blossom ↣ joshler ✓

22. Tease

Josh laid on the couch, his legs stretched over Tyler's lap and his feet dangling off the side of the sofa. "Babe," he spoke as Tyler did his homework.

"Hm?" Tyler replied distractedly.

"If you were a fruit," Josh began. "You'd be a fineapple."

"That's not a fruit, Joshua."

"Good thing you're religious because you're the answer to all the prayers."

"That's disrespectful."

"Kiss me if I'm wrong but—"

"You're always wrong, Joshua. That doesn't warrant a kiss."

"Are you from Tennessee? Because you're the only ten I see!"

"No I was born here in Columbus."

"Do you have a bandaid?"

Tyler instantly looked up, concern on his face. "Are you hurt?"

"Yeah."

"What's wrong?"

"I scraped my knee falling for you."

That was the first one to bring a smile to Tyler's face. "That's the only one I find humorous since you preyed on my overprotected and germaphobic lifestyle."

"Glad I could put a smile on that adorable face."

"Is that another one?"

"No," Josh shrugged. "Just the truth."

Tyler blushed and rolled his eyes, going back to his homework. "Do you have anymore?"

"Hm... let me think," Josh hummed. "Is your dad a locksmith? Because you have the keys to my heart."

Tyler looked up once more. "He very well could be. I never met him."

Josh instantly felt bad. Sitting up, he readjusted his position. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," the younger assured.

"Can I ask why you've never met him?"

Tyler sighed and set his pencil down on his binder. "My mother found out she was pregnant when she was 18 and my father was 20. They had been dating for three years before then so it wasn't anything sudden. Her parents, my grandparents, disowned her and kicked her out due to the fact that they were heavily religious as well and didn't approve of a child out of wedlock especially in the case of a teenaged mother.

"So in hopes of gaining their approval, my father proposed a week later and they got married a day after that at the courthouse. My mother showed up at their house and explained the situation to them; however, they still rejected her. It really hurt my mother and I assume that's when she starting acting..."

"Crazy?" Josh asked.

Tyler smiled slightly. "Sure. She's relayed to me that she didn't feel like she had control over anything in her life so she made sure that she could offer me the best life possible. She told me she wanted more for me than her parents offered her. I understand that's why she's so overprotective but I don't think she sees she's hurting me in the process."

Josh frowned. "So what happened with your dad?"

"My mother has voiced that she didn't think he was ready for the responsibility of a child. However, I know that that was when she started acting possessive. She claims that my father accused her of cheating on him so that he had an excuse to leave. I personally think she accused him of cheating on her because she was paranoid he would leave and he couldn't handle her."