Sidemen Shots

Fantastical

Nobody is helping him look for Josh. Why is nobody helping him? Harry feels like he can't breathe - he needs Josh. Where is Josh?

Everyone is watching him, staring at him like he's some exotic bird in a zoo, their eyes glazed over and faces blank. All he receives when he asks them directly is lazily shrugged shoulders, minute shakes of the head, and unhelpful mutterings of, "I dunno."

It angers him, somewhat, that they're all being so blasé about Harry's issue. They make him feel sick, observing him run around this hired space like a headless chicken, his face an ugly coral colour in its flushed frustration.

"Where is Josh?" Harry huffs out - for the millionth time, his angriest and most impatient yet - at poor, unsuspecting Will Lenney. Will has been here barely half an hour, having walked in late with a couple of his mates not close with the Sidemen. At least ten minutes of him being here involved him encouraging them to come inside properly. Of course Will has no idea what's going on, nor would he know where Josh is when said man disappeared over an hour ago.

"I-I have no idea, mate, sorry." Will apologises, only for Harry to physically bat it away with his hand and rush off without so much as a polite greeting or warranted explanation.

Harry feels crazed, and he hates feeling like this. What makes it worse, is the idea of how his current behaviour will reflect on both him and his relationship with Josh. He can see it now, the next time Josh meets up with someone from this 'party slash large get-together', being told he deserves better than Harry and ought to break up with him. They'll say things like, 'He's too unpredictable for you.' Or, 'He's too obsessive, it's not natural,' followed by, 'Is he your boyfriend or your child?'  That will always be the hardest blow, far too many times has Harry caught people saying things to Josh along the lines of, 'You shouldn't have to parent him the way you do.'

Both he and Josh are beyond exhausted of such remarks, have told people time and time again in their several years together to stop commenting if they have nothing nice to say. People never listen, instead feeling the heroic urge to save Josh before it becomes too late to do so.

Harry's fed up of it. He's also fairly certain that desire to protect Josh is what's keeping the others from telling him where the older man has gone off to. There is no way that not even one of the sixty-odd people here saw him make his exit from the room.

There's a sudden cough behind him, blatant and pointed, followed by a meek, "U-um, Harry," that sounds too questioning to be classified as confident. It's the first time someone has addressed him properly since he began his hunt for his partner, so despite his incessant need to find the other right this instant, he pauses and turns to face the person who spoke. (Decency always goes a long way.)

What he finds is, "George, right?" It's Memeulous who stands there, looking nervous. Harry has only seen the guy a few times without the mask on, back when they played a few Sundays of football together. It helps that Will is stood behind him, jogs his memory. James is there too, and the both of them stand looming over George like encouraging parents. Harry doesn't think he's supposed to, but he literally catches James whisper, "Go on, George, you got this."

"Er, yeah, George. You're looking for Josh, right?" The shorter man asks, as if it's not obvious to anyone within a mile radius of this building. Harry nods an energetic yes in spite of that. "I saw him come out of that purple door about fifteen minutes ago," George points over at the only door in this entire house painted a different colour than all the other white ones, "then go outside through the backdoor right after. He was with some lady."

It's not a first impression he's leaving, but it's not a good one all the same. He lets out a hurried, "Yeah, thanks, mate," Before turning and running hastily towards the back garden. He's too worked up to even entertain the idea of social etiquette, though he is grateful to George, who has been the only one to give him any information at all this entire time. He has been more considerate than any of Harry's mates combined, and they've only met each other a handful of times.