//hi friends thats what i look like ((://
but maybe they can make it work. key word: maybe.
slowly, after a couple days, josh admits that he's forgiven tyler. and tyler holds him when he cries, and comforts him when memories of before resurface.
and at night, josh falls asleep alone, because tyler needs to work on his art.
and in the mornings, tyler wakes up alone, because josh has gotten a job.
but it works, you know? they see each other in the evenings, and sometimes josh sits with him and watches him paint. sometimes he'll come home from work and be greeted with a kiss. it's not much of a relationship, but god, they'll take what they can.
saturday they go on a date, and it's beautiful and lovely, and josh stares at the smiling boy across from him, and thinks, yes, this can work.
and that night when they come home and end up in bed, clothes discarded, josh stares down at him (because of course josh tops) and he thinks, we'll make it work.
"i love you," becomes a frequent phrase at their house, said whenever they pass each other. josh will whisper it as he gets up to go to work, and tyler will say it as he curls up next to him at night.
see, tyler visited jenna because he wasn't happy. he doesn't know why he wasn't. but he knows there's no need to see her now. because he's happy. he's amazing.
and that's the end of the story, right? it should be. they're happy. they're perfect. they're in love.
but, as any proper fanfic, the story can't end here. god, i'd love to, but i'm not going to. i'm too evil for that.
so that's why one day, josh comes home, and tyler isn't there.
oh, he's not worried. tyler's probably off at the store or something. no big deal.
but by evening, nearly four hours later, tyler still isn't home. and he's not answering- phone calls go straight to voice mail, and texts aren't read.
josh begins to worry.
he makes himself a cup of coffee, sits down at the kitchen table, and calls every single one of tyler's friends.
none of them know where he is.
it's two hours later that he gets a call. it says it's from tyler, but when josh picks up, it's not his voice.
it's a voice he never thought he'd hear again.
"thought you'd seen the last of me, huh, baby doll?"
it's him.