(you answered, i deliver. enjoy these next three chapters and i'll be back sometime next week ❤️)

it's saturday and both boys have the day off. the plan was for them to meet dallon, brendon, and ryan at an ice cream parlor, but ryan ended up getting sick. even though tyler is deeply upset that his friends can't go, josh assures him that they will still have lots of fun.

that's where they are now: getting ice cream. it's sweltering outside but tyler insists they sit at a picnic table shaded by a large umbrella once they order their ice cream. josh orders for both of them: a peanut butter sundae for himself and a cookies and cream waffle cone for tyler.

tyler politely thanks the teenager behind the counter as she hands him his cone. he turns to follow josh, but manages to trip on a tiny bump in the blacktop.

he falls to the ground, dropping his ice cream in order to catch himself. his hands and knees get scraped in the process, and he's so hurt and so upset that he doesn't realize josh is already hovering over him.

the water works start instantly, of course. tyler cries hard and loud, holding out his palms for josh to look at. they're hardly even bleeding, just a little tiny dot in the center of each scrape. josh tries to tell his little this, but he's crying too loud. pretty much everybody is staring at this point, which only makes tyler more upset.

"babe, get up. you're alright," josh says, trying to pull the boy to his feet. he won't budge.

"my ice cream!" tyler whines, eyeing the splattered mess he made.

"i'll get you another one, okay? but you have to stop crying."

"n-no!" tyler sobs, furiously shaking his head. "don' wan' stupid ice cream!"

"tyler robert," josh mutters, anxiously glancing at everybody watching them. "get up, now."

"no!"

josh gulps, heart practically racing out of his chest. he hates having so many eyes on him at once, hates that tyler is causing such a big scene. "fine, sit there then."

he walks away, hearing little stomps trailing behind him a few moments later. sighing to himself, josh stops once they're at his car and out of everybody's sight. he leans against the passenger door, patiently waiting for tyler to storm his way over.

it's obvious that tyler is fuming: arms tightly crossed against his chest and jaw clenched tight. josh doesn't understand why he's so angry, though. he offered to buy another cone.

"what's wrong? why are you so upset?"

"let me in da car. don' wan' talk to you," tyler replies, giving josh a death stare. "wan' go home."

"not until you calm down. look, you aren't even hurt. i told you i'd get you another cone. what is the problem?" josh speaks calmly, crossing his arms to match tyler's stance.

"nothin'! wan' go home!" tyler raises his voice, trying to push the older out of the way so he can get in the car. josh doesn't even move an inch. "move it!"

"tyler, look at me. look at me."

the boy glares at him.

"you know the rules. tell me what the problem is."

"no!" tyler raises his voice again, aging up quickly. "i don't need rules, josh. get out of my way!"

"you have no idea how much trouble you're getting yourself into," josh says, trying to keep his cool. he won't yell at tyler, he refuses to. "tell me what the matter is and i'll move."

"because i'm fucking stupid, okay!? now move!"

josh hesitates, raising an eyebrow. he can't really punish tyler for cussing because he obviously isn't little right now, but he can punish him for pretty much everything else. tyler did (somewhat) tell him what was wrong, though, so josh moves out of his way.

tyler gets in the car, slamming the door shut before josh can close it for him. the latter has absolutely no idea why tyler is so livid, but joins him in the car nonetheless. as josh starts driving, he asks again.

"what's the matter?"

"i just told you," tyler grumbles, body facing completely towards the window so josh can't see his face.

"whatever, tyler. if you aren't going to help me understand why you're so upset, then whatever. i'll just take you back to your house."

"screw you!" tyler snaps back, turning toward josh to spit the words directly at him. the mean look on his face falters, though, as he realizes what he just said. "crap... i didn't mean that..."

josh is the one who is pissed now, fingers clenching the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turn white. tyler watches him clench and unclench his jaw, clearly struggling to find words. it's obvious he's angry, though, and it kind of intimidates the younger. he's never seen josh so mad before.

"josh, i-"

"you're in so much trouble," the older seethes. "causing a scene, refusing my help, refusing to tell me what's wrong, pushing me, yelling at me... anything else i missed?"

"calling myself stupid..."

"calling yourself stupid," he adds.

"swearing..."

josh briefly glances at him. "you're allowed to swear when you aren't in little space."

"but i swore at you," tyler frowns, slowly realizing how bad he was acting.

"fine, swearing at me," josh adds to the list. "i'm so mad at you right now."

"i'm sorry..." the boy whines, tears filling his eyes. "i'm really, really, really sorry."

"it's too late now, tyler. you can't apologize your way out of this one," josh says, sighing heavily. he unclenches his fingers, straightening them out because they had started to cramp up. "it hurts me to punish you just as much as it hurts you. i hate punishing you, tyler."

"i'm sorry," he repeats, tears now flowing freely. the younger sniffles, reaching for josh's hand.

josh takes the boy's hand in his, resting them on the center console. he's pissed, sure, but tyler clearly needs some form of touch right now.

the boy is sobbing again, feeling so sad that he made his daddy so upset. he feels like a disappointment. he feels like a big, bratty, cry-baby. tyler wishes he could go back in time and fix it, but he can't. all he can do now is wait for his punishment.

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tyler is laying across josh's lap, having slipped back into little space since arriving home. he has already sat in time out for ten minutes, forcing himself to reflect on everything that happened and why it even happened in the first place. it's time for the second half of his punishment, though.

"only ten, baby, okay? if it's too much, don't be afraid to tell me to stop. okay?"

"okay," tyler whispers, squeezing his eyes shut.

he's never been spanked before, he doesn't know what to expect. so the sudden sting on his bare butt makes him gasp, tears flooding his eyes almost instantly.

"one," josh counts.

this goes on all the way to ten, tyler crying but not telling josh to stop because it doesn't hurt that bad and he definitely deserves it. when it's finished, though, he doesn't even pull his pants back up before clinging to his daddy's chest.

"s-sowwy da-daddy," he cries, whining into the man's neck.

josh wraps one arm around him while the other rubs his poor little butt. "shh, it's okay baby. you did so good. daddy's so proud of you."

"not mad ah' me n-no mo'?" tyler sniffles, trembling in the man's arms.

"no, ty. it's alright. i forgive you, okay? how about we get in the bath together and you tell daddy what was making you so upset. does that sound alright?"

tyler nods, allowing himself to be removed from josh's chest. the man lowers him to the floor, helping tyler strip right then and there because, well, he's practically half-way naked anyway.

"daddy..."

"yes, hon?" josh responds, removing his clothes until he's in just his boxers.

"butt hurts... kiss it pwease?"

he can't help but chuckle. "sure, baby."

josh kneels down and trails soft kisses along the red flesh. he stands back up, leading the boy into the bathroom. "that better?"

"mhm!" tyler hums, trying to look at his butt in the bathroom mirror. he's not tall enough, though, so he just decides to help josh get the bath ready instead.

when it's full of bubbles and a bright pink color (thanks to one of tyler's bath bombs), the two get in the tub. they sit how they usually do, tyler between josh's legs and his back to the man's chest.

"now, little one. will you tell daddy what was on your mind?"

tyler sighs, humming sadly. he tilts his head back so josh can pour water over his hair. "got mad 'cuz i tripped over nothin' and ruined my ice cream.. felt like a big dumb dumb 'cuz erryone saw me.. hurt worse than it looked, daddy."

"mhm, go on," josh urges, massaging shampoo into the boy's scalp.

"den got mad 'cuz i's made erryone stare at us n' i's knew it made you nervous n' i's just kept gettin' madder n' madder..."

"what else?"

"n' i's just wanted you to kiss mine's boo-boos, daddy... but you's just said i's otay n' made me more upset."

"i'm sorry about that, ty. but i kissed your butt so does that make up for it?"

tyler giggles softly, letting josh rinse the shampoo out of his hair. "mhm," he says.

"but also i's thought dat you wouldn't wan' be my daddy no mo' cuz i was bein' so bad.. so den big ty came back n' just made things worse..."

"okay, it's okay. i understand now, baby. it's over with now, though, so we don't have to keep thinking about it. all that does is bring the upset-ness back. we don't wanna be upset again, do we?"

"nuh uh," tyler responds, eyes shutting as josh lathers his hair with conditioner. "i luh you so, so, so, so much."

"i love you too," josh smiles, kissing the boy's neck in a non-sexual way.

"daddy! tickles!"

"sorry." they both laugh as the conditioner is rinsed out and josh lathers up a wash cloth.

"we watch nemo?"

"sure," josh agrees, tenderly smoothing the soapy washcloth against tyler's skin, cleaning the boy of the mess that was today. "want me to age you down real small?"

tyler nods, letting his head rest back against the man's shoulder. "yes, p'ease."

🍼🍯🍼

"c'mere baby boy, come lay with daddy."

tyler, who is gingerly gathering his stuffies, joins the older on the bed with a little giggle. he's instantly taken into josh's arms, a comforting warmth settling over them.

"that's it, ty. you just relax. everything's okay now, you don't need to worry."

tyler hums in response, his thumb finding its way to his mouth as he watches the colorful movie and listens to his daddy.

"daddy's got you," josh says softly, trailing his fingernails over the boy's bare back. tyler decided he wanted to be naked, and josh wasn't going to argue. "my little baby."

tyler snuggles into the older, nuzzling his face against josh's chest. he's feeling so much smaller already, blushing at his daddy's sweet words.

"you're safe in my arms, bub. if you're still feeling upset about earlier, you can let that go. let me do the worrying, you just be your little self."

"paci," tyler mumbles, reaching to grab one off the bedside table. his arms are too short, though, so josh grabs it for him. he kisses tyler before plopping the pacifier between his lips.

"you're the cutest little baby ever. daddy's so lucky to have someone as precious as you. i love you so, so much. i never want to lose my little boy."

josh goes on with this for a few more minutes until tyler glances at him, doe eyes glimmering.  he doesn't speak, just smiles around his paci. the older returns the smile, soothing his hand through tyler's semi-wet hair and kissing his forehead.

"want me to be quiet so you can hear the movie now?" josh asks, knowingly.

tyler nods, pressing his paci against josh's cheek in an attempt to kiss him. "tiny," he says, the word muffled by the pacifier.

"you feel tiny?"

tyler nods.

"suuuper tiny?"

he nods again, giggling softly.

"my tiny little tyler."