Lockjaw (Joshler)

34. Teacher

***Trigger warnings for mentions of sexual assault and abuse.***

Start the song. It's Take Care by City and Colour.

Josh was still in a daze when the shift changed, and he barely cried at all when Hoppus left. That was probably because within five seconds of his dad's departure, his best friend was unlocking his cell door and coming in to flop down on his bed beside him. She kissed all over his face, leaving no scrape or bruise unloved, before pulling him in to lay his head on her chest. She held him close without saying a word at first, just letting him feel safe for a moment.

When she did speak, she coaxed him out of the silence with a gentle, "I'm so happy you're safe. I love you so much."

Josh felt his eyelids slip shut, letting out a soft sigh when her fingers ran gently through his hair. "I missed you," he told her honestly.

"I missed you too. I wished you could've come home with me. Your family is really worried, so they kept asking me all kinds of questions that I couldn't answer. Your mom has also decided that it isn't safe for your sisters to visit you unless Andrew is with them, so I told them to hold off visiting until I'd talked to you about that. I hope that's okay. I just didn't want you to have him sprung onto you when you've said more than once that you aren't comfortable meeting him."

Josh opened his eyes and stared at the cinderblock wall in front of him. Some of the buzz of having met Tyler had been wiped away. He traced featherlight patterns onto her stomach through her shirt as he thought about that.

"I don't want to meet him," Josh informed her quietly.

"Okay. That's okay. Your comfort and safety is what's most important, okay?" Frangipane reminded him softly.

Although it felt selfish, he nodded. He hesitated before asking, "Would my mom let them come in if you came too? It's literally your job to handle violent dudes."

"I'll ask," Frangipane assured him. She ran her fingers through his hair again, scratching lightly at his scalp just to make him shiver. "Do you want to talk about what happened during the riot?" She asked hesitantly.

"No," he blurted out within a fraction of a second. He took a deep breath before saying in a less abrupt tone, "Please don't make me talk about it."

"It's completely up to you when and how you tell someone, okay?" She told him comfortingly. "And if you decide the right person to talk to is me, I promise I'll be there to listen without judgment. I know telling people about things like that is really scary and forces you to feel really vulnerable, so I won't force you to talk to me about it. I'll just keep loving you and being your best friend."

"Thanks," Josh whispered back. He wanted to ask her questions about it, about the gaps in time he couldn't fill and about how to survive this part again, but he didn't. He just asked, "Did my family take care of you when you came home last night?"

Frangipane nodded, pressing a kiss to his forehead before telling him, "You sister slept in your room with me because she wanted to make sure I knew I was safe. Riots are harder on female guards than male guards, I think. I held my own, but it definitely felt like being surrounded by hundreds of Geralds. It killed me to leave you here with them, even if I knew most of them were being sent to Facility 1 until repairs are over. I wanted to protect you and bring you home where you didn't have to be afraid anymore, and I couldn't. I felt guilty too because I got to sleep in your bed at your house with your sister, and you were sleeping here."

"I didn't really sleep," Josh admitted. "My dad tried to help me sleep, but I woke up screaming a million times. He was really patient with me, but that had to be hell to put up with when you just want to go home and show your family you're okay."