Brown Haired Beauty // Joshler | ✔️

16: Don't Leave Me

Josh's P.O.V.

I couldn't possibly have fought through that. But right now, it's too hard to bear. But how it happened is a story I must tell.

I arrived with Tyler at his apartment after we left the music store. I had high hopes for that job. I might have actually enjoyed a job for once. That was rare for me to do. I don't think I ever had a job that I really liked. It was sad, but that was just life, I guess. You win some, you lose some.

Ty had already made himself comfortable on his sofa by the time I had walked through the door. I joined him, sighing as I relaxed into the couch.

"You're tired, aren't you?" He asked me, and I nodded and he cuddled up to me. His head rested on my chest and I felt his breath grazing my dark grey t-shirt. That was the last authentically good moment that we had together before it happened. But the story still has to progress further before I can get into that.

After I spent a few hours there, night was starting to fall, which was an indication that I should start getting back to my apartment before one of us fell asleep. Plus, I had to start working on my resume for the music store job that I was really looking forward to.

I sat on my bed and just stayed there for a few moments. Despite the fact that I had Tyler, I still felt like something would happen. Something terrible. And my suspicion was with good reason. Now is the time that I can say what exactly happened on that night.

I lay down on my small twin bed and stared up at the ceiling for about a half hour. I wasn't getting to sleep anytime soon. So, I did what I usually when I was restless. I went for a walk. Those walks usually ended up at a bar, but they were still therapeutic for me.

One thing led to another, and for the second time that month, I had ended up at the pub I had met Tyler at. Well, kind of met him at. I mostly just saw him from across the room.

I sighed and sat down on a stool and ordered a glass of Budweiser. It wasn't my favourite drink, but it sure helped me to relax.

A dark, hooded figure entered through the doorway and took a seat next to me. I shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't a very good thing when a shady person sat down next to you in a bar, right? I took a sip of my drink and a deep, raspy voice came from under a black hoodie.

"Hey." The strange man said and took a swig of a shot of tequila, finishing it and asked for three more.

I looked at him, uncertain as to whether or not I should respond to the sketchy guy. But, my instinct got the best of me and I had to utter a greeting in return. "Hey."

"Couldn't sleep?" He once again asked in a husky voice. He sounded like he smoked a pack a day.

I nodded and rubbed my eyes, feeling the circles underneath them. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Just a hunch."

Those words were never a good sign, either. This guy was bad news, I could just feel it. I turned my back to him for a few seconds to find an excuse to leave, but I was unable to. I just took another drink of my beer. But it tasted different. Oh, no. I really shouldn't have turned around. That was a very, very bad idea. I felt him take me by the arm and throw it around his shoulder, carrying me out of the bar as I slowly drifted away from my consciousness.

The first thing I remember from that night after passing out was waking up in a strange room with all-white wallpaper and a brown tiled floor. I was on a beige leather couch and my body was sprawled across it. As I looked down myself, that was when I saw it. And felt it, for that matter. On my chest was blood. Everywhere. Blood was everywhere and I couldn't move from the shock.

A man, I was assuming was the guy that drugged my drink, walked into the room I was in with a sinister smirk on his face. I knew him from somewhere... But where?

Then it hit me. It was Jonathan, the guy from the music store. Why did he have me? I never would have recognized him if he had kept his hood on. The voice was much different than I remember from when I first met him with Tyler. He started to walk closer to me, and pulled something from a holster on his belt loop.

A gun. He reloaded it, pointed to my stomach with a phone in his hand and pulled the trigger.

I woke up drowsily in what looked and sounded like a hospital. Tyler sat by the window, looking out onto the city.

"Ty?" I managed to push from my throat. I felt a stinging and burning at the same time on my abdomen and winced from the pain.

Tyler turned around and I saw that his face was red and puffy from crying. He smiled a small grin when he saw that I was awake. He rushed over to my side and took my hands into his.

"I'm so glad you're awake! I thought I would never get to talk to you again!" He wrapped me in his arms, which caused me to groan in pain. He soon recoiled with an awkward smile on his face. "Sorry."

"It's alright, Ty. I just-" I was cut off by a nurse walking into the hospital room.

"So sorry, but visiting hours are over. You'll have to leave now." She informed us, and I saw Tyler's face fall. I knew he wanted to be there for me, but the nurses had to take care of me, I guess.

"Goodbye, Tyler." I said to him and softly let his hand out of my grasp.

"Bye, Joshua. I love you." He waved to me with tears in his eyes.

"I love you too, Tyler. More than anything." I closed my eyes and slowly drifted to sleep. But I never woke up. The last thing I heard was the monitor making a long, continuous screech. Then I lost all feeling and everything went completely black.

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I'm crying right now. One more chapter and I'm done. So sorry. But I'm almost to 1k reads! Thanks!

~wakeupcrybaby