Stay With Me (Joshler)

Down in the Forest

[relax. no one is imaginary]

Josh pov

After my little confession, Tyler and I kissed a bit more. Then, Tyler surprised me by suddenly pulling away.

"Hey Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"I really like you as well"

"I know" I say. He basically attacks me this time and pins me onto the bed.

||-//

After making out for a while (which I never thought I'd say in context to a boy), Tyler and I just layed down on his bed again. I never realized how much I really liked Tyler until he kissed me. I mean yeah I thought we were close but now...wait what even are we now?

"Hey Ty?"

"Yeah Josh?" He says as he turns to face me. We're laying really close again. This time it's not awkward, though.

"What does this mean...for us?"

"Oh" he says. He puts on a face like he's thinking about whether or not to say something.

"I mean you can take your time...it's just that I wanna know if--" I was cut off by the door opening and Tyler's mom poking her head in.

We both jump up and look at her. We were laying fairly close and we don't need to be questioned like that right now.

"Dinner is ready. But take your time. I get that you may be busy" she says and winks as she closes the door again and leaves.

"What just happened?" Tyler says.

"I..don't know. Does she know? I mean we don't even really know. Anyway I'm famished, let's go" I say as I begin to stand up.

Once we are downstairs, I see that almost everyone has made it to the table. One of the boys I saw the day that Ty moved in wasn't here, though.

We sit down next to each other. Next to me is Tyler's mother sitting at the end of the table. On the other end is his father and across from Tyler and me are his brother and sister.

"Who is this and why did he just come from Tyler's room?" The girl asks, looking over at their mother. She then looks at me and...I think she might be checking me out? This feels weird.

"This is Josh" Tyler's mom says. "He will be staying with us for a while"

"May I ask why? Or did Tyler finally get a boyfriend?" She says, rolling her eyes. I can't tell if she's being serious, teasing, or just straight up doesn't give a fuck.

"That's up to Josh to tell you. Also, no this is just Tyler's friend" his mother says. Haha friend with benefits I guess.

"So Josh" his sister seems interested again. "Why are you here?"

"I...um..." I start stuttering slightly and I feel Tyler grab my hand under the table for reassurance.

I clear my throat. "Tyler brought me over because...I'm here because..." I look at Tyler with pleading eyes. I couldn't say it.

"His mother abuses him" Tyler mumbles, looking down at the table. "I walked downstairs while I was hanging at his house and saw her hit him over the head..." He kind of trailed off at the end there but at least he could get it out. I'm just a weak little baby who can't even admit that I get abused. Good job, me.

"Oh" his sister suddenly looks ashamed that she even asked. The rest of dinner was pretty quiet. I felt bad for ruining the mood.

Towards the end of the meal, I decide to ask about brother number two.

"So since I live next door, I saw you guys moving in and when I looked, there was another guy that I assumed was Tyler's brother. There is only Zach here, so where did the other one go?" I say to no one in particular.

"Oh he's probably working. He always is." His dad says blankly.

Awkward silence again. Then Tyler stands up and asks to be excused so I do the same and we head outside.

"Do you wanna go somewhere?" Tyler asks me.

"Not anywhere in particular, just out" I say. I needed to get outside and have some fresh air.

We stop by the park and walk into the woods near it. I don't think either of us know where we're going, but we follow a path and find a clearing. It has magnificent flowers everywhere and the center is just short grass. It's a pretty small clearing, but it's plenty for just two teens to chill in. At this point, it's pretty dark out, so we can see the stars. We both lay down in the middle of the space and look up at them.

"I always thought stars were so interesting" Tyler says suddenly.

"Oh yeah? And why's that?"

"Because if you think about it, a lot of these stars are probably dead right now. Exploded into space or maybe even a beautiful supernova. But the light takes so long to reach us, that we can still see them even after they're gone. It's pretty grusome but inspiring at the same time" he says. He's such a nerd. I look over at him. He looks like an angel in this light. I just stare at his warm brown eyes and think about how much has happened the past week. Tyler came, I found his diary, we became friends, he found out about my mother, saved me, and kissed me on the mouth.

Then, all in one moment, I realized it. Fuck, I'm in love with this boy. He finally notices my staring and turns his body and head to face me. We are both laying on our sides and our noses are an inch apart. I reach over and hold his cheek. He's so beautiful.

Tyler is just looking at me and I'm looking at him, but for some reason that just makes me the happiest man in existence right now. I decide to make the move this time. I move forward and kiss him. We both close our eyes at the same time. This one is slow and meaningful.

After maybe two minutes, we are tangled up in each other's arms and are just enjoying the contact. Then I decide to bring it up again.

"So what do you want this to mean for us?"

"Oh" he says. "I guess...if you want...to be my..."

I know what he's going to say but I want to hear him say it.

"Will you be my boyfriend?" He says and looks into my eyes. He looks worried to hear my answer.

"Absolutely"

[Mmmmmm while I was proofreading I realized how bad and cringe this is and considered re-writing it but whatever. Fuck that]