Limerence {Joshler} [COMPLETED]

66.unfair

"I got your toothbrush and stuff", his mom said as she dropped the little bag into Tyler's bigger bag. He didn't bring a lot, they'd only be away for one night. "Thanks, momma", and he forced a smile on his lips. She sat down next to him on the bed.
"Look, I know it's not always that easy. But Joshua was right. Don't let one stupid boy get in to your head. Don't believe what he said. If you choose to believe only one, believe your boyfriend." Tyler shrugged, but he smiled softly, thinking about the man. "See? He puts a smile on your face. Try to be positive, forget the bad for a while and just enjoy this weekend", she said as she got up.

"I w-will try, momma. I'm just s-scared to go i-in a crowd especially like t-this", he swirled his hand around his face. The bruises had faded a tiny bit more, into more greens and yellows but it was still clearly visible. "Just a second."
His mom left and walked back in couple of seconds later with a little pot. "If you want, we can cover the bruising up a bit?" Tyler hesitated. "Make up?" and his mom nodded. "It makes them show a bit less?"

So softly her fingers, dipped in the concealer, smudged the make up over his cheekbone. She spread it evenly and after a few minutes she sat back and smiles contently. "A masterpiece, if I say so myself", she grinned. Tyler got up, to watch himself in the mirror cautiously. He turned his face in all different angles and smiled softly. "T-thanks momma, l-looks better!" They weren't gone, but they were concealed pretty good. Definitely didnt draw attention anymore, other than the cut on his eyebrow. He slowly felt a tiny bit of confidence come back.

----
"Hey, are y-", Joshua started but he didn't finish his sentence as he noticed Tyler's much more even colored face. He smiled reassuringly when he noticed Tyler uncertain gaze. "Looks good, baby", and he pressed a kiss on the boys forehead, making him squeal softly. "D-don't smudge it!" He giggled.
"I missed those giggles", Joshua admitted while grabbing Tylers bag. "You ready?"

"Are you okay? Happy? Excited? Anxious?" Joshua asked as soon as they left town and turned up the highway. Tyler giggled softly. "All of t-the above", he answered while smiling, making Joshua laugh. Oh, how he loved that caramel laugh. "But m-mostly just happy t-to spend t-time with you", he added to that as he welcomed Joshua's open hand into his own, their fingers locking together tightly.

Joshua smiled at him before shifting his eyes back onto the road in front of them. Tyler just kept watching Joshua, thinking it got unnoticed. He was still in disbelieve he was given such an amazing human as a boyfriend, he still couldn't get his head around it. He was so beautiful. How his nose would scrunche when he smiled, how his cheeks creased so pretty and how he would press his tongue between his pearly teeth. How he would frown when he was thinking, how warm his voice sounded whenever he chuckled or laughed. How large his hands were, like his arms, strong but gentle at the same time. How his curly hair was, honestly, one big mess but looked so good on him either way. How he would set everything aside just to help someone he loved. Get himself into trouble to do so. How he always put others first, how much he cared. Tyler was priveleged to have him love him, even though he didn't understand why.

Eventually he was able to get his eyes off his boyfriend (even the thought made him giggle), and he frowned when he saw flowers on the backseat of the car. "F-flowers?"
"Eh, yeah, we are driving past my old town in a few minutes and I thought we could drop by the cemetery to bring my parents some flowers", he spoke, looking at Tyler briefly. The boy squeezed his hand. "You can stay in the car if you want to, that's ok-". "No, I'll c-come with y-you", Tyler shook his head. "It's t-the closest t-thing to meeting t-them", he added shyly, making Joshua squeeze his hand in return.

----
They walked over the (for Tyler's knowledge) huge cemetary, hand in hand, each a bundle of flowers in their free hand. "I-is it w-weird that i'm n-nervous?" Tyler asked softly, his gaze falling on one tombstone after the other. Joshua laughed. "I guess not. First of all you are kinda meeting my parents, what is always nerve-racking and I don't know... cemeteries always make me feel a little nervous too. So no, it's not weird." Tyler smiled, happy that Joshua always knew what to say or do. But in all honestly, Tyler was just slightly worried about how this would go. Would Joshua be emotional? Was Tyler supposed to say something? He felt anxious, but tried to shake it off. This wasn't about him right now.

"That's them", Joshua spoke as he pointed towards two light grey tombstones just up the hill, near a big tree. They went off the path, stepping through fresh snow as they got closer. Joshua let go of tyler's hand to brush off the snow, the boy standing back a few feet watching him do that. He could see Joshua's lips moving, but the cold wind blew his words away and Tyler's couldn't hear what he said. He stood there, awkwardly, until Joshua turned and smiled towards the boy. "I brought someone special today", he said, the words now directed at Tyler, and he could hear, making his heart flutter. He really did feel special.

He took a few steps towards Joshua as the man had reached out his hand, and he willingly took it. "So this is Tyler, who I have been talking about constantly", he spoke softly and chuckled. Tyler swallowed hard, trying not to cry as the realization just hit him. This was all that was left of Joshua's parents. They were gone, and would never ever, ever come back again. Joshua would never get to see or hear them again. He blinked a starting tear away, gently laying the flowers in the snow in front on top of the graves. "Hi. I really w-wish I c-could've met you", he nearly whispered, Joshua still holding his hand in a firm grip, but standing back a bit. "I h-hope y-you know what an a-amazing son y-you have", he whispered after that, hoping Joshua couldn't hear him. He stepped back then, next to Joshua, who just smiled at him before hugging him to his chest.

"I remember when I told my dad that maybe I would rather want a boyfriend then a girlfriend, when I was 15." Joshua told him. "I was super nervous, because in our town there was litteraly nobody we knew of who was gay. I was very aware that in our community that wasn't regular, and so I had no idea how my dad would respond to that. But he was sick, we knew he wouldn't be around forever and... I dont know, I had to let him know. I didn't want him to die, without him truly knowing me I guess."

"What d-did he say?"

"He just smiled at me and just said 'I know'. He hugged me, said everything was fine as long as I loved the person whoever I ended up with, and they loved me back. And he said he hoped to see who that was. Unfortunately that never happened. So here we are today", Joshua said as he briefly kissed Tyler. "But I think they'd be crazy about you."

"I'm really s-sorry they're not a-around anymore Joshua. I-it's not f-fair", Tyler huffed, wishing his own dad could swap places with Joshua's. "Life isn't always fair. But let's make the best of it", Joshua smiled at Tyler and kissed him once more. "C'mon, let's go."
Tyler nodded, waved at the graves shortly as they turned back to the path, and Joshua told his mom and dad goodbye.