Curiosity {Joshler}

48. Distant - Far apart, whether physically, mentally, or emotionally.

The next night, Tyler brought three blankets for Josh--two from the hall closet, and one from his own bed, since he didn't want to act too suspicious in taking too many from somewhere his parents would see. The Earth boy felt awful that he hadn't done anything sooner to help Josh when it came to material items, besides food and water.

Meanwhile, the nights were starting to get colder, and more and more often Tyler found himself wearing a jacket or thick sweatshirt when he went to see Josh. September was coming, and as much as Tyler didn't want it to, there wasn't a thing he could do to stop it.

Both boys knew how much harder it would be for Tyler to see Josh.

Josh began to let Tyler into the vessel, if it was particularly cold out, or if there was some sort of bad weather, like rain or wind. If it was nice, they would just sit on the roof of the vessel, as they had always done before.

One windy night, Tyler and Josh were cuddled together inside the vessel, underneath the blankets Tyler had brought not so long ago. The inside of the broken spaceship was cold, but with the two of them sharing their body heat, it was definitely bearable.

Tyler had been acting almost distant that night, being the first to pull away after a kiss, and staying mostly quiet unless Josh spoke first. Finally, it seemed Josh could bear it no more.

The alien boy frowned after Tyler pulled away after yet another kiss. "What's wrong?"

Not looking at Josh, Tyler fiddled with the long sleeves of his shirt. "Nothing."

"You've been quiet all night." Josh kissed the top of Tyler's head, a worried expression on his face. 

"I guess I'm just...scared."

"What of?"

"I don't know. There's a million things to be scared of." Tyler felt emotion bubbling up in his chest. "I'm scared that Jay will catch me sneaking out of the house. I'm scared that somebody will see the bruises. I'm scared that once school starts that I won't be here." By this point, tears were running down Tyler's face. "I'm scared we'll be separated and we'll never see each other again!"

Josh immediately wrapped his arms around Tyler, pulling him in close for a hug. Tears still trailing down over his cheeks, Tyler buried his head in Josh's chest.

"I promised I wouldn't leave you, and that still stands," Josh whispered. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? Nobody could ever do anything to keep me away from you."

Tyler sniffled and managed a tiny smile, cuddling into Josh's chest. "I love you."

Josh kissed the top of his head. "I love you too, Tyler."