Saccharine //joshler [✔️]

thirty-five 🍯

"daddy..."

"yes?" josh responds.

tyler just sighs, eyes shifting nervously between josh's and the floor.

"what is it, baby? you can tell daddy. i promise."

"too small," tyler shakes his head. "can't."

"oh, okay. that's okay. do you want me to help finish your haircut?" he offers a little smile, hoping tyler will do the same. he doesn't.

"s'too long," tyler says, grabbing a fistful of his own hair. "needs-ta be short."

"okay," josh nods, picking up the scissors from where he set them. "how short do you want it?"

tyler frowns a bit, considering. "like dis," he says, holding his thumb and index finger about an inch apart.

"really? are you sure?" josh checks. "your hair is about three times the length of that now. you're not going to be mad at daddy if you don't like it, right?"

tyler shakes his head. "won't be mad."

so, josh goes ahead and finishes giving tyler a proper haircut. nothing changes drastically, tyler just looks a bit younger. while tyler examines his new haircut in the mirror, josh sweeps the floor clean. "do you like it?"

tyler shrugs, tugging at a strand on the top. "you like, daddy?"

"yes, i do. you look very pretty, baby," josh smiles, dumping the hair into the trash can. he stands behind the boy, arms snaking around his waist as he kisses his cheek. he watches tyler in the mirror, who is too concerned with his hair to notice. "what's wrong?"

"brown..."

"aw, really? i love your brown hair, hon. would you want to dye it a different color?" he asks.

tyler nods, finally meeting josh's eyes in the mirror.

"what color you thinkin'?"

"blonde."

"oooh," josh grins, wiggling his eyebrows. "you'd be a beautiful blonde."

"daddy blonde too?"

"yeah, you want me to dye my hair blonde with you? we can do that."

"now?"

"we can do it now. get your shoes on and we'll go to the store."

🍼🍯🍼

josh's hair is already bleach-blonde as he begins applying the dye to tyler's hair. they both gawked in the mirror at josh once his hair was processed. he looks good, way better than he would've guessed. tyler must feel the same way. he hasn't stopped giving josh googly eyes.

"do you think i'll look as good as you?" tyler asks, having aged up tremendously from the time josh found him in the bathroom to now.

"oh please, you'll look even better. there's no doubt in my mind."

tyler smiles, watching in the mirror as josh carefully spreads the bleach over the last strand of brown hair.