Tyler watched Josh through the wing mirror as the man refilled the tank with fuel. A faint smell of gasoline filled the car, Tyler rolled down the window a bit and breathed in the not-so-fresh air. The boy winced, everything around the gas station smelled like a minor oil spill and burnt tire rubber. The sun was beaming down mercilessly, Tyler watched Josh struggle from the comfort of the cool car. The man wiped his forehead, Tyler could feel the heat seeping into the car through the crack. The boy pushed the button making the window go up again, the air conditioning produced a soft buzz as it pushed the air out. 

"I told you to turn it off while we're at the gas station," Josh grumbled as he climbed into the car 

"It was hot," Tyler whined and fanned himself feeling a hot wave of air come through the open door

Josh rolled his eyes and turned the key in the ignition switch. He helped Tyler to get his seatbelt on before bucking up himself. Tyler let out a soft whine as the man squeezed him too tight. Josh apologized with a peck to the cheek and suddenly Tyler wasn't mad anymore. 

No matter how hot it was they decided to make a little trip to the mall. Tyler's bones were aching for movement, being cooped up inside for a week wasn't healthy at all. After a long debate, Josh decided that Tyler doesn't get a voting right and he's taking him to the mall to buy clothes. Tyler voted for KFC but since his opinion didn't matter he had no choice. 

Tyler sighed with boredom, the traffic was horrible, they spent five minutes just trying to drive out of the gas station. Tyler pulled out his phone.

Tyler: UGhhHHhH

Charlie: Hey, look who's alive

Jared: God damn it, I wanted to inherit your fortune

Tyler: fortune lmao bitch where

Charlie: What you've been up to lately?

Jared: Besides fucking and dick sucking

Charlie: JARED VINCENT zERBINI 

Tyler: wtf since when you're a Vincent

Jared: Since three days ago :^)

Charlie: fAKe fAN

Tyler: Why didn't you tell me, I feel like such an asshole

Jared: Nah, it's alright, I wanted you to have some time with Josh

Tyler: Still

Charlie: His mom freaked lol

Charlie: She was like i nAMeD YoU anAis JackLyN zERbInI

Charlie: I cAnT bELiEvE tHAT yOUr fATHer LeT YoU Do tHis 

Tyler: Bamboozled

Charlie: His dad is soo cool

Tyler: I see you had plenty of fun wITHOUT ME

Charlie: Oh, I'm sorry for not inviting you to play paintball with us Mr. Broken Rib

Tyler: You guys played paintball...

Jared: Okay, enough about me, Tyler, my man, wHaT Is Up

Charlie: WhAT Is gOod

Tyler: yOU DonT KnOW me

Tyler: We're going to the mall

Charlie: We're at the mall 

Jared: Dude

Jared: We can be like sneaky

Jared: nvm Josh knows us

Charlie: We can meet up at the mall

Jared: Yessss

Tyler: I'll be there in TWO YEARS 

Jared: The traffic sucks

Charlie: That's why we rode our bikes

Jared: If I was Debby my ass implants would've  melted by now

Tyler: shade

Charlie: Ok, put down your phone and talk to your husband Tyler

Tyler: I'm mad at him

Tyler: He said I should eat healthier and refused to take me to KFC

Charlie: oh boo hoo

Jared: Poor baby is being taken care of, oh no

Tyler: Fuck you guys

Tyler pursed his lips together and shoved his phone into his pocket. He glanced at Josh who was basically fuming because of the traffic. The grip on the wheel loosened up, Josh inhaled deeply.

"Tyler, hold on." Josh seethed through his gritted teeth as his foot slammed the gas pedal

Tyler's breath came out in frantic spurts as the man violently manoeuvred the car in the road. The brunet closed his eyes and listened to the eerie screech of rubber against the asphalt. When he opened his eyes again they were rolling into the parking lot. Tyler could hear his heart breaking another rib, Josh flashed him an apologetic smile.

"I got impatient," Josh murmured

"Yeah, I figured..." Tyler clutched his aching chest 

"Are you okay?" 

"-ish." Tyler shrugged

Josh sighed and hopped out of the car. Tyler was glad to have solid ground under his feet. He felt like crashing down and kissing the soil for a dramatic effect but that would've been too much even for a drama queen like him. Josh grabbed Tyler's waist to support his fragile body. Tyler blushed, he clung to the man since he had no other choice. They walked into the mall hand in hand, bodies pressing against each other. 

Tyler turned his head in every direction trying to locate his friends but knowing Charlie they were probably on the second floor, chugging jumbo sized slushies. Tyler pointed at the escalator but Josh dragged him past the moving stairs and walked into an H&M store. Tyler frowned yet again. He wanted to meet his friends and Josh was acting like a mom, but the opposite of mean. Instead of dragging him out of the store, the older man was dragging him into the store. 

"This is nice," Josh pointed at a pair of light washed ripped jeans with roses embroidered on the back pockets

"That's for girls," Tyler murmured only making Josh frown

"I've seen your Pinterest boards," Josh handed Tyler the pair of jeans "Go try these on."

Tyler huffed and stomped to the changing room. He was trying to stay mad at Josh but it was impossible when the man was climbing over his own head to please him. Tyler quickly discarded his black adidas track pants which weren't even his, they were Josh's. The man ordered the wrong size and didn't feel like throwing them out. The slacks fit Tyler perfectly like the universe had planned this to happen. The pants sat in Josh's closet untouched for two years until Tyler showed up. 

The brunet quickly slid the jeans up his legs, jumped around a bit to make the denim hug his butt better and finally zipped them up. He hated how good they looked. The boy posed seductively in front of the mirror before doing an improvised crab dance. 

"What are you doing?" Josh snorted, a quiet "eek" left Tyler's throat

"You can't just walk in while I'm changing," Tyler's face heated up from the embarrassment boiling inside of him

"Changing," Josh chuckled "That's what you were doing? I thought you were auditioning for the role of Mr. Krabs."

"Sh-shut up," Tyler murmured

"Don't do that again," Josh handed Tyler a pile of clothing "Not because I don't like it, it's because I don't want to drive you to the hospital for breaking another rib."

"Okay..." Tyler murmured, Josh smiled at him and closed the curtain.

The boy plopped the pile of clothing on the chair and let out a sigh. Josh clearly didn't give a shit about the price. As a poor person, Tyler felt anxious just looking at the items. What if he accidentally damaged something? The younger boy slid out of the jeans to try on something else. 

Tyler wasn't sure what scared him the most: the price or the fact that he was slowly getting used to this.