Robbers - [joshler au]

Chapter 12.

Trigger Warnings

//

Infidelity
Suicidal thoughts
Mention of: death, domestic abuse, drug abuse, sexual abuse / rape
(Please take caution while reading.)

Josh finally forced himself out of bed Friday morning in order to go to school. It took a lot of persuading from Tyler and Brendon to get him to take a full shower and eat breakfast with them, but he was able to do it. Josh was terrified to be away from Tyler for the six or so hours he'd be at school, but all he had to do was remind himself that he would be able to come home to someone who loved him, and it made it easier for him to actually go to his classes.

The day dragged on for him. His classes seemed dreadfully long - even longer than normal - and it seemed like everyone was looking at him, peering into him like they knew what had happened to him. Even the hour and a half break he had between two of his classes seemed to tick by unusually and agonizingly slow, when they normally seemed way too short for him to enjoy.

As he made his way to his last class, he kept his head down. He'd never been this terrified to just be around people, but he'd also never had a reason to really be terrified of people either. As much as he reminded himself that what happened to him wasn't his fault, he still couldn't shake the constant fear eating away at him. He was always going to carry the fear that it would happen again. While wrapped up in his thoughts, he felt his body collide with another on a stretch of sidewalk a few buildings over from his, knocking him right on his back. "Shit," the person said, "I am so sorry. Are you okay?"

Josh looked up at the person, taking in his appearance. He was tall - ridiculously tall - with brown hair and blue eyes, a concerned look etching his features. Josh shook his head gently as he stood up, ignoring the guy's outstretched hand. "I'm fine," he mumbled, barely audible. "Excuse me." He pushed past the guy without another word, leaving him standing on the sidewalk, staring after him with a guilty expression on his face.

Josh kept his head down the rest of the way to his class, not making eye contact with anyone, but still paying enough attention to not bump into someone again. He made it to his class with a few minutes to spare, slinking into a seat near the back of the room and pulling out his textbook and notebooks. After a moment, he felt someone's presence beside him and looked over in time to see the stranger he bumped into sliding in the seat next to him.

"Hi," the stranger said. "I'm really sorry about knocking you over earlier. I'm clumsy at the best of times, but never really 'knock over a stranger' clumsy, y'know?"

Josh blinked. "You followed me to my class to make sure you apologized to me?"

The stranger's face fell slightly. "I'm, uh," he started nervously, "I'm actually in this class."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "I've been in this class since the beginning of the semester and I've never seen you."

The stranger smiled brightly. "I just transferred from Utah," he said happily. "I've been here about a week, now. I like Ohio a lot better than Utah. Don't tell my parents, though."

Josh felt his lips twitch up slightly. "Well," he started sincerely, "apology accepted."

The stranger smiled and stuck his hand out happily. "I'm Dallon," he said with a wide smile.

Josh looked at his hand for a moment, eventually reached his hand over to cautiously shake the man's - Dallon's - hand. "I'm Josh."

Dallon nodded gently. "Well, Josh " he said amusedly, "I suck at logistics, so you think you could help me out here?"