Bank It | Tysh

Chapter Three

One by one the hostages filtered out of the darkening bank. Some were sobbing in relief, others shaking profusely as they stumbled over their weak legs, some remained stoic- the only sign of emotion being the slight tremour of their hands or a waver on their lips.

Josh watched them all go with a wide-eyed anticipation of his own fate. There was an odd number of hostages, so he would soon be all alone with the criminals who couldn't seem to stop staring at him.

True to their promise, they had let the pregnant lady, Angela, Josh had learned, go first. She had given Josh a shaky, tight hug and promised to never forget him.

Slightly ominous choice of words, Josh had mused, just because I'm last doesn't mean I'll die. Or, maybe it does? Josh shook his head violently, "stop thinking, stop thinking," he muttered, earning confused glances from the two other hostages left.

Josh breathed deeply, it's all going to be fine, he repeated again and stifled a large yawn. It was around midnight and had thus far been an exhausting day, all Josh really wanted was a warm bed, but at this point he'd just settle for a cold corner to curl up in.

Robbie put down his screwdriver, he couldn't take it. He wanted to talk to him. "What's your name beautiful?" He asked, earning a wide-eyed look from both Josh and the other two robbers. The Joseph brothers never, Ever, made small talk with hostages. Let alone learnt their names.
What is Robbie doing? Tyler communicated to Blaire in a sideways glance.

"Er...Joshua Dun, but everyone calls me Josh," he said, gathering his wits.
"Josh" Tyler said under his breath, it just rolled off the tongue, he liked it. "What about you?" Josh asked.
Robbie laughed, "nice try, our names are classified," he mock whispered and despite everything Josh laughed. Blaire blinked slowly, that sound was absolutely heavenly. One look at Tyler confirmed he felt the same. Robbie shifted slightly. "You look tired." He stated. And it was true, the dark circles under Josh's eyes had grown and he was having trouble keeping the wide orbs open.
"its just been a long day " He muttered, musing on the mess his life was currently.
Tyler leaned forward, he was intrigued now. "Why?" He asked before he could stop himself. He ignored the glare Blaire cast his way. Robbie had started it anyway.
"Well," Josh said with a smile, "the bank I went to was robbed and I ended up in some sort of hostage crisis." Blaire laughed, startled at Josh's dry humour and honesty. Tyler cracked a smile too but pressed for more, "but that's not all is it?" He asked.
"Well, no," Josh admitted.
"What else happened?" Robbie was just as involved at this point.
"My roomate kicked me out this morning," Josh wasn't sure why he was telling them this, but they stared at him so attentively he felt almost... comfortable? Though that changed when he saw their now angered expressions.
"Why the fuck did he do that?" Blaire all but shouted and Josh had to stop himself from flinching.
"Its really nothing," he said awkwardly, fiddling with his shirt.
"Please tell us," Robbie said, leaning closer. They needed to know what had happened to him.
"He...er..." Josh got even more uncomfortable, "he said he loved me, but I didn't feel the same so he kicked me out." There was stony silence for a few seconds, and each of the brothers seemed to get increasingly angry. Tyler's eyes darkened, Robbie clenched his fist, Blaire well, Blaire's entire persona shifted. He stopped being the gruff security guard and became the underground criminal thug.
"So let me get this straight," Blaire said to a wide-eyed Joshua, "because you didn't have "feelings" for this bastard, he thought it was perfectly okay to kick you out your fucking house?"
"Erm... em well it's... it's his apartement, i was just er... renting a room to get through college, he had every right to i... i suppose." The three men exchanged glances and went to say something, but it was at this point the clock struck midnight, snapping them out of their collective reverie.

It was time to send the other two hostages out. They stood up, a mother and a daughter. They'd been huddling in fear the whole time, but now they extended a sympathetic smile to Josh, who nodded back. "I'll be leaving in an hour, just like you," Josh wanted to scream, "stop looking at me with sympathy." They left in a shower of crying and happiness. Josh resented them slightly.

Once the doors had shut and Josh was well and truly alone, the robbers turned to him. "Don't ever say someone is okay to walk all over you baby," Tyler said, and Josh blinked incredulously at the use of "baby." They cooed, fucking cooed, at his confusion. "You're too precious for this world," Robbie gushed. Josh should have been disgusted, should have been scared, but he wasn't. He smiled, mumbling a soft "thankyou." And they smiled back.

The moment was broken by the police megaphone, "would we be able to get the last hostage out early please?" The brothers scowled at the interruption, as Tyler snatched the megaphone off the table. "Now why in the hell would we do that?" Tyler's whole persona had switched completely. Shifting from soft to wicked effortlessly.

Josh winced slightly at the ease with which he transformed, "you see, I think just for the cheek we might keep him an extra hour or so. He's awfully pretty." Tyler didn't know what he was doing. This wasn't in the plan, the carefully structured, well-timed plan he'd spent weeks perfecting. In all of his life Tyler had never gone off script, but something about this tiny boy with his quirky fashion sense and chocalate brown eyes had enticed him. Enticed all of them. And Tyler didn't think he could stand to let the red-haired angel go.

One glance at his brothers confirmed that they felt the same. Robbie was chatting to Josh, trying to distract him from their situation most likely. He was telling him about the time the brothers had bought some cheap fireworks from a shady guy they'd met outside a supermarket. They had promptly gone home and set their entire living room on fire. Their mother was not pleased, but Tyler smiled fondly at the memory anyway. Josh was giggling softly, hand over his mouth and eyes bright. Robbie was smiling too, but in happiness of Josh's happiness. It was foreign to all of them.

Blaire seemed to be in some form of trance, staring at Josh with an expression of absolute focus. As though he was trying to commit every single smile to memory.

God, they were smitten. The most fearless crimelords in the world gushing like school girls. But Tyler didn't care, none of them did. And for the first time since the robbery had began, Tyler knew what needed to be done.

Thankyou for reading, stay amazing.
Bu-Bye!