josh whistles some song that was playing on the radio as he fumbles with his keys. after finding the correct one, he lets himself in through the front door. it was a long day of work and he wants nothing more than to hold his baby for a couple of hours.

"i'm home!" he announces, patting jim's head as the puppy sniffs his shoes. after waiting for a few seconds and still hearing no response from tyler, josh grows a bit concerned. the little one usually greets the man before he can even speak a sentence. well, maybe tyler is just asleep.

josh leaves his shoes behind for jim to check out, then goes to find tyler. after completely searching the entire downstairs, he concludes that tyler must be, in fact, asleep in their room. so he heads upstairs sneakily, a tiny little grin sat upon his face. he halts at the top step, his heart breaking into a million pieces as he hears crying echoing down the hall.

"tyler?" he calls out, frowning as the cries seem to stop. "where are you, baby?"

josh checks the bedroom first, only to find it empty. he hears sniffles coming from the bathroom, though, and approaches carefully. "ty? are you okay?"

"i-i don' k-know," the boy responds from the other side of the door, hiccuping through his words.

"is it okay for daddy to come in?"

"mhm..."

josh opens the door slowly. his jaw drops slightly but he quickly shuts it, eyeing all of the chunks of hair scattering the tile floor. tyler sits with a stuffy in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. his teary eyes meet josh's before he breaks out in another fit.

"i s-s-sorry!" he sobs, hugging his knees into his chest as he cowards against the bathtub.

"shhh, shhh, it's okay ty." josh drops to his knees immediately, taking the scissors from tyler and setting them aside. "are you hurt?"

the brunette shakes his head, crying so hard he needs to gasp for air.

"come here," josh says softly, wrapping the boy in a gentle hug. "it's okay, it's okay. you need to calm down, bub. daddy's not mad at you, it's okay."

he goes quiet for the next few minutes, letting tyler's cries run their course. josh's shirt is coated in tears and snot by the time tyler calms down, but that's the least of his concern. cupping the boy's face in both palms, josh kisses his forehead.

"hey sweetie, how you feeling?"

"sad," tyler whimpers, those puffy, puppy dog eyes making his daddy's heart ache.

"can you talk to daddy about it? did you cut your hair because you were sad, or are you sad because you cut it?"

"bof'," the boy sniffles.

josh tentatively runs his fingers through the brown locks, watching little strands fall to the floor. "okay... do you think you could explain?"

tyler shrugs, eyeing the tufts of hair littering the ground.

"how can daddy fix it, honey?" he tries again, wanting to make tyler feel better more than anything.

"luh' me..."

"i already do love you, silly." he kisses tyler's forehead again, then the tip of his nose. "i love you so, so much. i love you more than anything in this entire world. you're my little boy. i could never love anything more."

"daddy..."

"yes?" josh responds.

tyler just sighs, eyes shifting nervously between josh's and the floor.

"what is it, baby? you can tell daddy. i promise."

"too small," tyler shakes his head. "can't."

"oh, okay. that's okay. do you want me to help finish your haircut?" he offers a little smile, hoping tyler will do the same. he doesn't.

"s'too long," tyler says, grabbing a fistful of his own hair. "needs-ta be short."

"okay," josh nods, picking up the scissors from where he set them. "how short do you want it?"

tyler frowns a bit, considering. "like dis," he says, holding his thumb and index finger about an inch apart.

"really? are you sure?" josh checks. "your hair is about three times the length of that now. you're not going to be mad at daddy if you don't like it, right?"

tyler shakes his head. "won't be mad."

so, josh goes ahead and finishes giving tyler a proper haircut. nothing changes drastically, tyler just looks a bit younger. while tyler examines his new haircut in the mirror, josh sweeps the floor clean. "do you like it?"

tyler shrugs, tugging at a strand on the top. "you like, daddy?"

"yes, i do. you look very pretty, baby," josh smiles, dumping the hair into the trash can. he stands behind the boy, arms snaking around his waist as he kisses his cheek. he watches tyler in the mirror, who is too concerned with his hair to notice. "what's wrong?"

"brown..."

"aw, really? i love your brown hair, hon. would you want to dye it a different color?" he asks.

tyler nods, finally meeting josh's eyes in the mirror.

"what color you thinkin'?"

"blonde."

"oooh," josh grins, wiggling his eyebrows. "you'd be a beautiful blonde."

"daddy blonde too?"

"yeah, you want me to dye my hair blonde with you? we can do that."

"now?"

"we can do it now. get your shoes on and we'll go to the store."

🍼🍯🍼

josh's hair is already bleach-blonde as he begins applying the dye to tyler's hair. they both gawked in the mirror at josh once his hair was processed. he looks good, way better than he would've guessed. tyler must feel the same way. he hasn't stopped giving josh googly eyes.

"do you think i'll look as good as you?" tyler asks, having aged up tremendously from the time josh found him in the bathroom to now.

"oh please, you'll look even better. there's no doubt in my mind."

tyler smiles, watching in the mirror as josh carefully spreads the bleach over the last strand of brown hair.

"okay, all done. now we wait."

"can i have a kiss?"

josh responds by pressing their lips together, the two savoring each other. the kiss only lasts for a few seconds, but tyler is smiling when josh pulls away. josh offers a half-smile, unable to shake the uneasiness from his heart. he can't stop thinking about what dallon said, can't stop wondering what happened while he was at work that got tyler so worked up. he wishes he could just stay home to keep his little boy safe forever.

now it's tyler's turn to ask, "are you okay?"

josh sits on the edge of the bathtub across from tyler, who sits on toilet. "are you able to explain now?"

"um..." tyler frowns, eyes darting around the room. "um... i'm scared."

"why, hon?" josh reaches for tyler's hand, squeezing it gently. "it's okay. it's just me. i love you, ty. there's no need to worry."

"i just..." tyler sighs, glancing at their hands. "do you promise you'll still love me?"

"yes, of course. i promise."

"and you promise you won't be mad at me or leave?"

"of course, tyler. i promise. i would never do that," josh frowns slightly, feeling his heart beating in his chest. he doesn't know if he can take whatever tyler is about to tell him.

*possible trigger warning. if you start feeling unsafe, skip ahead and i'll put a little summary and another note when it's safe to read again <3*

"in high school, uh... well, i was in a really bad relationship. like... it was just bad. really bad. um..." tyler hesitates, glancing up at josh.

"it's okay," josh assures, giving his hand another squeeze.

"he was just so mean. he did a lot of bad stuff to me, and-"

"bad stuff?" josh repeats, feeling sick to his stomach.

"yeah, like... you know. he hit me a lot, gave me a lot of bruises and scars. he also.." tyler pauses again, checking to make sure it's okay to go on. josh nods, so he does. "he took advantage of me a lot, like... for sex, and stuff. and i just let him because i was so scared of him hurting me."

"tyler," josh whispers, carefully wiping a tear as it rolls down the boy's cheek. "i'm so sorry. you don't have to say anymore, it's o-"

"i have to, you deserve to know." tyler inhales shakily before continuing. "he would always grab my hair when he did it. or like, pin me down by my wrists or my neck." he shakes his head, trying to usher the thought away.

"i only got away because i moved in with dallon after graduation. that was around the time i started becoming a little, and i ended up finding a daddy. it wasn't you, though... he was bad. he was just like brayden. hurt me, used me, did the whole... th-the hair thing. i don't even know why i was so stupid to let it happen again..."

*hey, it's safe :) basically, tyler was in a physically, verbally, and sexually abusive relationship in high school. he escaped after graduation and that's when he first started becoming a little. he then found a daddy who treated him the same way. any grabbing of hair hair, wrists, or neck is triggering to him*

"hey, hey, hey. tyler that is not your fault. not at all. don't you dare blame yourself for any of that happening to you. those are awful things done by awful people. you did not deserve it. it is not your fault."

more tears begin after hearing josh's words, but tyler still continues. "i caught him cheating on me one night and i guess that was the last straw. i mean, he used me so much and i still wasn't good enough? anyway, i went back to dallon's. he took care of me for a while but it was tough with brendon and ryan. so, i started trying to put myself back out there after about a year. i met someone online and was supposed to be meeting him at the restaurant that night, but he stood me up."

"and then i found you," josh concludes, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of the boy's hand. "and i'm sorry but i'm so glad you got stood up."

"i am too." tyler smiles a bit, sighing as josh wipes his face free of tears. "i'm sorry i didn't tell you before."

"no, don't be sorry. i know how hard it must've been to tell me all that. i'm proud of you, ty, really. you are the strongest boy i've ever met. you need to be loved in the way you deserve, and i'm so glad i'm here to do that for you."

"i love you, josh," tyler whispers. "i love you so much."

"i love you more, hon. i want you to know i would never, never do anything like that to you. you just gotta let me know if i'm doing something that you don't like, okay? and i'll stop on the spot. that's a joshua promise."

"a joshua promise?" tyler grins.

"it's very serious," josh nods. "life or death serious."

"okay," the younger chuckles. "do you think it's time to wash this out yet? my head is so itchy."

josh checks the time, nodding. as he's washing tyler's hair and applying toner, he asks, "so i can understand the hair-cutting, but why the hair-dying?"

"just wanted something different, honestly."

"fair enough."

once tyler's hair is finished and blow-dried, both stand in front of the mirror. tyler looks absolutely gorgeous, as always, even after crying. josh thinks he looks a bit silly, but tyler assures him he's still handsome as ever.

"maybe even more handsome, now," the boy adds, giggling as josh gasps.

"what, you think blonde is the look for me?"

"yes, maybe, i don't know! i loved your dark hair, too," tyler explains, turning to give the man a kiss.

"i loved yours too, but look at us. we're matching bimbos." (as a blonde, i'm legally allowed to say that)

tyler laughs, the sound echoing in josh's ears and filling him with joy. he is so, so glad tyler could trust him enough to share the things he did today. he's even more glad to be able to take the boy's mind off of it by making him laugh.

"might as well call us barbie and ken," josh continues, tyler's laughter only fueling his awful jokes. "i look like i could be taylor swift's cousin."

"stoppp!" the younger giggles. josh pulls him against his chest, hugging him tightly. tyler's eyes shut. he hums contently, burying himself in josh's embrace. "i'm glad i have you to keep me safe."

"i will always keep you safe, baby. forever and ever. that's my job."

"do you think we could do something to help age me down? i just wanna feel small right now," tyler says.

"of course, honey. do you wanna watch a movie and cuddle with daddy? i can get you animal crackers and milk, in a sippy, perhaps?"

"perhaps," tyler agrees. he bursts into a fit of laughter as josh scoops him up bridal style, carrying him into the bedroom and tossing him on the bed. josh grabs one of his shirts and hands it to the boy.

while tyler changes into the shirt, josh quickly retrieves animal crackers and a sippy cup of milk. he returns to find tyler already snuggled up in bed, stuffies lining his right side.

"look at you," josh awes, handing over the treats. "daddy's sweet, little boy. god, you're precious even when you're big. can daddy cuddle with you now?"

with his face flushed red, tyler nods, lifting the blanket for josh to join him beneath it. they assume their usual cuddling position; tyler snuggles against josh's side, head tucked beneath the man's chin and resting on his chest, legs tangled together. josh wraps an arm around tyler while he searches for a movie to put on. the boy nibbles on an animal cracker, smiling as he feels josh kiss the top of his head.

"you're daddy's favorite person, pumpkin. daddy loves you with his whole heart. you're the sweetest, best, little boy to ever exist. did you know that? and you look so pretty, hon, with your new hair. daddy loves it. he loves everything about you," josh rambles, knowing his little spiels usually help age tyler down.

"love you, daddy," the boy mumbles, his mouth stuffed with an animal cracker.

"i know, baby. you're regressing already, huh? you're such a good boy for daddy. he is so proud of you," josh continues, lifting tyler's shirt a bit to rub the boy's side.

"mmmhm," tyler hums, eyes glued to the secret life of pets movie playing before them.

josh just smiles, knowing his tactics worked perfectly.