four years. it had been four years since tyler had decided to run away with a murderer. four whole years. the years seemed to be gone so quickly in tyler's eyes, it felt like he was still a young boy turning seventeen and getting his world shattered.
tyler tapped his fingers on the car door, staring out the window in boredom. they had been driving nonstop the entire four years. tyler had sworn he'd seen all of the strange country he lived in yet they always stumbled on something new.
"tyler," josh's warm voice spoke. the man tilted his head in the younger man's direction, his brows furrowed slightly. "what's wrong?"
tyler didn't reply to this. he was in one of his moods again.
"ty," josh begged, tapping the steering wheel impatiently.
"it's nothing," tyler mumbled. he knew it wasn't nothing and he knew josh knew it wasn't nothing. but he said it anyway, holding on to the small sliver of hope that josh would drop it.
"tyler, you told me you wanted to work on our communication or something yet here you are not communicating. talk to me." josh did not drop it.
"there's not much to say," the brunette replied, his breath fogging up the window he was still gazing out of.
"say what you can," josh encouraged, the man certainly had gotten more caring and soft over the years, much to tyler's liking.
tyler sighed at this, shutting his eyes and searching for the right words. "we've been together for four years, and they've gone by so quick, yet i feel stuck."
"stuck?" josh asked, staring out onto the snowy dirt road in front of them.
"yeah, it's like," the boy wet his lips, thinking of what to say. "it's like everything is changing, but me."
"tyler, you know that's not true," the older boy spoke, using that soft tone of his. "of course you've changed, you just don't notice because you're the one changing."
the brunette thought this over for a minute, unsure of how valid josh's answer was. "okay," tyler decided. "i guess that's kind of right." josh smiled sympathetically at tyler, the sight causing a fluttering warmth in the boy's chest.
they continued driving in silence, the only sound coming from the radio and the plastic in the back seat. eventually tyler sat up straight and stretched a little, his back producing tiny pops and cracks.
tyler wondered if he had really changed, and how. maybe it was that he openly loved josh, and he wasn't so concerned with what others thought of him. maybe it was that he was older now and less angsty. or it could possibly be that he had taken a liking to his new lifestyle and had adapted accordingly.
most likely the last one. tyler hadn't really noticed how different his life now was, but the differences were definitely drastic.
tyler looked behind him in the backseat, eyeing the roll of plastic with a body tucked inside of it. there was a little blood here and there, but luckily it stayed in the wrapping.
he could remember the first time he had assisted josh with his gruesome hobby vividly. it had been shortly after he had found out about josh's activities, they were stopped at a new hotel and someone kept knocking on their door complaining about the noise even though it clearly wasn't them being loud. so josh had pulled the middle aged woman into their hotel room, and slammed her against the wall.
the sight was extremely shocking for tyler, so all he did was stare in shock, unable to move due to fear. the woman started crying loudly and that's when josh grabbed her throat tightly, turning her screams into wheezes. at this point, tyler had shut his eyes.
later on that night, he and tyler cut her body up in the bathtub together. tyler didn't speak the entire time, just did the deed with wide eyes and a lump in his throat.
it got easier for him after that. obviously he didn't want to or like killing anyone, he just helped with the cleanup. he didn't want to get caught and he didn't want josh to get caught either. so that was why there was a body rolled in plastic in the back seat. it should've been in the trunk but josh wanted to make sure all the pieces stayed together during the ride considering the body was already cut up.
tyler returned back to the window, a smooth calmness coming over him. he had changed. he wasn't stuck. life was continuing.
the two would keep driving, discovering new places together and discovering new things to love about each other. things would keep happening and things would keep changing. but they would change with it, and that was the best thing about it all. change is a powerful thing.
"josh," tyler began. "i love you."
"i love you too," josh smiled.
life was continuing.
•
realized i kinda left yall hanging haha wHOops, no hard feelings tho, right? coolcool.
thank you all for reading this and accompanying me on this dark journey. i appreciate all the comments you leave and all the support for this strange story. i love you all sooOOooo much.
~abbi
