads." and employee interrupted, throwing in two plates of gruel.

josh and tyler frowned as the door slammed.

"uh... what w-were you saying?" tyler asked.

"oh, nothing important. hungry?"

tyler looked at the gruel before quickly shaking his head.

"me neither."

---

tyler takes a shower.

the water is comforting, and he closes his eyes and imagines black paint swirling away down the drain and thinks about the water filling his lungs.