Fleurs Captives (Joshler)

53. Canterbury Bells

Canterbury Bells:
meaning- gratitude

***Trigger warnings for mentions of miscarriage and surgery to remove the fetus.***

Start the song. It's We Might Be Dead Tomorrow by Soko.

To say Josh cried when Brad went home for the night would be an understatement. He wept uncontrollably and clung so tightly to Brad's arm that he was bleeding by the time Tyler and Jordan pulled him off of the other boy. Brad cried just as hard, promising Josh over and over again that he was safe and that he would come back the next day.

Josh didn't stop crying until his dad came home with Jenna in tow, announcing, "Your sister is home!"

For at least an hour and a half, Jenna lied on Josh's bed between him and Tyler, crying about the pain in her body and the relief in her chest. The more she told them about her surgery and what her body felt like after it, the more the two boys worried about her. For a moment, Tyler almost stuck his hand into Jenna's underwear to erase the pain like Josh always had, but she told them she wasn't allowed to do anything like that until her body had healed a little bit more, so they just held her instead.

Jenna's head rested on Josh's chest while Tyler massaged her lower back, and Josh soothed his fingers through her hair. They speckled her with kisses and promised her that she would never have to go through anything like this ever again.

"You're always going to be our sister, Jenna. We'll always protect you," Tyler promised her sincerely, punctuating the words with a gentle kiss to the back of her neck. "Besides, Josh is legally your brother now, so no one can ever take you away. This is your home and your family, and everyone here loves you."

Jenna smiled slightly at that. "I'm scared to have a family that actually cares about me. I don't want to let them down."

"Jenna, letting people down is part of being in a family. It's expected of you to let us down from time to time. I'll let you down and my parents down and the rest of our siblings down every now and then, but I'll also try to do things that make you guys proud of me. The whole point of a family is that you can let them down a million times, and they'll still never stop loving you," Josh explained to her.

His sister smiled at that. "Yeah?" She asked hopefully.

"For sure," Tyler agreed easily. "I let my family down all the time, and they still love me. That's part of the territory. I swear to God."

An audible breath of relief left Jenna's lungs before she looked up at Josh again. "Your dad said he's contractually obligated to embarrass me in public at least once a month."

"First of all, he's your dad too," Josh pointed out, making Jenna smile. "Second of all, I don't really remember him ever doing that to me, but I still have a feeling that that's absolutely true."

"My dad is the most embarrassing human being alive. It's part of his job as a dad," Tyler insisted.

They all looked up when the door opened. Jordan came in and climbed onto his bed, scrolling through his phone casually. Something about his presence made Josh's muscles relax even more than they had been previously.

"Jordan, do you think it's Dad's job to embarrass us?" Josh asked him curiously.

Jordan smirked without looking up from his phone. "I think Dad thinks that's his job, and he takes his job very seriously."

"Do you think it's normal to let your family down from time to time?" Josh pressed.

"Is this a sly way of asking me if Mom cried when you pierced your lip because she definitely did," Jordan replied. "She told you she loved it though because she's the best mom ever."