Joshua blinks the sleep out of his eyes. He smiles gently when he realized the man had stayed next to him all night. Josh breathes out as he feels Tyler's arms tighten around his waist, pulling the boy closer. The touch makes him feel safe, he never wants to get up. The atmosphere of the bedroom was peaceful as the two woke up, quiet and calming. He hears little birds chirping outside, the window of his bedroom is slightly ajar. Josh senses a faint smell of smoke lingering in the air but he doesn't mention it.

"Good morning, sleepyhead" Tyler's soft angelic voice greets, assuming the boy is awake by the way Josh cuddles his head into his bare chest. Tyler's hand runs along Josh's back, pushing his shirt up to feel the smooth skin. It comforts the boy, making him wish he could go back to sleep.

"'Morning" Joshua whispers, lifting his head up a little to look into Tyler's warm brown eyes. He moves his head further into Tyler's hand as he smooths his hair down. Josh giggles lightly when Tyler pulls him up a bit, kissing him slowly. Tyler tastes like warmth and bitter smoke, Josh's lips taste of heaven.

"Did you sleep well?" He watches Josh drop his head back onto Tyler's chest, he caresses the boy's neck where new bruises began blooming after last night

"Mhm," the boy's words are muffled, but Tyler understands anyway by a head nod

Tyler frowns when the boy with curly hair rolls away, instantly feeling cold. The window is open a crack so naturally, the room is freezing. He's met quickly with Josh rolling back over, nearly on top of him.

This time, he has the TV remote.

"I watch the news every morning," Josh states as he taps the power button on the small remote. An old TV in the corner of the room clicks on.

Tyler chuckles a bit, he never even noticed the tiny, old as heaven's TV in the corner of the room. Josh scoots upwards and eventually sits up, snatching all the covers in the process.The older man frowns as the warmth is taken away from him. Josh's cheeks dust over light pink when his gaze meets Tyler's naked torso. Despite the intimacy of last night, the boy is still not used to seeing Tyler's body like that.

"The news?" Tyler sits up, sticking his freezing feet under the covers "That's boring."

"Nothing else interests me." Josh murmurs, Tyler's nose is pressing against his neck, tickling Josh's skin with warm breath

Maybe Josh only watches the news because he has a short attention span and cannot sit still long enough to finish a show or even an episode.

"Ah-" Josh lets out a strangled noise, Tyler's slender fingers find their way to his ribs

The older man grins, feeling the younger boy stiffen up and freeze. Josh is trying as hard as he can to not give in and remain nonchalant. Once he shows any signs of being ticklish it's game over for him. Tyler taps the younger boy's ribs gently wanting some sort of reaction. Josh presses his lips tightly and tries not to smile.

"Not ticklish, eh?" Tyler quirks a brow, Josh quickly shakes his head "Not fun."

"I'm just-" Josh takes in a shaky breath "Stop, I'm not-"

"Relax, I'm just messing with you," Tyler bites his lips, fingers threatening to tickle Josh's armpits

"I'm not ticklish,okay?" Josh tries to pout "You can stop now."

Tyler's brown eyes glimmer. He retracts his hands and Josh is finally to breathe normally when suddenly the man's hand darts to his stomach, rubbing it gently. Josh bursts out with laughter, he's cut off guard. Tyler is suddenly flipping the boy on his back and pinning his wrists above Josh's head with one hand while the other one taps the curly-haired boy's sensitive skin.

The boy writhes, lips moving for a soft plead but Tyler is having too much fun.

"Stop, please," Josh is out of breath, a huge grin on his face

"Babyboy, I'm just getting started," Tyler growls, making Josh's face turn an even deeper shade of red

Eventually, Josh's hand is free. He uses the opportunity to tickle Tyler back not expecting much reaction. To Josh's surprise, Tyler squirms and laughs, clearly affected by tickling. The man is not ticklish everywhere like Josh is, only his ribs and neck. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much access to those spots. Josh's petite hand slides under the cover, Tyler feels a soft touch on his inner thigh. The man loses it completely. The brunet shudders from the touch. His gasp is fabricated not only by his reaction to tickles.

Josh notices that, moving his hand further up with courage he didn't know he had. A devious glimmer flashes in Josh's eyes for a moment till Tyler stops him.

"Don't start something you can't finish," Tyler's voice is husky, deep

"Who's saying that I can't?" the younger boy bites his lip, his hands tightly in Tyler's grasp

"Oh, you can?" Tyler chuckles before releasing the boy and climbing off of him

The man sits on the bed, legs spread. He leans back, propping himself with his arms.

"Go on then," Tyler tilts his head to the side

Josh inhales sharply, his heart thumps wildly watching Tyler sit like that, beaming at him suggestively. The boy swallows the tacky lump in his throat and shakes his head. A genuine chuckle leaves Tyler's throat.

"That's what I thought," he brings Josh into his embrace "It's okay, though, I'm not demanding anything from you except your love."

The boy nods against Tyler's chest, slowly bringing his attention back to the TV that's been playing in the background for quite some time now.

Josh cuddles closer into the man as he pulls the comforter up to their chests, warming the two immediately. The two talk while all the news blabbers about was Trump and politics, that didn't interest the boy.

"What time do yo-" Tyler starts being shushed by Josh when a certain story comes on the news.

"The search for the missing boy continues into its second week. twenty-one-year-old Joe Rogers was reported missing last Friday after not returning home from a wa-"

"What time do you leave for work?" Tyler finishes his sentence, worrying the boy would be late.

Joshua was too busy watching the TV to see his eyes shift, glancing towards the door of the small room. The boy looks into Tyler's eyes, noticing a change. They seemed as if there was something more to them, but he lets it slide.

The man seems jittery for a moment, his hand shakes slightly as he switches to a random channel, cutting off the news reporter who was talking about a very important topic. The man's jaw tenses for a second before he turns his head to Josh.

"What time is it- oh my god!" The black-haired boy panics as he notices how late he is.

He is supposed to be out the door ten minutes ago, he must have woken up late. Josh didn't check the time when he got up, he wished he did.

"Dallon's going to be so mad!" Josh groans as he flys off the bed, nearly tripping as his feet get stuck in the blanket.

He doesn't notice the grimace that takes place on Tyler's face.

"Hey, be careful" The man instructs

Joshua slows down and apologizes. He throws on his work uniform, missing a few buttons as his hands are almost shaking from how fast he's moving.

Tyler catches the shirt that is thrown in his direction, sliding it on and climbing out of the bed. The man clicks off the old TV that had just become background noise now, tossing the remote somewhere in the mix of blankets.

"C'mon, I'm driving you to work," Tyler suggests as Josh nearly drags him out the door without even considering breakfast

The man almost misses grabbing his keys and wallet off the counter. He figures he'll get his jacket back some other time.

--

By the time the boy walks into the small café, he realizes he's a little over twenty minutes late. He sighs in relief when he sees the shop isn't busy, only one or two customers sitting at booths that had already been served.

"You're late," Dallon states as if it wasn't obvious, pushing himself off the counter he had been leaning against. "Why?"

"I woke up late." Josh huffs, going over to make himself a coffee.

He scribbles his name on the side so it doesn't get mistaken as someone else's. Dallon eyes down Josh, his neck especially. Josh is too busy filling up his cup and doesn't notice a sour look on Dallon's bright face. There is a flash of disgust that is soon replaced by anger in Dallon's gaze.

"You have to pay for that, you know." The taller boy says

"You never make me pay for it," The boy points out, mumbling as he reaches for his small bag to find his wallet.

He freezes when his eyes catch sight of Dallon's bag next to him. Josh pulls out a sheet of paper out of the boy's bag before he could stop Josh. The boy's eyes quickly scan the letters, his facial expression shifts quickly once he reads the first sentence.

"What is this?" Josh dangles the resignation letter in front of Dallon's face, voice breaking from tears

The boy shrugs, taking the paper back and stuffing it into his backpack.

"A resignation letter," Dallon says with no real emotion in his voice

"B-but why?" Josh is at the brim of breaking down, Dallon's face softens up a bit seeing his friend cry

Dallon inhales deeply, probably battling his inner demons, trying to decide whether he should hug the trembling boy or keep being a dick. Dallon's movements falter, his hand rise in the air hesitantly before it goes back down. He doesn't hug Josh, nor does he explain. The taller boy pushes past his now former friend without saying anything else.

Josh's gentle fingers tug at Dallon's sleeve just before he walks away. The taller male inhales deeply, feet stopping in motion.

"D-do you hate me now?" Josh croaks, shattering Dallon's heart to pieces

"No, I-" Dallon's head shakes, he loves Josh. He loves everything about him and it probably hurts him even more than Josh when the curly-haired boy cries "I don't hate you, it's just that- You and Tyler..."

"T-then why do you act li-like you hate me?" Josh stumbles on his words, chest heaving with aching pain "Wh-why do you want to quit y-your job?"

Dallon's hands shake, he tries not to snap but just the mention of Tyler makes his blood boil. He hates Tyler, he hates everything about him. His voice, his face, his everything. Tyler makes Dallon's guts twist with jealousy, why can't he have what the man has? Why can he touch Josh and Dallon can't? Why does Josh love him and not Dallon?

Dallon shakes Josh's hand off roughly. The boy tries to cling onto him but the man steps away. Steam in his veins. He doesn't want to yell at Josh but he can't control his voice.

"I hate-" Dallon seethes, fists clenching "I hate that you're too stupid to realize what a mistake you're doing. I hate to see you walk hand in hand with that creep and then go home with him. I can't fucking imagine what goes on inside his mind because, hell, I might be a little crazy but I'm not a fucking psychopath!"

"What?" Josh is timid

Dallon scoffs in disbelief.

"Don't act stupid, okay?" the boy grabs his bag "You don't need to sic your hound on me, I'm not a threat to any of you anymore because I quit!"

"Dallon, I don't understand-" Josh starts to get cut off again, the boy is confused

"That little snake-skinned lover of yours is a psycho and you fucking know it," Dallon pokes the middle of Josh's chest harshly "Hell, you're probably as crazy as him if you tolerate his tantrums. I hope he treats you well- No! I hope you two eat each other's throats."

"Dallon, you're being a dick!" Josh snaps

"Oh, wow!" the taller boy replies, not knowing what else to say "Ironic, isn't it?"

"It's not my fault that I love him!" Josh yells at his friend "You never said you liked me, you never even mentioned your feelings! Did you expect me to be alone forever so that you can have me to yourself? Did you honestly think that it's my fault that your feelings are hurt when you are the one screaming at me for finally being happy? Maybe you're the one who's a psycho here!"

"I'm not!"

"You should be happy for me!" Josh continues yelling, ignoring tears dripping down his cheeks "You're supposed to be my friend."

"Me or Tyler?" Dallon's voice calms down

"What?" Josh is taken back by the boy's words

"Me or Tyler?" Dallon repeats himself

"You can't make me choose-"

"I am your friend," Dallon scoffs

"And so is Tyler..."

Dallon's expression stiffens up. He smiles mirthlessly and sets his bag down.

"And so was I."

"Where are you going?" Josh stops the man from walking away

"To take a piss, get off," Dallon shakes the curly-haired boy's hand once again "I'm not quitting yet. I'll think about it."

Josh sniffles watching the man walk out the room. He can't take it anymore, this all situation is way too much for his soft heart to handle. Josh rips off his little apron and grabs his bag. Work is irrelevant at that moment. The curly-haired boy leaves the coffee shop without even caring, he needs to get away from it as far as possible, he needs someone to hold him and tell him that it's all gonna be okay.

And who else does it better than Tyler?