Caring for Carers - Minizerk

Chapter 16 (End)

"Bye Ruth, see you later, Ethan!" Josh calls out, standing on the doorstep of House 4, waving until the duo are out of sight. He smiles, and steps back inside the warmth of the house, closing the door behind him.

"Oi Josh, come and look at this!" Tobi calls quietly from the entrance to the living room, and the other man moves quickly over to his side, peering over his shoulder at the sight before him.

It's adorable, to say the least.

Vik is laying down on his stomach, his legs kicking up in the air behind him, staring at the Christmas tree (fake, of course, they can't risk any potential allergies) with a look of wonder painted across his face. The lights that wrap around the tree snuggly are set to slowly fade into the next colour on the system, and it's clearly therapeutic, or at least soothing to watch, seeing as Vik's eyelids keep dropping before he shakes himself awake, resuming his gaze.

The hassle they had about the tree was definitely worth it. Basically, Simon came up with the idea of having a Christmas tree without the lights, considering the repercussions caused by Christmas lights previously. However, Ethan kicked up a fuss about the fact they didn't have any lights for the tree in the basket, after he watched Vik's face drop when told they couldn't have any.

In short, they got the lights and Vik was happy, so Ethan was happy.

Josh is feeling pretty happy too, he's content. It's been a long time since he was this settled in December, but he feels proud. He promised Vik, all those months ago, that he would get that Christmas he never had, and by the looks of it, the Christmas experience has already impacted Vik for the better.

Having said that, he's also scared out of his mind for this evening. As much as Ruth's little speech inspired him when out for their meal, he's terrified that he's going to mess up, that Simon will have lost interest. Of course, the underlying fear that he'll move on and find someone better is still there, but Josh figures that'll be pretty hard to get rid of. As Ruth said, live in the now, or words to that effect.

So when the time comes for Josh to leave, he's not quite sure why he's feeling so oddly calm. It's completely out of character for him, in this kind of situation.

Maybe he's resigned to his fate. What will be will be, and all that. He's not sure.

He gets into his car, and texts Sarah and Cal quickly that he's on his way. The two of them will probably end up drinking tonight, and Josh is on shift as sleeping night, so there's no point in him drinking anything, so he volunteered to pick them up.

Pulling up outside the block of flats, he sees Sarah running out of the doors, dragging Cal behind her. She's got tinsel wrapped around her neck, and it sparkles silver in the night, leaving reflections of light upon the gravelled ground. Her smile is beautiful, and Josh isn't quite sure how Cal got so lucky. He's glad he did though, because the two are so well suited.

Sarah climbs into the front passenger seat, while Cal slips into the back. She turns to him, and grins. It's sort of coy, like she knows something he doesn't. Of course, she doesn't know that he already knows what she's got planned, but he'll let that slide. For now. "Hi, Josh. How're you doing?"

"Alright. Yourselves?"

"Yeah, fine. Looking forward to tonight?" Sarah asks, that smirk still tinged upon her lips. The temptation to roll his eyes is strong, but Josh manages to hold on long enough to let out a brief laugh.

"As much as a sober man can. Although, it's a great chance to get stories on drunk coworkers, that's always fun." Cal huffs lightly at Josh's reply.

"What, like Cal last year? The man got fucking paralytic. Told me some strange stuff, I tell you."

"You still give him shit about it?"