Chapter Text
The house stood its ground in the afternoon air, staring strongly back at the 23-year-old. He had to admit, he was a little intimidated by the large size. The young couple really didn't need a five-bedroom Victorian-style home but it was the cheapest place they could find. They did a walkthrough before signing the papers and the house seemed like it was in good condition. Tyler was sure there was a catch, but, whatever got them away from their old apartment.
It was surreal to own a house. Well, they were still making payments but this was their first legit house together! At that moment Tyler was convinced he officially had become an adult. An adult with a house.
Tyler was standing with his chin tilted up. He was eyeing the third-story windows atop. A smile formed as he decided he loved the place. He wasn't much of a sucker for older houses, but the style and the amount of little details around the windows and the carvings in the woodwork of the porch made him feel like he was someone in an important movie.
The neighborhood was filled with other old and historical homes. You could walk down the block and be just mesmerized. Tyler and Josh's was back slightly further than the rest, giving the impression that it might have been one of the first to be built there. The front was surrounded by trees, but not too many that you couldn't see the house. There was a short stone fence that had moss growing on it around the property. The garage was detached but they were told the garage door didn't work right so they were parked outside.
A hand snaked around Tyler's waist and a pair of lips kissed his cheek. He could feel the stubble on Josh's face. The man needed to shave before it became a full beard. "I know it's a lot to take in but I can't do everything myself, Tyler."
The mentioned forced his eyes away. "Right," He nodded and fumbled with the keys. "Sorry, which one was it again?"
"Ones just a spare, Ty. You can take one off the chain for yourself." Josh took a step or two back towards the opened backseat and picked up his phone. He had set on it top of one of the boxes so he could give over the keys that were in his pocket. He quickly swiped open his phone and aimed the camera at his lover as he inspected the silverish-gold keys. "Ty, smile."
The mentioned looked up in confusion. Josh snapped a photo and laughed. "You're so adorable."
Tyler hurried over. "What? Josh, I wasn't even ready." He tipped the screen so he could see past the glare and eyed the picture. "God, I look terrible."
"You don't! How do you? You are literally just standing there."
"Delete it."
"That's not happening." Josh began pressing things on the screen. "I'm gonna put it as my lock screen."
"Josh!" He whined.
He clicked the power button off and then on again. He rotated his wrist to show Tyler. "It's too late."
"Oh my God."
"You know you love it."
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes. "Can we go in?"
"Yeah, whatever." He copied his boyfriend, receiving a kick in the shin.
Tyler took the worn-out path and Josh followed. They climbed up to the covered porch and Tyler suddenly couldn't wait to sit out there and watch the next rainstorm.
The key was stuck in and twisted it around. With a push, the door swung open with a squeal.
"Oof, remind me to buy some WD-40," Josh said behind him as he closed the door with his foot.
"Will do," Tyler responded but he definitely wouldn't remember to tell him later. He was caught up in the details of the place. With his head up, he spun in a half-circle as he eyed the staircase and how it rounded at the top.
Josh squeezed passed the younger and set the box on the first step. He leaned against the banister and knocked on the solid wood. "This baby is in pristine condition."
"I don't know about pristine..." The younger now had his head down at the floorboards as he took large steps around the room with his hands in his coat pockets. The floor was a bit scratched up and the wood creaked with every other step.
"So it's not perfect. Who cares?"
"I don't know." He stopped doing the half lunges and stood still. "I still think there's a catch."
"We can get another inspector to come look at the place if you really want." Josh started tracing the woodwork in the railing. "I think we just got a good deal."
"There's probably mold hidden and the pipes will burst after we get settled."
Josh came closer to Tyler. "Wouldn't you think an inspector would find that?"
"Someone probably got murdered here or something." He mumbled, looking around with his eyes.
"If someone was murdered here I think we would know by now. It would've been on the news and plus I'm sure the realtor would legally have to tell us that."
"Legally?" Tyler questioned.
Josh slugged his arms around Tyler's waist again and leaned against his shoulder like a tired puppy. "Come on, just enjoy the new house. There's no more living in that crappy appartment."
Tyler smiled, wrapping arms around Josh. "Guess you're right."
"I'm always right." He teased.
Tyler hummed and tilted his head. "Are you sure about that?"
Josh rolled his eyes and stood up straight again so he was the same height as the younger. "I'm six months older. It makes me wiser."
"Or just older."
"Just help bring in the boxes, brat."
Tyler found himself sitting on the kitchen floor an hour later, surrounded by boxes as Josh was off doing God knows what. The brunet had watched him walk in and out of the house and grab the last few things from their car and bring them to their new room. He wasn't entirely sure where he was at that moment though. Tyler had a small war with himself about whether or not he had last seen his boyfriend go outside to the darkening sky or carry something upstairs.
The brunet sighed as he unwrapped another plate and tossed the bubble wrap aside. The plate clinked in the quiet room when he set it on top of the others. He used the kitchen island behind him to help himself up before bending down to set the stack of ceramic plates on the counter.
Tyler cracked his back and stretched his neck out. He was all for getting a new place but the actual moving in part was a bit of an annoyance. He ran a hand down his tired face. He blinked at the stack of cups, plates, bowls, and silverware in front of him, dreading having to figure out where to put everything in the cabinets.
The sound of the front door opening and closing made Tyler turn. He watched Josh come in and walk into the kitchen that was right off the entryway.
Tyler crossed his arms and leaned against the early 2000s kitchen island. The whole house was practically untouched since it was built in the 1800s, with the exception of a few minor things needing to be replaced around the house, plus the whole new-ish kitchen. The counters were a white-gray marble and the cabinets were a cherry oak color.
"There you are. I was wondering where you went. How long were you out there?" Josh didn't say anything as he set his phone on the filled-up counter, looking as tired as Tyler was. The younger rubbed the older's arm. "Aren't you cold? You should have worn a jacket. It's practically fall outside."
He shrugged. "I'm fine. I wasn't out there longer than 10 minutes, I don't think."
"What were you doing?"
Josh sighed. "I was talking to the moving guys."
Tyler slid his hand down his arm to be in between Josh's cold fingers. "You did?"
"Yeah." He frowned. "And apparently they aren't gonna be here until Thursday afternoon."
"Thursday?" He stood straight. "What happened to tomorrow morning?"
"Something about one of their other jobs taking longer than expected." He leaned his left hip and left elbow against the counter, right hand still interwoven with Tyler's. "I can handle not having a TV and all that. I just wish we had some chairs."
"Oh yeah, I was just thinking that." He went back to his original position where he was leaning on the island but he wasn't sideways like Josh was. "We've got an air mattress at least."
"I should probably start filling that up if we want to sleep on it tonight."
"Don't pop it like you did in college."
"Ha ha." He forced, getting close to his face as he stood up straight.
"I'm serious though, I don't want to sleep on the hard floor."
"To be clear," Josh unconnected their hands to point a finger in his face. "You are the one that broke our bed which then, in turn, caused us to buy an air mattress."
"Oh my god, this again?" He rolled his eyes but there was a smile on his face. "I did not break it! You literally picked me up and threw me on it!"
"But your body caused the boards to snap in half!"
"That bed was so old, I did us a favor!"
"Oh, a favor where we had to buy the dorm a $200 bed?"
"Took a while to come up with that money."
Josh shoved Tyler in the arm and he stumbled back only to catch himself. "Hey, we survived, didn't we?"
"Got a master's degree for a job I don't want. Woo!"
"You are a legal therapist. Didn't you want to be that?"
"Never said I wanted to work."
"I've got news for you, buddy, you need that job to pay our bills. You'll make better than me. I'm stuck working at Guitar Center. At least you get an office."
"You'll find another job, Josh. Soon you'll be teaching away at some elementary school."
"God, I'm gonna be stuck with a bunch of kids every day."
"Shut up, I have to work with adults. Kids are hilarious. Plus they are cute."
"I get it, you want kids someday."
"So do you."
"True." Josh got close to him. "Wanna practice making some now?"
Tyler laughed. "I don't think my uterus works anymore."
"We can find out."
"I would have been pregnant by now."
"Come on, Ty, just go with the gimmick."
"Gimmick's over." He put a hand to his stomach. "I'm hungry. When are you making some food?"
"We barely have any food here. Unless you want a milk and string cheese sandwich?"
His face grimaced. "Milk on a sandwich?"
"We only have milk and cheese. I'm not making something from that. Besides, if we did have enough food, I still wouldn't cook something." He slid a hand up his boyfriend's arm. "I just wanna lay down and relax with you."
"We don't have furniture." Tyler reminded.
Josh groaned. "Why didn't we bring a couch with us."
"No way it would fit in your car." He turned to search for his phone. He found it on the floor, bending down to pick it up. "I'm ordering us a pizza. You just go upstairs and make the space somewhat livable."
"Fine. Get a cheese pizza."
"Yeah, I know you." Tyler waved him away. He mumbled, "I feel like having sausage though."
"No way I am letting you infect my pizza with-"
"Calm your ass. I'll get a separate one."
"Good." He nodded in satisfaction.
Once Josh was out of the room, Tyler dialed the number to the closest pizza place. He paced back and forth as he placed an order. He struggled with the new address for a moment but successfully ordered the food.
"Great, now back to this mess..." He said to the empty room.
The brunet was on his tippy toes putting the glass cups in the cabinet when he suddenly felt like someone was watching him. He assumed Josh had come into the room with him and he had turned around multiple times just to see no one.
He swore he wasn't alone. He ignored the feeling for as long as he could before it got too much. Goosebumps shot through his body and he paused for a moment. He was drawn to look towards the entryway for reasons unknown to him. Not taking his eyes away, he slowly pushed the cup safely into the cupboard with his fingertips. The soles of his socked feet went back down to his normal height and he tapped off the soft music that was playing on his phone speakers.
"Josh?" He stared at the entrance of the house from the kitchen. When no one answered he walked over to the stairs, searching for someone. "Josh?" He called louder.
Footsteps from above came a few seconds later and Josh's head poked over the railing. "Did you say my name?"
"Yeah," Tyler blinked. He was still upstairs. "Were you down here?"
"No. Why?"
"Oh..." He stared at the French doors that were on the left as you walked in the front entryway.
"Is everything okay?"
"Um," He ran a hand through his hair and tilted his chin back up to Josh. "Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah, it is okay down here. I'm just about done. How's it up there? Are you almost done?"
"Kinda. You wanna see it?"
"In a couple minutes." He used his thumb to point to the room he was just in. "Gotta finish a few things quick."
"Alright." Josh disappeared but kept talking. His voice was a little muffled. "See you in a few minutes!"
"Yeah..." Instead of going to finish the unpacking he had to do, he slowly stepped over towards the two French doors that led into the office. Fingers pushed open one of the glass doors. The hinges screamed as Tyler entered the pink-tinted room. The walls were actually a patterned tan and brown wallpaper but the sunset through the window was bright and beautiful, making the tan appear pink.
Tyler froze two steps in and glanced behind him. He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to be in the room alone. When he and Josh first checked the house out, he had mixed feelings about the room. While Josh, on the other hand, thought it was cool to have a little bit of a time capsule.
He took a deep breath, told himself he was crazy to be nervous, and rotated the switch on the old-time lamp connected to the wall. The office filled with old furniture that could probably go for thousands at an auction became more of an orange from the yellow glow of the glass lantern combined with the pink tint.
Tyler slowly approached the wooden desk and pulled open one of its drawers. He didn't find much other than empty drawers but the last one he opened had a key. He lifted an eyebrow and rotated the rusted key in his hands, wondering what it was for. He hummed, stood up from his squatting position, and shut the drawer closed with his foot.
His eyes caught a dusty bookshelf. Putting the key into his pocket, thinking he could find a lock around the house at some point, he then ran his finger across the spines of the books as he read the titles. They were all books he never heard of. He chose a random one off the shelf.
"Witchcraft..?" He mumbled out as he traced a star that was on the cover with his finger. The spine creaked as he peeled it open and began to scan the first yellow page.
Then a hand touched his shoulder.
Tyler screamed and the book crashed to the floor. He turned around and defensively backed away, hitting the bookcase. "God!" He made eye contact with his lover. "Josh! Jesus- fuck, you scared me!" He had a hand over his chest.
"I'm sorry." Josh apologized, coming closer to hold Tyler's arms to comfort him. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to."
"I'm fine." He breathed, calming down. "I just wasn't expecting you to be down here."
"Well, I was just looking for you. You weren't in the kitchen. What are you doing in here?"
"I was just..." He gestured to the fallen book. "I don't know, just curious on what's all in here."
"Oh," Josh bent down and grabbed the book. He gave it back to Tyler. "Any good?"
His fragile fingers took the object back. "Not really." He played with the now broken corner. "Just seems like some stupid fiction book."
He hummed. "Well, I'm done upstairs. That could be interesting to you."
He smiled. "Yeah. I wanna see."
After Tyler put the book away, they traveled upstairs and took a left down the hall. Josh opened the door to the master bedroom and made a motion to say welcome. Tyler walked in to see a mattress blown up and neatly made blankets lying on top.
"Oh, wow. It looks cozy already." The younger observed and wrapped his fingers in Josh's. "What? You put together the shelf already?"
"Yeah." Josh pulled his boyfriend over to the white shelf. "It's sturdy and everything!"
"Oh wow," Tyler knocked on the white wood with his free hand. "Gotta say, it is nice having a manly boyfriend."
"You think I'm manly?" Josh puffed his chest out. "I am, aren't I?"
"Just a little." He teased.
"I'll take it."
Josh cupped the side of Tyler's face. They both fluttered their eyes closed as Josh leaned in. As they kissed softly, Tyler let go of their intertwined fingers and slid a hand gently up Josh's arm. Goosebumps emerged on his skin.
The kiss lasted a few extra seconds before the sound of the doorbell going off caused them to pull away.
"Pizza?"
"Probably." He answered Josh with a shrug. "I mean, who else would it be?"
"Friendly neighbor with some cookies?"
"Doubt it." He laughed. "Just go answer the door."
"Why me?"
"I ordered it," Tyler snuck past Josh and headed towards the air mattress. "And bring it up here."
"Fine. How much was it?" Josh began taking out his wallet.
"I left a ten dollar bill on the counter. The total was $23.57 so you figure out the rest."
Josh nodded as he stood there, shuffling through his money until he got the right amount.
"You better get the door before they leave."
He pivoted on his heel and ran for the door. "I'm going, I'm going!"
Tyler chuckled as he sat down on the low air mattress. "Shit!" He hissed as the key in his pocket dug into his skin. He straightened his left leg and pulled out the object, turning it to get a good look at it. "Forgot about that." He whispered to himself.
He sighed as he lifted his head. He pushed himself up, deciding to just leave the metal object on the white shelf until he knew what else to do with it. He headed back to the bed to lay down. It wasn't the comfiest bed in the world but he wasn't going to complain about it. As long as he had Josh anything could make him happy.