Birthdaypresent(s) [Broshler]

Change of plans

Deep breath. Go.

"It's T-."

Josh couldn't finish his scentence as his phone started ringing, disturbing the slightly unnerving silence after Josh's denial. He regretted not saying, this was his chance, but the second he tried again, his phone rang. Apparently now was not the time to confess.

He climbed off of Brendon to reach for his cellphone, his chest tightening when he saw it was Grace, Brendon's mom. "It's your mom..." he mumbled, confused about why she'd call him, and not her own son.

Josh sat up quickly, Brendon following with a concerned look on his face but shrugging.

"Hi?"

"What!?"

"Is he okay!?"

"Oh my god. Yes. I'm coming right now."

"No. Yes. I will be careful. Yes, oh thank you so much. Thank you."

"I don't know. Please let me know if you hear anything."

"Yes. Thank you for calling me."

"Yes. Love you too, bye."

Brendon frowned when Josh ended the call, staring at his phone without speaking. "Josh?"

"Jordan is in hospital. I have to go." He started to clumsily crawl off the bed, tripping over his own feet, trembling.

"Baby, baby, come here." Brendon hurried, pulling Josh's arm to make him turn to him. All the color had drained from the younger's face, eyes frantically shooting across the room and his own body as if trying to think of every step he had to do now. Get dressed. Get phone and keys. Get in the car. Get to Jordan.

"Breathe for me. One second. Please." Josh nodded, taking a deep breath as Brendon's hands cupped his cheeks. "What did my mom say?"

Josh exhaled deeply. "Jordan is in the hospital. Police called your parents because he had them as emergency contact. She doesn't know exactly what happened because she's not family, but she convinced the police not to call them. She called me, with the police officer next to her."

"I need to go", Josh's bottom lip trembled.

"Baby, i'm not going to let you drive like this, and i'm not going to let you go alone. I'm coming with you."

"Brendon, no, you don't ha-."
"I'm driving. Now get dressed."

——

"What if they found out, Bren? What if my parents found out Jordan is still in touch with me? What if they found out he visited us? What if-."

Brendon reached out for Josh's hand, squeezing gently when Josh gratefully accepted. "Try to call my mom again, maybe she figured something out. My mom never gives up."

Josh nodded. "I feel bad for them, getting in to this all now..."
"Hey. First of all we don't even know if your family has anything to do with this. And second of all, believe me please, my parents do not mind. You're family, he's family. They'll watch over him untill we get there, without a doubt okay? Don't feel bad."

"Mom? Hi. Yeah. Did you hear anything?"

"Surgery!? Oh my god..." Josh's voice cracked.

"We'll be there in about 3,5 hours... Okay."

"Thank you. Bye."

Josh's lip trembled, as he dropped his phone to his lap. Hiding his face behind his hands, he sobbed. Brendon quickly slid his hand into the younger's neck, squeezing softly as trying to keep focussed on the road.

"T-they... He's in s-surgery and won't even tell your parents why."

"I'm so sorry babe", Brendon whispered, just rubbing the younger's neck until he calmed down eventually.

Numbly staring out the window, Josh was startled when Brendon started speaking after a while.

He looked at Brendon, noticing the tiniest hint of a smile on the olders lips. Brendon's eyes quickly darted to Josh's. "I love you. So much. Okay?"

"O-okay?"

"Even if you, or me, ever would possibly feel something for someone else too. I will always love you like this."

...

"Even when your messed up family strikes again, even if we have to move every year, even if we have to hide and run for the rest of our lives, I love you."

Josh just swallowed as tears welled up in his eyes again. "I just stopped crying, now you're going to make me start again, asshole." He muttered softly, but smiling.

"And I love it when you call my mom 'mom'. It makes me fucking soft", Brendon groaned then, playing as if he was utterly frustrated by it.

Josh smiled softly as he stared out his window, not even really noticing how the trees went by one by one. "I hope they, and you too, realize how much they mean to me. I really hope they do." He sighed softly. "First I was jealous, I didnt understand why I had these crazy parents... Why didnt I deserve supportive, loving parents?"

He spoke softly, shaking his head as Brendon wanted to reply. "I know it doesn't work that way. Just does felt like it at times. Before I didnt even realize there were people, parents, like yours. I've never felt so normal and accepted as I feel with you and them."

"Well I think you're a lot more than just 'normal', but I get what you're saying", Brendon winked. "And don't worry, they know how you feel towards them."

Josh nodded, fingers fumbling nervously with the phone in his lap. "What if we run into my family, Bren..?" He nearly whispered, scared that if he said it out loud, it might actually come true. "What if they know by now and they're there?"

Brendon sighed, sounding slightly defeated. "I don't know baby, we'll deal with it then. Dont worry about that just yet. They might not even be there." He tried to calm Josh, but wasn't able to be very convincing. Josh nodded anyway, knowing Brendon was just trying to help him.

"I'm scared Bren... I hope Jordan is going to be okay", Josh whispered then, voice too unsure to speak. Brendon just nodded softly, answering a "me too, babe." As he brought Josh's hand towards his lips and kissed the back of his hand. "Me too."