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"Josh runs his thumb across Tyler’s bottom lip before closing the rest of the distance with a faint smirk, gently pressing their lips together. He raises his other hand to cradle Tyler’s face before deepening the kiss, parting Tyler’s lips with quick flickers of his tongue; Tyler’s lips are unfamiliar territory, slightly chapped and soft and heavenly, and Josh tastes like smoke and-"
"What are you reading?"
Tyler nearly jumps out his skin before slamming his laptop shut with so much force it should have cracked. His heart starts to pound inside his chest and he feels it throbbing in his ears.
You didn't do anything wrong. Tyler thinks to himself quickly in efforts to calm himself as he looks up to see Josh standing behind him, next to his bed. It's just a story.
Yeah, one about you and your best friend making out.
Okay, fair enough. He thinks to himself. Just lie and tell him it was some stupid email.
"Oh um I was rea- it was just some email Mark sent me about uh nothing really too important," Tyler's words rush out with a quick breath, his eyes darting between Josh and his computer.
"Really? It didn't look like your email," Josh says slowly, raising an eyebrow. "If he's sending us emails it's probably important. Mind if I read it? " He asks, smirking a little as Tyler's mouth opens and closes in an attempt to find the right words.
"I think- You don't- I'm just- It's not-" Tyler couldn't for the life of him form a complete sentence. His mouth is getting dry and he feels a lump in his throat begin to form. He's going to think I'm some freak. Tyler is starting to panic at the thought. This was a whole new level of weird and Tyler is positive this was going to be what tore the two apart.
Josh is reaching for the laptop as he lowers himself next to Tyler, and the younger boy wants to scream at the top of his lungs. Enveloped in panic, Tyler reaches out and grabs Josh's wrist.
"It was something a fan posted," He mutters quickly. "I was just- I read it, and I was going to close it soon, and I just-" Tyler couldn't say anything else, because Josh was opening the laptop already.
Tyler starts to hold his breath until his lungs begin to burn, and he doesn't breathe until his lungs force him to suck in a small breath, and then another, and soon Tyler is quietly hyperventilating.
Josh's eyes scan over the page and each millisecond only fuels Tyler's anxiety, and he is 100% positive Josh is going to comment on how fucked up this is and how disgusting Tyler is and how they can't be friends anymore, and this sends Tyler into a full panic attack. He wipes his clammy hands on his pants, and shuts his eyes, awaiting Josh's hateful words.
"Is this- is this fanfiction?" Josh snickers, setting the laptop down back on the bed before sitting cris cross next to Tyler.
"I uh, yeah. It is," Tyler looks at Josh slightly confused. Why isn't Josh yelling at him? Or getting angry? All Josh was doing was sitting a few inches next to him, happily swaying on Tyler's bed, a smirk planted firmly on his lips. "I thought... you would be mad, or something?" Tyler says in almost a question form, still unsure of himself and of what to do at this point.
Josh giggles to himself quietly. "Why would I be mad at something like that?"
Once again, Tyler's mouth opens and closes slowly, hesitant to answer. "I mean- It's just that story is about... us. Together." He pauses, looking at Josh like that somehow explains it.
"Yeah, and?" The bastard still had that little smirk resting on his lips.
Tyler was wringing his hands together, twisting them in discomfort, trying to cope with his anxiety. "Well... we aren't gay. We obviously aren't. I-I mean, we've dated girls in the past, so we are obviously not ga-"
"You can like a boy and not be gay." Josh responds lightly.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we could be bisexual, or pansexual, or even just happen to like a certain boy on a special occasion," He replies casually, shrugging a little, still looking at Tyler with that smirk.
Tyler turns a light shade of pink. "Well, yeah, I guess you're right.. But we're strictly friends. I mean, best buds. Besides, even if we did do that kind of stuff," he pauses, eyes widening, "I mean like kissing," he adds quickly, "It would be totally platonic. Because we're such good friends. Platonic. But I wouldn't be the best kisser probably, so it wouldn't happen again. But if it did it would be very platonic friend kissing." The more Tyler talks the redder he gets and the more visibly flustered he becomes.
"Then kiss me." He says firmly, turning to face Tyler.
Tyler swears he almost catches on fire at that very moment, his face turning a dark crimson color.
"What" He says dumbly, staring at Josh as his cheeks begin to flush even darker.
"If it's totally platonic," he starts to move closer to Tyler, "and we are just friends," his voice drops to a whisper as he climbs into Tyler's lap, "then kiss me." He stares into Tyler's dark eyes. "Prove it's just platonic."
Josh was challenging him. Baiting him. Tempting him. Whatever it was, Tyler gave in.
His fingers slowly trail up to grab Josh's face, the tips barely brushing his cheek.
"Totally platonic. Yeah." Tyler breaths as he closes the distance.
It wasn't like anything he had imagined. His stomach was twisting with butterflies and his skin felt like hot embers were skipping across his skin. Josh smiled into the kiss, deepening it from just their lips moving to their tongues softly pushing against each other. Josh didn't taste like smoke, or chocolate, or strawberries, or anything else he had read in some piece of writing. He tasted like that damn toothpaste they share, because Josh always loses his tube when they go on tour, so he steals Tyler's tube, and Tyler absolutely loves it. Everything about the kiss screams perfection to Tyler, screams home, and he feels himself begin to lean into Josh just as the red haired boy pulls away.
"Oh," Tyler whispers quietly. "See? I'm a terrible kisser," he begins to panic, pulling away from Josh like he's just touched a hot stove, trying to convince himself that it was a bad idea. "God I'm so sorry. I got way too into it, I'm sorry Josh, I'm so bad at this. I shouldn't ha-"
"Don't be sorry. You're not a bad kisser Tyler," Josh cuts him off.
"Oh" Tyler starts to turn red again.
"I really enjoy kissing you." He smiles sheepishly, reaching out to gently take Tyler's hand.
"Then why did you pull away?" He finally asks, breaking the silence.
"Because I wanted to make sure you wanted to keep kissing me, you dork," he laughs quietly as he slides his hands around Tyler's neck, pulling them close together.
"Oh" Tyler says again under his breath as he stares at Josh, who is inching closer and closer. "I like it too," he whisperes before clearing his throat, "kissing you, that is."
"Still platonic?" Josh chuckles, touching their foreheads together.
"Maybe not as much as I originally thought," Tyler hums softly, wrapping his arms around Josh's waist before pulling him back in for another kiss.
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