REBEL CLOTHES ✓

THIS IS LOVE

Josh didn't know how to explain that he was deadly when Tyler asked about the different types of Sleepers. Tyler had been so kind to him, and so understanding. Nobody outside of Jenna had ever treated him like he wasn't a complete screwup.

Sure, Clancy and Rose treated him well enough, but he always knew that they regretted saving him from Dema. He wasn't more than another dangerous one, just another broken kid that they couldn't fix.

There's empathics, neons, melters, and then there's fire-breathers- people like Josh.

Empathics could feel emotions, transfer emotions, and transfer memories. Sometimes they could even control someone completely, invading every part of their mind and using them like puppets. They were uncommon, especially ones who could control people, but not as rare as fire-breathing Sleepers.

Melters were the most common. They touched people and could see into their dreams, which makes Sacarver one of the most dangerous Bishops. Not only that, but they could poison someone by touching them, infecting their minds and draining the lives out of people until their husks. That was only ever used as a defense mechanism, though. Rose, Jenna, and almost everyone Josh knew was either a melter or a neon.

Neons were telekinetic- meaning they could move things with their minds- and sometimes had prophetic abilities. One of their earliest members, Spooks, was the strongest neon they'd ever met and could predict Bishop attacks days before they even happened. Josh always thought those was a lot cooler than his own powers, and for a long time, he pretended to be a Neon. Eventually, though, he couldn't keep it a secret any longer.

"And you're... a fire-breather," Tyler said after Josh's mini on explaining the other abilities. "What do they do? Do they breath fire? Like dragons?"

"Well, sort of."

There was only ever one other fire-breathing Sleeper before Josh, and they were dead. At least, those were the rumors. Truth was, nobody knew what happened to Nico the night of Josh and Jenna's prison break, or whether or not he survived the torture they put him through.

For his sake, Josh hoped he was dead.

Fire-breathers could manipulate, among other things, kinetic energy. That meant that Josh could suck the heat out of someone and transfer it to, say, an explosive material. But that's not what made him dangerous. Josh couldn't control his powers without either blowing up the wrong thing or passing out, and he wasn't immune to fire like Nico was.

Josh had done so much damage in the past that Tyler was his redemption arc for the Banditos. He wanted to prove he could control his abilities, and that he was a valuable member of the group.

Tyler stared at Josh carefully after he finished speaking, not moving. He blinked, slowly, then reached over and grabbed Josh's hand, pressing it against Tyler's chest where his heart beat steadily.

"Uh-"

"I'm not afraid of you," he almost whispered, scooting too close for comfort. "In fact, I... I trust you. More than I've ever trusted anyone in my entire life. I haven't known you for that long but the more I see of your world the more I realize that it's so much better than my own. You gave me a bird's eye view of a small world. How could I be afraid of the person who showed me a better way of life? How could I ever be afraid of you?"

Josh's face flushed hot. This kid was going to be the death of him. For a moment, he could see confusion cross Tyler's face. He retracted his hand and opted for scratching the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, I don't get flustered easily, but-"

"What are you feeling? I can't- I can't pinpoint it."

"Huh?"

"Your emotions are..." Tyler's face paled, and Josh realized how much he hated not knowing. "I don't know what they are."

Tyler's heart picked up. "It's not really one emotion. It's a lot of them that make up one. It's -"

It's love.

"Here, feel my heartbeat." Josh took Tyler's hand and placed it over his heart, cupping them with his own. Tyler stared at their hands, then looked up to meet Josh's eyes. "Whenever you're around someone you like, you feel this way. It's a good and bad feeling, good because that means you found someone you love, and bad because they might not reciprocate."

"Like someone. But I like a lot of people," Tyler said.

That cute, wide eyed innocence of his was going to be the death of Josh.

"No, it's not like that. It's more complicated, like- like-"

It was now or never.

Josh pulled his mask down, and Tyler's eyes dropped immediately from his eyes to his lips, which were still healing. He grabbed both sides of Tyler's face and kissed him, softly. Tyler froze at first, and Josh was about to pull away when he let his left hand come up to rest on the back of his neck. They parted, and Tyler's irises were drowning in all pupil.

"That's what kissing feels like."

Tyler's smile grew bigger, if that was even possible. "I like it a lot. I like you a lot. Can we do it again?"

Josh laughed. "I guess I made it up to you."

"Mmm, not quite yet." Tyler nuzzled the side of his face. "But you can kiss me again and see if it works."

Josh did as he was told, and woke up the happiest he had been in twelve days.