josh's pov
i walked with arlette and mark out of the hospital. i was carrying the small bag with various pills arlette got prescribed as she talked with mark about their family. tyler left to go see jenna, so i decided to be with the eshleman's today, helping arlette out. we got in the car, and i sat in the backseat.
arlette soon fell asleep, and i felt hesitant to wake her up when we got to mark's house. i looked at mark, who moved his arms in a way that says, 'go on'. i turned back toward her small body and picked her up, memories flashing from last night. i carried her to her room, and placed her down on her bed, but she was awake.
i smiled down at her, placed the gift box on the nightstand, and whispered, "go to sleep" before i turned her light off and shut the door.
arlette's pov
he walked out of my room, and i sat up and looked the large box sitting on the table beside me. i found the note tied on the ribbon around the gift.
ar,
i know you want to be normal, or somewhat closer to normal. at least i think so. anyways, i talked with mom and dad and we decided we would get you a laptop and a phone, so you can talk to me when im not home or josh when he isn't around. i talked to him too. he's going to treat you well, ar. you have to trust him. we're going on tour soon, and we want you to come along. i'll talk to you about it once you're ready. get some sleep. love you.
mark
i smiled and opened the box. sure enough, one of those fancy laptops and phones were sitting in there, good as new. i slowly put them back and lifted the covers back over me. i peered outside of the window at the clouds covering up the sky. bleak. i smiled and dug my head into the pillow. did josh really care? why would he care? do i like josh? does josh like me? could we become something?
i shifted away from the window, laying on my other side with my eyes closed. that's when i felt a sensation. a weird one. almost like someone trying to touch me, but i could just about feel their fingertips on my shoulder. i opened my eyes and screamed. josh was right above me with his hand hovering over me.
"ar!are you okay? i didn't mean to scare you," josh whispered. i looked uneasily at his hand and he quickly pulled it back. "i was just trying to pull the sheets above your shoulders," josh looked at the sheets, embarrassed.
i slowly put my head back onto my pillow and stared at the boy beside my bed. he changed from the clothes he wore at the hospital; this time wearing black jeans and a white t shirt. pieces of his hair stuck out from a snapback on his head, and his beard was shaved. he looked back up at me, but didn't smile. he had a neutral look on his face, but there was lots of seriousness in his eyes.
i slowly sat up and climbed out of my bed, stretching my legs as i felt josh's eyes on me. i turned toward him, looking at him with the same face he gave me. he walked toward me, staring into my eyes the whole time. i felt awkwardly cornered when i felt his chest on mine. i looked up into his eyes and quickly looked away again. i felt his hands on my waist, slowly moving up. i jumped when his hand ran over one of the bruises on my ribcage left by her. he backed away slightly with a concerned look, then sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to him. i could already tell he wanted me to explain.
josh's eyes traveled across my ribcage, as if asking if he could look. i turned away as i felt my shirt slightly lift up, revealing the side of my torso.
i felt his hands on the bruises, pressing lightly as i attempted to hold my tears back. he put my shirt back down, but i couldn't look at him. something was telling me not to.
i slowly turned around, still not looking into josh's eyes. i felt so weak, and i didn't want to be weak in front of him. we sat in silence; he was waiting for me to explain, but i didn't know where to start.
i sighed slowly and looked up. he was looking down too, but looked up once he heard me. "i have a voice in my head. she tells me to do things and sometimes i can feel her in my head, and the other night i felt her. she was grabbing my ribs, and i was trying to get her off. that's why there are bruises, josh! she's real! and i want her gone!" i was almost screaming. "she tells me things about you and what you might do to me and im so scared josh. she scares me. she has the ability to make me do things. i don't want her to affect you." i breathed in slowly and looked back into the boy's eyes.
he blinked once, then lunged forward and hugged me. i was pushed onto the bed with josh on me, but he only said, "im not going to hurt you, and she isn't going to hurt me. i need you to trust me." he pushed his head into the crook of my neck and talked through my hair. i could barely hear him, but he was trying to make me feel better. i squirmed uncomfortably under him, and shot back up, mumbling, "sorry, im so sorry." i weakly smiled back.
"okay, look. we need to get rid of her," he lightly tapped my temple. "and i know how to, well, deal with that. tyler deals with similar stuff, and i helped him through it, so im going to do the same for you." i nodded. "okay. first thing. we need to name her."
