***Trigger warnings for suicidal/self-destructive thoughts, mentions of abuse, and mentions of abortion.***
Wait to start the song.
By the time Josh was being handed a phone, he was too comforted by Hoppus's words to be anxious as he dialled Ashley's number, which he knew by heart but never used. He could do this. Everything would be okay, and he didn't need the help of any saint to speak without stuttering when his sister picked up with an excited, "Oh my god! Josh! Hi, dude. How are you?"
He just took a deep breath and said, "Hey! I'm good, but I kind of need to ask you a big favour."
He heard his sister laugh quietly. "How big?"
"Really big. Like potentially saving someone's life big," Josh informed her.
Silence trickled through the phone for a second before his sister replied, "Shit. Are you safe? What's going on?"
"I'm totally fine. There's just a guard in here who's a friend of mine, and her husband is really fucking evil. He beats the shit out of her all the time, and he treats her like shit. She had to get an abortion three days ago without telling him she was pregnant because she was too afraid to have a baby with him. She's back at work right now because she doesn't have anywhere safe to go while she recovers. I was wondering if-"
"Oh my god. Can she come stay with me? Would she be comfortable with that? She could stay in your room for a while until we can find a way for her to get away from him permanently. Andrew wouldn't mind. I know he wouldn't. She needs to be resting though, and she can't do that in a high security prison. That's insane," his little sister blurted out immediately, making him smile.
Josh laughed. "That's literally why I'm calling you, Ashley. I was going to ask if she could stay with you."
"Yes! Yes! Absolutely! Give her my address and my number, and tell her that she should come here right away after work. I've got toothbrushes and stuff here, so she doesn't need to go back to her house for any reason. Do you think my clothes would fit her? If not, I can get her some stuff. I don't want her going back there."
"I have no fucking idea, dude. I'll let her know though. Thank you. I knew you'd be a good person to call. You were the first person I thought of when she told me," Josh told his sister.
His sister squealed suddenly, making him have to pull the phone away from his ear and startling Hoppus slightly. "Josh! I get to meet one of your friends! This is so exciting!"
Josh laughed, wiping his hand down his face and shaking his head. "Yeah, so on that note, I have two rules."
"Which are?" His sister asked amusedly.
"No embarrassing stories about me," he told her.
"I will break that rule within thirty seconds of meeting her, but please feel free to proceed to the second rule," Ashley replied without hesitation.
"Bitch," he countered amusedly, making her snicker. "Fine. Rule number two is that you can't show her any of my baby pictures because I know you, and I know that's exactly what you're planning right now."
"Well, luckily for me, mom gave me all your baby pictures because I was doing an art project that required me to have baby pictures from everyone in our family, so I will break that rule too," Ashley informed him.
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Lockjaw (Joshler)
Fanfiction"This is how it often goes, sold into captivity so long ago. This is how it often goes. God knows I would know." -Mothers (Lockjaw) As awful as it sounded, Josh's favourite letters were the ones that came from people who, for some reason, thought he...
