next door » joshler [book #1]

nine » question

josh walks into tyler's apartment the next day, and tyler corners him immediately, looking concerned. a million worried thoughts immediately flash through josh's head, before:

"i," says tyler, furrowing his brow, "have a very important question. a VIQ."

josh looks at him. "okay, shoot."

the other boy takes a deep breath, bites his lip, and goes: "doyouwanttobemyboyfriend?"

they fall silent. both of them. josh stares in a sort of shock, mind processing the words. "i, uh..." he mumbles, blushing, "um..."

tyler's face falls. "i mean, if you don't want to- that's okay, obviously that's okay-"

"no," josh reassures him immediately, "heck no, ty- of course i want to be your frickin' boyfriend. course."

tyler looks at him, a grin growing across his face cautiously. "really?" he whispers, like a child being offered something like- candy, say, or a puppy. childlike wonder, that's what it is. and it's frickin' adorable.

"yeah," josh answers, smiling. "course."

his new boyfriend giggles bashfully and buries his face in his hands, singing: "josh dun is my boyfriend, frickin' josh dun..."

"you're so cute," josh laughs in response, and tyler glances up immediately.

"you're cuter," he states bluntly, growing intensely serious, and josh frowns at him.

"i see your point," he tells him, "but you're wrong. you're far cuter."

tyler purses his lips and shakes his head in a pout. "joshua dun, you are way cuter than me. frickin'- frickin' fight me."

josh crosses his arms and grins at tyler. "tyler joseph, you are the cutest little bean ever. so no."

next thing he knows, tyler's got him pinned against the wall, mouth dangerously close to his, and he drops his voice and whispers, "fight me."

josh grins back, glances down at tyler's lips- okay, crap, he's really close, and his lips are really pink and look really soft, and.. "you're, uh," he points out with a wavering voice, "really close to me."

tyler nods, licking his lips subconsciously, tongue peeking out as he does so. "yep. good job, i didn't think you'd notice."

josh's breath hitches. "i, uh..."

that's when tyler comes even closer, pressing his lips gently to josh's, and the boy feels these sort of fireworks go off, you know? like tyler's mouth is an electric outlet, sending sparks through josh's body. holy crap, the boy's a good kisser, slowly moving his hand to the base of josh's skull, to the pale blue curls there. when he finally moves away, casting his eyes downward in embarrassment, josh nearly makes a sound of disappointment. "i'm sorry," tyler mumbles.

"'s okay," josh answers in a sort of daze, feeling his wet lips. "you're a... a really good kisser." tyler blushes at this, half-shrugs. "seriously, you are."

"then can i kiss you again?" tyler whispers, and without hesitation, josh responds.

"yes."