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Tyler had been especially quiet that day.
And, yeah, Josh was used to the silence between them but there was an unnerving feeling of it. This was something that worried him.
“Tyler-”
“Did you know that every seven years every cell in your body is destroyed and replaced with brand new ones?” Tyler interrupted, not looking up to meet Josh’s gaze. He had to have known Josh was giving him a worried glance.
“No, I didn’t know that,” Josh admitted but he was hesitant to see where this conversation went. He didn’t want to know what Tyler was thinking. Not in this silence.
“It’s true,” he said, and it was like he was waiting for Josh to ask. Almost like he wanted to share what was on his mind but he was scared to without knowing that the other person wanted to hear. So Josh gave in because he always did with Tyler.
“What brings that up?” He asked and Tyler took a long time to respond.
First he sat up and adjusted his shirt, making sure it sat flat against his chest. Then he was running and hand through his hair, fluffing it up and messing it up. Then Tyler was tugging on the collar of his shirt, like it was choking him.
“One day I’ll have a body that he never laid a hand on,” Tyler admitted and it was almost too quiet for Josh to hear.
Josh knew about which he it was and he wasn’t happy that Tyler was bringing it up. He knew it only upset Tyler.
“Tyler, come on, you need to let that go,” Josh tried, full well knowing that he was probably going to piss Tyler off with it.
“Josh,” he said in warning, his tone getting dangerously close to sharp.
“No, Tyler, stop shutting me up about this. He was a horrible person but please, stop it. I’m here now, I need you to just think about me and forget him. I want you to myself and I don’t want him as a roadblock.” Josh was out of breath as he talked and his eyes were damp. He wouldn’t cry but it never once was easy for him to think about how broken Tyler was when they first met. How badly he was messed up over some guy who thought so little of Tyler. It was hard for him to see that and to know what Tyler had been through.
“You want me? Even after all of this shit?” He asked and it sounded hopeful and scared and worried. There were so many emotions that Josh could pick out in his voice and it was sad to hear. He gave a weak smile and nodded.
“Of course, Tyler, I will always want you,” he said honestly, staring at Tyler as he hung his head.
He was quiet for a long minute before he picked his head up and sighed.
“Four hundred and seventy-one days until I am completely and purely yours,”