Lockjaw (Joshler)

24. Teddybear

***Trigger warnings for mentions of abortion, slight symptoms of PTSD, and mentions of abuse.***

Start the song. It's Thingamajig by Miya Folick.

Josh couldn't help but smile when he woke up to kisses being scattered all over his face. He knew the kisses were from Frangipane before he'd even opened his eyes, the smell of her perfume and the feeling of her soft skin remaining just as present beside him as they had been when he'd fallen asleep. She didn't kiss his mouth, allowing him to still have complete control over who kissed his lips and when.

Frangipane giggled when Josh didn't open his eyes yet, just rolling over to bury his face against her throat and wrap his arm snugly around her waist. He had no idea at what point in the night he'd rolled away from her, but he was grateful he had the opportunity to snuggle up against her again before he started off another miserable day of suicide watch.

"Again with the morning wood, huh?" Frangipane teased, making Josh grunt tiredly and smile as he rolled back over to face away from her. Frangipane laughed when he grumbled in dissent as she pulled him backwards until he was the little spoon. "You were smiling in your sleep. You kept rolling over and touching my face to make sure I was still here, and then you'd smile really wide. You didn't wake up at all, but even in your sleep, you were trying to make sure I was still here. I didn't cry about it at all. That's for sure."

Josh laughed tiredly, wanting to roll over and look at her but not wanting to make her uncomfortable. Instead, he settled for letting her press a gentle kiss to his shoulder. "What time is it?" He mumbled, feeling like it was still the middle of the night.

"Six. Someone's probably gonna come by in a bit to make sure I'm still doing okay in here though, and I didn't want you to panic if I had to get out of your bed really quick," Frangipane explained.

"Oh, okay," Josh replied, wiping sleep from his eyes. "Have you been in my bed this whole time?"

Frangipane chuckled. "Yep. I just watched you sleep like a complete weirdo, played with your hair, and made sure nobody could come in to hurt my puppy."

Josh yawned. "It's too bad you can't just sleep. How are you feeling?"

"Lots better. I still kinda want to throw up whenever I think about it, and my body isn't completely back to one hundred percent, but I feel lots better. Plus, Gerald has no fucking clue where to find me because he has no reason to believe I'd be staying with your family," Frangipane reported cheerfully. "He doesn't know that you are my family though."

"This isn't meant to be a loaded question, but do you still feel like you made the right choice?" Josh asked her, looking over his shoulder at her with slightly hazy eyes.

She sighed. "I don't know if there really is a right choice in this situation, but at least the one I made got me out of that house without putting me into another unstable situation. Maybe that's selfish, but-"

"It's not selfish," Josh interjected. "I think it took a lot of strength for you to make that choice. I couldn't have done that. You should be really proud of yourself, dude. You knew this wasn't a good time to have a baby and that your asshole husband couldn't help you, so you did what you had to do, even though it was insanely difficult to do. That's not selfish. You risked way too much for this to be selfish."

There were tears forming in Frangipane's eyes as she listened to him, but she was smiling slightly. When he was finished speaking, she asked quietly, "Am I allowed to kiss you?"

"My breath might be pretty bad, and I don't know if you want me to roll over yet," he told her, making her laugh.

"Believe me. I love you enough to look past your morning problems," she told him amusedly before insisting, "No pressure though. You're completely in control of this, and you don't owe me anything. You can always tell me no."