Beyond Friendship [Remastered]

Chapter Two.

"A Dreadful Way Of Living."
trigger warning(s);
acts of violence, implied abuse, slurs, alcohol abuse & swears
Word Count; 1,304 (1.3k)
~~~{⭐️}~~~
Present day...

James enters Josh's room to see him lying shirtless on his bed and he notices the bruises aligned down his back. It's become a common occurrence to see Josh with bruises and cuts from his family.

"Babe, what happened?" James asked, sitting beside Josh on the bed.

Josh doesn't answer so James assumes he's asleep. Josh picks his body up, feeling like there are tons of bricks weighing him down. His hair falls upon his face making James unable to see what his face is withholding.

"Josh?" James muttered, causing Josh to face him.

James' eyes widen as he sees Josh's face, his eyes are full of tears, bloodshot and puffy from the constant crying. His face is full of bruises, and he has a gash under his eye; his nose is bloody, and his lip is busted. James watches the tears roll down Josh's cheek to underneath his chin.

"Who did this to you..." James muttered,

"I'm sorry I'm not pretty anymore," Josh said quietly, his tears pouring more aggressively,

"Oh, no. Hun, you're always going to be lovely to look at." James assured.

"Just go home, James," Josh said hoarsely; it confused James as Josh had texted him and told him to come over.

"But you-" James gets cut off,

"Just fucking go home!" Josh shouts, startling James.

"What...No. I'm not going anywhere." James replied, knowing that Josh didn't want him to go. He was just upset.

Josh inhaled sharply, "Please..." He cried, unable to finish his sentence.

Josh collapsed into James' embrace and cried. James felt Josh's tears fall onto his shirt, seeping through the fabric and onto his skin, feeling like acid had come in contact with it.

Oh, how Josh's family fucked him up.

James rubs Josh's back and whispers, "Let me help you, okay?" James' voice soothes Josh; he nods gently into James' shoulder.

"I'm going to get your first aid, stay here."

Josh nodded, leaning against his bed instead of James, James regains his footing and walks toward the bathroom. Josh watches James walk into the bathroom and he runs his fingers along the bruises on his face. James re-enters the room and sits beside Josh, he sits the first aid beside him and turns toward his significant other, with a gentle smile he reaches for Josh's hand.

"Let me see," He says softly.

James gets a hair tie from on his wrist and ties Josh's hair up so he can see his face fully. He pulls the first aid onto his lap and Josh smiled lightly...

As the hours pass, James lays on Josh's bed with Josh's head on his chest, and he thinks of every time he has seen Josh hurt by his parents. James is about to close his eyes and doze off when his boyfriend's bedroom door swings open, slamming against the wall. Josh jumps up, being startled by the sudden noise.

"Shit," Josh mumbled,

"You should go," Josh said coldly, pulling James off his bed.

James is stopped at the bedroom door by Josh's father standing there. He is glaring at James, it's almost suffocating but James has grown to hate Josh's parents so he doesn't really care how his family views him.