Yet again, Josh had yelled at Tyler. And yet again, Tyler was crying about it.

Except this time, Josh heard it.

He pressed his ear against the bedroom door, his heart breaking as he heard his husband's sobs.

He also heard that Tyler was on the phone with somebody.

"I-i thought marriage w-was supposed t-to be fun w-when you're young," he sobbed.

He continued to cry for a moment while Josh assumed the other person was talking.

"I-it was fun o-on the honeymoon b-but ever since w-we've gotten home h-he's been y-yelling at me a-and t-telling me I'm lazy a-and I-I don't know what to do," Tyler cried.

Josh's heart sunk to his stomach. He felt so disgusting. He didn't know he'd been making Tyler cry and feel so upset. He thought his husband just brushed it off.

"I-I'd never do that," Tyler sniffled. "I-I'd never, e-ever divorce him. I-I love him."

The other person said something.

"E-even i-if hes hurting me, I-I still love him," Tyler replied.

Josh couldn't take it anymore. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he had to do something. He entered the bedroom, feeling horrible when Tyler looked at him in fear.

"H-hey, Ty," Josh said.

"I-I'll c-call you l-later," Tyler said into the phone before hanging up.

"I um... I-I wanted to talk to you about something," Josh said, carefully getting on the bed so Tyler wouldn't get scared.

"I-I f-forgot to empty the dishwasher," Tyler said. "I-I know. I-I'm sorry. I-I'll go do it n-now."

Emptying the dishwasher was just one of the many, many things Josh always made Tyler do.

"What?" Josh asked, quickly shaking his head. "N-no, no."

Tyler sat back down, not knowing what Josh was going to talk to him about.

"I-I um... d-do you like being married to me?" Josh asked.

Tyler nodded.

"D-Do you like the way I've been treating you?" Josh asked.

Tyler didn't do anything for a minute. "I-I..." he spoke up, then getting quiet.

"So no?" Josh asked.

"I-it scares me when you yell," Tyler said quietly.

Josh opened his mouth to say something, but Tyler kept talking.

"A-and w-when you call m-me lazy because I forgot to empty the dishwasher a-after being at work for 14 hours. A-and when y-you call me stupid f-for forgetting to take the laundry out of the dryer b-because I was busy t-trying t-to find you the perfect birthday gift. A-and when you say I-I don't listen o-or care about you w-when I spent a-a lot of money on the gift that h-had a lot of sentimental value b-but it wasn't w-what you asked for."

Josh sighed, hanging his head.

"I've been a shitty husband," he eventually said. "I-I've been a really shitty husband for the past three months a-and I'm sorry. I-I'm sorry for yelling at you all the time a-and calling you things a-and making you feel anything but safe and loved and important. I-if there's anything I can do to maybe... I dunno... m-make you feel better, I-I'll do it. Anything at all."

Tyler nodded. "O-ok."

Josh leaned forward, cupping Tyler's cheek and wiping his tears softly. He kissed his lips gently. "I'm gonna go get something to eat. Wanna come?"

Tyler sniffled and nodded.

Josh gently took his hand, and the boys headed to Josh's car. They held hands the whole drive, Josh determined to start giving Tyler the young newlywed life his husband had dreamed of having for so long.

The rest of their marriage wasn't going to be anywhere close to the first three months, and the change started today.

Josh took him to a little cafe where they ate. Tyler was extremely quiet. Josh missed how they were before the got married, where Tyler would talk on and on and on about anything that made him even relatively happy. It was the cutest thing.

It was that way on the honeymoon, too. But once they got home, the excitement wore off. For Josh, at least. It didn't for Tyler. But that annoyed Josh, hence the yelling.

"I saw you were looking online for a new uke earlier," Josh said.

"Y-yeah."

"What kind are you wanting?"

"A-a concert," Tyler said quietly.

"What are all the types they have?"

Tyler shrugged.

Josh knew that Tyler knew, he was just uncomfortable. Normally, Tyler would be talking nonstop about ukulele types. Josh would sit there and smile, not at what he was saying, but the way he was saying it. How he started to stutter when he got excited, how his eyes squinted when he emphasized things.

"Maybe we could go look for some," Josh said. "We can grab dessert then go look for one."

Tyler didn't say anything. He just sat on his side of the table, playing with his fingers.

"Do you want strawberry cake?" Josh asked, knowing that was Tyler's favorite dessert.

Tyler shook his head.

Josh knew he did, so he ordered some anyway.

Tyler wouldn't eat it, so he put it in a to-go box so hopefully Ty would eat it at home.

"You were eating strawberry cake the first time we had sex," Josh said with a soft grin, trying to get a tiny little smile out of Tyler. "I remember it. You were laying down in bed with the plate on your chest, literally eating cake the whole time. Your lips tasted like frosting."

The thought of sex made Tyler uncomfortable. "O-ok," was all he said.

"Do you... um... do you wanna maybe try it when we get home?" Josh asked. "W-we haven't done it in a while."

"W-What?" Tyler asked softly.

"D-Do you wanna maybe have sex when we get home?" Josh said.

Tyler was quiet. "I-I... I-I..."

Josh knew Tyler didn't feel comfortable.

"O-or we can just maybe watch a movie a-and snuggle."

"T-that one," Tyler said.

Josh nodded, and he drove home.

***

Josh felt so guilty when Tyler went into the bathroom to change clothes. He'd made his husband so uncomfortable that he wouldn't even take his shirt off in front of him.

He sat down on the bed, starting to pull at his hair, several strands coming out. He did that when he was frustrated.

Tyler opened the door to see him doing this.

He walked over to him and gently took his hands out from his hair. Josh looked up at him. Tyler looked back down at him and gently kissed his forehead.

"I-I love you a-and I appreciate y-you wanting to make a-a change," he said softly.

Josh nodded. Their hands found each other, their fingers intertwining.

"W-we're just 22 and 23," Tyler said softly. "W-we're still r-really young a-and really stupid. I-it's ok that w-we got off t-to a rough start. A-as long as we r-recognize it a-and try to make it better from here."

"You're the best husband I could have ever asked for," Josh said softly. "Do you know that?"

Tyler shook his head. The boys crawled into bed together, actually snuggling and touching each other intimately for the first time in weeks.

Josh turned on a movie, but he was too focused on the beautiful boy in his arms to pay any attention.

"J-Joshua," Tyler blushed softly. "Y-you've been staring at me the whole time. W-watch the movie."

"I can't," Josh said. "I've got the love of my life in my arms. I can't ever take my eyes off him."

Tyler's blush deepened. Josh smiled softly. He kissed his cheek. "I love you so much, Tyler."

"I-I love you too."

"I-I can't wait to have a good marriage with you," Josh said. "I-it's a good thing we're starting today."

Tyler looked up into Josh's eyes, smiling softly. "It's a wonderful thing, Joshua. Just like you."