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The heat was eating Tyler up; it was one of the hottest afternoons of summer so far, and he wasn't going to let it ruin his 4th of July.
He was perched up on one of the backseats of the van, door open with no shirt on, sucking on a Bomb Pop.
"Dude, you look so gay." There was the second part of the trouble, Josh. They had stopped somewhere random on the way to their next venue they had to be at in the next few days.
"Oh shut up, man, you wish," Tyler quickly shot back.
Josh just chuckled and continued cleaning out the van.
"Bro, are you going to help out or just sit there and look pretty?"
Tyler glared at the front of the van to see Josh wiping off the dashboard.
"You think I'm pretty?! Oh, how kind of you, Joshua!" Tyler chuckled, and Josh just rolled his eyes.
What Tyler didn't seem to catch on to was that Josh wasn't kidding.
"But seriously, I did all this shit last week; I think I earned this ice cream time," Tyler continued, back to staring at the abyss of trees they were parked by.
"So we're taking turns now?" Josh moved down to trying to find coins in the seat cushions.
"Seems like what we've been doing." Josh ignored that last comment as he held up a dirty quarter and pocketed it.
Tyler continued his rambling, "Do you know if Mark's on his way back yet? The store didn't look that far. I swear to god if he's taking all this time for some sparklers, I'm going to kill him."
As if he had been summoned by the mention of his name, Tyler could see Mark jogging towards the van in the side mirror.
"Had to stock up while we're stopped!"
Mark dropped multiple plastic bags on the floor of the van and dropped his backpack near the gravel.
"Did you get the fireworks?" Josh had finally finished tidying up and was perched in the front driver's seat.
Mark unzipped his backpack to reveal the massive supply of fireworks he'd shoved in there.
"Told you he got kiddy fireworks! Dude, what happened to no sparklers?" Tyler flicked the stick of his now finished Bomb Pop towards the passenger seat; Josh glared.
"Hey man, I never agreed to that! These are just starters; don't worry, I got your military-grade bombs at the bottom of the bag."
Tyler scurried around the bag with a huge smile on his face; Josh couldn't help himself from staring.
"Alright, you guys be useful and put the actual food in the back of the van, and I'll take these out, yeah?"
Tyler hurried to do as Mark said. Meanwhile, Josh was following along with Mark to a spot by the lake. They were parked in a secluded part of the woods, surrounded by trees and dirt.
By this point it was dark out already, the sky was ready to be lit back up, and the trio couldn't be more eager.
Mark and Josh could hear Tyler running up to where they were seated so they could get started on their fun.
"No one's starting without me!" Tyler planted a seat next to Josh near the lake.
The two were seated a good distance from where Mark stood, taking out his lighter, ready to start the show.
Tyler and Josh watched as the first firework lit up the sky, letting out a small cheer as Mark lit up the next ones.
Well, Tyler was watching, and Josh was staring at him.
Josh couldn't stop himself from admiring the colors blooming in Tyler's eyes as he stared up at the sky. the way his tattoos gleamed under the moonlight and how his lips were curled up into a soft smile.
Mark started running out of fireworks to set off.
"Dude, I thought I had more in here?! I think I left some in the van. I'll be back!"
And just like that, Mark ran off towards the van.
Tyler sighed as he lay down on the grass; Josh's eyes followed and landed on Tyler's chest.
"Didn't anyone teach you it was rude to stare, Joshua?" mumbled Tyler
Josh quickly glanced away.
Josh could feel the heat getting to him.
And suddenly he felt a hand reach his arm; he glanced back at Tyler, pulling himself back up to be sat next to him.
And it's like Josh's wishes had come true; Tyler rested his head on Josh's shoulder.
"Are you tired?" Josh breathed out.
"Nah."
He just nodded.
"Marks taking a little long," Tyler whispered.
Josh could hear the tree rustling and cicadas buzzing.
"You didn't hide the rest of the bags, did you?" Josh chuckled.
"Pfft, nah, maybe he's just taking a piss."
The silence continued.
"Josh, look at me."
Tyler lifted his head from the older boy's shoulder.
Josh hesitantly turned to look at Ty's gleaming eyes.
The heat between them was undeniably torrid.
and it was only getting worse as Tyler's face slowly came closer to Josh's, stopping right to the point their noses nearly touched.
"Tyler... what are you doing?" Josh's heart paced faster.
"You think I don't see the way you stare at me, Joshua? the way you eye me when we're changing? Be real with yourself, Josh."
Fuck. Tyler had noticed. Was Josh being that obvious?
"I-I'm... I'm not like… that, Tyler. I'm sorry."
Tyler softly chuckled the way Josh admired.
"Neither am I?"
Josh nodded as he felt a bead of sweat fall down his forehead.
"But why can't we indulge in things that make us feel good?"
Conflict was brewing inside Josh; this is what he wanted, but what about the band? their friendship? What would Mark think if he figured it out?
"What about Mark?" Josh breathlessly whispered.
"He won't be back for a minute, trust me. Please, Josh, just do this."
With that small reassurance supported by nothing but Tyler's words, Josh closed the gap between them, and their lips connected.
Tyler's lips were soft and tasted like the Bomb Pop he sucked on earlier.
Josh's lips tasted like coffee and spearmint gum.
It was silent except for the breathless grunts and whimpers let out from the two boys.
Josh sucked on Tyler's bottom lip as his hands found themselves reaching up to Tyler's chest, tracing his tattoos as they embraced each other.
Tyler's hands gripped at Josh's waist like he was afraid Josh would disappear at any moment.
And suddenly Josh pulled back.
"You're not drunk or anything, right, man? because I'm not, and it would be really embarrassing if you were."
Tyler shot a confused glance. "As if we could afford to get plastered, man. Quit playing with me."
Josh didn't have time to answer because just like that, Tyler's mouth was desperately on his.
Mark sat in the passenger seat eating some trail mix he bought at the store, mindlessly holding up the note Tyler had left telling him not to come back for 15 minutes.