Los Angeles; ksimon

|14|

Simon's POV

I cradle JJ's face in my hands as his head rests on my lap, my thumbs brushing over his cheekbones gently as I search his eyes for any signs of life in his eyes.

Tears cloud my vision, making it almost impossible for me to see him at all- my cries blocking out my hearing.

I sniffle as I manage to trail one hand down and press two fingers onto his neck, feeling a faint, weak pulse.

"Someone help me!" I cry out, leaning down and resting my forehead against his, my tears flowing heavily as I choke on my own sobs.

My cut up hands hold onto him tightly, the small amount of dust still remaining in the air making it hard to breathe.

I let out a shaky breath, "I can't lose you, not today." I whisper before I feel hands grab onto me and pull me away from him- new people I don't recognise in the moment immediately rushing to his side.

I scream and kick, trying to get out of the grip of whoever's hands were holding onto me, but it's no use- by the time I get free, JJ's gone.

"Where'd he go? What did you do with him?" I yell, going to run after them but being stopped by a hand around my wrist- pulling me back.

"Simon, stop." A stern voice brings me back to my senses as I turn to see who it was, being met with the last person I thought I'd see.

"Josh?"

I immediately break down in tears again as he pulls me into a bone crushing hug, grabbing onto him tightly while I cry into his shoulder.

His hand rubs my back soothingly as I sob loudly, clinging onto him for stability- my brain fuzzy and unclear.

"Josh," I start once I calm down slightly, my voice breaking. "I- I can't lose him.." I bite my lip, holding back more tears as I keep my arms around him tightly.

"You won't, okay?" He murmurs reassuringly, his arms coming around my waist and his chin resting on my shoulder. "The rest of the Sidemen are with him, they'll make sure he's okay."

I swallow dryly and nod, pulling away from his grasp and wiping my eyes. "Can I see him?" I ask hopefully, looking at him with pleading eyes.

He hesitates and doesn't answer, readjusting the backpack slung over his shoulders as he looks around for help- yet no one else is around.

"Josh." I say as sternly as I can, my voice still wavering slightly. "What aren't you telling me?" I demand, furrowing my eyebrows together.

"JJ is definitely going to be in a lot of pain," He starts, my heart dropping at the fact as I nod- looking away from him nervously. "I don't think you're going to want to see him that way, Si."

I sigh and rub my face with my hands out of frustration. "And they can't take him to a hospital, right?" I murmur and he nods, my heart sinking even more.

"Because you guys just robbed a jewellery store." He adds and I roll my eyes at his smart tone, shoving him away slightly as I go to look for the bags of jewels we had collected.

"At least help me grab these, he'd be disappointed if we left them since he got shot over it." I murmur, smiling slightly as I know exactly what his reaction would be- my hand coming up to feel over the necklace still hanging loosely around my neck.

"You really love him, don't you?" Josh asks and I just nod, a smile playing on my lips as I reach to grab two of the bags- him grabbing the other two.

"He's my other half, I don't know what I'd do without him." I murmur and he nods, both of us standing there in a comfortable silence before we hear police sirens- our heads snapping up in attention.