rich & sad ↣ joshler ✓

28. Love

Tyler sat in a chair next to Josh, leaning his head on the older's shoulder. Their hands were clasped together and Josh's grip was so tight that Tyler had to rub his shoulder every few minutes. He could tell the blonde was nervous.

"It's okay, baby," Tyler assured. "It'll be fine. The interview will go great."

"I hope so," Josh nodded slightly. "If I fuck it up the company's over," he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Tyler just pressed a kiss to his cheek. He was getting tired of assuring him. Josh was starting to get annoying. Tyler was more in trouble if this got fucked up than Josh was.

The two were sitting in Josh's office alone. Everyone from Modem had taken a lunch break and Tyler and Josh sat in the office and ate cheese fries together. Only one person was going to be in the room during the interview other than Mike so they were just waiting on those two.

"It'll be alright," Tyler repeated.

"Thanks for doing this with me," Josh brought their hands up and kissed Tyler's knuckles.

"Of course," the brunette forced a smile. Why wouldn't he agree to it? He was getting put in a magazine. He could already see all the attention he was about to get from this.

Suddenly, the door opened and Mike and the other lady walked back in. Tyler made no move to sit up though. Josh didn't gesture for him to get up either.

"Hi," she smiled, sitting down. "I'm Nicole I don't think I introduced myself earlier. Tyler, right?"

"Yes," Tyler smiled back.

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

He watched Mike nod at Nicole before going and sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. Tyler realized Mike was just there to watch them and make sure everything went alright. "Are we good to get started?" Nicole asked, taking out a notepad and pen and her phone.

"I think so," Tyler answered for Josh. He looked at his boyfriend. "You good?"

"Yeah," Josh nodded.

Nicole smiled. "And it's alright if I record this, right? Just so I know what to type up for the article later?"

"Yeah, of course," Josh nodded once more and Tyler wanted to die from how embarrassing his boyfriend was being.

Nicole began by asking Josh questions about his job. They were all questions he had excepted: how he got into business, why he wanted to create a technology business, where he thought his business was going... and more. He felt Josh start to relax and he smiled, rubbing the stop of his hand with his thumb.

However, shortly after, the questions started to change. "So you're here with your boyfriend, Tyler," Nicole began and Tyler had to refrain from scoffing. They knew that so he didn't understand why the hell she felt the need to bring it up.

"Yeah," Josh replied and Tyler saw him smile. He felt his heart rate pick up and he blushed lightly, looking down at the ground.

"How did you two meet?" Nicole asked, a small smile on her face as well.

Josh glanced over at Tyler and laughed before looking back at Nicole. "A bar, actually. Which is weird because I don't drink and I definitely don't ever go out. I had been there with a... coworker? I think that's the best word to use to describe him. Anyway I had two shots and didn't feel comfortable driving so I was sobering up and Tyler came over and introduced himself. He came on... uh very strong... but here we are now."

Nichole's small smile turned into a grin. "And how long have you guys been together?"

"Almost a month officially but we were seeing each other like three weeks before then."

Nichole set her note pad down on her lap. "Can I ask a question that's very personal? If you don't want to answer it you don't have to and we can omit it from the interview."

Tyler watched Josh anxiously bite his lip before speaking. "I'm alright with that. Go ahead and ask."

"Would you say you're gay? Bisexual?"

Josh pursed his lips. "I don't know. The more I think about it the more the term gay feels right. I've been with girls and have had long term girlfriends but being with Tyler is so different. I don't know if that's just him or if it's because he's a guy though."

Tyler found himself smiling and he squeezed Josh's hand once more. Josh looked over and gave him a lopsided grin before looking back at Nicole.

"You said being with Tyler is different. Different how?"

Josh's eyes lit up and sat up a little more. "It's just so... amazing. I don't really know how to put it into words. Absolutely nothing against any of my past girlfriends because they were wonderful and we ended things on good terms but it's like being with Tyler just feels right. It's like everything is slowly clicking into place.

"I don't know if you've noticed but I'm kind of obsessed with my job and my company and I work way more than I should," Josh chuckled slightly. "My best friend always gets on me about never giving myself a break. Meeting Tyler kind of helped me take a step back from all of that. I still have a firm grasp on Primgold and the way I run it but it's like I can breathe for the first time in years.

"He's just so special too. I've never dated or even associated myself with anyone like him and he just means a lot to me. He makes everything better and he's making me a better person. I think that's just what happens when you fall in love with someone."

Tyler froze at those words and pulled his hand away from Josh. The blonde looked at him with a confused look. Tyler could see Nicole's expression from the corner of his eye and she must've picked up on it too. "You love me?" Tyler asked, his voice cautious.

Josh's eyes widened as he realized what he said. "I didn't mean—"

"Josh, do you love me?" Tyler pressured.

Josh bit his lip again and nodded, his shoulder slumping slightly. "Yeah," he answered. "I love you."

Tyler found himself beaming. Not because Josh loved him, he could care less about that, but because that provided him some sense of stability with his plan. If Josh loved him he was easier to manipulate. Simple as that.

And Tyler had to make him think he loved him back.

The brunette attached his lips to Josh's and kissed him deeply. When they pulled away Tyler set his small, dainty hand on Josh's cheek. "I love you too."

"You do?" Josh asked, hope radiating off of his words.

"Of course I do," Tyler laughed lightly. "How can I not?"

Josh pressed a small kiss to Tyler's lips once more before turning back to Nicole. "Sorry about that," he said awkwardly.

Tyler turned as well and saw the woman was smiling so wide he thought her face was going to crack. Mike even had a smile on his face as well. "Don't be sorry," she assured. "I think we're good on questions, don't you Mike?"

"Yeah," Mike replied.

"Thank you both," Nicole told them.

"Thank you," Josh insisted.

Tyler was definitely thankful as well. So was his wallet.