Crooked Young.

•seven//josh•

{Simon: Alpha
Jide: Beta
Josh: Delta
Tobi: Echo
Vikk: Gamma
Ethan: Zeta
Harry: Theta
Chris: Eta.}

"Josh?" That voice, I recognised it but it was so muffled. I forced my eyes open only to squint them at the bright light that was pouring into my room through the parted black curtains that framed my window. As I regained a clear view I pushed myself up into my elbows, causing my head to spin in protest.

"Lie back down Josh, you need rest." I followed the voice to see him. Simon. I looked down to see his hand on my chest gently pushing me back onto my bed. Why him? Out of all people, Simon was the first one I had to see.

"What happened?" I managed to croak out, my mouth was so dry. I pushed myself up to a sitting position ignoring the frown Simon gave me.

"That's a conversation for later, Tobi is resting too, he's recovering well-"

"What happened to Tobi? Where is he? I need to see him." I interrupted him and ignored the glass of water he held out for me. I swung my legs out of bed only to stumble and fall over the blanket that I was cocooned in.

"He's fine, he was shot at when we were getting you back. You need to take it easy Josh." Simon said sternly as he pulled me off the floor and into his arms. So long I'd been wanting him to hold me like he was, but now wasn't the time. My friend was injured, I needed to see him.

"I need to see him, I can't lose Tobi." I sighed and pushed against Simon's hold.

"Your weak Josh, you've lost a lot of blood, I'll take you to him. Calm down." Before I could respond Simon scooped me up in his arms and carried me bridal style out of my room and across the dim lit landing to Tobi's room. "Vikk it's me open the door." Simon called out and he hit the door once with his foot. The door swung open immediately revealing a surprised looking Vikk.

"Since you're here can I go get something to eat? And bring some water for Tobi, he's running low." Vikk asked as he awkwardly shuffled his way past us, accidentally knocking my foot in the process earning a scowl from Simon.

"Yeah of course, thanks for keeping an eye on him Vikk. Take your time me and Josh will be in here, I'll give Tobi some of the water I got for Josh in the meantime." Simon nodded and Vikk just gave a half smile and jogged down the stairs. "Ready?" I just nodded yes to Simon's question, too worried that I would burst into tears if I said anything. Simon walked into Tobi's room with confidence and set me down on the chair that was already pulled up to the side of his bed, I'm guessing where Vikk had been sitting for god knows how many hours. "I'm going to get you some water Tobi, I'll be back in a few minutes." Simon stated as he walked out and shut the door.

"It's good to see you well Josh, I honestly thought you wouldn't make it. We all thought it would have ended like...but it's good to know that I won't have to live without my best mate." Tobi smiled. I took a good look at him, he was smiling through broken and panicked eyes. I could see the blood starting to seep through the gauze that was covering the bullet wound on his stomach.

"Tobi what happened? All I remembered was going to get some shopping and then being confined? I woke up and Simon was clutching my hand like he actually cares. And then I find you were injured. You gave me a scare Tobi, my heart almost stopped beating. Who took care of the wound?" I couldn't stop my mouth from spewing questions at him. There were so many gaps in my memory that needed to be filled. Tobi sighed and sat up.

"Well you were taken, it took us three days to track where you'd been taken, it would have taken longer but Simon was searching none stop for you. He looked so scared Josh, it was a strange sight but it was genuine. Turns out some guy had hired people to kidnap you as collateral because they wanted Simon and knew he would come for you. As for the wounds, two new medics were bought in to make sure we were being kept healthy and well. Their names are Josh, we call him Chip, and Joel. They're nice guys, they've bought a bit of life back y'know, a bit of normality. I would take a bullet for you or any of the others any day, and I know all of you guys would do the same." Tobi out a firm grip on my shoulder and shook me gently, causing me to smile back at him.

"So it's Simon's fault that I was taken and you were injured? I thought he would have just let me die, to keep everyone safe." I rubbed the back of my neck to distract myself from the blush that I felt creep up in my cheeks.

"The first bit yes, the second no, we would have come to get you with or without Simon's blessing. No way I'm letting you die, y'know father Josh gotta look after his kids and all that." Tobi laughed.

"I'm the same age as you! Let's not bring up the daddy thing again please, I know my voice is gruff and I have a beard but I'm certainly no father." I groaned and rolled my eyes, "there's something that I need to know, why would Simon go through so much trouble to get me back? It's not like he's the caring friend that he was. He's so oblivious to my feelings toward him, why am I so important to him to be used as collateral?" I gushed out, none of this was making sense, unless Simon had some sort of lightbulb moment while I was gone.

"I honestly don't know Josh, that's something you'll have to find out for yourself." Tobi murmured as foot steps appeared outside the door. Simon was strolling in seconds later holding two glasses and a jug of water. He poured water into both glasses and handed one to Tobi and one to me. Tobi smiled and guzzled it back, like he hadn't drank in days. I just watched as Simon pulled Tobi's desk chair to the left of me and sat slouched, his arm resting on the side of my chair, his fingers grazing my knee.

"Drink Josh, you lost a lot of fluid." I did as Simon said immediately, sipping at the ice cold water. That was the last thing he said to me because the rest of the boys piled into Tobi's room followed by Vikk who looked a little guilty. Apparently the rest of the guys just couldn't wait for us to come downstairs, they wanted to make sure we were okay.

I couldn't even join in with the lighthearted banter that I'd longed for, my mind was clouded with Simon. Simon fucking Minter.

A/N: sorry this is so late, I sort of lost motivation with this chapter but didn't want to jump to something else randomly but I pushed through, it's shit but I'll be updating more soon, most likely after I get back off holiday. Leave your thoughts, maybe what you think/want to happen in the upcoming chapters? Thanks for reading! ~ Z