"Babe?" Josh hollered towards the bedroom he shared with his boyfriend. "Have you seen the keys?" He asked, referring to the car they shared since the couple couldn't afford separate ones.

"Um..." Tyler paused. "Did you check the kitchen counter?"

"Yeah," Josh replied, going over to Tyler's coat which was hanging up by the door.

"The coffee table?"

"Yeah," he unzipped the pocket to see if Tyler had accidentally left them in there.

"The dining table?"

Josh stuck his hand in and felt the keys but froze when he felt something else in there. He pulled it out and it was a lose cigarette. "Found them..." he trailed off, staring at the item in disbelief. Tyler didn't smoke. He hated smoking actually ever since he broke up with—

Shaking his head, he shoved the cigarette back into his pocket and rezipped it just time for Tyler to walk into the living room. He raised an eyebrow. "Where were they?"

"Couch cushion," he laughed nervously. "Got stuck down there again."

Tyler giggled and walked over to Josh, pulling him in for a kiss. The dark haired reciprocated, pulling back when the glasses perched on his nose began to fog up. Tyler grinned and pecked one more kiss to his lips. "Hurry home," he said.

"I will," Josh nodded, swallowing the anxious lump in his throat.

"I love you," Tyler sang, heading back into their room.

"I love you too," Josh replied quietly, only moving once the bedroom door was shut.

He put his own coat on and hurried out to the car since it was starting to snow. Once he got in and had the heat turned on, he took a deep breath and backed out to make his way to the store.

His mind started to wonder to all the different possibilities that could explain why Tyler had a cigarette in his pocket. He started to think too much so he turned the on radio to distract him. He trusted Tyler.

---

The two were laying in bed, Tyler massaging Josh's shoulders, when the topic was brought up. "Are you alright, honey?" He asked, concern audible in his voice. Josh went to reply but Tyler cut him off, rubbing his shoulder just right so he let out a satisfied groan. "You seem tense," he laughed, gesturing to the fact he was giving Josh a massage.

Josh rolled the thought around in his head. He could either let it go and fester over it for God knows how long or confront Tyler and ease his worries. He went with the latter. "I was looking for the keys earlier..." he trailed off.

"Yeah...?" Tyler replied, confused. He already knew this and didn't know why Josh was repeating the information.

"And I lied. I found them in your coat pocket. There was a cigarette in there. You don't smoke," Josh exhaled, feeling his body fill with anxiety.

Tyler stopped rubbing. He was silent for a moment before finally speaking. "Look at me."

Josh turned his head so he could see Tyler, taking in the small lopsided smile on his face. "Yeah?"

"Relax," he let out a giggle, quickly pressing a kiss to Josh's lips. "My co-worker went out to smoke and he didn't have a coat so I let him borrow mine. He must've left a cigarette in there. I'll throw it away."

Josh felt his worries leave his body immediately after that. A small smile made its way onto his face as he nodded slowly. "Okay."

"You think too much," Tyler rested his head on Josh's shoulders and wrapped his arms around the other's stomach. "Everything's okay, baby. We're okay."

Josh didn't reply. He wanted to believe Tyler but something in his head was telling him not to.

He should have listened.

---

A week had passed and Josh sat in the living room, watching a movie and eating popcorn. Tyler was in the bathroom and Josh was in the middle of chewing a piece when he realized he forgot to make an appointment with the optometrist. It was early January he usually goes back every year around this time.

His phone was in his bedroom charging so he picked Tyler's phone up off of the coffee table to send himself a text as a reminder. He clicked the home button and his face furrowed in confusion when the iPhone said it didn't recognize his thumbprint. Josh pressed the button that gave him the option to type his passcode in manually and hit 0618. The phone shook and told him it was the incorrect password.

Josh set the phone back down and Tyler walked in a moment later. "Sorry I was cold so I went to grab a blanket too," he smiled, sitting back down on the couch. He snuggled up next to Josh but the dark haired man couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.

"Babe?"

"Yeah?" Tyler looked up, an innocent look on his face. Josh didn't want it to happen but his heart melted at the sight. This was his boyfriend of four years he was talking about. They trusted each other wholeheartedly.

"Can you send a text to me reminding me to make an appointment with the eye doctor?" He asked.

Tyler's eyes flicked down shamefully. Josh stared straight ahead at the TV acting like he didn't see the action. "Yeah," Tyler grabbed his phone and unlocked it with his passcode and not thumbprint, Josh noted. He made sure to keep it angled away from Josh as he sent the text before locking it but this time keeping it with him and probably putting it in his pocket.

Josh knew something was wrong.

---

"I don't get it, Hayley," Josh breathed into the phone as he laid in bed. Tyler was currently working late so he was left to his own devices until his boyfriend got home. He was bored so he decided to call his best friend that he had gone to college with. "He's been acting shady lately."

Hayley hummed for a moment before gasping. "Maybe he's proposing!"

"Hayls—"

"Think about it!" Hayley said excitedly. "Ashley got really awkward around me before she proposed. She told me she felt bad because she couldn't keep secrets from me even though it was a good secret. Maybe he has a ring or something and doesn't want you to see anything on his phone."

"I don't know..." Josh sighed. "I have a weird feeling in my gut and I don't know what it is. I love him and I trust him. Besides, I don't think he's proposing. We both decided when we're at that point in our life I would be the one to pop the question."

"Maybe he wanted it to be a surprise? That's why he agreed?" She suggested.

"Maybe..." Josh trailed off.

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know... I don't want to assume the worst. He's definitely hiding something from me I know that for sure."

Hayley went silent for a moment. "Do you think he's cheating on you?" She finally asked, her voice soft and cautious.

Josh's lip quivered ever so slightly and he bit it to avoid crying. He couldn't speak at first because he was sure the tears would start pouring out. Swallowing, he shook his head even though he knew Hayley couldn't see him. "No. I don't."

"Josh you waited an awfully long time to answer that," Hayley pointed out.

"I gotta go."

"Josh—"

"Bye," he spoke, hanging up the call and throwing his phone down beside him on the bed. There was no way Tyler was cheating on him. Tyler was his best friend. His other half. His soulmate.

Josh had already eaten dinner since it was a little after nine and he had been up since five for work so he quickly changed into his pajamas and crawled in bed, letting blackness take over.

It wasn't until it was nearly one in the morning, Josh noted, that Tyler came home. He was half sleeping when he felt a figure get in bed next to him. Upon breathing, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol filled his nose. "God, Tyler," Josh groaned, burying his head into the pillow. "Why the hell do you smell like you just hotboxed ten packs of cigarettes?"

"Just go to bed, honey," Tyler nestled into his side.

Josh was about to reply but instead he stayed quiet, not wanting to start any drama. A small part of him didn't want to have a conversation either because he was scared he was going to find out that Tyler actually hadn't been working late.

He didn't have to avoid the conversation to find that out.

---

"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" Josh asked, his arms wrapped around Tyler's waist as the latter finished folding clothes to put into his suitcase.

It had been about a week since the incident of Tyler coming home late. Josh didn't bring it up and neither did Tyler. Tyler started picking up more shifts at work and Josh didn't see anything weird with it. He didn't come home smelling like alcohol or cigarettes the two times he had stayed late again so Josh didn't feel the need to mention it. Tyler had probably just gone out with his co-workers after work like he had before.

"Yes," Tyler giggled and Josh began pressing kisses to his jaw. "You'd have to miss work, baby. Besides, my parents only live an hour out so if anything happens we'll still be close enough to get to one another. She just wanted help turning Maddy's room into the guest bedroom since she just moved out. It'll only take the weekend," he assured.

"Can you at least give me a goodbye present before you go?" Josh hummed into his ear, snaking his hands under Tyler's shirt to rub his stomach lightly. Tyler quickly zipped up the suitcase and set it on the floor before turning around and pressing his lips to Josh's.

"I thought you'd make me leave while all horny," he mumbled into the kiss making Josh laugh.

The kiss quickly escalated into a make out session which then escalated into clothes coming off and the two in bed.

The sex was nothing short of amazing but it was different. Alarmingly different. The two hadn't discussed doing anything new and there weren't any major differences but Josh just knew. The two knew each other's bodies better than their own. It's what happened after being with someone for four years.

After cleaning up, Josh laid in bed while Tyler rinsed off in the shower. He stared at the ceiling, the blankets pulled up over his chest as a numb feeling crept through his body.

Once Tyler exited the bathroom, clothed, he finished getting ready and grabbed his things. He walked over to Josh and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I love you, I'll see you Sunday afternoon."

"Bye," Josh said in a quiet voice. If Tyler noticed something was wrong, he didn't show it. It was until Tyler was out of the house and easily five minutes away that Josh realized something.

He hadn't said he loved Tyler back.

And yet...

He didn't feel bad about it.

---

Josh was in the middle of unloading the dishwasher the next morning when he got a text from Tyler's mom.

Kelly Joseph
I was cleaning out the attic and I found this

Attached was a picture of Tyler and Josh from when they first started dating. Tyler had taken Josh as his date to his brother's wedding and the picture was of the two boys in tuxes, smiling widely.

Josh smiled for a moment before his face scrunched up in confusion. The attic? Maybe they were doing more than just the guest bedroom or they were moving Maddy's things up there.

He shrugged the thought off and typed back a reply.

Josh
I love that. Thank you! Tell Tyler I miss him

The reply came a few moments later once the three dots had disappeared.

Kelly Joseph
Tyler? Why would I tell him you miss him?

Josh's stomach started to fill with dread.

Josh
He's not with you?

Kelly Joseph
No he's not

Kelly Joseph
Did he say he was?

Josh didn't reply, his stomach churning. Tyler had lied to him. This was proof right here that Tyler betrayed him. He went to the phone app and clicked on Tyler's contact which was at the top due to him being a recently called.

It rang five times before Tyler picked up. "Uh, hey baby," he spoke into the phone. His voice sounded strained.

"Hey, Ty," Josh said with fake enthusiasm. He didn't want Tyler to know he knew just yet. "I was just calling to say I missed you. How's your mom's?"

"Good," he replied quickly, letting out a noise that resembled him catching his breath. "Hey. I've gotta go. My mom just made lunch."

"Uh okay," he paused. "Bye, Tyler."

"Bye."

Josh was about to hang up by he heard another voice through the line since Tyler probably assumed either he already hung up or Josh hung up.

"Ty, silence your phone, baby," a familiar voice soothed. "Forget about him. You came here to spend the weekend with me. Not him."

Josh quickly pressed the red button and set his phone on the counter. He was so god damn stupid. That voice belonged to Josh's old best friend and Tyler's ex, Brendon. He had been with Brendon.

Brendon smokes cigarettes, or at least, he did up until Josh and Tyler cut him out of their lives for being toxic for them. That explained the cigarette in Tyler's pocket and why he came home that one night smelling like a cigarette factory.

Tyler had been with Brendon then too. He had probably been with him all the other nights he "stayed late".

That must've been why he changed the passcode on his phone as well. He didn't want Josh to see he was talking to Brendon.

As everything dawned on him, Josh slid to the kitchen floor and sat against the counter, covering his mouth and letting out a sob. Tyler was cheating on him.

Josh didn't know how long he stayed there but he sat and cried his heart out until no more tears came out. Even after that he stayed there. He wanted to feel numb like he had the night before but he felt sad, betrayed, angry, naive, foolish, and above all— heartbroken.

Josh couldn't believe it.

Yet, he could.

---

Josh finished packing his shit up and was carrying the last box of it out to Hayley's car just as Tyler pulled up. The blonde was waiting by her car and was the first to see Tyler. "Uh, J?"

The dark haired turned to where she was pointing and his eyes turned into slits behind his glasses. He set the box in the backseat before closing the door and walking over to the passenger side.

"Josh?" Tyler asked as he got out, confusion seeping through the word like water in someone's hands. "What's going on?"

Josh ignored him as he continued making his way over to the car door. Hayley got in and just as Josh's hand touched the handle, he felt Tyler grab his arm to stop him. He turned around so fast he thought he thought he got whiplash. "Don't fucking touch me," he spat.

The look of hurt on Tyler's face almost made Josh feel bad. Almost. "Babe—"

"Oh, don't 'babe' me, asshole," Josh snarled. "I know you were with Brendon this weekend."

Tyler's face paled as he realized he had been caught. "It's not—"

"What it looks like?" Josh laughed humorlessly. "Fuck you," he jabbed Tyler's chest with his pointed finger for each of the two words and got into the car.

The look of shock on Tyler's face was priceless as Hayley pulled out of the driveway and drove off.

"You okay, Josh?" Hayley asked, grabbing his hand and rubbing it with her thumb supportively.

"No," he shook his head. "But I'm glad I got away from that prick."