Lasershire/Jovencorn Oneshots

Awkward First Meeting

Prompt from otppromts: Person A and person B are seconds too late for the bus. Person A introduces themself and asks person B if they go to the same college. After finding out they do, person A offers person B a lift from their emergency driver and because the car is full, the smaller one has to sit on the other's lap. Write how that car ride goes.

A/N: This was, for all intensive purposes, originally going to be a fluffy, semi-awkward first meeting fic. But I decided to throw in some angsty Joven backstory. And talk of suicide attempts for anyone triggered by that.

Holding his bag close to his body, David ran as fast as he could, panting slightly. "Aaaand, fuck. Every time!"

"Goddamnit. Now I'm gonna be late." David looked up, and an extremely annoyed looking guy was leaning against a pole as he pushed up his glasses.

"Are you in college?"

The guy looked over at him. "Um, yeah. Why? You aren't a predator of some kind, right?"

"What? No, of course not! Do I really give off that vibe? My friends always tell me I'm creepy."

The guy awkwardly coughed. "Uh, not really, sorry. I'm just... overly paranoid. I've always been that way. I'm Joshua."

David gave him a small smile before responding. "David. Which college? I can probably catch a ride from one of my friends, and you can come with us if you want."

"I go to California State."

"So do I! I know some of the professors can be a bit strict when it comes to being on time." David smiled at him.

Joshua let out a quiet sigh. "That'd be great. I have a lecture with Old Man Mandel today, and everyone there knows how he is."

David pulled his phone out of his pocket, and dialed a number. "Yo, Matt. I kinda missed the bus. Can you swing by the bus stop on Rose Street? Really? Oh, and there's a guy here, he also goes to Cali State. Is it cool if he rides with us? I doubt it, but I'll ask." David pulled the phone from his ear. "Hey Joshua, are you a serial killer?"

"If I am, I wasn't informed." Joshua grinned.

David rolled his eyes, a small smile slipping onto his face. "He doesn't think so. Okay. We'll be here. Thanks Matt. You're a lifesaver." He put his phone back in his pocket and turned back to Joshua. "He said he'll be here in a few minutes, but he's picking up another friend of ours and my brother."

"Do you get along with your brother?"

David half shrugged. "Most of the time.  He's a couple of years younger than me, but we've always had a pretty good relationship.  Do you have any siblings?"

Joshua shrugged, not meeting David's eyes.  "Maybe.  I don't know.  I've kinda been on my own for a while.  Didn't get along with my parents.  So I left.  Not like I would've been there much longer anyway."

"What happened?  And how old were you?"

Joshua shrugged, crossing his arms.  "I was fourteen.  I had a... well, let's call it a disagreement with my parents.  You know, the whole ran off in the middle of the night.  I lived on the street for about a year, taking some, um, shady jobs.  I eventually found a place in the back of a store.  The owner let me live there in exchange for me working.  I eventually started college.  I live in a dorm with a guy named Ian now."

"Fourteen?  Wow.  When I was fourteen, I could barely pass a Mario level. How'd you survive?"

Joshua let out a sad dry laugh. "I almost didn't. God knows how I dealt with those hospital bills. I tried to end it, uh, I think 4 times. Eventually, I think about two years ago, I figured I wasn't dead for a reason, and more or less gave up on trying to die."