Tyler woke up the next morning to the screeching sounds of smoke alarms, quickly getting out of bed and running as well as he could to go see what was wrong and find his husband.

He entered the kitchen to find Josh standing on top of the island in only his boxers, fanning at the smoke with his shirt.

"Damn eggs," he grumbled, not seeing Tyler. "I try to welcome my husband home with a nice breakfast and you decide to catch fire."

Tyler giggled, Josh turning around as he heard him.

"Oh," he said. "Hey Ty. Nothing's wrong here. I'm good. Everything's fine. False alarm."

Tyler giggled and hopped up on the counter, taking the batteries out of the smoke detector so it would stop beeping.

"Ohhh. That's a smart idea."

"Mhm," Tyler hummed with a giggle, kissing Josh's lips. "G'morning, Joshie."

"G'morning, TyJo," Josh grinned, kissing Tyler back. "Wanna go get donuts?"

Tyler nodded, getting off the counter and slowly making his way to his bedroom, his legs hurting from having run.

Josh smiled widely as he watched Tyler go. He was so cute when he was walking all slowly, that adorable smile on his face like he was just a turtle enjoying the world.

Josh cleaned off the pans he had dirtied trying to make breakfast before he headed to the bedroom to put on clothes.

The boys got dressed at went to Josh's car, going to the donut shop and just letting Josh go in since Tyler's legs were sore.

"Ok," Josh said with a grin as he got back in the car. "I got one of every kind they had so we can prolly lady and the tramp it."

Tyler giggled. "Which one of us would be lady?"

"The cuter one," Josh grinned. "So you."

Tyler giggled and kissed Josh's cheek. "Or we can just break them in half."

"But then I don't get to kiss you."

"That's true," Tyler giggled. "Ok, we'll lady and the tramp it."

Josh grinned triumphantly before he started to drive them back home, walking with Tyler slowly inside, unable to keep from giggling because Tyler just had that very content smile as he moved ever so slightly.

"You're so freaking cute, TyJo," Josh said, kissing his cheek.

"Is that why you're giggling?"

Josh smiled and nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too," Tyler smiled.

The boys went inside, snuggling in bed as they ate.

"Ok, rank your top five," Josh said after they both had tried every flavor.

"Hm.... I'm gonna say birthday cake at 5, Samoa at 4, strawberry at 3, chocolate at 2, and strawberry champagne at 1. What about you?"

"Exact same," Josh said. "except I'd put the blueberry somewhere up there."

"Ouhhhh, I forgot about that one," Tyler said. "That one was really good. Ok, take birthday cake out and put blueberry in its place."

"Perfect," Josh grinned, kissing his cheek. "So what do you wanna do today?"

"I dunno," Tyler said. "We should do somethin' fun."

"Like what?"

"We should go swimming."

"I thought you didn't know how to swim," Josh said.

"I don't."

"So why would we-"

"I dunno," Tyler giggled. "Just to have fun."

Josh grinned. "Maybe I can just hold you and we can make out or something."

"I-I've always kinda dreamed of doing that," Tyler giggled shyly.

"You have?! Then let's do it!" Josh said.

"I don't have a swim suit," Tyler said.

"I don't either," Josh replied. "We can just go in our boxers."

Tyler giggled and nodded, hugging his neck tightly. Josh grinned and kissed his lips softly. "I missed you so much, baby."

"I missed you more," Tyler smiled shyly. "I told all my friends there about you. They all said you sounded super duper perfect and romantic and they didn't even know how perfect my husband is."

Josh smiled softly, kissing his forehead. "Aww, my sweet sweet hubby."

Tyler blushed, hugging Josh's torso.

So the boys headed to the pool of their apartment complex, smiling widely as they saw no one was there.

Josh got in first, reaching his hands out and helping Tyler get in. Tyler was nervous, quickly wrapping his legs around his waist.

"I've got you, baby," Josh chuckled. "You can stand. It's just five feet deep."

"Oh."

So Tyler stood up, his eyes wide in amazement. "It's like I'm in a big bath tub!"

Josh laughed, kissing his lips. "Pretty much. Do you wanna go under water?"

Tyler nodded.

Josh grinned and held both his hands. "One, two, three."

Both boys went underwater, opening their eyes, Tyler giggling as he saw Josh waving at him and blowing him a kiss.

They came up from underwater, Tyler jumping so his legs were back around Josh's waist, looking down at him and gently running water through his husband's hair.

Josh smiled up at him and kissed his lips softly, it quickly turning into a make out session.

And luckily, for the entire thirty minutes, no one came out to the pool area. They eventually decided to go inside and make lunch.

Josh carried Tyler inside, the boys taking their first shower together in nine months.

"This is even more fun than I remember," Tyler giggled as his husband shampooed his hair for him.

Josh grinned and nodded in agreement. "Come here, cute butt."

"You haven't gotten to see my butt in forever!"

"I knoooooow! It was so weird not having anything to squeeze when I was going to bed!"

Tyler giggled and blushed.

"Hey, I'm gonna give you pleeeeeeeenty of butt rubs tonight," Josh grinned.

"Yayyyyyyy," Tyler giggled. "I didn't get enough last night. We were too busy crying and making out."

"Yeahhh," Josh said. "But we've got all of tonight for butt rubs."

Tyler smiled and nodded, kissing Josh's nose. "I looooove you."

"I looooooove you more," Josh grinned, picking him up and holding him under the water so he could rinse the shampoo out. "What were you thinking about for lunch? I did a huge grocery run before I picked you up."

"Chicken strips," Tyler said with a hopeful smile.

"Chicken strips? Not like some fancy meal?"

Tyler shook his head. "Chicken strips. I've been craving chicken strips for the past nine months and they never had them in the cafeteria."

"What all did you eat while you were there?" Josh asked as he and his husband got out of the shower and dried off, putting on clothes.

"They had lots of tacos," Tyler said. "They weren't Taco Bell, though. Oh, I had spaghetti. I had a lot of spaghetti. They had salads too. And like a sandwich bar."

"Was it good?"

Tyler nodded. "Yeah. It was pretty good. I always brought a picture of you with me and talked to you and told you about my day. Sometimes they'd even let me eat in my room so I could really be alone with you."

"Aww, TyJo..."

Josh put the chicken strips in the oven before standing between Tyler's legs as his husband sat on the counter, his hands gripping his thighs as he talked to him.

"So what all did you do every day?"

"Every day I did the same thing. At 8:30 I'd wake up so I could spend time just thinking. I'd go to breakfast from 9:30 to 10. Then I'd go to my room and put on my 'Josh's Husband' hoodie then go to therapy from 10:30 to 12:30. Then I'd go to lunch from 12:45 to whatever time I wanted. Then I'd go and play ukulele for the nurses on their lunch breaks. Then I'd sometimes go outside and just sit. Then I'd go back inside and be in my room. I watched TV a lot and pretended like you were beside me watching it. Then my friend Maci would come in after she finished therapy and we would watch a movie together or play cards. I taught her how to play the uke. Then we'd go to dinner together and I'd talk about you and she would just listen to me. Which was nice. Then I'd hug her goodnight and I'd go to my room and kiss your picture goodnight and hold it before I fell asleep."

"Huh."

"What'd you do while I was gone?"

"I went to work," Josh said. "And I went to work. And I went to work. That's about it. I had to stay distracted or I wouldn't be able to get out of bed knowing you wouldn't be in there next time I got back in."

"One time in the beginning I got really sassy and said I wouldn't go to therapy unless they gave me my wedding ring back so they gave it back."

Josh chuckled and kissed Tyler's nose. "Sooooooo sassy."

"So I was the only person allowed to have jewelry. A-and technically I wasn't allowed to wear my hoodie when I wasn't in my room but they let me."

"Woooooooow," Josh said. "You must've been like the coolest guy there, huh?"

"Mhm. I was so cool, Joshie, you have no idea."

Josh smiled and kissed Tyler's hands. "You're still pretty stinkin' cool to me, TyTy."

Tyler giggled shyly, feeling super cool and special and loved. He hugged Josh's neck tightly.

"They also had lotion in all the guys' bathrooms," Tyler giggled. "It always made me laugh when I saw it while I was brushing my teeth cause it made me think of you."

"Because of how much i jerk off?"

Tyler giggled and nodded.

Josh rolled with eyes as he laughed, shaking his head and kissing his lips. "I love you, Tyler."

"I love you more, Joshua."

Suddenly, the oven went off.

"CHICKEN STRIPS!"