It's bitterly cold outside; the kind of cold that pricks at the soft flesh on the tip of your nose and burns your lungs. The snow on the ground has been accumulating for the past week, adding up to over a foot in total.
Tyler grunts as he pulls on his snow boots. They're way too small for him, but he refuses to buy a new pair when he only wears them for a few months out of the year. The dark ink splattered across his wrist catches his eye, as it does every day.
I swear to god if I don't get paid for this...
He smiles, trailing his fingertips over the small print. Tyler has absolutely no idea what context it's being said in, all he knows is he's had those words tattooed on him since the moment he was born. It happens to everyone. They're born with the first words they will ever hear their soulmate say tattooed somewhere on their body.
Tyler always wonders if his soulmate is a stripper or something, that's the only thing he can ever think of to make sense of it. He buries the thought as he puts on a pair of mittens. After dressing in a winter coat and a beanie, Tyler flips his hood up and walks outside, hands stuffed in his pockets.
He walks every morning, even if the weather channel says Columbus has a "feels like" temperature of -20° Fahrenheit. It's the only thing Tyler has found to help clear his mind.
The brunette shivers as his boots crunch against the snow packed on the sidewalk. He'll most likely stop at Tim Hortons and order a coffee to warm his insides.
The wind picks up as Tyler checks how much money is in his wallet, slapping the boy in the face with the force of a thousand little needles.
"Damn," he murmurs, eyeing a ten dollar bill before stuffing his wallet away.
Tyler pulls his hood around his face tighter, looking at the houses on both sides of the street. Nobody else is outside, not even to shovel. Everyone else is smart, Tyler is not.
However, as Tyler nears the corner, he hears panting and the sound of a shovel scraping against the sidewalk. As he turns, he sees a man with a bright red shovel standing in his way.
Tyler slows his pace, hoping the man will move out of the way so he doesn't have to mutter a lame "excuse me." However, the man has his back to Tyler and doesn't notice him. The man sighs, looking at a half-cleared path that leads to the house in front of him.
"I swear to god if I don't get paid for this..."
Tyler stops dead in his tracks, eyes widening despite the whipping wind blowing snow into them.
"What did you just say?" He squeaks.
The man jumps, startled, and turns around to face Tyler. "I said-" He cuts himself off with a little gasp, touching his fingers to his side. "That's not really how I imagined that being said."
Tyler doesn't know what to say. His heart is racing, stomach full of butterflies. His cheeks are suddenly warm as he checks out the stunning man standing only a few feet away from him.
"How did you imagine it?" He asks, having to force the words out of him because he's literally speechless.
"I don't know," the man chuckles, setting his shovel aside. "I thought I'd be in a fight with one of your friends or something and you'd ask me to repeat myself. I don't know."
Tyler smiles, taking a step closer. "I thought you'd be a stripper."
The man laughs, making Tyler's insides do a backflip. It's the most beautiful sound he's ever heard in his entire life. He wants to hear it over and over again.
"Well, I'm Josh," he says, "and I am not a stripper."
"Tyler," the brunette responds, holding out his mitten-covered hand.
Josh pulls him in for a hug instead, which Tyler gratefully accepts. He inhales sharply, the icy weather burning his nose but he doesn't care because Josh smells so good.
"You're absolutely beautiful, Tyler," Josh gushes, cupping his face once they break the hug. "I never imagined my soulmate would look so angelic."
"Shut up, I do not," Tyler blushes, gazing into his soulmate's milky brown eyes.
Josh pulls a phone out of his pocket and opens his camera. Tyler smiles as Josh kisses his cheek and takes the picture, then shows it to Tyler.
"Look," he points. "Absolutely gorgeous."
"And absolutely freezing," Tyler shivers, finding himself gravitating towards Josh, trying to absorb his body heat. "Would you want to go get some coffee with me?"
"Hell yeah," Josh grins. "My sister can wait for me to shovel, it's not like she ever goes anywhere anyway. I probably won't even get paid for helping her, she's so stingy sometimes-"
"Let's go," Tyler interrupts, starting to lose feeling in his toes. "Are we walking?"
"Absolutely not. My car has heat and good music, we're driving."
\\\
Josh was right about having good music. They spent the whole car ride listening to Nirvana, one of Tyler's favorite bands. Once they get to Tim Hortons, Josh makes Tyler stay in the car so he can open the door for him like a gentleman.
"Thank you," Tyler murmurs, blushing as Josh takes his hand and leads him inside.
"I'm paying," Josh says, and when Tyler opens his mouth to object he adds, "No arguing. I'm not taking no for an answer."
"Fine."
After they sit down with their coffee, Tyler notices Josh won't stop staring at him.
"What are you looking at?"
"The most ethereal being I've ever seen in literally my entire life," Josh winks, making Tyler's stomach fill with butterflies.
"Shut up."
"I'm never going to shut up about how beautiful you are. Seriously; how did I get so damn lucky? I mean, look at you! Everyone is going to be so jealous of me," Josh continues, rambling about Tyler's beauty while the brunette just sits there with a goofy grin on his face.
"You're really beautiful, too," he finally speaks up, watching in awe as a wide smile carves its way upon Josh's cheeks.
"Oh yeah? You think so?"
"Mhm," Tyler nods, sipping the steaming coffee slowly.
"Is it bad that I want to kiss you right now?" Josh asks softly, reaching across the table to hold Tyler's free hand.
The brunette shakes his head, setting the coffee cup aside. "Not at all."
"Can I kiss you, then?"
"I might not be good," Tyler smiles shyly. "I've never kissed anyone before."
"I'm sure you'll be amazing, honey," Josh assures, leaning across the table slightly, breath falling upon Tyler's rosy cheeks.
"Okay," he agrees, leaning in as well, brushing their noses together.
Josh closes the gap quickly, squeezing Tyler's hand. The brunette's heart stops as their chapped lips meet, fitting against each other like two puzzle pieces. The kiss is over in a matter of seconds, but still leaves Tyler speechless.
"Told you it would be amazing," Josh grins. "Do you want to go see a movie with me, or something?"
"I'd love to," Tyler gushes, joining Josh as he rises from the table and starts for the car.
So they went to go see a movie. And went out for lunch. And went to Josh's house. And Tyler might've stayed the night. And Josh might've never finished the job at his sister's house, and he might've never gotten paid for his half-finished job but he was totally fine with that. He was rewarded with something, or should I say someone even better.
