Drown Me (Joshler)

One

I looked down and saw blue-gray water hitting sharp rocks at least 100 feet below me. I wasn't sure how far I had to fall to die, but I hoped this was far enough. I climbed the side of the bridge I was on and sat down. It was too dark for me to really see anything, and that was probably for the best. I didn't want to be a coward and stop myself from doing this. I looked around me quick, just to be sure no one saw me. There was a guy close to the bridge, but I doubted he could see me. I started to stand up and prepared myself to jump.

"Wait!" I turned around to see the guy running towards me. "Stop!"
I shook my head and turned back towards the water, ready to jump.
"Don't, please. Just talk to me. You don't have to do this." The guy grabbed my arm and pulled me down from the railing.
"Yes I do! Please... Please let me do this."
"I can't. Talk to me. I'll listen." I noticed that the guy was young, probably close to my age. He had pink hair. With tears in my eyes, I just shook my head. I had to jump.
"Please..." I could barely whisper before I started crying. He pulled me into a hug. After a while, he pulled away and asked for my name.
"Tyler."
"Cool. I'm Joshua, but you can call me Josh. Can I walk you home? I want to make sure you get home safely." No, no, no... I couldn't go home. Not now. Not ever. I shook my head. He looked into my eyes, probably reading my mind. It's not safe there.
"Okay. But you're coming to stay with me then."

I don't want to go with Josh, but I decided it's better than going home. Besides, he was not going to take no for answer. We walked for about 5 minutes until we reached his house. He unlocked the door and let me go inside first.
"Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?"
"No, thank you. Can I ask you something though?" I turned to face him as he closed and locked the door behind us.
"Sure."
"Why were you at the bridge?" He froze for a second before he turned to look at my face.
"Well... I wasn't having the best night, either. I needed some fresh air and found myself at the bridge. Then I saw you and realized it's not worth it. And I wanted to help you." Josh stared at me for a few more seconds before he looked away.
"Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."

Josh lead me upstairs to his bedroom. I was shivering from being out in the cold for so long, and he noticed. He went to his dresser and pulled out a hoodie and some pajama pants.
"Here. There's a bathroom across the hall if you aren't comfortable..." I didn't really care if I changed in front of him. He wouldn't say anything about my cuts if he saw them, so it didn't really matter. Josh changed as well, and I noticed some scars on him, too. There were some fairly fresh cuts as well.
"Hey Tyler?"
"What?"
"Do you want to talk about it?" Josh asked.
"I don't know, not right now."
"Okay. Just let me know if you do, all right?"
"Yeah." I said, and I meant it.

We both laid down in his bed, not facing each other. I was thankful for Josh, but at the same time, I wished he would have just let me jump. Josh was so nice, unlike anyone I had ever had a relationship ship with. My parents, siblings, so-called friends... Even teachers. I was alone. That is, I was alone until Josh came along. I had a feeling Josh was alone until he met me, too.

***

I woke up to an indescribably perfect scent that made my mouth water. Tacos. Wait. Why did I smell tacos? Then I realized I wasn't at home, I was at Josh's house. Stretching, I sat up. I got out of bed and went downstairs. I wasn't sure where Josh was.
"Josh?"
"Oh, you're finally awake. I'm in here." Josh called from nearby. I followed his voice into the kitchen. He ate a taco while staring at his phone. Cheese fell out of his taco onto him.
"What time is it?"
"Ummm..." he tapped a few times. "It's 3 pm." I had slept for about 14 hours.
"Thanks."
"Yeah. There's some tacos in that bag if you want some. I didn't know what you like so..."
"That's fine. Thanks." I sat across from him at the small kitchen table and grabbed a taco out of the bag.

After I ate, we decided to play Mario Kart. I beat him most of the time, but we weren't really paying attention to the game. We talked a lot and got to know each other more. I found out that he played drums. So, I told him that I played piano, ukulele, and guitar. I didn't tell him that I liked singing. No one knew that, and I liked it that way.
"So, are you planning on going home, or...? You can stay here longer if you want, but you might want some of your stuff here or something." Josh said. I didn't want to go home.
"Uh, yeah. If you wouldn't mind me staying here a little longer. What about your parents though?"
"Oh, they aren't coming back for at least another month or two."
"Coming back from where?" I asked. Josh just shrugged.

We had continued to play Mario Kart for most of the day. I decided that I would stop by my house the next day to get some of my things. For the meantime, I was going to have as much fun as I could with Josh, just in case I would never get to see him again. Depending on how drunk my parents would be when I went back home the next day, I could potentially never get to go back to his house. So, Josh and I ordered a pizza for dinner and we watched movies. We fell asleep on the couch.

The next day, I woke up before Josh. I wanted to go get my things quick before he woke up. So, I wrote a quick note telling him where I was, making sure I included my address. There was no telling how bad my parents were going to be. I left Josh's house and walked for almost 20 minutes until I reached my house. My house was old and falling apart. The grass was overgrown and cigarette butts littered the front porch. A few of the windows were cracked. I opened the front door as quietly as I could, hoping my parents were asleep. I snuck up the stairs to my room, throwing most of my clothes and everything else I would need in a backpack.
While walking down the stairs as quietly as I could, I heard a voice from the kitchen. Of course. I hurried down, thinking I was going to make it to the front door in enough time. In just a few seconds, there was a hand yanking me back by my arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" my mom asked menacingly.
"Um, nowhere?" She slapped my face.
"Don't fucking lie to me! You aren't going anywhere. Let's see what your father thinks of you trying to sneak out." Oh no. He's going to beat me until I can't stand up. My mom dragged me into the living room where my dad was passed out on the couch.
"Chris. Chris." She shook him, trying to wake him up. He wouldn't open his eyes. I wasn't even sure he was breathing. My mom tried waking him up, but it didn't work. Eventually, she gave up.
"You're lucky this time. But you'll get what you deserve later. Get your ass upstairs. Worthless piece of-" I stopped listening and ran upstairs with my backpack still on. My mom didn't know that I knew how to sneak out by climbing out of my window. I opened my bedroom window and threw my backpack out. I saw it hit the ground. Then, I climbed out and made my way to the ground like a ninja. I started walking to Josh's house.