Curiosity {Joshler}

35. Almost - Nearly; not quite; close but not there yet.

Tyler and Josh were kissing again, and the whole time, Tyler kept thinking about how wrong it was, how he shouldn't be doing this, how Josh didn't want to.

For someone who said they didn't want to kiss him, however, Josh was doing a very bad job of staying away.

They kissed for a few minutes longer before Josh finally pulled away, although he didn't go far. Their lips were almost, almost touching, and Tyler thought Josh was going to kiss him again, but he just nuzzled his nose against Tyler's, making the other boy giggle.

"So," Josh breathed. "That didn't work."

Tyler found himself cuddling close to Josh, who wrapped his arms around him. "Nope."

They stayed that way, cuddled together for a few more moments. Josh lightly rubbed circles into Tyler's shoulders, which seemed to calm both boys down.

"What are we going to do?" Josh whispered, saying exactly what Tyler was thinking.

Quickly, the earth boy delved into thought. They both clearly liked one another, but there were lots of obvious problems with this. Probably the biggest issue was that Josh was an alien, and Tyler wasn't. If they entered a relationship, it wasn't likely that it'd last forever.

Tyler didn't know how Josh's family would feel about Josh being with an Earth boy, but he knew his own family would probably either lose their minds, or just not believe him in general. He was pretty sure they'd be fine with him being gay, so obviously the species difference was the bigger issue.

"I don't know," Tyler whispered. Anxiety flickered inside of him, like the flame of a tiny candle.

Josh must have sensed how Tyler was feeling, because he nuzzled his head into his hair, kissing the top of his head. "Hey, it's alright. Everything will work out, okay?"

"Promise?" Tyler knew it was a lot to ask, but he really did need the reassurance.

"Promise," Josh replied simply, holding Tyler close. "I promise you, we'll be okay."

And so, Tyler believed him.