the florist ❀ joshler

(10) yellow rose

joy, friendship, the promise of a new beginning

❀

tyler had been chipping and chewing at his nails all day. his nerves were very apparent.

both of tyler's brothers had asked him if he was alright the morning of, and his sister just gave him a concerned glance. his mother was too busy to notice both morning and afternoon, and his father was on a business trip. his teammates couldn't care less, of course.

josh wasn't at school the next day to their interaction, and his friend (dallon, was it?), occasionally shot glares at tyler. what had he done?

the anticipation leading up to josh's response was eating away at tyler. he wanted—no—needed help to get his life on track. back to the right path. and the only person he could really trust at this point was josh, despite their horrid past relationship.

tyler would hate to admit it, but he knew he was being desperate. he could easily get back in the proper shoes on his own, he was just being clingy. josh was just the unpopular nerd, who also so happened to be gay. nothing more. yet tyler still itched for his help. but why?

was it because he was the first person to tell tyler off? was it because he was a constant now at the flower shop? could it be tyler possibly (emphasis on 'possibly') liked josh?

no. that's impossible, right?

... tyler didn't know what to do with himself.

❀

on josh's end of things, he was just as nervous, maybe even twice as much. not to mention, the single ounce of anger pent up inside of him.

tyler actually had the audacity to go along and take pieces of josh's being, then ask for help from the guy he subjected to that pain to get back on track. it was almost unbelievable. forgiveness wasn't supposed to come so easy, josh had just had enough of him. he didn't care that there was still a part of him that liked tyler, his logic overruled in most moments. tyler had been an asshole to him, and then suddenly wants to repent.

but in all honesty, josh hadn't come to a conclusion by the end of the school day, and he only had so much more time to waste until he had to give tyler his answer, like he said he would. josh was on the fence. he was balancing on it too, all the way to the quaint flower shop.

tyler wasn't there, fortunately. it appeared to be middle-aged woman working this time. made sense as neither tyler nor brendon could work quite yet because of classes.

"oh, hello," she smiles at josh as he enters.

"hi," he gives a weak smile in return, glancing around the shop a bit, as he hadn't the chance every previous time. "is, um, is tyler here yet?"

"tyler? oh, you must be josh. he said you'd be here later. i'm kelly, his mother," she introduces. willing to chat, as most parents are.

"well, i would in fact be josh," he lets out a short laugh. "but yeah, i have to talk to him about something. a project, actually. so, um...?"

"oh, right, yes. i'll go get him," and with that, kelly went off into the back room.

about a minute later, though it felt like an hour, tyler appeared from the room.

"a project?"

"it wasn't exactly a lie," josh crosses his arms.

"are you calling me a project?"

"sure seems that way."

tyler growls. "listen here, dun—"

"well that's not gonna convince me to help you, now is it?"

"you're so difficult."

"and this is coming from you?" josh was nearly amused by tyler's sudden frustration. it was like josh was draining his life essence.

"you know what," tyler took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. "just... tell me your decision."

"there's no promise i can fix this," josh motions to all of tyler. "but i'll try."

"really?" tyler's demeanour had almost changed instantly gauging josh's response. he sounded hopeful, just for a second.

josh replies to this with a flat out, "no."

tyler's face drops, and nothing else is said. josh was trying his best to keep a straight face. being serious was not his forte.

"i'm kidding. yes, i'll help you. one condition though," josh muses. he could hear tyler utter "jesus christ," under his breath.
"what is it?"

"step number one is quit hanging out with the bozos you do now." josh thought that he ought to have at least some fun with his newfound position.

❀

sorry it's so s h o r t

alright, so school has already started and updates may begin to get slow. so guess who's gonna publish somethin' new on saturday?¿ this gal 👉🤠👉

anyway,
luh ya. -parker