Keeper and Protector (Joshler) ✔️

29

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"In the fall, I get lonely. In the winter, I'm still lonely. Come the knives of the springtime, in the summer I go crazy."

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Monday morning came around quickly, bringing an extremely nervous Protector along with it.

Originally, the "big meeting" had been scheduled for Tuesday. But due to the CEO being notorious for changing things at the last minute, it was now scheduled to be held later that afternoon... which meant Josh had the whole morning to spend at HQ, catching up on work and panicking about what was to come.

Sitting in conference rooms all day wasn't exactly Josh's idea of "fun," but he knew that if the CEO had called their division all the way to LA, they had either done something really good... or really bad.

As he stood in front of the bathroom mirror, straightening his tie out for the fifteenth time, Josh tried his best to bury the anxiety that had been brewing inside of him since he woke up. He had already taken his anxiety medication as a preemptive measure, but so far... it didn't seem to be doing him much good.

"It's going to be okay," Josh whispered, trying his best to convince the reflection staring back at him. "You'll be fine. Just breathe. Relax. Stop worrying."

"Joshua?"

His self-mantra was interrupted by the soft sound of Tyler's voice from the bedroom.

"I'm in the bathroom getting ready, baby," he said, fiddling with his tie yet again.

"Want 'chu," Tyler whined in response. "Please?"

Josh smiled, knowing he couldn't possibly say no to that. He came out the bathroom and rounded the corner to see a sleepy-looking Tyler laying on his side with the blanket pulled up to his chin, messy hair and sun-kissed cheeks from the sightseeing and fun they had gotten themselves into yesterday.

"Good morning." Josh leaned down and kissed Tyler's forehead before sitting down. "I didn't expect you to be up this early."

Tyler rubbed at his eyes, vision still a bit blurry. "I woke up when I turned over and didn't feel you next to me." He paused for a moment to yawn. "I forgot your meeting is today."

"Yeah, I've been awake for a while. You usually stir around when I get up, but I guess I must have tired you out too much yesterday, huh?"

"Guess so," Tyler mumbled. Inside of his head, he theorized that his sub-conscious was finally comfortable enough to not wake up when Josh moved around. But he wasn't going to tell him that, of course. "What time do you have to be at the office?"

"Around 8:00. I'm sure traffic will be awful, so I'm gonna leave in a few minutes, that way I can give myself plenty of time to get there."

"Be careful," Tyler said before sitting up. "I don't want you to get into an accident."

"I know. I'll just take my time and stay out of everyone's way. But I promise I'll still be extra careful." He took Tyler's hand. "Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?"

"I guess." Tyler could already tell from the way his Time Keeper was aching that it was going to be one of those 'needy hoe days,' as Annaliese so lovingly called it. But he didn't expect Josh to blow off his meeting just because he was feeling particularly... clingy. "Can I text you?"

Josh smiled. "Of course you can, sweetheart, I'll have my phone on me."

"M'gonna miss you," Tyler mumbled before sitting up on his knees and wrapping his arms around Josh. "I love you, Joshua."