Nothing But Thieves {Fransykes}

14: Josh

Josh wakes up in his favourite place in the world- in Oliver's arms.

Perhaps that's cliché for him to think, but that's how he feels nonetheless. He yawns lazily, burying his face in the bare skin of Oli's neck and closing his eyes, trying to go back to sleep. Josh feels safe, warm, loved, and he doesn't want this moment to end. If he could live in this moment for the rest of his life, he probably would choose to.

"Mornin', love." Oliver says in his ear, his voice heavy with sleep. It appears that Josh's yawning and moving has woken him up.

"Mmph." Is Josh's only reply, though he is smiling blissfully at how lovely it feels to be here, in bed, holding his boyfriend close. Any worries that he was harboring about how Oliver might treat him after having sex again have dissipated, replaced by a strong sense of trust and happiness.

"You're cute." Oliver informs him, keeping one arm wrapped around Josh and using the other to toy with his hair absentmindedly. The simple, small gestures are a big part of what makes the moment so wonderful and enjoyable. Oli is being so kind and affectionate, and it has Josh practically swooning in his arms.

"So are you." Joshua mumbles into his neck, "My ass hurts." He adds, because it does. Not that he regrets any of what happened the night before, but it would be nice if he didn't have to feel that familiar ache.

"Sorry, sweetheart." Oliver says, then moves the hand that is in Josh's hair to his lower back to gently massage the muscles there.

Josh groans, his face still hidden in Oli's neck. "That's helping."

Oliver laughs, "Good, I just hope this isn't better than the sex."

When he hears that, Josh can't help but laugh along with him. "Don't worry, it's not that good." He says in reply, amused, "But it's definitely good." He can feel the pressure on his back loosening up his muscles, and alleviating the pain. He is immensely grateful to Oli for taking care of him, now and the previous night. He smiles, completely content.

"Glad I can help." Oliver replies, then pauses with uncertainty, "Do you regret last night? I know you regret our first time together and I just don't want-"

"Hey." Josh interrupts his rambling, lifting his face to meet his boyfriend's eyes. "I don't regret it. It was fun, and you didn't leave. I'm happy." He means what he is saying, he has no regrets about the previous night. He kisses Oliver gently, smiling against his lips. He can feel that Oli is smiling too, and it reassures Josh that he is happy too.

The moment is perfect, so of course it is interrupted by Josh's phone ringing with Elissa's ringtone, the sound of which is starting to get on his nerves. Josh sits up and groans loudly, cursing his sister under his breath for having the worst timing of anyone that he has ever known.

Josh answers the phone, "What?" He demands in a grumpy tone, annoyed to have been disturbed by her untimely call.

"Watch your attitude, you know I could kick your ass if I wanted to." Elissa reminds him threateningly, and she's right. She could definitely kick Josh's ass if she were so inclined, though luckily she doesn't seem to want to at the moment.

Josh sighs, willing himself to calm down and cut her some slack. "Sorry. What's going on?"

"Well, you'll be happy to know that your life is in danger." Though her words are teasing, Elissa's tone of voice is alarmingly serious. She rarely sounds serious, which is what indicates to Josh that she isn't messing around. She is telling the truth.

"What?"

"Look, Josh, I'm really sorry about this. Those people you robbed? They have connections. They put out a hit on whoever robbed them, lucky they don't know it's you. But honestly, you two need to stay under the radar for a while in case they figure out who you are. These people are bad news, and I don't want to lose my only brother. I'll keep you updated with whatever I find out, okay? Stay safe."

Elissa hangs up and Josh sinks back down into the bed, trembling uncontrollably and terrified beyond belief. Oliver's arms wrap around him, one hand brushing Josh's hair back from his face in a tender manner. "What's happening?"

So Josh relays the subject of his conversation with Elissa to Oliver, who listens silently. When Josh finishes speaking, he watches the expression on Oli's face. He can see the terror brimming beneath Oliver's calm demeanor, but he admirably keeps it under control.

"Okay. Okay, we're gonna figure this out." Oliver says calmly, only a slight tremor audible in his voice. "We're gonna be okay, I'm gonna call Jordan. He keeps safehouses, we'll lay low in one of them until all of this blows over. Sound good?"

Josh nods, grateful for Oli's clear head in times of crisis like this one. "Thank you, that's perfect." He replies, breathing a sigh of relief. He is terrified- as much as Josh has been through in his lifetime, this is by far the scariest thing that has ever happened to him. Thankfully, he is not going through this alone. It is relieving to him that he has Oliver by his side through all of this, and he shows that by wrapping his arms around Oli and holding him close.

"I'm going to keep you safe." Oliver says firmly, rubbing Joshua's back to comfort him, and succeeding. "I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you."

Josh realizes that he is crying, his tears dripping onto the exposed skin of Oli's neck. "This is the worst." He manages to choke out in between sobs, "We never should've gone back there." He just wishes that he could go back in time and stop himself from robbing the house, undo what is undoubtedly one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

"I know, love. I know why you would think that, but the truth is that we had no way of knowing that this would happen. It's not your fault and you haven't done anything wrong. We can't change the past, we can only control what we do going forward. I'm gonna call Jordan, then I'll pack a bag, then we can go to your place so you can too. We have to stick together, okay? We're safer together." Oliver's voice is still calm, controlled, and reasonable. Josh knows that the purpose of that is to reassure him, but it actually has him worried that Oli feels like it's his job to hold things together, to take care of Josh.

"Oliver." Josh pulls back from the hug and meets Oli's eyes. "It's not on you to be the only one to protect us. We do that together too, we work together on this. We both have to protect each other."

Josh sees the moment that Oliver's calm demeanor breaks, that his lower lip starts to tremble and his eyes fill with tears. Oli starts to cry, and it isn't long before the two of them are holding each other and crying together.

But Josh truly believes that this is how they will get through this; that the only way forward is to be together. They just need to survive.

~

hi everyone!

feel free to give feedback on this chapter and previous ones if you wanna! I'm always open to constructive criticism as long as you're not a dick about it

survive, and remember to create and destroy as you see fit

-Samira