𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺.

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺.

"trust me, josh. he'll love it."

brad was one of the boys on the football team and one of josh's friends. he and josh were brainstorming the perfect date for tyler.

"making tyler come to our game isn't a date. it'll be fucking freezing and i won't even be with him. new idea."

"yeah, alright, but we need more people to show. he'll get to see you, out there on the field, just imagine,"

brad swung an arm over josh's shoulder and swept his arm across the air in front of him as he spoke, painting a picture for josh.

"he gets to watch his knight in shining armor win another game of the season!"

"as nice as that sounds, it still isn't a date. i wanna talk to him and really just, be with him, yanno?"

"fine."

"what's our next option?"

the two boys walked across the school parking lot, making their way to josh's car after practice. he had been the benchwarmer for the first time in his life. the coach told him that josh's game with only one arm would still be better than most of the boys best days.

"why don't you just get dinner someplace?"

"tyler's too good for just a dinner. we have to think outside of the box. this has to be the best first date in all of history."

"well, ya lost me. let me know when you figure it out."

josh sighed, starting up his truck. the two drove  with the school day far behind them, even though they'd have to be back for tonight's home game. joshua was the chauffeur out of all of his friends, sure some of them had licenses but he was by far the safest driver. that saying a lot, especially since his hospital records say otherwise.

"thanks, man."
brad stepped out of the still running car, the smell of gasoline and the sound of the engine hummed around the silent neighborhood.

"mhm, i'm not driving your ass to the game either."

"yeah right, see you at 5?"

"for what? we're both benchwarmers. plus coach told me i could skip out."

"ugh, but you can still drive? pretty please?"

"sorry dude, i have a date."

"right, if you can find out what the date'll even be."

"least i can find someone to date."

"ouch, dude."

"you know i love you, brad."
josh's voice grew louder as he backed out of brad's family driveway.

"love you too, honey!"

josh drove off, honking goodbye.

˚✧₊⁎⁺˳✧༚

tyler was on his mind, tyler was the only thing that was ever on his mind. school became just another reason to see him. his grades weren't like they used to be and as much as josh wanted to blame it on the accident, it started before. his mind slipped and once tyler popped into his head, joshua was gone. he was infatuated, he always had been. he knew he had to make their first date special, not just a movie or dinner, not even both. that wasn't enough. their kids would want to hear about their first date so naturally it had to be one for the books.

joshua planted himself in his room as soon as he got home. he out ruled any sort of outdoor date, ohio weather began to creep into winter. restaurants seemed too formal, too scary. not as casual and as face-to-face as josh wanted. the bustle of people around was the last thing josh wanted. it had to be just the two of them, a night for them to hang out, really it didn't matter what they did or where they went and yet joshua overthought.