Demons

Chapter 37

~~Recap:

There was a branch snap. And then a groan of pain. We froze for a second, before going to investigate. It took a while for us to find the source of the noise. And when we did, Damian's threw me behind him.

"Josh?! What the hell?" I heard him say, keeping his hand pushing on my stomach to keep me from advancing.

~~

Why was Damian acting so protective? Josh wouldn't hurt me. Except for that time with Sylvia, but Damian didn't even know about that.

"I was in a fight." Josh smirked, the bruise on his lip expanding and his hand rushed to the bleeding. I've unfortunately heard those words come from Josh's busted lips one too many times.

"Of course you were." I said scornfully.

My actions defied the tone of my voice for I had run past Damian and into a kneeling position determining Josh's state. I had done this so many times with him, it had become instinct. Yet, in those past times, I genuinely cared for his well-being, foolishly thinking that he was the love of my life. Now, I just felt bad for him, as I would anyone. I pushed past my dislike for this man so that I could help him.

"What are you doing? I didn't ask for your help!" Josh tried to squirm away from me when I pulled his arm around my shoulder and stood up, struggling to carry his weight. I shot a glare at him, and he immediately stopped. Damian rushed to my aid, throwing Josh's other arm around his shoulder, now pulling most of the weight.

"Yeah, what are we doing, Lace? This was probably his fault, he doesn't deserve our help." Damian complained as we pulled him along, completely disregarding the fact that Josh was listening. He had never liked Josh, and they even almost got into a fist fight after Damian found out Josh cheated on me.

"He's right, Lace. I am quite the instigator." Josh chuckled into my face, his breath reeking of alcohol. How could I not know that alcohol would be the cause of this?

I turned my face to stare Josh into his cornflower blue eyes. "You, shut up." I said harshly, and Josh bowed away from me, before I turned my attention back to Damian. "Damian, please. He is clearly hurt, and we have to help him. You know that."

Once we were back into the actual park area, we walked to one of the benches. I unraveled his arm from me to pull out my phone. Damian looked at me, then Josh, and unraveled Josh's other arm from himself. Unable to steady himself in time, Josh instantly dropped to the ground. Damian burst out in laughter, and I shook my head in disapproval at him. Sure, Josh wasn't my favorite person in the world – far from it, actually – but that couldn't get in the way of helping a fellow human being. Damian groaned, I having ruined his fun, and picked Josh back up, plopping him down on the bench.

I dialed Zayn's number and held the phone to my ear, crossing my fingers in hopes that he would answer. Otherwise, we would have to carry drunken Josh home, probably ruining our whole day.

Thankfully, Zayn answered. "Lacey? What's up?"

"I have a situation on my hands right now and could really use your help. Are you busy right now?" I truly wanted to question him about last night and this morning, but in front of Damian and Josh wouldn't be the ideal time.

"Um, I'm with Ivy right now." He spoke, awkwardly. How come he being with Ivy was such a sensitive topic for us? Probably for the same reason the topic of Harry is. I still didn't fully understand our logic, but preferred to not continue questioning it.

"Oh, um, okay. I guess I can deal with it myself. Sorry for wasting your time." I think I hid the disappointment in my voice pretty well and tried to act as if it wasn't that big of a deal. Which it wasn't. But apparently Zayn didn't think the same thing.