***Trigger warnings for blood and saliva.***

Start the song. It's Don't Go Slow by Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

Josh woke up when Tyler started coughing loudly beside him. The force of the coughs made Tyler sit upright as he hacked and wheezed out blood onto the sleeve of his sweater, which he was trying to block his mouth with. Josh sat up instantly, rubbing Tyler's back as he felt Tyler's lungs seize beneath his hand.

"There you go. It's going to be okay. I'll try to get rid of the pain whenever you're ready. I'm right here. You're not alone. It's okay," Josh rambled out through a haze of groggy concern.

Soon, Tyler's coughs were replaced with strangled sobs. He scratched harshly at his scar, pain making his eyes unfocused as he tried to peel away the skin encasing the inflamed scar tissue inside of his throat. He sobbed as he let Josh remove his hands from the scar before helping him to lie down. Josh kept speaking softly to Tyler as he laid him down, trying to calm him down.

"I can't imagine how much pain you must be in, but I'm going to do everything I can to help, okay? I never want you to feel like this, Ty, but you need to try to calm down so I can take care of you. Please let me take care of you," Josh murmured warmly, touching the raw scratches on the outside of Tyler's throat as gently as he could while the other boy cried. "Please let me help you. I don't want my best friend to be in pain. Please, Ty."

It was suddenly clear to Josh that Tyler was trying to calm himself down and to slow his breathing again as he watched Josh with hopeful confusion in his eyes. His eyelids closed when Josh pressed a kiss to his forehead, letting it linger for a moment as he patiently waited for Tyler to feel calm again. When Tyler's breathing was nearly stable, Josh smiled at him warmly.

"Thank you. I know that wasn't easy," Josh told Tyler quietly. "Is it okay if I try to get rid of the pain in your throat? I don't know if it's going to work. I might be spitting into your mouth for nothing, which would probably be a hilariously disgusting prank at any other time, but I'm really hoping this works."

The corners of Tyler's lips tugged up into a ghost of a smile, making Josh feel a million times better. He smiled as he ran his fingers through Tyler's hair and waited for Tyler to let him know it was okay to try this. Tyler nodded after a moment, looking just as uncomfortable and embarrassed as Josh felt when he opened his mouth slightly.

"Sorry again for how gross this is," Josh reminded Tyler before leaning down to spit into Tyler's mouth.

He wanted to cringe as he watched Tyler swallow it down, but instead, he tilted Tyler's head up and dragged the tip of his tongue from the space between Tyler's collarbones to the tip of his chin. Tyler's skin was cold against his warm tongue, and he tasted like the salt he'd sweated out during his fever, but his skin was much softer than Josh would have expected it to be. He pressed a gentle kiss to Tyler's scar before lifting his head to see if his secondhand magic had worked.

The boy lying beneath him looked drunk as he watched Josh's face through doe eyes with long lashes that stayed shut for a moment too long whenever he blinked. Josh smiled. It had worked. Tyler smiled back lazily, letting out a deep breath.

"Did that help?" Josh asked hopefully.

Tyler nodded drunkenly. His hand came up to hold Josh's cheek tenderly for just a moment before it dropped down heavily at his side. Still, he smiled even as his eyelids began to slip shut. He mouthed something, but Josh didn't know what it was.

"Are you gonna fall asleep?" Josh asked in a gentle whisper.

Tyler huffed quietly, pulling Josh down so their foreheads pressed together as he closed his sleepy eyes. Josh laughed, allowing Tyler to stroke his buzzed hair lazily. Tyler mouthed something again, his lips emitting tiny popping sounds in place of the words he was trying to say. Josh still didn't know what Tyler was saying, but Tyler was smiling blissfully, so it had to be something good.

"Good or bad?" Josh asked, making Tyler's smile widen.

"Good," he mouthed. His body was starting to tremble again, but he didn't seem to notice. He was starting to fall back to sleep.

"I think you might be getting a fever again. Are you too cold?" Josh asked carefully.

Tyler smiled, his eyes still closed as he shook his head slowly. He let out a quiet breath before nudging his nose against Josh's. His gentle fingers were still touching Josh's hair, which was growing back much too quickly for his liking. Tyler didn't seem to mind the regrowth though. In fact, he couldn't seem to bring himself to take his hand away from it.

"Do you want me to stay like this until you fall asleep?" Josh offered despite how awkward this position felt.

Tyler's nose bumped against Josh's again when he nodded slightly. He let out an exhale that might as well have been an affirmative hum as his muscles finally began to relax again. Josh was still half on top of him with his hair being held captive, but he didn't really mind when Tyler looked this serene.

"Your eyelashes are really long," Josh told Tyler quietly as he watched them flutter against Tyler's cheeks, which still appeared to be sun-kissed despite the lack of sunshine in the cellar.

Tyler smiled again, his hand sliding down to hold the back of Josh's neck as he continued to relax. After a couple breaths, he was fast asleep, his hand slipping away from Josh's neck and onto the pillow beside his head. He didn't even stir when Josh shifted to lie down beside him again, so Josh just wrapped him up in his arms and kissed his nose.

It wasn't as easy for Josh to will himself to sleep. As much as he wanted to follow Tyler into the dream place and protect him there, he couldn't fall asleep. Thankfully, Jim was snoring beside them, letting Josh know that at least Tyler had Jim there to protect him. Instead, Josh traced his fingertips along the bridge of Tyler's nose, the apples of his cheeks, the messy fuzz of his eyebrows, the delicate skin on his eyelids. He smiled when Tyler mouthed silent words in his sleep, and couldn't help wishing that he could hear Tyler's voice right now. It was too quiet in the cellar without Tyler's choking laugh.

"I'm gonna protect you," Josh whispered to the sleeping boy pressed against him. "I won't let them hurt you anymore. I know I'm not very good at being brave, but I will be if it means you'll be safe."

A soft sigh left Tyler's lips as he mouthed another unintelligible word. He frowned just barely around the silent syllables, his hand finding Josh's under the covers clumsily and taking hold of it. Despite being fast asleep, the squeeze of Tyler's hand around Josh's was firm, intentional. The action caused Josh to fall asleep so suddenly that it almost gave him whiplash when he sat up quickly to find himself in the dream place.

Tyler was already there, holding Jim tightly in his lap and keeping the dog's mouth shut with one hand. Josh was about to protest in order to protect his dog, but Tyler covered his mouth too. As soon as Josh saw Tyler's eyes, he knew something was very wrong. Tyler was crying. He was afraid.

Josh took Tyler's hand off of his mouth in favour of holding it as he looked around the meadow. His entire body froze when he saw Gefjon and Jenna sitting across the field. They weren't speaking to each other, just sitting tensely side by side.

"I need you to be honest with me always, my love," Gefjon said after a few moments, something about her accented voice sounding off.

"I am," Jenna insisted timidly, pushing her bangs back off of her forehead with a shaky hand as she spoke.

Gefjon sighed, "You are hiding something from me. I know it. I have been betrayed many times before, so I know what it feels like. You have betrayed me again and again. I can sense it on you. I know that what is happening to me is your doing. I do not know how you are doing it, but I know that you are."

"I would never do anything to hurt you," Jenna insisted, grabbing the calloused hand of the woman beside her, only for it to be pulled away from her grip.

When Gefjon turned her head to glare at Jenna, Josh understood why. His eyes widened, immediately shooting to Tyler. It felt like a veil had suddenly been removed from his eyes, and now he could see it. For the first time in the dream place, Tyler's scar was present, and it was bleeding. Blood was staining Jim's golden fur, just like it was staining Gefjon's dress as it dropped from her throat as well. Their wounds were identical in every way.

"You were to bring me the eyes of Solána's boy, yet you failed me. You killed him and let his body waste away beneath the earth with no reward. Plus, the voice I got from your boy is failing me. He has been dead too long, and the bond we shared is dying with him. My voice box is decaying with his. I need another one, Jenna. You cannot fail me this time. You know what happens to the girls who fail me," Gefjon snapped harshly, pressing a hand against the wound on her throat, making the thick blood surrounding it squelch and ooze around her fingers.

"I'll find another boy," Jenna insisted, tears gathering in her eyes as she spoke.

Gefjon smirked at Jenna, sending cold chills down Josh's spine. "You have proved your naivety and incompetence again and again, so I have taken the liberty of choosing another boy for you. I have seen the way he looks at you, and I know he wants to follow in his brother's footsteps."

Josh felt Tyler stiffen beside him. The hand gripping Josh's left, immediately covering Tyler's mouth as he squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath to stifle a sob. Confusion washed over Josh as he wrapped his arms protectively around Tyler and Jim. Tyler was trembling from the effort necessary to keep his sobs at bay.

"No, Gefjon. Please. Not him," Jenna pleaded instantly, looking just as upset as Tyler did.

"Do not cry for him, my love. He is just a boy. We do not cry over boys," Gefjon told Jenna simply.

Jenna shook her head, letting out the sob Tyler wasn't permitted to release for himself. "Zack is only fifteen, and his family has already lost one boy. We can't take another. Please, Gefjon. I'll find someone to give you eyes and a voice and anything else you want, but I can't take Zack. That family has already given you so much."

Although Josh wasn't sure who Zack was or why he was so important to both Jenna and Tyler, he still held Tyler closer and pressed a kiss to his temple. Jenna and Gefjon were still arguing when a sharp pain suddenly erupted from Josh's side.

He sat up with a gasp, the frigid cellar air biting at his face as he did so. Jim awakened with a start beside him, and Tyler's face was buried against a lumpy pillow, his entire body shaking with the force of inaudible sobs.

"Ty?" Josh asked worriedly, still trying to catch his breath as he left their makeshift bed on shaky legs to find Tyler's notebook. It took a minute for his frazzled mind to locate it before he was sitting beside Tyler again. "Ty, I need you to tell me what's going on. Who's Zack?"

Tyler was inconsolable, gripping the pillow beneath his head so tightly that Josh was surprised his fingertips weren't tearing through the fabric. He couldn't calm down enough to sit up and write out to Josh what was going on, so Josh settled for rubbing his back gently and forcing himself to be patient. Jim was struggling to decide if he should be helping Josh with his anxiety or Tyler with his breakdown at the moment, but he finally settled for trotting over to Tyler, lying down beside him and kissing any and all visible skin.

"Ty-" Josh tried again, being cut off by Tyler sitting up suddenly and grabbing the notebook from his hands.

Tyler scribbled sloppily before shoving the notebook at Josh and collapsing onto the floor again. He buried his face in his pillow, curling up into a ball as he continued to sob. The note made everything completely clear to Josh. "They're going to take my brother."

"No," Josh breathed out, feeling completely helpless as Tyler continued to fall apart in front of him. "They can't do that. Ty, I won't let them do that. I'll go back up there and let her have my voice box and eyes and whatever the fuck else she wants. I won't let them hurt your brother. I won't."

Tyler was still croaking out sobs when he turned his head to look at Josh, to look for sincerity behind those words. When he saw the angry tears in Josh's eyes, he seemed to believe Josh's words. Suddenly, he was sitting up, grabbing Josh's face, and kissing him hard.

The action took Josh by surprise, but his body's first reaction was to kiss back with equal fervour. His fingers tangled in Tyler' hair as their lips moved together, just like Tyler's fists gripped the front of Josh's sweater like a vice. The kiss was wet, mostly due to the tears spilling down both of their faces. Tyler's skin was too warm beneath Josh's fingers, burning with fever. Despite the desperate and almost violent nature of the kiss, it broke softly, with both boys searching each other's eyes timidly as they attempted to comprehend what they'd just done.

Josh opened his mouth to say something-anything-just as Tyler reached for his notebook, but neither of them got a chance to speak before the cellar door slammed open, and Jenna came running down the stairs. She practically knocked Tyler backward onto the floor with the force of the hug she wrapped him in.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed out. "I didn't know she'd go after Zack. I had no idea. I'll find a way to make sure it doesn't happen. I promise. I swear on my life."

Tyler's eyes were swollen from crying, still locked on Josh's just like Josh's were locked on his. It seemed as though his arms only wrapped around Jenna out of instinct, like he was barely even aware of her presence. She kept kissing him and apologizing, and Tyler kept staring at Josh with wide eyes.

"Is your throat okay?" Jenna asked fearfully when she finally released Tyler, who forced himself to tear his eyes away from Josh to look her in the eye dazedly and nod. She let out a breath of relief. "Oh, thank God. Okay. I have to get back to school. I'm already in so much trouble for falling asleep in class and running out, but I had to make sure you were okay. I'll find a way to warn Zack. I love you."

She kissed him again before running back up the steps, shutting and locking the cellar door behind herself. Silence settled over the cellar in her absence, and the boys were back to staring at each other as if they were in a daze.

Josh swallowed thickly. "Is your throat really okay?" He asked shakily.

Tyler nodded slowly. The pads of his fingers tapped his notebook as if he wasn't sure if he should open it or not, as if he didn't know what to say any more than Josh did. After a moment, his fingertips left the notebook to touch his scar lightly.

"Tyler?" Josh asked in a whisper, moving as he spoke. "Stop me if you want, but I'm gonna kiss you again."

Relief washed over Josh's entire being when Tyler met him halfway instead of stopping him. This kiss was much less desperate, more deliberate. Josh's fingers found their way into Tyler's hair again as he became acquainted with the sweet taste of Tyler's tongue.

There was no scent of fruits or herbs attached to Tyler's kiss, yet it still made Josh feel like he was intoxicated. Everything that wasn't Tyler ceased to exist as their lips moved together. He vaguely felt his back touch the blankets below him, yet the feeling of Tyler's body moving to rest on top of his made goosebumps rise all across his flesh. Tyler didn't taste like anything other than skin and sweat and himself, yet Josh couldn't get enough.

When the second kiss broke, it was due to lack of air. The boys panted into each other's mouths, not daring to separate themselves from each other when they'd been craving connection like this for too long. Josh's hand relaxed in Tyler's hair, soothing through it instead of clutching it relentlessly. Tyler smiled tiredly when Josh pressed a brief kiss to the tip of his nose.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Josh asked breathlessly.

Tyler shook his head, remaining on top of Josh like a blanket. He laughed, the croaking sound ringing in Josh's ears like bells. Josh couldn't stop smiling, trailing his hands down to cup Tyler's cheeks as he tilted the other boy's face down to press their lips together softly. The third kiss lasted only a fraction of a second, but it was no less intoxicating than the others had been.

"You're not using some weird magic on me, right?" Josh asked, his voice cracking at the thought. When Tyler shook his head furiously, he added, "Is this from Solána's magic?"

Tyler looked uncertain, breaking away from Josh to pick up his notebook and write something carefully in it. He handed the notebook to Josh, watching him nervously.

"I've wanted to kiss you for a while now."

Josh stared at the words for a moment before looking back at Tyler, who looked a bit fearful of how Josh would react to that. There was no need for that though. Josh's lips tugged up into a bashful smile.

"Then kiss me," he whispered.

Tyler smiled, tossing his notebook to the side before connecting his lips with Josh's again, making the whole world disappear again. Gefjon herself could come down those stairs, and Josh still wouldn't stop kissing Tyler at this point. They were both smiling into it, making their teeth clink together occasionally, but Josh didn't care. He couldn't get enough of Tyler, and Tyler seemed to feel the same way. Suddenly, the cellar didn't feel like a frozen prison anymore. How could it when Tyler was here?