rosy cheeks // joshler + tysh // ddlb

🌸 one 🌸

noah kahan - mess

"watch where you're going, punk."

josh looks up from the ground to see a muscular man, covered in piercings and tattoos giving him the evil eye.

"sorry."

josh scurries away, continuing to walk down the sidewalk. his mom had gone to work and it was his day off. his dad would be gone for a while since he was on a business trip that would take almost three months.

josh gets closer to the library, thankfully. he was just ready to sit and read. he felt like treating himself for a few hours to just be in silence. at least external silence.

"hello, josh."

"hi, ms. grey."

"you finally got a day off this week!" ms. grey cheers as she claps her hands.

despite her name, the was quite young. she just had twins a few months before. about five years out of college now.

"yep. three days in a row. today, tomorrow, and the next day."

"good for you!"

josh nods and scratches his neck before heading off to his most visited aisle. he sighs happily as he grabs a random book and sits in his usual beanbag in the corner.

"no, dad, i'm at the library. i'll be home soon. i love you. okay, yep, bye."

josh looks up to see a somewhat tall brunet in front of him. the two make brief eye contact. the boy gives josh a warm smile. josh returns it.

"hi. sorry. it's just— my dad wants to know where i am before he makes dinner so he can come pick me up."

josh chuckles nervously, "yeah. it's no problem. dads will be dads, moms will be moms."

the brunet nods, looking down at the ground with a sad demeanor.

"i'm josh."

"tyler."

tyler sticks out his hand for josh to shake. he shakes tyler's much larger hand.

"how are you?" tyler asks as he sits down in a chair close to josh.

"i'm good, you?"

tyler nods his head and looks down. "doing the same. pretty good."

josh could see something in tyler's eyes that he was lying. just the smallest of detail in his brown eyes showed something different than what he was saying.

"are you sure?"

the brunet looks up and over at josh, who was still comfortable in his beanbag with a book.

"yeah? i've been doing alright."

"okay."

tyler nods once more, fidgeting with his fingers. he wanted to make conversation badly, only to relieve the awkwardness that was hovering in the air around them.

"i don't think that i've seen you around here... are you new or something. just move here maybe?"

josh looks up from his book, deciding to close it to be more polite.

"i've just transferred schools, actually. my mom and i didn't like how my old school handled things and such."

"oh."

the pink haired boy nods, checking his phone to look at the time.

"yeah."

"what grade are you going into?"

josh shrugs, observing tyler and his clothes. not in a pervy way... he just wanted to get a better look at him. sometimes clothes say a lot.

"i'm gonna be a senior..."

tyler smiles widely. "we're gonna be in the same grade. sweet."

"yeah."

the two continue to talk for a while, tackling small subjects. time passes before tyler has to go, asking josh if they can exchange numbers.

"text you later? maybe?" tyler asks as he starts to leave the area josh was in.

"yeah, definitely." josh smiles, waving tyler goodbye.

tyler waves as well, walking away and out to the car.

"hey, dad."

"hey, ty, have a good time?"

tyler nods, buckling his seat belt. he and his dad drive off and back home for dinner. the air had a somber feeling. this wasn't the first time, though, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

chris parks the car with a sigh. he looks over at his son, forcing a smile and patting his shoulder before getting out of the car.

just like a few days before, tyler stays in the car. he cries. the car was now his place to just let it all out.

"miss you so much."

ten minutes passes by and he gathers himself. walking out of the car and into the house, he decides to text josh. it had only been twenty minutes, but he wanted to say hello.

tyler goes to the dinner table and eats as quickly as possible. like yesterday, and the day before, and for the past month, the table was quiet and unsettling. after tyler finished he went upstairs to his room.

josh - hey

tyler smiles at his phone, happy he could talk to someone besides his family.

tyler - hi

josh - wassup?

tyler - nothing much... you?

josh - about the same. about to walk home from the library.

tyler and josh talk for hours, clicking immediately. by one in the morning they both are exhausted and say goodnight to each other.

tyler goes to bed happy for once in a month.

josh goes to bed smiling for once in a long time.