Rubik's Cube (Joshler)

CHAPTER 24: He's Not Here Anymore

Tyler's POV ~

As soon as I pulled up to Josh's house he ran out of the car and to the door. When he opened the door his mom stood there with a worried expression on her face. Josh immediately wrapped his arms around her and cried. Momma dun then lowered the both of them to the ground. The door was left open so that's how I seen everything.

I quickly got out of my car leaving it running and ran to the house. I knelt down behind Josh and momma dun looked at me. "What happened?" she mouthed at me. I shrugged my shoulders I was just as worried as she was maybe even more.

"Mom make it go away." Josh sobbed after a few minutes. She gave me a confused look and I returned it. "Make what go away sweetheart?"
Josh drew in a sharp breath. "T-the... The memories. Make em go away." her eyes went wide. "Oh baby no. Its okay.  I wish I could take them away you know that. If i could take them away I would." she started crying too.

"Shh. It's okay Josh. He's not here anymore. He's not here." momma dun kept repeating the phrase 'he's not here anymore, he's not here.'

Who's not here? What are they talking about? I don't want to ask cause I don't want to invade on their privacy but if I'm completely honest I'm scared and I'm worried.

Josh's sobs grew louder. I shut the door so their neighbors couldn't be noisy. When the door shut Josh let go of his mom and turned to me. I gave him a worried smile and he grabbed me, pulling me into a hug. Momma dun wrapped her arms around the both of us. I have no clue whats going on but Josh seems to be calming down so I'm not going to question it.

After a good 10-15 minutes of sitting on the floor hugging Josh in silence Josh let his grip on me loose. "Can I go down to my room?" he asked his mom. "Of course sweetie.. Do you want anything? Something to eat? Water?" she asked standing up.
"Water." he said his voice was hoarse from crying.

I stood up and helped him to his feet. He then grabbed my hand and took me down to his room. He laid on his bed and opened his arms for me to go lay with him. "I will in a sec okay? I left my car running and I need to go shut it off." he nodded his head and I ran up the stairs and out the door to my car.

After I shut it off I locked it and ran back to the house. When I got to Josh's bedroom he was drinking a glass of water as momma dun sat on the edge of his bed.

I stood awkwardly in the doorframe. Josh handed his mom the glass when it was empty and she stood up gave him a kiss on the forehead and went to leave. When she seen me at the door she stopped. "Can I talk to you in the hall for a second?" she whispered and I nodded following her and shutting the door.

"What happened today?"she asked.
"Well first class he had an anxiety attack and I went to the bathroom with him to calm him down then second class we asked the teacher to go to the library and Josh took a nap there... Third class he fell asleep in class then I took him to my house after and he slept again..... Um then my mom came home and started yelling at me for skipping then he just started crying and after a few minutes he asked me to take him home." I explained.

"I see..." she trailed off. "Is there yelling a lot at your house?" she asked
"Um not like everyday." I said scratching the back of my neck.
She sighed." I think it would be best for Josh and you to hang out here...."

"Okay... Um if you don't mind me asking why?" I said with a confused look. "Well um... Before me and Josh moved here me and his dad would fight a lot and.... Maybe Josh should tell you himself." she said. I nodded my head and went back into Josh's room.

"Hey..." I started, making my way over to him. "Hi." he said. "Um I was just talking to your mom in the hall and .. Well she started telling me something about her and your dad fighting then said it would be best if you told me... You don't have to if you don't want to." he smiled sadly at me and pulled me onto his lap.

"You deserve to know what happened at your house." he said softly. "My dad always yelled at my mom before we left ... He was always drunk when he did and I always sat in my room listening to it happen, it scared me. There was one night tho where I just couldn't sit in my room and listen any longer so I went downstairs and" he stopped and took a shaky breath as a tear slid down his cheek. "I seen my dad hit my mom. I got angry and told him not to touch her... He yelled back at me so I started hitting him and he hit me back saying I deserved it. He hit my mom again and I started punching him.... That's all I remember before I passed out.... My mom said he hit me on the head which knocked me out..." he said.

"Josh I-" he cut me off. "I'm not finished.... At your house when your mom was yelling it triggered those memories and I just needed to see my mom to make sure she was okay. I'm sorry about the way I was acting. I just... I don't like yelling. Sometimes When people yell it  brings those memories back... It's not your fault or your moms fault so don't blame yourself." he finished.

"Josh I'm so sorry... I didn't know..." I wiped his tears. "It's not your fault... I know my mom was okay when I asked to leave I just... I needed to make sure. My mom means everything to me. She's the only person that would talk to me after what happened that night. My siblings refused to acknowledge me and my dad only gave me disgusted or disappointed looks. I didn't have any friends so when my mom told me she was leaving and said I was welcome to go with her I did."

"What about your siblings does your dad yell at them or hurt them?" I asked. "I don't know... I hope not... As much as my siblings may hate me for whatever reason ....I still care a lot about them and worry about their safety. Hell I even still care about my dad." he said leaning his head into my hand and closing his eyes.

He then chuckled and looked up at me. "I guess that's my problem..." he said. "What's your problem?" I asked.
"I'm too nice to people... I care about them too much when all they do is take advantage of me or hurt me."

"I'm not going to take advantage of you or hurt you" I said running a hand through his hair. "I know." he sighed closing his eyes.

When he opened them he reached his hand up to my face and brought me down for a kiss. It was slow and full of love and passion.

When we pulled away I laid on his chest. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that Joshie."I said while I drew random patterns on his chest beside my head. "It's okay... I'm okay now. He can't hurt me anymore." he said giving me a kiss on the top of my head.

A/N ~ ..... I have nothing to say.... Love you! Bye❤
~Squish