flower crowns and other neat stuff - joshler

part 9

josh had led him past the clearing they normally hung out in, and the undergrowth had started getting thicker. tyler eyed a particularly suspicious looking plant distrustfully.

"there's not poison ivy here, is there?" he asked, continuing to stare at the plant.

"of course there's poison ivy. we're in the woods!" josh answered cheerfully.

tyler stared at him in horror. "wait, are you serious? you're leading to me to my poison ivy induced death, oh my god."

josh waved him off, hopping over a fallen log. "it's fine, just stick to the path."

"what path?" tyler asked incredulously, attempting to jump over the same log and failing. "ow," he said from the ground.

josh stood over him, holding his hand to his mouth in an attempt to not burst out laughing. tyler glared at him. that just made josh even more amused.

tyler pushed himself up off of the ground. "it wasn't that funny," he pouted. josh doubled over laughing. asshole.

"your face, oh my god," he gasped. he stopped abruptly, looking at the ground behind tyler. "hey, look, poison ivy!" he said exclaimed.

tyler yelped and scrambled to get behind josh, peering over his shoulder. "where?" he asked. josh turned around and leaned close to tyler. oh god, tyler could actually feel him breathing. he whispered into tyler's ear, "everywhere."

tyler rolled his eyes and flipped him off. "so where are you leading me to, other than my impending doom?"

josh smiled slyly at him. "you'll see."

they continued walking, tyler humming along to a song that was stuck in his head.

"we're almost there," josh said excitedly.

tyler glanced over at him. "how can you tell? everything in here looks the same."

josh shook his head. "no. look, see there?" josh pointed towards a large, moss covered rock. "that's not everywhere. meaning we're almost there. you just need to know the landmarks."

tyler snickered. "you're a proper outdoorsman. ranger josh."

josh nudged him playfully. "shut up."

he led them to some thick bushes that obscured whatever lied ahead. "are you ready for this?" he asked, eyes twinkling. tyler, eager to see what waited beyond the inconvenient shrubbery nodded.

"lay it on me."

josh pulled some of the limbs back, cursing as they poked at him. "ow- okay, here." a path was sort of cleared as a result of josh holding the branches and leaves back. tyler ducked under the other boy's arm and frowned as his skirt got caught on the branches because he seemed to be walking through a literal hedge.

"dammit, that's my favouri- oh. wow." tyler trailed off, taking in the scene before him. there was a small grassy area with a few trees and wild flowers growing here and there, but, continuing to look ahead, the ground sloped and turned sandy, dotted with small, smooth rocks, gradually being covered in them the further down it went.

lapping gently at the pebbly shore was clear lake water, so pretty that tyler literally wanted to leap into it and never leave so that he might absorb some of its beauty. it reflected the sky and trees around it, and a bit further down the tiny beach was a worn out looking boat dock.

he could tell it must have been amazing when it was first built, but now it just looked kind of lonely. the wood had turned greyish and it sagged in some places. the railing looked like it could give you all kinds of splinters. it had definitely seen better days.