Lockjaw (Joshler)

12. Puppy

***Trigger warning for mentions of abuse.***

Start the song. It's Arms Unfolding by dodie.

Josh awakened through a haze of confusion the next morning when he felt someone climb into his bed with him. He blinked his eyes open dazedly before smiling slightly when Frangipane grabbed his cheeks and tilted his head down to kiss his forehead.

"Told you I'd come back," she singsonged as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm working a double too, so you've got me all day."

It was a strange experience for Josh to have someone be this comfortable with him, but he craved it now. He wasn't sure how he would have coped if yesterday was the only day of his life that someone treated him the way Officer Frangipane did. This was so nice though. It made him feel genuinely safe and happy for once.

"Here," Josh grumbled sleepily, handing her the boot that she had entrusted him with.

She laughed and dropped it on the floor before wrapping her arms around him again, pulling one of his arms around her waist when he was too timid to do it himself. "I knew I could trust you," she told him, her smile audible in her voice. "Anyway, you can go back to sleep. It's like five in the morning. I just wanted to make sure you knew I came back to see you."

"Oh. Okay," Josh replied quietly, already moving to release her so she could leave him.

Frangipane laughed and pulled his arm around her waist again, drawing him in closer so his head rested against her chest. His heart was thundering in his chest, and every nerve in his body was moving a mile a minute as he listened to her heartbeat and revelled in being close enough to do that. His muscles tightened instinctively when her fingertips began to trail along his back, but all it took was a few gentle reassuring words from Frangipane for his body to relax.

"You're safe. It's okay," she told him in a tender whisper. "Is it too overwhelming to try to go to sleep with me here?"

"Yeah, but I don't want you to leave," Josh admitted instinctively.

She nodded, rubbing his back with her soft palm as she pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead. "What if I just sit in the chair by the bed and hold your hand again? Would that make it easier to sleep?"

Giving up having her this close seemed like a profound loss. He wanted her to be as close to him as possible until he didn't get to see her anymore. She seemed to understand that when he didn't respond, holding him closer instead of pushing him away.

"We might be squishing the Snickers in my pocket," she told him, making the corners of his lips tug up just slightly.

"That's okay," he replied quietly. He lifted his head to make a joke about it, but that was the first time actually looked at Frangipane's face. "You have a black eye. What happened?" He asked worriedly.

She shrugged, brushing it off. "It's nothing," she replied dismissively.

Josh sat up though, taking her face in his hand and turning it to inspect the injury. She'd covered it with makeup, but the bruising was dark enough to still be visible. She watched him as if she was expecting him to either laugh at her or bruise the other eye. He did neither of those things. He pulled her up into a hug instead.

"You know that you deserve better than this, right?" He asked her quietly. "That no one should ever hurt you like that?"

It took a second for Frangipane to hug him back, but she didn't seem to want to let go once she did. She sniffled against his shoulder, kissing it softly. "Promise me that when you get out of here, you'll know better than to wind up with someone who only uses 'I love you' as a bandaid after they hurt you."