please be careful reading this, idk if it's too heavy but blood is mentioned a lot and Tylers gender is questioned
pleasebe safe!

🌷

There's a garden hidden if you walk into the woods, it takes about fifteen minutes to get there, it's josh's favorite spot.

His mother use to bring him there, when he was a little boy, they'd sit there and watch the birds sing their lungs out, watch the butterflies, bumblebees, dragonflies, swarm in peace. A place unbothered by humanity, a place where if you close your eyes you feel one with nature, you feel alone, but not empty.

Josh goes there all the time, continues to even after his mother got sick and physically couldn't take him anymore. Whenever his aunties argue about what's safe and what isn't, he comes here. When people tell him to work in the mines, he comes here. Whenever he thinks too much and grows afraid of his abilities to do anything, he comes here. When he's afraid his father will comehome, as guilty and fucked up as it sounds, he comes here.

Today it's sweet, like any other day, it feels like spring and summer combined. The flowers were large, soft, swaying in the wind. The butterflies seemed to be hidden today, which was odd.
With his back against the tree, he looks up at the overgrown grass, the small bunnies come out sometimes, he can hear them running and rustling.

Josh sees something however, it's brown, he thinks it's a pile of dirt, but the butterflies are all surrounding it, sitting on it, he things it's the middle of a sunflower, but it's not, it's hair. Curly, then he hears the giggling, the soft humming, the singing coming from that patch of hair he sees behind the grass.

Josh thinks it's one of those crazy people that live in the woods, so he retrieved his pocket knife, holding it tightly, shakily against his chest. Standing up slowly, small steps forward, the singing gets closer, closer, Josh thinks it's a girl. A girl with really short hair. Petite, small, holding rocks in their hand, the butterflies are in their hair, on their shoulders, on their legs and back. Giggling as they hold large rocks against their chest.

"After.. laughter..." It sings. "Comes tears."

A twig breaks beneath josh's feet, the person turns around, the butterflies go flying. The damn boy that's been on josh's mind since Saturday night when he left his home with a headache. The boy with the cute hair, the one that skin glows, the peculiar one, the fucking beautiful boy.

It's Tyler.

The boy sees the pocket knife, gasping he grabs the largest rock he's holding and swings it at josh's face.

"Jesus!" Josh falls on his back, clutching his nose harshly. "Fuck! Why did you do that?!"

"I-I don't know! Instinct?! Why the heck do you have a knife?!" The boy drops his rocks and runs to josh's body, lifting his head to rest on his lap, removing his hands the blood trickles down josh's cheek and onto Tylers skirt. "What the heck is with you and being a weirdo?"

Josh laughs, then cries, he swears his nose is fucking broken.

"Whyre you laughing?!"

Josh laughs again. "You said heck."

"What?!" Tyler blushes, rolls his eyes. "Why- why did you have a knife? Where is it?"

"I don't know I fucking dropped it when you decided to slam a rock into my face." He sighs. "And I thought you were one of those creeps that lives in the woods."

"We already established that you were the creep, pervert."

"Hey!" Josh tries to sit up, but gets dizzy, Tyler grabs his shoulders with his softy hands. "H-hey.. you said I wasn't!"

"Yeah! And then You decide to start lurking like a weirdo again!"

"I was not lurking. I was simply investigating."

"Pervert." Tyler bites his lip, concentrating as he places his little hand on josh's bumpy nose, then a loud crunch is heard, putting his nose back into place.

"Fuck!" Josh screams, wiping the tears and blood off his cheeks. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You swear a lot. I fixed it, you're welcome."

"You're welcome? You broke it in the first plac-"

Tyler kisses his nose, softly, that's when josh notices his attire, he has a crop top on, it's white and vintage, ruffles with sleeves that reach his elbow, he has a skirt on, it's pink plaid, velvet too, josh's blood is all over his skirt and thighs, also notices, since he's so close, that Tylers eyes look green, he also has flower petals in his hair, and he smells like lavender, sweet, honey sweet. His lips are pink, so plump like a plum, his skin looks soft, fuzzy, like the peaches he devours nearly everyday. Josh doesn't know much about makeup, but he thinks Tyler is wearing some. He's glowing, and he's so pink and pretty. His nose is perfect, curves inward, the top isn't pointy, it's like a button, a cute red little button. Josh just wants to fucking devour him.

Josh is too lost in Tylers eyes, he doesn't notice his whispering.

"S-stay here."

Josh does, he also noticed how much he bled, his whole shirt looked like he'd been stabbed. Grumbling, he takes it off, uses it to wipe the excess blood on his cheek.

Tyler comes back with a flower, it's pink, of course it's fuckin pink. "This is gonna help!"

"A-a flower?"

"The petals. They're good for healing." Tyler smiles and skips over to josh, onto his knees he pick off the flower petals and places them where he bleeds. "They should stick on there just fine."

"I don't understand how a flower can help fix my broken nos-"

"Josh." Tyler pokes him on the cheek. "Haven't you learned questioning me will just make you more confused?"

Josh remembers yesterday, the flying, that secret. "I- okay."

Tyler notices josh is shirtless, and since he is frankly, pretty innocent and oblivious from what's right and what's wrong, he very obviously checks him out. He starts at his neck, then his very visible collarbone, his built shoulders, his chest, his abs, his v-line, which is something that makes Tylers body hot.
Tyler gulps, looks back at Josh, who's blushing so hard he looks just like the dried up blood on his lip.

Tyler giggles, licks his thumb, and cleans the blood. "You're blushin."

"Y-yes."

"Jeez, Josh, do perverts always get so worked up just by being stared at?"

"Fuck off!"

Tyler giggles again, he gets up and grabs his basket, places the rock he dropped and the rock with a blood stain inside, as well as some flowers. The butterflies find themselves back on Tylers head, but he tries to whoosh them away so josh doesn't grow more suspicious.

"Um, I hafta go now. Ill... I'll s-see you around?"

"Tyler?"

"... Yeah?"

"Why, why do you wear that?" Josh whispers, like it's a secret, like it's something against the law, like it's forbidden. But it's not, it's not at all, but josh is afraid for him. Afraid Tyler is messing up the latter of this town, the flow of it, the minds and ideas, the close mindedness is about to pop off and Josh doesn't think he's ready. "I don't mean it in a rude way okay! I really don't. I'm just- it's just it's- it's different and I-I've never seen it before. And I-I don't even know if you're a boy."

Tyler stares at him.

"I'm sorry." Josh winces at how stupid he can be. "Shit- that was stupid to ask. It's just I'm used to girls wearing that and I didn't know if-"

"I don't know if I'm a boy either, but I do know that I don't care if you call me one. I don't care if you call me a girl either. That stuff doesn't matter to me really. And it just makes me happy. It's not that hard to understand really... Do you think I shouldn't? Maybe I shouldn't, I know how people can be-"

"No, it's sweet. I like it. Just curious."

"Oh, okay then." Tyler smiles, it's like all he needed was Josh's approval, then starts pacing away. "Bye, perv!"

Josh just smiles. But then his eyes widen.

"Wait!"

He's up and running to catch up to Tyler, who halts and turns around quick enough for josh to be directly behind him.

Josh, gentle as he's ever been, grips tylers little wrists in his rough scarred up hands. Josh has never been this soft before it's really embarrassing if anyone saw him like this.

"Do you maybe wanna, hang out? I can show you around the town. Trust me, I know a lot of secret beautiful spots like this one." Josh blushes, manages not to stutter enough to the point of crying.

"Y-ya wanna hang out with me?" Tyler looks like josh just handed him a million dollars.

"I mean, yeah." Josh shrugs, like it's normal and totally not the nervous he's ever been. "You're... you're like the only person that isn't scared of me and you don't think I'm, like, weird."

"You are weird!" Tyler shoves josh's chest, and starts walking away again. "Pick me up at ten tomorrow!"

Josh is left standing there with a swollen heart.