***Trigger warnings for panic attacks, a gay slur, and mentions of sedation.***
Wait to start the song.
Josh didn't call Tyler to ask him to come back later that day. He would've, but he slept through the whole day and the night that followed, totalling twenty hours of sleep. When he woke up at four in the morning of the following day, his body was still curled up into a ball, but it was also curled up around Frangipane, who was reading a book from his bookshelf calmly as she allowed him to remain wrapped around her like a python.
She didn't realize he was awake until he mumbled groggily, "Whatcha readin'?" His eyelids were too heavy to keep open, so he let them slip closed again.
His muscles relaxed once again when her hand gently smoothed across his back. "To Kill a Mockingbird. How are you feeling, sleepyhead?"
"Did they sedate me?" He mumbled against her side.
"Not at first. You slept about four hours before you had a nightmare that was gonna wake you up. The warden made Blackett bring a doctor in to sedate you so you'd keep sleeping without bad dreams. I guess you had a little breakdown in front of a visitor yesterday, so they wanted to make sure you got enough sleep. That's what I heard, at least," Frangipane reported, her hand leaving Josh's back just long enough for her to turn the page in her book before she was rubbing his back again.
A little huff left Josh's lips. "He's probably never coming back now, huh?"
"Who?" Frangipane asked calmly. When Josh hesitated, she gasped. "Your guy? Oh my god! He came to see you again?"
"Probably for the last time. I cried and stuff in front of him, and I stuttered really bad. He was nice about it, but I probably scared the shit out of him," Josh told her regretfully.
"If he doesn't come back after that, he doesn't deserve you," was all she had to say about that. "Want me to go take a little walk while you go pee? You haven't peed in twenty hours. Blackett kept saying you were gonna pee your pants if they didn't let you wake up when you needed to, but thankfully it didn't come to that."
"I need you to stop talking about my pee, you fucking pervert," Josh told her tiredly, smiling when she laughed at that.
"If I was a pervert, I wouldn't have given you the option of peeing in privacy," she pointed out.
Josh yawned before burying his face against her side, just below her armpit. She laughed again.
"Hey, puppy. What's got you so snuggly all the sudden?" She asked amusedly.
Josh let out another lazy huff of air. "You smell like my house," he told her.
Frangipane chuckled. "Yeah, well, I live with your sister. We use the same laundry detergent, so it could be that."
"You don't smell like smoke," Josh added, keeping his face tucked away against the fabric of her shirt, which smelled so much like home that he felt like he was there right now.
"I'm trying to quit smoking. I've tried a few times, but no luck so far," she replied. "Your sister's really sweet about it. She tries to help and stuff. There's only so much she can do, but the support is helpful."
Josh nodded, feeling a little bit of resentment spark inside of him at that. Ashley hadn't even been in contact with him when he'd been trying to quit smoking. He had to do that without any help from his family whatsoever. It was hard to not feel jealous of the support Frangipane was getting from his family when they hadn't given any to him. Of course, Josh didn't say any of that to Frangipane.
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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...
