After The Confetti Falls {Joshler}

Chapter 11: Homecoming

"Hey Josh." Tyler says, shaking his shoulder. Josh's eyelashes flutter and he makes a faint sound. His face lights up, slowly, but adorably when he finally opens his eyes and sees Tyler. 

"Hey, beautiful." Josh says with a sleepy voice, and then lets his face fall back into the pillow. Tyler laughs.

"Never heard that one before." he says, poking at Josh. 

"Welliphtrue." Josh mumbles into the pillow. 

"I didn't catch that." Tyler says with a self-satisfied grin. Josh rolls over with one sudden movement to face Tyler, his eyes still closed.

"Well, it's true. You're really beautiful." Josh says, prying open his eyes for the last bit, looking at him genuinely. Tyler blushes. He leans over and kisses Josh.

"And you're cute in the mornings." Tyler says, beaming.

"Now, get out of bed! I have something to show you!" Tyler says, grabbing Josh's arm and ignoring his confused protests. Josh and him had been together officially for a little over a year now, and there were days when he forgot the land he bought so long ago now with the hopes of building a future, but there just didn't feel a time right to show him. He didn't want it to be a time where either one of them were really hurting, or not prepared to be fully committed to each other. It had been a year since his run in with Tyson in the alleyway, and since then he's come a long way. He's taken counselling, which he's done before, but in the past it never helped much. But it's one of those things that you have to be ready for change for it to make a difference. He's done a lot of healing in a year, no longer content to live plagued by ghosts of his past, and chained by fear. He has a long ways to go still, but he's taking steps, and he's finally seeing progress in himself. Sometimes you have to reach a point where you know you can't keep breaking to be able to start mending. And Josh, he's gonna call him his angel now because of how he's stuck unwaveringly by his side through everything, helping him through with whatever he needs, whether it's tea and a hug in the middle of the night, or holding a pillow for Tyler to punch, Josh is willing to do anything for him. Anything if it means it'll help him to make his struggles more manageable. It feels like after all this time, it's finally a good time to show Josh their treehouse. He pulls Josh towards the door hurriedly, barely allowing him enough time to put his shoes on. 

"But Tyler, why can't I put some clothes on?" Josh asks confusedly. Tyler just smiles. 

"It okay, you don't need to. Besides, I like you in Superman pyjama pants." Tyler says grinning. He leads him to the car, and they drive away. When they get close, he asks Josh to cover his eyes, and parks on the roadside next to their field. 

"I have a confession to make. When you were reading those letters, I told you one was lost, but I actually hid it cause it talked about what I'm about to show you, and I didn't want you finding out. So, forgive me, and you can read it later if that helps." Tyler confesses.

"Oh, okay. Well, that's alright. I'm sure it was worth it." Josh replies 

"Yep. Now step out, but don't look!" Tyler says, opening Josh's door and extending his hand to give Josh direction. Josh takes his hand and Tyler smiles to himself.

"Can I open now?" Josh asks.

"Yep, go ahead." Tyler replies, and watches for Josh's face. It's confused, his mocha eyes scanning the field for something significant.

"You brought me to a field." Josh says finally, like a question phrased as a statement.

"This isn't a field Josh, this is land. I think, I know we've got a ways to go still, but you're always talking about forever, so I bought this place. I bought it so we could build a home on it if you wanna do that, Josh." Tyler says, pausing nervously, wondering what would happen if they weren't on the same page.