josh brings his phone to the clearing one day, and plays tyler all of his favorite songs.
some of them, tyler knows, and he sings along, and josh smiles like he's never smiled before.
they danced to one song, josh's hands on tyler's shoulders. the sun broke through the clouds and shone on them like a spotlight. tyler was running on josh's laughter, using it like oxygen to keep him going.
the song ended, but they kept spinning to the soundtrack of everything they didn't need to say. tyler had one hand on josh's waist and they were dancing around each other, waltzing through the clearing like it was a tiled dance floor. tyler stepped on a leaf and it was crushed under the weight of his smile.
they spun under the clouds, and josh stepped on tyler's toes, and tyler tripped over josh's shoelaces; always undone.
josh laughed and told tyler that he was beautiful in the light.
tyler held on to him, and grinned. "you're more beautiful," he promised.