Home Is Where You Hold Me (a Joshler story)

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*deep breath* Here we go. A concept that I wrote 2 years ago & am so excited about to publish.

Please remember that any votes and comments help me out SO much and they're SO appreciated! I love you guys.

Let me know what you think!!

Enjoy chapter 1 of this new book.

Word count: 1275

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Josh grabbed the last item out of the last remaining moving box and put it down on the shelf in the living room. He smiled at the photo of him and some of his high school friends.

He sighed. He finally officially moved in - he finished furnishing and decorating his apartment after a week and a half.

It felt kinda weird: he moved back to the city he grew up in. It had been five years since he lived here, and in those five years he went to college, graduated, and worked his butt off as he had two jobs apart from studying to make sure he'd be able to rent a place for his own once he'd graduated. Yeah, there were still student loans, but he was positive that it was gonna work out.

He folded the box and put it away, before he walked back to the living room and looked at the framed picture of him and his high school friends.

His best friends Jeremy, Colin and Arin were on it, and he was in the middle himself with his ex boyfriend Tyler. At the time of the picture being taken, he was still together with Tyler, and it showed - Jeremy and Arin had their arms around each other's neck while Jeremy threw up a peace sign with his hand, Arin's arm was resting on Josh's shoulder, while Josh's hand was on Tyler's waist and Tyler's arms were around Josh's neck as they smiled at the camera cheekily. Colin's hands - and one leg - were thrown up in the air as he stood next to Tyler.

Colin had always been the goofy one, Jeremy was the one that knew everyone's secrets but never shared any of them no matter what, Arin was the wise one who thought things through before they actually did them - which is why they had never made stupid mistakes that got them in serious trouble, Tyler was the creative one with big dreams in music, and Josh was the smart one with a huge love for biology - and Tyler.

They all separated once they were going to college; they all had different plans.

Colin was a creative guy that studied graphic design, Jeremy studied environmental studies because he cared about the planet, climate and nature greatly and wanted to make a change, Tyler wanted to pursue music and went to college for that, Josh studied biology because he wanted to become a biology professor, and Arin studied psychology.

They all went separate ways, but Josh and Arin ended up going to colleges that were only half an hour apart, so he and Arin caught up regularly. They were both around four hours away from the city they grew up in. Colin was fours away from Josh and Arin while Jeremy was three hours further than him and Arin, but Tyler went to college over twelve hours away from all of them.

That's why Josh and Tyler decided to break up before going to college. They loved each other greatly, and had been together for several years, so it was hard to break up. But they figured that pursuing their dreams was the most important. And how were they ever gonna combine a career in music with a career as biology professor?

Josh tried to get in touch with Tyler again after a few months of not staying in touch because of their break up. Both decided that that would probably be easier for the both of them. But when josh tried to get in touch with Tyler by texting and calling his phone, that was out of service, and sending him a few messages on Facebook, he'd been unable to reconnect with Tyler. When he asked the others about it, they told him that Tyler completely lost contact with all of them as well: suddenly Tyler had stopped talking to all of them, and they'd never heard of Tyler after that.

It made Josh sad, but he'd made peace with it. Tyler wanted to create a life around music, and he was at least twelve hours away from them. He imagined it being hard to start a career and let go of your old life if you keep holding on to that. He didn't want to hold on to it anymore, he wanted to start over, and Josh understood that. He wasn't mad, he was okay with it, and would always support Tyler no matter what.

Why Josh decided to move back to the city he grew up in? He wasn't sure. Maybe the nostalgia, or the safeness, the memories, or the city itself. At least he wasn't alone: Arin had moved back here as well. Not together with Josh - they both lived on their own - but he was in the city. That felt good to Josh, knowing there was someone close that he could spend time with.

He ran his finger over the picture frame, before stepping back. He regularly found himself wondering how Tyler was doing now, if he knew what he wanted to do in music, and if Josh would ever see him on the news or on tv, winning a Grammy or something. That would be so cool. He could tell everyone that that was his ex-boyfriend and he was so proud of him if that'd ever happen. His best friend in high school. He would be over the moon happy for Tyler.

He just hoped the boy's dreams would come true.

Josh plopped on the couch and grabbed his phone. He dialed Arin's phone number, and it was answered quickly after.

"Hey bud, I'm finally fully done moving in! Wanna go for a coffee tomorrow to catch up? Been a few weeks", Josh asked. He and arin hadn't seen each other in a few weeks 'cause Josh had been so busy moving here and moving in. They texted, but hadn't met up very recently, and Josh really wanted to.

"Of course, Josh!" Arin replied. "Tomorrow at 1 PM? There's a new coffee house here since a few months, and it's pretty freaking great. Not too far from where you live, I can send you the address and we'll meet up there tomorrow?" Arin proposed. "Sounds great! Looking forward to it", Josh replied. "Me too josh! Happy you're back here now as well. Now we just need Colin and Jeremy to get back here too", Arin said. "And Tyler", Josh added, smiling softly.

"Yeah... I wish any of us just knew how he was doing, y'know? Just... just knew if he was okay, following his dreams. I hope he is", Arin said. "Me too, buddy", Josh sighed softly. "Hey I'm gonna head out to the store to properly stock my fridge now that I'm all settled. I'll see you tomorrow at 1, yeah?" Josh said. "Alright Josh! See you tomorrow!" Arin said. "Bye, buddy", Josh said, before ending the call.

He pocketed his phone and glanced at the pic of him with his best friends and ex boyfriend one more time, before he grabbed his coat and everything he needed to head out to the store.

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A little intro chapter! What did you think so far? I can't wait to publish more for you all! It's gonna be so great I hope!!

Let me know what your thoughts are!