Kiss It Better? [Joshler]

Twenty Two Years

"Tyler!" Josh called from the front door as he was putting his second arm through the sleeve of his coat. "I'm heading out for some groceries! See you in a little bit!" He was reaching for the door handle when he heard the pattering of his friend's feet making their way all the way from his bedroom to the entrance to the hall right in front of the door. Josh turned around and looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"Yes?" he asked, dragging out the word.

"C-can I go with you?" Tyler asked him, already breathing heavier just from that small amount of running.

"Sure," Josh replied simply, turning back to the front door so he could open it for his friend once he was ready.

After a few moments, Tyler cheerily  said, "done", and Josh tuned back for a second to see he was still only in a tshirt, despite the obvious rain outside.

"Don't you need a coat or something? It's pouring out there, you'll get cold and soaked."

Tyler seemed to think about for a second, but then puffed his cheeks up and shrugged before walking over to the door and standing beside Josh, waiting for him to lead the way. With a small sigh at his friend's lack of common sense, Josh reopened the door and led the way down the stairs of the apartment building.

They were only a few steps outside before Josh noticed Tyler start to shiver, and turned back to ask, "do you wanna go back up and grab your jacket?"

With his arms wrapped around himself and his teeth chattering, Tyler shook his head while saying a tiny "no", and then began to walk past Josh in the direction of the supermarket. Josh hurried after the younger boy, and they walked in silence until they reached the store.

As they approached the automatic doors, a huge grin spread across Tyler's face and he turned around to say to Josh, "I've got this." The two walked towards it, Josh slightly confused, and as soon as the glass doors slid apart, Tyler removed his hands from around himself and slowly moved them outwards with the doors. He stepped through and turned back to grin at Josh, arms still outstretched.

"Come on, I can't hold them all day you know. Using these magic powers isn't just completely effortless," Tyler complained, trying to sound genuinely annoyed, even with a huge smile still plastered across his face.

Shaking his head but laughing nonetheless at his friend's childishness, Josh walked through the doors and grabbed a shopping cart, allowing Tyler to lower his arms and step towards the other man. The doors closed behind them and Tyler muttered something about no one else being able to come in now as they entered the main part of the store.

For the next hour or so they wandered around the store trying to find everything they would need for the upcoming week or two so neither of them would have to venture outside again for a while. This hour consisted of Tyler complaining about everything he could possibly think to complain about ("we're taking too long", "this product has to be this brand, not that one", "could they maybe turn down the air conditioning? It's freezing in here", "can we go home yet?") while Josh simply tried to find all the necessary products and not throw Tyler out the nearest window.

Finally, they had finished, and were standing in a mile long line waiting for the checkout. Tyler had decided to fling himself dramatically over the side of the shopping cart due to his self proclaimed 'exhaustion'.

"You could've just stayed home you know," Josh told him for the millionth time.

"But what if on the way out of the store you step in front of a car and I'm the only one there to shove you out of the way? Or what if a murderer was in here and you got killed and I was just left in the apartment alone for the rest of my life wondering what possibly could have happened to you? Or what if you got the wrong kind of toilet paper?"

"I doubt any of that would have happened, Ty," Josh said as they approached the cashier.

"But you never know. And don't kid me about that last one; I saw the look you were giving that competing brand."

"I'm sure if I had bought it without you, you wouldn't even have noticed the difference," he said as he began piling their groceries on the counter next to the cash register.

"I beg to differ," Tyler said while crossing his arms. Josh just grunted in reply as he fished for his wallet in one of his jacket pockets.

"Hello dear," the cashier said to Tyler, trying to start a conversation while Josh continued to try and find a means of paying.

"Oh... hello," Tyler said back, a polite smile coming to his lips as he realized she was talking to him. "I like your hair," he added.

"Thank you," she said, also smiling, which showed a little gap between her front teeth.

"Got it!" Josh exclaimed triumphantly before they could continue their small conversation, holding his wallet up in his right hand.

"Great," the cashier said, beginning to scan their items through and place them into bags.

"Do you have a points card?" she asked once she had finished. Josh looked hopelessly down to his jacket again for a moment, clearly considering going on another search through it's many pockets for his points card, but he decided against it and instead just handed the woman some money and shook his head.

She pressed a few buttons on the cash register, then popped it open to place the new money inside and find their change. After she dropped a couple coins into Josh's open hand, she wished them both a good day and began to ring through the next customer's purchases while they loaded the bags into their shopping cart.

On the way out, Tyler seemed ecstatic that they were finally leaving the place. As soon as they got back outside and started taking the bags out again however, he was shivering and rubbing his hands together in an attempt to stay warm.

"Cold?" Josh asked him, to which Tyler just shook his head and grabbed the last bag out of the cart.

By the time they were halfway home, Tyler was shaking like a leaf, and Josh was seriously concerned that the poor boy was about to explode or something. And so, a few minutes later, as they walked past a little bench, Josh pulled him over and set both of their handfuls of groceries on the tiny seat. He then swiftly removed his jacket and held it out to Tyler. After much protesting, the younger boy took it and slipped it on, then zipped it up all the way and hid his hands inside the sleeves to keep them warm.

"Thanks Josh," he said quietly as his friend gave him back the bags he had previously been carrying.

The now t-shirt clad man smiled at him and continued walking, leading a
still-sniffling Tyler behind him. It didn't take the pair long to reach the apartment after that, and before they knew it, they were slipping off their shoes and restocking their kitchen with everything they had bought.

"Well, that's it," Tyler said once they had finished, collapsing on the couch. "I'm never going," he was interrupted by a sniff, "grocery shopping with you ever again."

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad," Josh said, leaning over to place a tiny kiss on Tyler's nose before plopping down beside him.

"Hey! What was that for?" Tyler demanded, scrunching his nose up.

"To make your nose feel better and stop all that god damn annoying sniffling," Josh explained, laughing as he watched Tyler continue to scrunch and unscrunch his nose. "You look like a bunny, by the way."

Tyler ignored him and continued doing exactly what he had been, until suddenly his face froze. He held one hand up for a moment before letting out a tiny sneeze.

"Awww," Josh cooed. "You have such an adorable little kitten sneeze."

"Shut up," Tyler told him.

"But you do!"

"I'm going to bed," he said, getting up. "Where I won't get teased for looking and sounding like small animals.

"How is that a bad thing?!" Josh called after the boy, but all he got in response was the sound of his bedroom door clicking shut.

A/N *gasp* What's this? Another update not a month after the last one? It's a miracle! I'm sorry for the steady decline of the quality of writing in the book by the way. The next chapter will be the last one though.