Start song; nothings gonna hurt you baby by cigarettes after sex

sorry this is late, and if y'all disagree with any of the things Josh says in this chapter lemme know.

The whole atmosphere changed when he strolled back into Mr.Dun's office with his bag in tow, clinging to his back. It didn't turn sour, it was just different and not in a bad way. He just didn't fully understand what any of this meant, he wasn't sure what Mr.Dun actually wanted out of this and he had no idea how this was supposed to work; or if it would work for that matter.

Because it was illegal, even without the romantic side of their relationship, their relationship would still be enough to send Mr.Dun to jail with enough viable evidence. He'd need to look it up though, because he wasn't completely sure what boundaries he'd be able to cross with Mr.Dun before it was too far and they'd actually get in trouble. So far all was innocent.

And so far Tyler had many, many questions. He was curious about who Josh had been dating prior to whatever this was. He was also maybe just slightly jealous because they weren't technically dating. This was something completely different, Tyler couldn't find the right label for what they were to each-other. He still saw the relationship as teacher-student and he intended to shift it to something more fond. But one thing was for sure, they weren't dating and the romantic attraction that Tyler felt for him when he wasn't in little space was definitely not reciprocated. As far as he knew anyways. Josh just wanted someone to take care of.

Tyler had no idea what to make of any of this. It had all happened so quickly his mind had completely struggled to wrap around the concept. And as he sat down on that familiar squishy blue arm chair he'd spent an hour crying on, he realized; he had absolutely no idea how to act around him right now. He felt awkward just sitting there, Mr.Dun flipping through pages in a binder at his desk.

Tyler wasn't completely regressed but he wasn't completely big either and he wasn't on the verge of a panic attack. Instead he had settled at a weird in between stage which left him thinking of his every move. They'd declared something only 15 minutes ago and Tyler had no idea how to treat him.

If he wanted to be his caregiver, would he still need to call him mr.Dun? Did he want him to call him daddy? Because that definitely wasn't going to happen, especially not right now and not so soon. Did he call him Josh? Did he call him sir?

Mr.Dun had been right when he said there was a lot to be discussed. The nature of their relationship was too weird and confusing to just let it be and see what happens. There was too much thinking involved, too many little details to consider. Maybe this was a bad idea, maybe he shouldn't have let this happen.

This wasn't thought through and there was nothing simple about it, at all. Tyler had no idea where to start, he felt like Mr.Dun was a completely different person now. Except he wasn't. He was the same guy, who apparently, had multiple experiences in dating littles and taking care of them which should've been reassuring but if anything scared him more. He wanted to be the perfect little if Josh was going to be taking care of him.

And with the experience of having been in multiple relationships before hand, Mr.Dun seemed to realize that something was wrong because it was clear that Tyler had become much too caught up in his thoughts. "You're thinking awfully hard over there." He said.

A small apologetic smile tugged at Tyler's lips, drawing him away from the dozens of invasive thoughts he couldn't keep at bay. "Sorry, I just- I have a lot on my mind."

Mr.Dun frowned, pushing away some papers to the side of his desk. "Sorry." He looked at him and Tyler went red down to his neck.

"It was just sudden." He said quietly, Tyler could barely look at him. "I've been thinking about it for a while anyways. It's just weird."

He sighed in thought, giving Tyler an apologetic look. It was obvious in his eyes and Tyler had never realized how expressive he really was. "I'm sorry, honestly. I probably should've waited longer." He said.

How was he supposed to respond, he honestly didn't know. Did Josh only want him when he was in little space? Should he actually be here right now? He didn't ponder it much longer before choking out something of an answer. "It's-erm, okay. It's just a lot happening at once."

Mr.Dun smiled fondly, pulling a leg up to rest his chin on. He was still young and Tyler sometimes forgot that he wasn't more than 6 years older then him. Yet, mentally he was more mature than Tyler would ever be and it was obvious too. Even the way he carried himself made him look older, more intimidating although he didn't actually look it. "I'll work on being better, timing myself appropriately."

"I didn't even think you thought of me like that." Tyler said quietly, unable to stop from embarrassing himself further. "Or thought of me at all." He didn't mean to be pushy but he needed the comfort and the answers to his questions would provide that. "Did you just decide today that you liked me for some inexplicable reason?"

He blinked. "No, I've liked you for a while."

"In what way?" He asked, hopeful. Mr.Dun didn't look uncomfortable but more so unsure of what to say. Tyler just wanted a straight answer but apparently he wouldn't get one and was only slightly disappointed when his teacher spoke once more.

"In the best way." Mr.Dun smiled wide, clearly happy.

Tyler wanted to come clean about his crush on him, see if he could encourage Mr.Dun to do the same, he wanted to so badly but he didn't want to deal with rejection. Because what if he liked him but more in a overprotective platonic way. Tyler was finally getting the chance to have some type of relationship that was different from the ones he had with Ashley, Dallon and Brendon. He wasn't going to let it go to waste.

"Do you want me to keep calling you sir?" He asked.

"You can call me whatever youre comfortable with."

"Well I don't know what i'm comfortable with or what you like." He said, frowning. "Can I call you Josh?" The name feeling weird on his tongue. But he liked it, it felt more intimate, personal. Mr.Dun was more then just his teacher now and by being able to use his surname Tyler could be sure of it.

He stared at him for a moment, Mr.Dun blinked.  "Yeah, of course." And then he scooted forward with his chair, resting a hand in his hair. "Honestly call me whatever you'd like." He said with a fond smile.

Tyler couldn't deny that his stomach felt odd,  he just felt warm and so infatuated with the man sitting in front of him. "Okay." He said quietly.

"What about you?" His eyebrow raised, curious, wanting.

Tyler widened his eyes, stuttering. "Me?"

"Yes, when we're alone."

Tyler could feel his blush rise up to his ears, they were going to be alone together, this all felt very intimate. Very personal and he didn't know how to respond because truthfully he had no idea what he liked. He didn't know very much about his preferences when he was small, he couldn't exactly remember. "Can you pick?"

"We'll figure it out." He shrugged calmly, rolling his shoulders back before frowning slightly in thought. Tyler stared at him in concern until he met his gaze inquisitively. "Just to be clear........" He started, finger on his lip. "And I don't mean to assume anything because i'm pretty sure this isn't what's going on but just out of curiosity,,,, you aren't age playing are you?"

Tyler had no idea what that was, he stuttered as he spoke no matter how much he hated it. "Wh- No? I don't even know what that is."

Mr.Dun seemed relieved and huffed out a breath. "It's kind of difficult to explain." He frowned once more. "Well not difficult, there's just a lot to be said."

Tyler couldn't help but roll his eyes, he wasn't a child and he didn't need to be treated like one, not at the moment anyways. "Try." He said.

Mr.Dun looked at him. "Tyler."

Tyler pouted stubbornly. "C'mon please, if you don't tell me now i'll just go home and google it."

Mr.Dun looked at him in thought, before sighing deeply. "Yeah, fine, okay. I guess it might be important to educate you about this."

Tyler smiled, he had won and by the look on Josh's face, he knew it too. "You are my teacher. It's your job to educate me."

"While that's true, I definitely wouldn't have this conversation with anyone else." He said easily, Tyler was happy that he was the only one. He knew that he didn't share well with others.

"So you know how you age regress? It's just something that happens right?"

Tyler nodded.

Mr.Dun smiled and got comfortable in his chair. "Right. And age regression is generally not a choice but it can be, a lot of people enjoy it and push themselves into that type of headspace willingly because it helps them. Then there are those who just end up regressing naturally, they don't always realize when it's happening. It can be the minds way of protecting them or eliminating stress. They aren't always able to control the type behaviour that comes with it."

"And it's also important to realize that everyone can regress, just maybe not to the extent that you can."

"Do you agree with that?" He asked.

Tyler was quick to nod, it all made sense to him. There was no way he could disagree with a word of it, personally, it struck a cord within him. He couldn't control his regression most of the time, anyone talking down to him immediately made him reel in and age down. Josh seemed to understand this perfectly and Tyler could feel his heart flourish in his chest at the understanding.

"Have you ever, uh-regressed?" Tyler asked carefully, he wasn't sure what was and what wasn't okay to ask.

Surprisingly, Josh shrugged. "Yeah, it happens every once and a while. I'll tell you about that another time though."

"Okay." Tyler huffed out quietly. "So what's age play?" He asked, curling his feet up onto the chair and underneath his thighs. It was an attempt to feel smaller even if he was barely aware he had done it.

"I'm getting there." He smiled.

"Taking your time with it."

Mr.Dun's arms crossed overtop his chest. "I'm explaining, would you like me to stop?"

"No, continue." Tyler grumbled.

Mr.Dun said nothing.

Tyler shyly said. "please."

"Are you always like this?" Mr.Dun looked amused.

Tyler snorted. "Like what?"

"Bratty." Josh said bluntly. Tyler froze, mouth opening in surprise, his cheeks burned red. Josh shrugged once more before he smiled. "Right, I thought as much."

Tyler hadn't even realized he'd been doing anything.

Josh continued. "So next we have age play, which is exactly what it sounds like, roleplaying an age that isn't your own. It's usually sexual in nature and associated with ddlg."

"Do you know what that is?" Mr.Dun asked, eyes piercing Tyler's.

Tyler flushed slightly, he shifted, he had a faint idea and he looked away in slight embarrassment. He'd spent a lot of time researching his age regression when he'd realized that that's what was going on with him. It had helped him a lot, he'd discovered that his age regression was much more then feeling like a little kid, he wanted to do kid things too.

He'd stumbled across a lot of things and ddlb was one of those things, he knew something about the community and he'd never admit that he'd desperately wanted a relationship like that.

"It's okay if you do."

"I've heard of it." Tyler said casually, holding his hands in his lap, thumb stroking his wrist. "D-daddy dom, little girl/boy?" Tyler shifted in his seat. "I stumbled across it when I was doing research."

Mr.Dun nodded, he understood, Tyler could tell he knew what he was talking about. "It's not surprising honestly, it's commonly linked with age play and regression. All the tumblr-centric communities kind of mesh together and that's why it's hard to explain where the line is between each. Because you'll have a girl who age regresses but will also want to call her caregiver daddy in bed or you'll have an age player who both regresses and age plays. Then there are those whose whole lifestyle is based around ddlg, there's a lot of variables."

"Is this even appropriate to talk about?"

"Are you uncomfortable?"

"No." Tyler whispered.

Josh grinned. "Now, back to the point of this whole speech i'm giving you." Tyler scratched at his scalp. "Age regression and Age play are two completely different things, one is completely non-sexual and the other is a big muddled mess of consenting adults who act as children in sexual situations."

"And you thought i-"

Josh interrupted him, eyeing him thoughtfully. "I'm not done, age play doesn't need to be sexual. Some people who take part in it can't regress so they pretend because it's relaxing or helps detain stress. It's just more commonly a kink."

"Oh." Tyler choked out.

"Yeah, oh. Then we have the whole little space community and ddlg and mdlg."

"Mdlg?" He asked.

"Mommy dom, it's not just men you know."

Tyler groaned, tilting his head back. "This is not a conversation I thought i'd ever have, especially at school."

"It's not?" Josh was laughing, rolling his chair away from his desk. "I was under the impression that this was normal."

"What I said does make sense right?" He smiled, why was he always smiling?

"I'm not age playing." Tyler said. "That might be easier though."

"A lot of people struggle with the same thing as you seem to, age regression is a very vulnerable thing."

"No shit." Tyler muttered, playing with the material of his jeans. He didn't want to look at Josh.

"Don't swear okay?"

"No?" Tyler asked, cautiously looking at him no matter how much he didn't want to. He looked far from mad, he looked sincere somehow.

He shook his head. "Consider it our first rule."

"Rules? We're going to have those?" Tyler asked surprised.

Mr.Dun chuckled. "Oh, yeah. I think we're going to need them." Tyler furrowed his eyebrows, he'd always wanted rules. But Josh thought he actually needed them. "Like I was saying, age regression can mesh with other things and you seem to consider it your little space. Age regression doesn't necessarily mean you're a little. But you are little aren't you?"

"Y-yes."

"You're interested in me taking care of you." It wasn't a question. He approached him carefully, standing closer than before. "So do you want me to set rules for you Tyler?"

"Do you think it'll help ground you? Help me take care of you when i'm not always around?"

Tyler did think that it would help, it would be safe to have something to fall back on. Have rules set by someone other then his parents or the school. He nodded shyly.

"Exactly, so that's why we're going to have rules for when you're big and little." He said.

"For both?" Tyler asked incredulously.

"Yeah, unless you don't want to do this anymore." Mr.Dun shrugged. "Its important to not draw a line between little you and big you, you're still one person and i'm going to care for both of you. Different rules for both though."

Tyler smiled at him, in awe. "How do you know exactly how to do this?"

A small smile grazed his lips as he stood up from his desk and stretched his arms above his head. "I've experienced a lot of stuff at this point. I know how to do relationships." He said, waltzing over to sit beside Tyler.

Tyler's stomach seemed to twist.

"And im just another one of them?" He stuttered out without meaning to, he felt as though he lacked control and there was nothing he could do about it. Especially keep his voice smooth, that seemed nearby impossible at this stage.

"Tyler, don't think of it like that. I meant that I know how to build trust and safety in the type of relationship we're developing." He corrected.

"Oh." He said quietly.

He felt beyond small in his presence and he couldn't stop staring at him. Mr.Dun demanded attention without asking for it and he hated that he was so keen to give it to him. His inner self didn't like how vulnerable he was being, he could feel the internal struggle as he slowly floated in and out of little space.

"And what kind of relationship is that?" Tyler asked as Mr.Dun day down beside him as he had done earlier.

"Well, caregiver and little. Dom and sub?"

"Isn't that bdsm?" Tyler asked, flushing all the way up to his ears.

"I'm really glad we're talking about this." He groaned, but there was no annoyance behind the sound, it sounded more endearing then anything. "Inherently it's BDSM, the dynamic of a caregiver and a little is dom and sub, but you don't need to think of it like that."

"My friends usually take care of me when i'm feeling small, does that mean they've been domming me then?"

"It's possible that they do and you just don't realize it." Mr.Dun shrugged beside him, Tyler could tell his eyes has piqued into curiosity now. He was giving him this look that Tyler was barely able to meet, it was hard not to be slightly intimidated. "Do you think they do though?"

"Maybe."

"Do they give you incentives? things to do with a reward at the end? Do they take charge of your well being when you're little? Help you? Keep you out of trouble? Have a level of authority over you? Punishments? It's all about the power play, trust, respect, that type of stuff."

"Oh." Tyler said, letting out a deep breath. His face was red from the truth of it all. Mr.Dun was right, his friends were always domming him when he was in little space and he hadn't been aware of it. He'd had a time out once after throwing a bunch of crayons at Dallon because it was getting late and he always has a set bed time at his friends house.

"Oh no or oh yes?"

"The second one." He said tightly, burying his face in his hands. It felt embarrassing, more then it should.

Mr.Dun's voice was soft. "Are you okay?"

Tyler didn't answer for a moment, he didn't know what to say. He felt vulnerable knowing that he'd been letting his friends dom him, it felt more real with Josh explaining the dynamic to him.

Weakly, he sighed, willing to keep the tears in his eyes. He mumbled into his hands, pulling his legs up to his chest. "Uh-huh."

"Can I touch you?" Mr.Dun asked.

Yes. Tyler nodded into his hands, not trusting his voice.

Even though he knew it was coming, he still shuddered out a soft nervous breath when he heard the chair Josh was sitting on groan and felt a warm masculine hand rest at his wrist. His teacher softly pulled his hands away. "Okay?"

He watched with wet eyes as his hands were brought to rest on their backs, Mr.Dun touched him delicately. He intertwined their fingers together, squeezing just slightly. It was reassuring and Tyler didn't dare look away from them.

"You're doing great little one, im so proud of you okay? You have nothing to be ashamed of." Josh murmured, Tyler knew he was looking straight at him but he still couldn't meet his eyes without wanting to look away. He nodded as Josh spoke, he blushed.

"Can I have a hug?" Tyler asked quietly, glancing up from their hands.

Josh nodded. "C'mere Ty." He stood up, pulling Tyler up with him. Tyler followed, weakly pushing his knees away from his stomach and back onto the floor. His stomach fluttered and he didn't have to time to say a word before Josh dragged him into a warm hug.

He smelt like his office, like pine and cologne and Tyler resisted the urge to properly breathe him in because that in itself would be embarrassing. There was no way around that. Josh's hands stroked at his back, his hair, he held him solidly and Tyler had never felt so safe. He gave really nice hugs and he'd never admit it but he gave better hugs then even Ashley.

Suddenly, the bell wrung, Josh jumped with surprise but made no attempt to move, Tyler's stomach sunk and he hugged Josh harder, burying his face against his chest. He didn't want to leave. He still had two classes left and he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to concentrate in either.

"Are you going to be okay?" Josh whispered quietly, stroking his hair.

Tyler pulled away, leaving Josh's grasp. "Yeah, i'll be fine for my next class." His eyes were still wet from unshed tears, he wiped at them with the palms of his hands before looking at Mr.Dun.

Josh was just staring at him and Tyler watched as he made a quick decision, he looked at the door to his office and then at Tyler. "Nonsense, you can stay here. I'll validate your abscence."

Tyler shook his head quickly, guilt quickly invading his thoughts. "Oh, sir you really don't have to. I'm okay."

"Stay, please. The day's almost over." Josh said, moving to his desk and opening a drawer.

"But-"

Mr.Dun didn't give him the chance to speak. "I have my laptop, you can watch some movies. I can set you up on netflix." Tyler watched as he pulled out a macbook out of a drawer of his desk, his heart sped up. Mr.Dun really trusted him. "Just relax for the rest of the day buddy, you have a big game tonight. I just put you through a whole conversation you probably didn't want to have and now you deserve some time to be little."

"I cant just skip class." He frowned but sat back down anyways, he hadn't missed much school so far but he didn't want to start making a habit of not showing up to class.

Josh grinned. "It's either you stay here or I send you home sick."

"Here." Tyler answered instantly, curling up on the arm chair.

Mr.Dun nodded and sat beside him, scooting his own arm chair closer to Tyler's. Tyler rested his chin on the palm of his hands as he watched Josh unlock his laptop, the sounds of students rushing by in the halls made him nervous.

The wallpaper set on his laptop was of a dog, Tyler's eyes twinkled. "Is that jim?" He whispered quietly.

Josh smiled at him. "Yeah."

Tyler nodded happily and let himself be pulled into little space as Josh logged into netflix. He shut his eyes tightly when Josh started typing in his password.

"Cute." Josh said under his breath, Tyler opened his eyes then, cheeks gone pink once more. Instead of just clicking on his own Netflix profile, Josh went to go make a second one along with his own. He named it Ty and waited for the page to load before delicately placing the laptop on Tyler's lap.

Tyler gaped for a moment before promptly shutting his mouth.

Josh stood up, heading to his desk and gathering his things. Presumably for his next class. Tyler didn't want him to leave. "Watch whatever you like, nothing violent or scary okay?"

Tyler nodded, still flushed.

"And if anyone comes in, tell them you're waiting for you mom to come pick you up because you don't feel well."

"Mkay." Tyler said.

Mr.Dun ruffled his hair and went for the door. "If you need anything text me."

"I don't have your number." Tyler frowned.

Mr.Dun stopped and turned around with a small smile. "Right." Tyler watched him fumble around his desk and grab a pen and sticky note. He scribbled down what Tyler presumed was his number and stuck it on the chair beside him.

Tyler stared at it before looking up at him.

"I'll see you at tonight's game, you're going to do great."

Tyler's heart sped up. "Bye-Bye."

Josh faltered before he left, pausing at the doorway again. He smiled. "Bye." And then he was gone amidst the hoard of students outside his office.

The sticky note fell off of where it had been stuck, Tyler leaned down and grabbed it, smiling wide at the little drawing of a bee messily drawn underneath the numbers.

*

Author's note;

I did say that the next chapter would be a continuation to the last one and i'm very sorry it's late.

chapter 20, is going to be the basketball game. things will happen