The library in Beacon Hills High was once again destroyed as opened, closed, and ripped books were scattered throughout the library. The thick and heavy wooden tables were broken in half, and the chairs were without a leg or two. Some shelves were pushed back and leaning against one another until the last shelf was against a wall, almost looking like a domino effect. Pieces of broken glass were spread throughout the floor, which were being smashed into smaller pieces as the students quickly ran out of the library.
Josh quickly passed by some of the fallen shelves; he almost didn't see the injured girl in the far corner trying to hide. If he hadn't heard the soft whimpers, he would have never known someone was there.
He took a step backwards and turned into the small space between the two shelves, slowly approached the girl. The girl pressed her hand against her torso and use her other arm to scoot herself further back into the dark corner. As Josh got closer to the girl, he realized who she was. It was Y/N, the girl who happened to be in his English class. She was always quiet, but always knew what she was doing in class, a subject Josh struggled with. He's always thought she was cute, and he's thought about asking her to tutor him countless times, but he was too scared to talk to her.
Josh noticed how terrified she was as he crouched down in front of her. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said calmly with his hands up as he slowly kneeled down to reach her. "I just want to help you."
"Are you injured?" She nodded at his question.
"Can I take a look at it?" She shook her head.
"I need to know what's wrong with you so I can help you," Josh's worried eyes scanned her entire body, checking for injuries.
"That monster..." Her bottom lip quivered.
"He's gone," Josh reassured her. "He jumped through the windows and ran into the woods."
The scared girl shook her head. "Not that one, the other one."
Josh's muscles tensed up as the fear of another wild supernatural creature was lurking around the school crossed his mind. "There's another one? What did this monster look like?"
Before Y/N could answer, she let out a hiss as the cuts on her torso were beginning to burn. She looked down and noticed her shirt was now stained with her blood, completely ruining her favorite top. She reached down at the hem of her shirt, ready to pull it up and see the damage, but stopped before she realized there was a boy kneeling in front of her. "Can you please, um, turn around?"
"I need to see," Josh reached in for her shirt. She moved further back. "Please? I can help you."
She bit her lip, debating if she should let some cute kid, who was in her English class, but didn't even know, to look at her exposed abdominal area.
"Are you in pain?" She nodded her head. "Give me your hand," Josh demanded.
Again, she hesitated, but she did what he asked, or rather demanded from her. Josh closed his eyes and focused as he slowly began to take away her pain. The pain felt like it was being sucked out of her. She looked down and noticed his veins were turning black. She should've freaked out. Hell, even question how in the world he was doing this, but in that moment she didn't care. Josh was doing something no one had ever done for her; take away her pain.
Josh gasped as his eyes fluttered open, trying to regain himself after literally transferring her pain to his body. "Are you okay? Do you feel a little better?"
"Yeah," she sighed in relief. "I do. Thank you."
"Alright, let's see how bad it is," Josh pointed at her blood stained shirt. She was about to grab the hem of her shirt, when she started seeing black spots. Her head began to sway back and forth, as she tried to hold it up straight.
"Whoa! Hey!" Josh cupped her cheeks, holding her head still. "Look at me. Y/N, don't you close..."
Josh's voice began to fade out as Y/N's world turned into darkness.
The sound of a heart monitor beeped, echoing in the dark hospital room, as Y/N began to stir in bed. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. She didn't realize where she was until her eyes finally adjusted to the dark room. She reached out and turned on the lamp. She noticed an IV needle on the top of her hand and taped down for it to stay in place. Her eyes scanned the room and noticed all the monitors beside her. She lifted her left hand to her nose and felt a breathing tube in between her nostrils. She inhaled before she pulled the breathing tube off.
Her eyes finally landed on the boy who was sleeping in the small cushioned chair next to the bed. His head was rolled back as his lips formed a small 'o'. Y/N had no idea what happened before she passed about, but she could tell the adorable boy sitting in that chair was exhausted.
"Josh," she croaked, her voice sounding like a frog. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Josh?"
Josh fluttered his eyes opened. When he realized Y/N was awake, he jumped from his seat and pulled the chair closer to her side. "Hey," he whispered softly, his voice almost sounding like an angel. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"
She pointed at the pink cup on the rolling table. Josh filled the cup with water from the small pitcher and handed it over to Y/N. She took a small sip of water before asking, "What happened?"
"Well, after you passed out, I carried you all the way to the hospital. After your surgery, the nurse, I think it was McCall's mom, told me the cuts you had in your torso were deep. And by deep, I mean you were bleeding internally. If I hadn't brought you in..." Josh sighed as he ran his hand through his short black hair. "If I hadn't found you in the library, you could have died tonight, Y/N."
Y/N locked her eyes with Josh's and noticed his eyes were filled with worry and sadness, as if the thought of her gone would devastate him. Something about that tugged her heart.
"What happened tonight? You said there was another monster." He slowly reached out for her hand, but hesitated, wondering if she would pull back from his grip. "What was it? What did it look like?"
Y/N swallowed hard. "Hey, it's okay." Josh said, almost as if he could sense her fear. "You're safe now."
Y/N slowly nodded. "His eyes were yellow, almost as if they were glowing. He had a lot of facial hair, not your typical man facial hair, but almost like an animal. He also had fangs like a vampire. Except, he didn't look like a vampire, he looked just like Scott. But Scott was protecting us from that other monster. This one," she bit her trembling lip. "I don't know why he was hurting me."
Josh fought against his reasons and grabbed her hand, immediately soothing her as his thumb rubbed small circles.
"You want to know what's the scarier part is?" Josh tilted his head, motioning her to continue. "He looked a lot like Theo Raeken."
Josh let out a deep growl, as he stood up quickly, his force knocking down the chair behind him. "Fucking Theo! I'm going to kill him!"
Y/N's eyes widened. "Did you know he's a monster?"
"He's the reason why I'm able to take away your pain. He turned me into a monster, too." Y/N shook her head in disbelief.
Josh immediately shook his head and took his place back in his chair next to her. "I promise you, I'm not like Theo, Y/N. I don't kill or hurt anyone. I..." He trailed and took a deep breath before boring into her eyes. "I would never hurt you, Y/N."
Y/N thought about it and she believed him. If he had been a bad guy like Theo, he would have killed her the second he found her at the library. Except, he didn't. Instead, he took her pain away, and carried her all the way to the hospital to make sure she wouldn't die. He cared about her.
"I believe you," she whispered.
Josh closed his eyes as he let out a sigh of relief. He wanted nothing more than her approval. Knowing she didn't think he was a monster was a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. He didn't know how he was going to explain the whole supernatural thing without having her to freak out, but he had a feeling she'd be okay with it.
"So, all this time you've known my name?" She asked bluntly, pulling him out of his thoughts.
Josh opened his eyes and noticed her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "Well, it's kind of hard not to know the name of the most beautiful girl in my English class."
Y/N's pink cheeks turned into a darker shade as she bit her lip. No guy had ever called her beautiful, let alone someone as good looking as Josh.
"Thanks, Josh." She smiled cheekily.
"So, you know my name too?" Josh grinned.
"Well, it's hard not to know the hottest guy's name in my English class," she teased. She had no idea where this newfound confidence was coming from, but she liked that he had that kind of effect on her.
And in that moment, Josh couldn't help himself. He cupped her cheeks, gently, and slowly leaned in. The sound of her heartbeat thundered against her chest, growing louder as he closed in the gap between the two of them. His warm breath fanned against her lips, sending a shiver down her spine and all the way down her toes. She closed her eyes the same time he closed his, before he gently pressed his lips against hers. It was soft, delicate, and absolutely pure bliss. It was definitely the best first kiss they ever had.
When he pulled back, he noticed she bit her lips, trying to stop the huge smile on her face. He couldn't help but smile back at her as his thumb traced her flushed cheeks.
"You would like to get grab a cup of coffee or something?" Josh asked. Remembering where they were, he quickly rephrased the question. "Once you're completely healed and all of this supernatural drama is over with, of course."
"I'd like that," She smiled. "I can't wait."
