two weeks later

"you seem to be healing nicely," billie points out, watching as tyler tries on new clothes that josh bought him.

he stands sideways, glancing at his reflection. "yeah, i know. josh thinks my concussion is gone. he doesn't think my ribs were broke too badly, so they should be completely healed in a couple weeks or so." hands rest on his sides as he twists his hips back and forth, watching the skirt flow in the mirror. "you don't think i look weird?"

"hell no. you look good," billie smiles. "especially your butt."

his eyes roll as he chuckles, opting to join her where she sits on the bed. they fall into a comfortable silence, the air between them light. things have been different since tyler's been back. josh is different.

he's more cautious and caring. he still hasn't let tyler out of the house to work and hasn't even had sex with him either. he claims he's too afraid he'll hurt the boy, but tyler feels like it's something else. he doesn't pry, though. josh has even been keeping the girls home from working more occasionally. in the past 14 days, they've probably worked for about half of those.

tyler spends most of his time with billie, jenna, or felix—josh is busy with work. only at nights do josh and tyler really ever converse, and even then it's mostly tender touches and soft stares. tyler has no choice but to understand, even though he really doesn't. all he knows for sure is that there has been a major increase in security and that something has changed in josh. something for the better, hopefully.

billie lays down, placing her head in his lap. the brunette absentmindedly begins braiding strands of her hair. "what do you think josh has been doing?" she asks. "i mean, we've hardly made any money for him recently."

"i honestly don't know," tyler says. "he hasn't spoken about it too much. he hasn't spoken about it at all, actually."

"well, why don't you ask?"

"i've tried. he just tells me to trust that he's doing what's best. and i do trust him."

billie nods, lips curling slightly. "i can't believe you guys really thought we didn't know. i mean, it was so obvious."

tyler starts giggling. "i know! josh was just scared he wouldn't be respected if he didn't follow his own rules and blah, blah, blah..."

yeah, they ended up coming clean to everybody. well, if it can even be considered that. the girls already one hundred percent knew what was going on. they didn't care. tyler put josh in the best mood they had ever seen him in, as jenna put it. as long as josh and tyler were happy, they were happy. they're a family, after all.

billie laughs. "that's such a josh thing to think."

there's a knock at the door. the doorknob twists as the door slowly opens, josh examining the sight before him. tyler glances up at him, casting a warm smile his way as he continues braiding billie's hair. "hi josh."

"hey, dear. can i steal you?"

"no." billie doesn't hesitate. "this feels good."

tyler smiles, lifting her out of his lap. "i'll braid your hair later, billie."

she groans, rolling onto her stomach as tyler stands. he forgets he's wearing a skirt until josh's lips purse in an attempt to hide a smile. "looks good on you."

heat rises to his cheeks, turning them a soft pink. tyler side-eyes billie who is watching in amusement. he glances back to josh, then down at his outfit. "thank you."

"come on." josh beckons for tyler with two fingers. the latter obeys, giggling as billie winks at them on their way out the door. "i hope you don't mind."

"i don't," tyler says softly, unable to refrain from smiling. it's been a while since josh has asked for him. tyler has been the one knocking on his bedroom door and asking to sleep with him for the past two weeks. he can't help but wonder what josh wants. "where are we going?"

"my room."

"why?" the boy perks up, glancing at the man hopefully.

"don't get any ideas, dear. your ribs surely haven't healed yet," josh chuckles, ignoring the boy's disappointed sigh. "i think i'm on the path towards giving some good news, but i'm not quite there yet. i don't want to say anything in case the plan falls through."

"okayyy... so what do you want from me, then?"

"a distraction from the crippling amount of stress i've been dealing with."

"fair enough." tyler grins as josh raises an eyebrow at him. "oh... not a distraction like that?"

"no," josh shakes his head. "i told you not yet."

they enter josh's bedroom. tyler wiggles his toes against the carpet, waiting patiently as josh searches for the tv remote. once it's been found, he hops into bed. he holds the covers open, motioning for tyler to join him. the brunette's heart thumps in his chest as he joins josh under the comforter. he lays with his head on the man's chest, watching him scroll through netflix.

"josh?"

"hm?"

"can i take your shirt off?" he asks.

"what for?"

"just wanna be closer to you."

"sure." josh chuckles lightly, settling on the series him and tyler recently started—the 100. he puts the remote aside, helping tyler remove his shirt. "take yours off too."

so tyler does, his cool skin coming to rest atop of josh's warmth. he hums contently, ignoring the slight tingling in his ribs from the angle in which he's laying. he doesn't want josh to know he's still in pain. the man wraps one arm around tyler, squeezing him gently. his hand raises to the boy's hair, fingers slowly running through the slight curls.

"i love you," tyler murmurs, eyes shutting as a wave of calm overcomes him.

"i love you more, darling. i hope you know i haven't meant to ignore you lately. i just-"

"you don't have to explain anything, josh. you've been stressed, i know. i don't want you to stress anymore. just snuggle me."

the older laughs lightly, nuzzling his face against tyler's hair. "are you sure?"

"absolutely positive. i trust that whatever you're doing will be worth it."

"oh, it will be," josh says, and there's something hidden behind his smile that tyler can't quite figure out. "you have no idea, baby. i really hope it works out."

"i hate surprises," he mutters, sending a pouting glance up at his boyfriend. "can't you just tell me?"

"no. if it doesn't end up happening, i don't want you to be disappointed."

"well, you'll still be disappointed."

"better me than you," josh argues, laughing at tyler's scoff.

"whatever, josh! if you don't want to tell me then fine. you just better hope it works out."

"yeah? and what if it doesn't?" josh challenges.

"thennnn..." tyler ponders for a moment. "you owe me a kiss."

"baby, i'll kiss you whenever you want me to."

tyler's heart flutters at that one. he blushes, lifting his head towards josh and puckering his lips. they share a quick, affectionate kiss. it only makes tyler's face hotter. "fine. i don't know then."

josh opens his mouth to respond, but is interrupted by the ringing of his phone. he wiggles his eyebrows at tyler, fishing his phone out of his pocket and accepting the call.

"hello?"

"who is it?" tyler asks eagerly. "is it the good news?"

"okay, and...? wait, really? you're serious? jordan... oh my god. that's awesome, thank you. seriously. i really appreciate it, man."

tyler's head tilts in curiosity, quietly listening to the conversation. he tries to fit the pieces together but it's a bit hard considering he can't hear the man on the other line.

"yeah, that's fine. i got that covered. i owe you big time." josh laughs. "yeah, i guess you're right. thanks, man. i'll talk to you in a bit. alright. bye."

"who was it!?" tyler asks excitedly, giggling as josh attacks his face in a hundred kisses.

"tyler!"

"what!"

"i have amazing news."

tyler has never seen this man so excited in the time he's known him. the amount of warmth and pure joy radiating off of him is enough to absolutely melt the boy's heart. "tell me, tell meeee!"

josh sits up slightly, leaning back on an elbow. his other hand raises to cup tyler's jaw. the latter waits eagerly as josh opens and shuts his mouth a few times—struggling to formulate a sentence.

"well..." he starts, slowly. "okay. i don't really know how to say this, but... we're getting out of here. me and you. all of us, actually."

tyler's brows furrow in confusion. "huh?"

the older's lips curl upwards, his thumb lightly trailing across tyler's lower lip. "things are going to change. i'm getting a different job—a real job."

"wait..." tyler's eyes light up, jaw dropping. "no! you don't mean that, josh! you're not serious."

"i am!" josh laughs. "i am so serious. my brother owns a real estate company in the heart of columbus, and i convinced him to hire me."

"you're serious?"

"i am dead serious."

"but... do you even know anything about real estate?"

josh chuckles. "i do, actually."

"oh my gosh, that is so awesome!" tyler exclaims, throwing his arms around his boyfriend in a tight embrace. it hurts his poor ribs a lot more than he wants to admit, but he tries to ignore it for the sake of such a great hug.

"the only thing is..." josh starts, pulling away enough to look tyler in the eyes. "i'm not sure what everyone else is going to do. well... i'm not sure what you want to do. i'm most concerned with you, so..."

"i'm going wherever you go," tyler answers quickly. "well... as long as you're okay with that."

"of course i am, dear," josh nods. "i was hoping you'd say that. but what do you want to do?"

"like as a career?" josh nods, so tyler ponders for a very long moment. "umm.. be a pretty house wife?"

josh bursts out laughing, pulling tyler in for a hug while doing such. the latter giggles along. "i'm serious!"

it takes a minute for josh to calm down before he can speak. "i'm fine with that!" he chuckles. "i just didn't expect that to be your answer."

"wait... josh."

"yes, baby?"

"are we going to live together? alone?"

"yes, baby."

"and... we'll be like normal people?"

"yes, baby. we'll be normal. well, as normal as we can get."

tyler grins, his mind racing at a million miles per hour as he imagines their new future together. this is all tyler has wanted from the start. he never thought it was actually going to come to fruition. now that it has, he feels so overwhelmingly loved. josh is doing this for him. he made this decision because of tyler. the boy never would've thought anybody could love him as much as josh does.

"well... when? what do we do now?"

"now," josh says, "we have to figure out how to tell everyone else. we have to help them figure out what they're going to do. i'm not just going to abandon them. once we figure out what everyone is doing, then it's settled. we'll be packing our bags and on our way out of here."

the end

__a/n__

um so i just logged on for the first time in over 3 years and realized this had been sitting as a draft since 2020. i absolutely cannot remember what else i wanted to do with this so i'll just end it here i guess??