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“Love kills you,” Tyler mumbled, staring at Josh intently. Josh wasn’t bothered by the random statements anymore. Tyler always had something off key and out of place to say, Josh came to expect it. This one felt different, though. He pulled his nose out of his phone and looked at Tyler, meeting his eyes. It was a challenging stare, almost begging Josh to fight the statement. He would never.
“Oh, yeah? Why do you say that?” He asked, locking his phone and setting it beside him. Tyler was taken off guard by his actions. He had been expecting the startled Josh, not calm and collected like he was used to Tyler’s nonsense.
“B-because,” he waved his arms around, frowning when Josh started laughing.
“Come on, you can’t say something like that and not back it up,” Josh mumbled, leaning back on his elbows. Tyler folded his arms over his chest and nodded, looking away from Josh.
“Fine. Have you ever just looked at somebody and felt like you’re suffocating. You can’t breathe and you just kind of want to claw your throat out?” He asked, looking over to Josh and swallowing thickly.
“No, I haven’t. I hope I don’t ever,” he said and regretted it instantly. Tyler deflated at that, his eyes turning down to avoid Josh’s. It wasn’t hard to see the hurt in his eyes in that brief moment.
“Tyler, what’s wrong?” He asked, sitting up and reaching out to Tyler.
Tyler brushed his hand away before wiping at a stray tear.
“That suffocating, it’s how I know I’m in love,” he said quietly, the words falling from Tyler’s lips and then dying in the air. Josh realized why Tyler had reacted so badly to the words.
“Do I suffocate you?” Josh asked, unsure if he wanted the answer to be yes or no. Both answers terrified him to no end.
“You’re the only one who suffocates me,”