song mentioned: twist and shout; the beatles
josh's hair felt like clouds and cotton candy and piano notes and a drum beat that was soft enough to play at midnight. tyler loved to play with it, twisting the strands between his fingers and telling josh stories to make him feel better after a particularly bad day at school. josh always leaned into his touch, as if he was starved of it, as if he craved it like nothing else. as if tyler's fingers were the cure to the bruises around his eyes and the scar that followed the veins on his wrist.
"do you know how to sing?" josh asked, eyes closed, skin flushed, backpack forgotten at the edge of the clearing.
tyler shrugged.
"my mom used to sing," josh told him fondly.
tyler got the feeling that he didn't really care if tyler was listening or not, he just wanted to talk. tyler didn't mind. josh's voice always steadied him, made him stronger. made his tongue feel less like sandpaper and the world hold less weight.
"she liked to sing the beatles the best," josh continued. "her singing the beatles while making my sister's birthday cake is probably my best memory of her."
"my mom never sang to me," tyler said. "but that sounds sweet."
a corner of josh's lips turned up. "it was." he was quiet for a moment, as if he was debating whether or not he wanted to continue the conversation. then, "she died. three years ago."
tyler's heart fell, everything in him wanting to hug the other boy. he couldn't even imagine what he would do without his mother, and he was kind of terrible to her, with his not speaking and not eating and all his problems. he was a skeleton of disaster for his parents, but he couldn't live without them caring. "i'm sorry."
josh swallowed. "it's okay." the two were quiet. tyler let the strang of josh's hair go, and found his hand instead. their fingers intertwined, two boys exchanging sadness and touch and warmth and something more than love.
tyler began to sing quietly (shake it up, baby, now, twist and shout) and watched a smile bloom across josh's face.
(twist a little closer now, and let me know that you're mine)
YOU ARE READING
somewhere only we know (joshler)
Fanfiction"pressure creates diamonds," tyler said, and it sounded like he was reciting a poem. "or," josh countered. "it breaks you." he snapped his fingers and tyler winced at the crack that shattered the air. "or," tyler agreed quietly, watching the clouds...
