𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺.

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘯.

warning: slight nsfw

the word shot throw josh's chest and sunk.
he was struck, he stumbled back on his own feet, not sure if he was still sleeping and this was all a dream. tyler was far from josh's world. tyler burst into heavier tears. he was embarrassed and tired and stressed, he felt like he had ruined everything. tyler could've died then and there. listening to tyler's cries tore josh's heart into two. without question joshua need to make tyler feel safe, swooping in to hold him against his chest with arms wrapped around the smaller boy.

"i w-w-wanna g-go h-home! t-take m-me h-home!"

tyler was hyperventilating. the small boy had put himself under so much stress and turmoil, it was painful to watch and josh was worried.

"breathe, tyler. in," he inhaled, "and out." and deeply exhaled. "just like me, okay? just like josh."

tyler's soft, shaky breaths followed. joshua rested his forehead against tyler's, feeling his soft tuffs of hair against his skin. he repeated the steps until he was sure tyler was okay. josh let a hand travel through tyler's hair while the younger boy rested his cheek against josh's shoulder.
they stood in the parking lot like that for nearly an hour.
soft exchanges of josh combing hands through tyler's hair, followed with tyler's gentle cooing.

"d-down, p'ease," tyler spoke for the first time, a whisper.
josh instantly obliged, thinking something was wrong.

"i-i w-was jus' t-thinkin, y-your l-legs must be ti'ed f-from standing a-a-and holdin' me."

"that's the least of my worries, tiny, as long as you're okay."
a flutter between both of their hearts. tyler's blush went unnoticed with the red hue his face had taken. small grabby hands came into josh's frame, things were calming down. with that, josh helped the small boy back in the car without a word between them.

"i should be get you home, now."
josh clicked in tyler's seatbelt before fastening his own.

"h-home?"

"don't you want to go back? it's alright if you do, ty. it won't offend me at all, okay?"

"n-no! n-no p'ease j-joshie. d-don't wanna a-anymore, w-wanna stay w-wif' you."

josh gave smiled and offered his hand to tyler, lacing their fingers together. the engine roared alive and the two were back on the road, far from anything with nothing but each other on their minds.
they drove until they reached the most beautiful viewpoint, right before sunset. josh parked the car on the edge of the view point, directly facing the pastel hues in the trees. josh adjusted the drivers seat was back and leaned the seat farther down, patting his lap as an invitation for tyler.

"i'm sorry. for today, for everything, i wish i could restart this day all over again, ty. i hate seeing you like this."
tyler buried his face in josh's chest as josh delicately stroked his hair.

"it's n-not your f-fault." tyler mumbled from josh's chest.

"and it's not yours either, okay?"

tyler nodded his head and took a hold of josh's free hand. he traced hearts into his skin, letting his fingers glide across josh's much bigger hand.

"tyler," josh paused, not knowing how to break such a peaceful moment. "why did you call me 'daddy'?"

the small movements across joshua's hands stopped, tyler froze up. he was tired, he didn't want to cry anymore, he didn't even want to speak. the boy picked his head up from josh's chest and dropped his hands onto his thighs. he looked into the valley. he tried to ignore the gnawing feeling in his chest and the tears that were threatening to spill.