Silence - Joshler One-Shot

Silence

Disclaimer: I did very little research on Tyler's condition. This is fiction, so his outcome may not actually be possible.

Tyler and Josh were sitting on Tyler's bed. Tyler was sitting crossed-legged in between Josh's legs, facing him with his head hung. "Hey, love," Josh signed to Tyler, tapping his knee. "Yeah?" Tyler said out loud. "So, I've been thinking." Josh paused, waiting for Tyler's eyes to meet his to continue, "I love you." Tyler's mouth dropped open and grabbed Josh into a hug. "I l-love you too, Josh-hua," Tyler cried.

Years ago, when Tyler was 13 and in middle school, his father had become an alcoholic, and quickly became abusive. To save his mother, Tyler threw himself in front of her when he went to punch her. His father hit Tyler hard enough that he ruptured his right eardrum, the side he had punched, and then his other when he hit the ground.

He suffered from short-term hearing loss, at least he was supposed to.

The doctors had told his mother that his hearing should return within a month.

It had been six years.

He chose to still talk, only using sign language when talking to the other deaf people in the support group he went to every Wednesday.

The only good outcomes from the situation was his father getting locked up for life, and meeting his boyfriend, Joshua.

They had a couple classes together their senior year of high school, and sat next to each other. They became friends over time, then boyfriends by the middle of the school year. The day of graduation, Josh gave Tyler a promise ring, which sat on his ring finger on his right hand. It symbolized that he would always be there for his boyfriend, no matter what.

Now, both 19, Tyler still lived with his parents while Josh in the dorms, about to finish his first year of college.

"Let's go to bed, love. You have your doctor's appointment tomorrow," Josh signed to his boyfriend. Tyler nodded, and laid down, pulling the older boy with him. They both fell asleep quickly with Tyler cuddled into Josh.

The next morning, Josh was awake first. He carefully got out of bed and went to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were sunken in, colored blue hair wild. His face was fairly pale, the only color in his cheeks. He splashed some water on his face, and left the bathroom. He was tired from balacing school, work, and Tyler, but wouldn't change it for the world. He walked into Tyler's room to find him awake.

"Good morning, love," He signed. Tyler smiled. "Morning." "Let's get you ready. Then, we can have breakfast."

They were sat at the table, each with a bowl of cereal in front of them. "Morning, Josh," Tyler's mom said, walking into the room. "Morning, Kelly." "Morning, Tyler," She signed. Tyler just waved.

"You excited for your appointment today? Dr. Klingman said it's a big one." He nodded, then went back to staring at his breakfast, even though he was actually more anxious than anything.

"Has he talked about it at all?" Kelly asked Josh. He shook his head. "No, not really. He did say that he wishes he could hear my voice. But other than that, he doesn't really want to talk about it." She gave him a sad smile.

The three get in the car, Tyler and Josh both in the back, holding hands in the seat in between them. Tyler stared out the window, like usual. Josh stared at Tyler, like usual.

They make it to the hospital and sit in the waiting room. The boys' hands were still intertwined. Tyler was nervously playing with the ring on the hand that was holding Josh's. Josh noticed, and grabbed his other hand too. Tyler looked up to him and gave a barely-there smile.