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Ever since Josh could remember, there had been a boy across the street that sat on his front porch with a plastic, blue ukulele in his hands.
Josh had never spoken to the boy. He watched him though, every time he played out in the yard with a football, or rode his bike in the driveway, or climbed the tree in his front yard. The boy never seemed to play, only sat there with that piece of junk in his hands. He never played it, never even strummed it, which Josh thought was sort of strange. Why would you own an instrument and not play it? That made no sense.
Josh and this unknown boy did not go to school together. Josh thought that maybe the boy across the street was homeschooled, or maybe chose not to, even though it was against the law. As Josh grew, so did the boy across the street, and miraculously, the boy learned how to play “the damn thing.” (That’s what Josh’s father called everything these days. “I can’t get the damn thing to work,” he’d shout as he messed with the antennae on top of the television. “This damn thing is broken again,” he’d grumble as he would hit the radio with his fist a couple of times.)
When Josh was eleven, he worked up the courage to go speak to the boy.
He dragged his bike to the edge of the boy’s lawn and dropped it, seeing if he could get his attention. The boy didn’t look up from his plastic blue toy.
Josh sighed and walked up the driveway and down the pathway until he stopped right in front of the porch. The boy still refused to look up. His hair was thick and a such a dark shade of brown that it made Josh mesmerized. It curled in places where it was too longer and some patches stuck down with grease. His skin was tanned and his frame was smaller than any other eleven year old that Josh had seen before.
“Do you know anything?” Josh continued to stare as the boy shrugged his shoulders.
“I know some stuff.”
“Will you play for me?”
The boy grunted in response before using his slender fingers to pick at the nylon strings. Josh listened carefully. It sounded okay, actually; maybe even better than some of stuff that played on the radio. He didn’t recognize the song, but it sounded good.
When the boy finished his song, he set his ukulele to the side and finally looked up. His nose sloped perfectly, and his cheeks were a little rounder than normal, but his eyes, gosh golly, bore into his very soul. “You’ve been watching me for a long time, haven’t you?”
“I live across the street,” Josh pointed, “It’s kinda hard not for me to watch.”
The boy laughed softly. “I guess maybe you’re right.”
“I liked the song. Who sings it?”
“I wrote it myself,” he stated shyly. “I’m working on some words.”
“I was wondering when you’d learn how to play that thing.”
He chuckled again. “Me too.”
“My name’s Joshua Dun, but everyone just calls me Josh. I guess it’s easier.”
“My name’s Tyler Joseph. Everyone calls me Tyler. I guess that’s easier.”
Josh nodded, his lips turning upwards into a smile. “Hey, would you maybe wanna go get a soda or something one of these days? ‘T gets to be rather hot, and I got a few nickels burning a hole in my pocket.”
“That's an Ohio summer for you. But yes. I think I’d like that.” he smiled too.
The summer of 1951 was a summer Josh would never forget, because it was the summer he met his best friend. The two were insufferable, spending every second together, and their parents often met for TV viewings and barbecues. The two rode into town almost twice a week; other days they’d play football in Josh’s front yard or listen to records in Tyler’s living room. No matter where they went though, Tyler brought his plastic blue ukulele. Often times it would lay in Josh’s front yard, tucked nicely under the oak tree. That thing was covered in scratches and so worn with use Josh often asked if Tyler thought about asking for a new one.
“I could never,” he exclaimed, “too many memories.”
Josh only shook his head.
As the boys grew older, their closeness started to drift. It was hard, because Josh still went to public school and Tyler was stuck learning math in the comfort of his own living room. Plus, Tyler was a grade below him, which made discussing curriculum a bit difficult. Josh went through a little bit of a rebellious phase; he let his hair grow out and often slicked it back, his wardrobe started turning towards loose tees and blue jeans, and Tyler and his plastic, blue ukulele became forgotten. Josh attended dances with his buddies and spun girls across the floor with rock ‘n’ roll blasting in the background. He loved going out to drive in movies, sipping sodas as he held hands with a girl. Josh dated a lot; after all, he was one of the most popular guys in school.
Tyler, however, did not go out partying. The thought of losing Josh was painful to him, and he knew if he didn’t do something quick, his best friend would slip out of his grasp. Problem was, Tyler didn’t know what he could do to get Josh back. Josh didn’t seem very interested with him anymore, and Tyler was too chicken to go speak to him.
The end of the school year was approaching fast. It was the last summer the two could spend together before university came. Tyler would be stuck back at home, and besides, even when he did go to college, he wouldn’t go far; his anxiety wouldn’t permit that. Josh however, was heading off to Pennsylvania, which was a whole state away. He knew this because he had overheard his mother speaking with Mrs. Dun about how her “brilliant son got a full ride to Penn State.” Tyler wanted to scream.
The sun was starting to dip below the horizon, swirling the sky into a purple twilight as Tyler sat down on his front porch step with his plastic, blue ukulele in his hands. He plucked some chords until he was strumming Elvis’s Love Me Tender and trying his hardest not to cry. He hated how emotional he was sometimes.
“Hey Ty.” grass crunched under Josh’s feet as he made his way up Tyler’s front yard. He cradled his football under his arm and stood, waiting. Tyler didn’t look up. “Can I sit down?”
“I guess.”
Josh dropped to the cement and let the ball fall into his lap. He picked at a few curling weeds sneaking up from the cracks. “How have you been?”
“It’s been almost two years Josh. Two years. You wanted nothing to do with me.”
“Now that’s not true-”
“It is true. Look at yourself. You’re nothing but a no good greaser. You found better friends and forgot about me.”
“I never forgot about you. Don’t you say that. I wanted to see you every day, I just, I lost sight, I didn’t know how to bring it up, or approach you.”
“You did it once before.” he wrung the neck of his ukulele harshly. “I don’t see how you couldn’t have done it again.”
“Because this time it was different.”
“How?”
“It just was, okay? I don’t know how to explain it, I don’t know what I’m feeling.”
“You think you can just come back and act like everything's normal? You don’t know what I like these days. You don’t know what I’m interested in. You don’t know-”
“Are you still writing your own songs? Listening to records?”
Tyler scoffed. “Elvis, Josh. I like Elvis. In fact, Elvis is probably my favorite artist of all time. But you wouldn’t know that, would you?”
“I’m trying, can’t you give me a damn break?”
“I don’t want to give you anything! You hurt me, and you hurt me badly. I especially don’t want to deal with this now.” he stood up and tucked his ukulele under his arm. “Goodbye Josh.”
The door slammed behind Tyler before Josh could reply back, and anger flooded through his body. With a loud growl, Josh kicked his football as hard as he could, watching as it bounced down the street and rolled into a gutter.
Then he sulked across the street and slammed the door to his own house.
A few days passed before Josh tried again. He came this time around noon and knocked on Tyler’s front door. Zack, Tyler’s younger brother, answered.
“He doesn’t want to talk to you,” Zack stated. Josh sighed.
“I know he doesn’t want to talk to me, but could you get him anyways?”
Zack shrugged. “I suppose. Can I have your football?”
Josh glanced down the street, wondering if that ball was even still there. “Sure. If you get Tyler for me.”
Zack left the door cracked as he bounced up the stairs screaming Tyler’s name, and Josh tapped his foot nervously. He knew Tyler was still upset with him, but if he could just have a chance to explain, things would go back to normal, he knew it.
“I said I didn’t want to talk to you,” Tyler spat the minute he pulled the door open. He folded his arms and glared. Josh knew how stubborn Tyler could get.
“I know you did, but I didn’t listen.” He also knew he was just as stubborn. “All I wanna do is talk about things. Give me an hour tops. I got nickels burning holes in my pockets.” he pointed towards town. “Go get a soda with me?”
After about two minutes of silence, Tyler sighed in defeat, and nodded his head. “Let me grab my jacket.”
The two of them walked up to town with a good distance between them. Tyler had his hands shoved deep in his pockets to avoid accidentally brushing against Josh if they got close enough. Josh was frustrated. He wanted to tell Tyler how he felt, but he didn’t know how to do it.
When they arrived at the diner, Josh held the door open for Tyler and the two of them slid into the bar stools at the counter. He ordered two orange sodas for the both of them and clattered some nickels on the counter for payment.
“Alright, you better speak up,” said Tyler without looking up from the countertop. He was running his fingers across it softly and picking at peeling plastic.
“The two of us, we’re as stubborn as mules, you know that?” he watched Tyler crack a smile. “We did grow apart Ty, but that’s because the two of us have different personalities. I know we get along fine ‘n dandy, but I like to be out, with lots of people, and-”
“I don’t like to leave my house,” he finished softly. Josh nodded.
“We’re teenagers, man. We’re figuring out who we are. Just because I went out partyin’ doesn’t mean I forgot about you. I’ve never forgotten about you. I thought about you and your little ukulele every single day, I just chickened out when the thought crossed my mind to go and talk to you again. I thought maybe you hated me.”
Tyler sipped his soda and leaned forward on his elbows. “Nah. I never hated you, just thought that you had moved on.”
“I’ll never move on from you. You’re my best friend.”
That got him to chuckle a little bit and look over at Josh’s serious expression. “Well you’re my best friend too.”
“Good, glad we got that situated. I’m sorry for hurting your feelings Ty, and to make it up to you, I’m going to spend every day with you over the summer.”
“Better start spending every day with me now, greaser,” he grinned.
“Alright then. Every day with you.” Josh ditched the straw to drink straight from the glass bottle and grinned back ear to ear when he slammed the bottle down. “I bet your parents hate you listening to Elvis, huh?”
“They call it devil music, but I think they’re crazy.”
“Are you learning all his songs?”
“Every last one. He plays on the radio all the time. I manage to sneak it some bits and pieces before my parents come and shut it off.”
“What about on T.V.? He’s been playing Ed Sullivan a few times, huh?”
“Like I said, bits and pieces.” he smiled again, but it was softer this time, and Josh felt like he was fifteen again, and he and Tyler were throwing a football back and forth. Tyler’s body was a bit more slender, but instead of looking unhealthy, he grew into his frame. His cheeks were not as heavy any more either; you could see his cheekbones perfectly, and his hair was styled upwards instead of sticking up in a hundred different directions. Josh would bet girls would flock him from all sides if Tyler ever left his house. Even now, sitting in the soda parlor, there were a few girls looking over at him and giggling with each other.
Josh knew those girls were absolutely right, because Tyler was probably the best lookin’ guy he had ever come across.
“You got some babes crushin’ on you,” he pointed out, smiling. Tyler rolled his eyes and immediately hopped down from the bar.
“Let’s leave.”
“If you say so.” Josh hopped down from the counter as well and waved to those giggling girls out their way out.
Their friendship came back hard and fast, and both boys were beyond thankful. They didn’t understand how they had lived without one another all that time. Their parents seemed to be happy that they were together again as well. They went back to listening to records in Tyler’s living room and started watching Elvis performances on the television. Often times Tyler’s mother would come in complaining about the racket, but other times she would hover inside the kitchen and smile whenever she overheard the boys singing along.
Summer had started, Josh was done with high school, and the idea of real life was crashing hard around them. Josh tried to forget about it, since it was “three months away,” but Tyler always brought it up.
“You’re going a whole state away, you know that’s no walking distance.” he fidgeted in his spot on the floor and clutched his plastic, blue ukulele in his hands. Sometimes he’d strum it softly with his thumb, barely loud enough to hear only in complete silence.
“I’ll visit, you know that.”
“Oh come on, can’t you just stay here?” Tyler looked up. He looked ready to cry, and with a long sigh, Josh scooted closer to pull him into a hug. “Please don’t leave me.”
“We have three months Tyler, wipe your tears.” he cradled Tyler’s jaw with one hand and reached up to wipe away tears with the other. They stayed like that for awhile, frozen, staring at one another, sitting in silence with the exception of their heavy breaths. Josh leaned closer. Tyler closed his eyes.
He only leaned close enough to brush his lips against the other boy’s before Tyler pulled away.
“That’s mighty dangerous J,” Tyler warned him, before he picked up his ukulele and left. Josh sat on his bedroom floor for ten minutes after that, cursing himself for being so stupid. He knew all about conversion therapy, and if anyone found out he had done that, Josh was getting sent straight to an asylum.
That didn’t stop them though.
They didn’t bring up that night until a whole month passed. Josh took Tyler to the movies in his father’s bright blue Ford and they ate popcorn and made jokes about the actors. One time they went into a record store and Josh bought Tyler an Elvis record. Other days they’d lounge in Tyler’s room while he strummed his ukulele and hummed Elvis songs.
“I just learned one,” he said excitedly, sitting up straight. “Listen.” Josh nodded, and Tyler moved his fingers quickly to create a fast paced rhythm. Tyler never really sang out loud, he had once told Josh it was because he hated the sound of his own voice resonating in air and hanging over him like a storm cloud. This time though, he sang loud and proud, and Josh appreciated every second.
“A well'a bless my soul, what'sa wrong with me? I'm itchin' like a man in a fuzzy tree. My friends say I'm actin' wild as a bug, I'm in love, I'm all shook up,” he grinned, meeting Josh’s eyes for a split second before looking back down at his ukulele. Jeez, he’s musta had that thing for twelve years now, and it still sounded perfect. “Well my hands are shaking, and my knees are weak, I can’t seem to stand on my own two feet, who do you think of when you have such luck? I’m in love, I’m all shook up.”
Josh smiled back. He waited until Tyler finished and burst into applause. “That was so good! You’re the new Elvis!”
“Oh gosh no. Nobody will ever replace The King.” his eyes never looked away from Josh’s face, and Josh felt compelled to move closer. Tyler’s eyes were still so mysterious to him. They seemed to tell a million different stories without saying anything at all. “Josh, do you remember that night when we were talking about you leaving for college?”
“Uh-huh,” Josh said quietly. He remembered all right.
“Were you... were you going to kiss me?”
Josh blinked. He didn’t know how to answer. “Yes. No. Yes. I dunno. Maybe I’m too sick in the head to figure it out.”
“Ah hell, you believe that balogna? They aren’t sick in the head, just trying to live their lives. I was jus’ wondering. It sure seemed like you were going to.”
“You said it was dangerous.”
“It is dangerous. But I never said I would push you away.” he raised an eyebrow. Josh had never seen so much confidence pass over Tyler’s face.
“Tyler, are you saying you want me to kiss you?”
“I suppose that’s up to your imagination,” he replied, and oh, there was so much arousal in that statement that Josh had no clue what to do. He couldn’t kiss his best friend, he couldn’t put his life on the line for this, but he wanted to, gosh did he want to.
Josh went for it. He was quick and sharp-witted, his hands burying themselves in Tyler’s thick hair as he pushed him onto his back and kissed him hard. The weird thing was that it felt right. Josh had kissed a lot of people, but never had he kissed like this, been kissed like this. Their bodies molded together, Tyler’s hands slipped over his hips, and Josh gasped for air. Tyler was soft, he smelled like pine trees, fresh like snow, and he was gentle and careful. Josh felt on top of the clouds.
They kissed for hours that night, and with every passing second Josh was given another reason why Tyler was perfection.
“I’m all shook up,” Josh mumbled against Tyler’s pink lips, and Tyler grinned.
“Me too.”
After that, the two spent the rest of their summer hiding themselves away to kiss and feel each other without anyone finding them. Tyler still played him Elvis songs, but now they had so much more meaning and all Josh could do was smile like a bozo.
“Don’t be cruel, to a heart that’s true, I don’t want no other love, baby, it’s just you I’m thinking of,” Tyler winked, and Josh stopped the song to kiss him right there. He found Tyler irresistible with each passing day, and suddenly Tyler’s words found a place in his head. Please don’t leave me.
Hell, he didn’t want to leave anymore.
“J, what’s wrong?” Tyler untangled himself from under Josh and frowned. Josh shook his head. He hadn’t realized he had stopped kissing him in the process.
“Sorry, I was jus’ thinking.”
“About what?”
“‘Bout us.” he sighed. They were standing ‘bout a mile off from their houses, deep somewhere in the woods. He leaned against a tree briefly before sinking to the ground to sit. Tyler sat down next to him and hoisted his knees up to his chest as he set his ukulele gently besides him. “How much trouble you think we’d get in if our parents caught us?”
“I’d reckon a whole lot,” Tyler murmured.
“I don’t really want to leave you anymore,” admitted Josh. Tyler bit his lip and looked up at the foilage about their heads. He wasn’t really surprised.
“I never wanted you to leave.”
“The real reason I started pulling away that summer was because I started getting feelings for you,” Josh also admitted. This time, Tyler looked at him in surprise.
“Really?”
“We were getting older, going through some changes. You grew taller, fit into your frame. I noticed like, every minute detail. Like, your posture when you’d sit on your porch and play that damn thing.” he chuckled softly to himself. “Or how you started styling your hair differently. And your clothes. They were always so outrageous, I’d have to stop myself from looking over at you. That night I came over to talk, I about melted seeing you up close. Your face was slender, your nose was so perfect, and your eyes... golly, I was on cloud nine. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t.”
“And I was pretty upset.”
“Exactly. You were pretty upset.”
Tyler nodded. He was thinking. “Joshua, I think you’re a righteous goof, you know that?”
“I figured.”
“You also make my heart flutter, and that’s pretty special.” his lips turned upwards into a small smile as he turned to rest his head on Josh’s shoulder. He nudged his ukulele with his foot. “Every time I hear an Elvis song, I think of you. Even when you were off being a knucklehead.”
Josh scoffed, but he knew he had been a knucklehead. “I’m honored.”
“I really am all shook up with you.”
“I’m all shook up with you too,” Josh responded. He felt Tyler kiss his jaw, and before they knew it, the two were lip-locked and unable to bring themselves to separate. Their shirts got lost in the process, pants got unzipped, and they went farther with each other than they ever had with anyone else. The funny thing was they had been friends for so long, and neither one of them had realized they were falling in love from the very beginning.
One night, they went to a drive-in movie. They didn't have much time left before Josh left for college, so the two decided going out and doing something fun was better than sitting in Tyler's bedroom and making out. Josh was driving, holding Tyler’s hand the whole way there. The radio was at a low hum and everything felt perfect.
Once they were situated and parked, Josh pointed towards the concession stand. The line was pretty short, so he figured going now would be the best time.
“I’ll go get some sodas.”
“Sure,” Tyler nodded, smiling as Josh unbuckled and made his way through cars to go get Tyler his orange soda. He recognized his old friends waiting in line.
“Hey there Josh! Long time no see!” One of them patted him on the back. Josh had outgrew his rebellious phase when he got Tyler back, and now, seeing where he had been mere months earlier, was a little strange for him. They all still dressed in their loose tees and blue jeans, still popped the collars of their leather jackets and slicked their hair back with enough oil to start a car.
“Who you here with?”
“My friend Tyler,” he stated bluntly, trying to ignore them. He paid for his cokes and turned to leave.
“Isn’t that the weird kid that always sat on his porch? I thought you outgrew him. He was boring, wasn’t he?”
“No.” Josh continued walking. Maybe they’d take the hint and get lost.
“Oh come on Josh, don’t you wanna talk to us anymore? You used to be cool.”
He turned around. “I don’t want to be like you anymore. It’s lame. We’re adults now. I have other things to do besides combing my hair or smoking a cigarette every two seconds. Leave me alone now.”
The group of greasers disbanded, muttering under their breath as Josh hurried back to the car. He slammed the door shut and locked it, just to be safe, before he handed Tyler his drink. Tyler frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just ran into the old gang.”
“They weren’t causing you trouble, were they?”
“Not at all.” Josh forced a smile. “I’m here to spend time with you anyways, aren’t I?”
“I suppose that’s true.” he reached for Josh’s hand again. When the movie started and the lights turned low, Josh couldn’t help but steal a kiss.
“That’s dangerous J,” Tyler warned, but he didn’t pull away. In fact, he was grinning ear to ear.
They spent the movie making comments and jokes as usual, and when it was over, Josh turned over the engine and rumbled the car out of the lot. He followed the other cars, grasping the wheel with one hand as the other gripped Tyler’s tightly. “Did you like the film?”
“It was good,” Tyler praised, launching into his favorite parts. Josh listened carefully, his eyes still on the road as he turned right and made his way home. Tyler had just started describing the soundtrack when something popped and the car groaned loudly.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Josh mumbled, killing the engine before he unbuckled and climbed out. Tyler did the same, and together they rounded the back to find that one of their tires was flat. “Damn.”
“You know how to change it, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s just gonna take a while and it’s dark out here. Let me get the jack, I’ll have to have you help me.” he popped the trunk and began moving his dad’s junk around to pull out what he needed. Tyler nudged him.
“Josh?”
“Huh?” Josh grabbed the flashlight and clicked it on, spinning to face Tyler when he noticed a familiar gang of greasers surrounding them. Tyler looked terrified.
“Hey nosebleed,” the leader, called Skull, sneered. Josh sighed.
“Thought I told you guys to get lost.”
“Yeah, well that was before we realized you two were nothing but worthless homos.”
Tyler was starch pale now. Josh took a step forward, still shining the flashlight in their faces. “You’re just saying that.”
“Nice try. We saw you two playing back seat bingo back there at the theatre. And we don’t like your kind.”
“Get lost.” Josh repeated. “I’m not going to say it again.”
“I don’t think we’re going to do that.” Skull gestured to the two boys flanking his right, who grabbed Tyler and held him in place. The other two boys on Skull’s left grabbed ahold of Josh, letting his flashlight clatter to the ground and fizzle out.
Josh’s eyes had settled enough in the dark to watch Skull throw a punch at Tyler’s head. His fist hit his right eye and Tyler let out a pained grunt. Josh just about screamed as he struggled to get out both boy’s harsh grasp. Skull grinned at Josh before he hit Tyler again, this time uppercutting him, and blood began rolling down his chin. Josh growled again, pulling harder, but their strength topped his. Tyler whimpered, his body slumping, as Skull swiped a finger through the blood that covered Tyler’s face and wrote homo across his forehead. Then he punched him again. Tyler’s nose cracked and Josh screamed.
The boys holding Tyler dropped him to the ground and began viciously kicking him all over as Skull made his way over to Josh. Skull laughed bitterly as he threw a good punch to the side of Josh’s head, sending his vision spinning, before he and his crew were disappearing from the road like they hadn’t even been there. Josh guessed they had something to do with the flat tire on the car.
On his hands and knees, Josh crawled over to pull Tyler into his arms. Tyler was still conscious, but he was littered in huge, redishblue bruises already starting to form and so much blood Josh had no clue how he was going to get him cleaned up. He licked his whole palm and smeared the insult on Tyler’s forehead until it was nothing but swirls.
For five whole minutes, Tyler sobbed into Josh’s shoulder, Josh holding him protectively. He couldn’t believe it. People had found out, and this was what happened. What if they did get sent to an asylum? Was their relationship worth it?
Of course it was worth it. Tyler was always going to be worth it.
Josh let Tyler rest in the back seat as he fixed the flat as quickly as possible and sped to the nearest gas station. He helped Tyler into the tiny restroom and locked the door. Tyler sat on the closed toilet lid as Josh wetted some paper towels and wiped all the blood off his face. Tyler sat quietly, his eyes closed. One was swelling with purple, his nose was twisted and broken, and he had a split lip. Josh only had a black eye, but seeing Tyler’s injuries made him furious. They had known making him watch Tyler get hurt and not be able to do anything about it put him in a hell of a lot more pain than actually getting hit himself.
What hurt the most was that those had been his friends. He had abandoned Tyler for them.
“I’m so sorry Tyler,” he finally managed to whisper after what seemed like hours of silence.
Tyler said nothing.
Lying about all their injuries would have been too difficult, so they told their parents they got jumped while trying to fix a flat tire, and the adults ate it up. They were ripped away from one another, forced to stay home and rest. Josh and Tyler didn’t see each other for a whole week after that. Both were upset about that, mostly because they were wasting valuable time. They only had one more week left of summer before Josh had to leave for Penn State.
Josh felt so guilty. He didn’t know what he could say to make things better. Those had been his friends and Tyler knew that perfectly well. Apologizing would never fix Tyler’s nose or make the trauma disappear. Apologizing didn’t fix the hole in Josh’s heart.
He wished he could go back and undo everything.
Surprisingly, it was Tyler that came over to Josh’s house. He knocked on the door, and Josh opened it to see his multicoloured friend cradling his plastic, blue ukulele. It had been several days since the incident, but Tyler’s bruises and cuts looked just as fresh as the day he got them.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
“Of course,” Josh replied, pulling the door wider so Tyler could cross the threshold. He led Tyler to his room and sat down on his bed.
Tyler cleared his throat, adjusted his ukulele, and instead of talking, sang. “Well please don’t ask what’sa on my mind, I’m a little mixed up, but I’m feelin’ fine. When I’m near that boy that I love best, my heart beats so it scares me to death!”
“Tyler,” Josh sighed, but Tyler only put up a finger and continued.
“My tongue gets tied when I try to speak, I’m insides shake like a leaf on a tree. There’s only one cure for this body of mine, it’s to have that boy and a love so fine, oh he touches my hand, and what a chill I got, his lips are like a volcano that’s hot. I’m proud to say that he’s my buttercup...” Tyler trailed off and pointed the head of his ukulele towards Josh who sat dumbfounded. He rolled his eyes and pointed towards Josh again.
It finally clicked. With a small smile, Josh finally managed an offkey, ‘I’m in love, I’m all shook up,” and blew a raspberry as Tyler sat down on the bed next to him.
“You know I’m not mad at you, right?” Josh shrugged and picked at his comforter. “‘Cause I’m not. You left them. You don’t associate yourself with them. We said this relationship of ours was going to be dangerous from the beginning, right?”
Josh nodded. “Yeah.”
“Yeah. We did. And sometimes running into gangs and getting beat up is apart of that. Shit happens.”
“I’m still upset,” he whispered. “They beat the holy hell out of you-”
“Because they knew it would hurt you more. Trust me, I know. I’m just glad that you weren’t hurt as bad. Like I said. Shit happens.”
“Shit happens,” Josh repeated. Tyler slid his hand into Josh’s and held it tightly.
“We just have to be more careful from now on. No public loving.”
“No public loving.”
Tyler smiled, let go of Josh’s hand, and brought his ukulele into his lap. He handed it to Josh. “You leave for college tomorrow. I want you to have this.”
Josh blinked, his mouth falling open. “You... really?”
“I’ve had that thing since I was six years old. I grew up holding it and watching you toss a ball at the side of your house and climb trees while I just... sat there, willing myself to learn it. Then you came and talked to me, and for the first time, I played for someone else besides my family. And I haven’t put this thing down since. Every memory I have from this thing, it’s because of you. ‘Sides, it’s about time I get a new one.”
Josh ran his fingers over the scratched plastic in awe. “This is so nice of you.”
“You’ll think of me when you’re away, won’t you?”
“Of course I will. And I’ll call you every day.”
Tyler nodded in approval. “Good.”
“When I come back, I’ll kiss you hard. And one day, I’m gonna marry you.”
“You can’t marry me,” Tyler chuckled, shaking his head, “it’s illegal.”
“One day it’s not going to be. And when that day comes, we’re gonna run away and get married. I’ll even march up to the White House and say, ‘President Eisenhower, I’m gonna need you to legalize the marriage between a man and a man, so I can marry the love of my life.’”
“And just maybe, he’ll say yes.”
“Just maybe.” The two both smiled at each other, their eyes lighting up with love, despite the red and blue and purple that dotted their faces. They shared one last, passionate kiss that night before Tyler walked back across the street.
The next morning, they hugged long and hard.
“I’ll see you in three months,” Josh promised.
“Good,” Tyler nodded. He felt his dad’s hand on his shoulder, and let a few tears roll down his cheeks as he watched the Dun’s drive away. Tyler knew he was going to see Josh again, but it didn’t feel like it. It felt like he was losing Josh all over again.
Two weeks passed before Tyler received his first phone call from Josh. Tyler listened to Josh rave about university life and about all the cool, fun things he got to do. Josh talked about how much he missed him, and how he couldn’t wait to hug him again.
“I got a surprise for you,” Josh said towards the end of the call. Tyler’s brow furrowed in confusion, and he tucked the receiver between his ear and shoulder to adjust his stance.
“What’s that?” the minute the familiar shrill sound of his plastic, blue ukulele rang over the phone, Tyler felt himself tearing up all over again. Josh was singing their song, his voice so pure and rich like dark chocolate, and Tyler couldn’t help but let a big goofy grin spread across his face.
“I’m all shook up with you,” Josh announced proudly.
Tyler wiped tears out from under his eyes and stood up tall. Someday, he was going to marry that boy, he just knew it.
“I’m all shook up with you too.”