soft light » joshler

drops.

super unedited.

set in the 90's because I was feeling them today. tyler is 16, josh is 17 and josh is much taller than tyler in this because i'm a hoe for that idea.

tyler was always described by his mama, as lovely. a boy with a face so beautiful it could bring tears to one's eyes, skin softer than silk and a voice laced with silver and honey. of course when his mama told him this he believed none of it, but he always nodded and smiled his angelic, slightly-crooked smile, and nothing made kelly joseph happier than her smiling son.

tyler and his mother lived in a pretty house, the outside painted a calming pastel pink. it was built in the 70's into the side of a hill, and it extended downward a few levels toward the bottom of the little mountain, with a thin deck on one side connecting to another, identical deck. that deck belonged to a house exactly the same as theirs, but painted a demure gray. and the house next to theirs had just been bought by a new family.

tyler and kelly were excited, as the last owner of the house had been a very old man who rarely came out except to yell at tyler for singing while watering the daisies in the garden. he had been taken away by family a few months back for treatment and the house had a "for sale" sign in the yard until a month ago, when a woman came to stick on a sign reading read "sold". and today, while tyler sat in the driveway listening to music on his Walkman in worn mom-style jeans, a white high-neck shirt and a red plaid flannel, he saw a moving truck begin to pull up the hill.

he shot up, dropping the book he had been reading and carefully turning off his walkman that had been playing "prince's greatest hits." as the vehicle trundled to a stop right outside his driveway, he put on a smile as a fairly short woman and a man walked out, their sights on the new house. tyler lifted a hand and yelled over to them, "hi, m'tyler! nice to meet' cha, new neighbors!" both adults turned and waved back, starting to walk over to him as a moving man appeared from inside the truck and began taking boxes to their new driveway. when she reached him, the woman extended a hand to shake tyler's.

"nice to meet you, tyler! my name is laura dun, and this is my husband. how old are you? fifteen?" tyler smiled, responding with a shy "just turned sixteen, ma'am, why?" laura laughed and replied, "our son is about your age, he should be out now. why isn't that boy helping the moving man? joshuaa!" the woman called. "one sec, mom, I'm getting a box!" came a faint reply. tyler watched with interest as a boy probably about his age--a little older, maybe--emerged from the truck, carrying a positively enormous box. and when Tyler's eyes adjusted to the sun to get a better look at him, he almost stopped breathing.

he was tall, and wore a white muscle tee with torn denim overalls, his hair curly and shining with a little styling gel. his muscles were straining against the heavy box, and he absolutely glowed like a greek god in the warm california sun. he grunted and smoothly flipped a piece of hair out of his face, making eye contact with tyler as if in slow motion, whose mouth was open slightly in shock. a perfectly white smile glinted across the tall boy's features, making tyler's cognitive skills completely stop in their tracks.

tyler's cheeks filled with a red tone, as the other boy quickened his pace to drop the box in the driveway and walk over to where tyler and his own parents were. he stood next to his mama and said, "hiya there, pretty boy! i'm joshua, from san francisco," he said. perfect white teeth blinding him; and he barely managed to choke out a hello and his name before turning around and running into the house to find kelly and alert her immediately of the arrival of the dun's.

"mama!" he yelled, going down a flight of stairs to his mother's room. his mother, who had been watching something on tv, looked up to see her angelic son flying towards her, words falling from his lips in a jumble. "the neighbors are here, mama, come say hello to them, would ya? they have a son!" he sounded flustered, and she laughed her signature bell-chime laugh and stood up to go talk to the neighbors. 

it had been a few weeks, and the duns had completed their move-in. tyler had not worked up the courage to talk to joshua yet, preferring to watch him transport the endless boxes from windows in the house. he would gaze longingly at his sweat-dripping body, and he hoped joshua hadn't seen him looking, doing his best to dart away from the windows whenever the boy would glance up during a water break.

currently it was nighttime. it was raining, a rare occurrence in the warmth of california; and tyler was awake, the sounds of the droplets hitting the house keeping his large eyes from closing. he lay in his bed, turning over, before pulling off his fluffy white covers and standing up, careful not to make too much noise. he padded, slowly, to the back door, leading to the side deck.

he came out onto the deck, and immediately the air took on a damp, beautiful chill, the sky covered in moonlit grey clouds, drops of water falling around him. the trees behind his house rustling softly, the fresh scent of rain filling his nose. he loved the rain, more than anything.

he looked up to the sky, smiling, and stuck out his tongue slightly, feeling the rain fall on it like liquid silver. he sat on the wet deck, sighing as the cold breeze ruffled his loose, oversize white tee. he could see droplets stuck in his eyelashes. he lay back, curling on the cold, damp wood, unbothered by it. the peace and the pale sound of the rain around him. 

soft footsteps sounded to his right, and tyler's eyes opened a little, seeing a familiar tall form on the dun's connecting deck. he sat up, wiping the water off his eyes. "j-joshua? what are you doing here?" 

the curly-haired boy leaned, on the separation between the walkways. "jus' couldn't sleep, s'all," he said, his light brown eyes fixed on tyler's. he wordlessly climbed over the separation and sat next to tyler, still shrouded in the hazy chill of the rain, which was slowing slightly. tyler looked down, his cheeks deciding to blush again, and drawing his bare legs closer to himself.

 he had always known, in some way, that he liked other boys, and not girls. his first crush had been a boy named brendon, in first grade. but that had passed quickly, and brendon was now his best friend and nothing more. and there was no ignoring that joshua was a very handsome boy, and tyler's heart was racing.

"i love the rain," came the tall boy's voice, quiet. tyler smiled. "it never rains here, but when it does, there isn't anything m'love more. it's so pretty," he replied. "bullshit. ain't nowhere near as pretty as you," joshua said. tyler squeaked, putting a hand over his mouth. "joshua!"

joshua laughed, scooting closer to tyler and lying down next to him. his face up towards the sky, and catching the falling water. tyler took a breath and decided to lay down too, angling his head slightly to stare at josh before he caught him looking and smirked. causing the brunet to align his face upwards again with his blush intensifying.

as the rain began to stop, tyler could feel joshua looking at him, and turned his head. their faces were so close that if tyler moved half an inch they'd be kissing. he felt flustered, never having been this close to anyone but his mama, of course, before.

"i should probably go-s'not raining anymore. seeya later, beautiful." joshua breathed, before he stood and jumped the separation, disappearing back into his house.

tyler was infatuated, and would surely be coming back the next night to see him again.

PUBLISHING THIS NOW BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE I'LL DIE IF I GO ANOTHER DAY WITHOUT PUBLISHING SOMETHING -- PART TWO SOON. I LOVE THIS CONCEPT, THAT'S ALL.

i love you. 

mei (梅)