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reivenesque · 6 years

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Bravetown Fic, Injured!Josh H/C

A/N: I admit that the word count got away from me a little at 7K words strong. And unfortunately not everyone in the movie was given a name, but through my keen power of observation, I have deduced that at least two other member of the dance team actually has names that I can use, as can be seen here.

Dedicated to my partner in crime @thehemingwaygoldfish who has only herself to thank for making my Lucas obsession the way it is today. And also to everyone that we have recruited into the Lucas Till Appreciation Fan Club over the last couple of days.

What Was Once Lost

It felt like he was emerging from the depth of a watery prison. Everything was fuzzy and distorted, too white and too bright and his hearing and every other sense he possessed was muffled and inaudible.

Where was he? How did he get there?

He couldn’t concentrate on anything besides the overwhelming feeling of emptiness that gripped him tight and the fear that blanketed him like a shadow.

There was numbness, the terrifying kind, and also fear; the foreboding kind that you just couldn’t escape no matter how fast you ran.

But Josh wasn’t running, on the contrary, it felt like he had lead appendages attached to his body instead of limbs. His entire left side felt like it wasn’t even attached to the rest of him, like there was an empty space where his left arm and the left part of his chest used to be. If he concentrated enough, he could still almost feel it there; his lungs expanding and contracting with every painful breath he inhaled.

He didn’t know where he was and he didn’t know how he got there. He couldn’t even open his eyes to look around at his surroundings. The only thing he could do was concentrate on breathing in and out and in and out and try not to let his fear overpower him and panic. He couldn’t move his body. He couldn’t feel his limbs. He couldn’t even open his eyes to look at what was happening around him or at the muffled sounds of voices he could sometimes hear through the suffocating white haze.

His body hurt all over, and at the same time, he couldn’t really feel anything, it was a very bizarre sensation and a very scary situation to be in.

Once in a while he could hear the sound of voices speaking somewhere in the distance; sometimes they would appear close, as if they were just within reaching distance, and sometimes they would seem like they were coming from miles away underwater.

It was scary and it was lonely, and even though Josh thought he’d grown used to the feeling, it didn’t make it any less terrifying.

The walls were white, and the sun was shining over the tree tops outside the window.

That was the first thing Josh saw; the first thing that he managed to focus on once he got his own eyes to open. His eyelids felt like they were weighed down with weights and steel and opening them was the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life but the sight that came into focus didn’t answer the burning questions that raged inside his mind.

Where was he? How did he get there? What happened?

The second thing he noticed was that he couldn’t move his left arm at all; he could barely feel whether it was still attached to his shoulder but he was too afraid to look, plus the effort that would be required to turn his head to the side was more than he was willing to muster up.

It came to him in pieces like a jigsaw puzzle falling into place.

Feeling a hard shove against his back – stumbling forward into the street – the sound of tyres skidding on pavement – a crash – the most excruciating pain he’d ever felt in his life – then nothing but white noise.

His eyes flew open. He hadn’t even realized they’d slipped shut again.

The memory brought on an influx of pain that he all of a sudden could feel through every nerve ending.

He remembered brushing off another confrontation with Mary’s whathisface ex. He remembered walking away. He remembered Mary and Angie shouting his name and the fear that coated their words. He remembered stumbling forward, between the two parked cars on the side of the road, unable to stop the unexpected acceleration of his step and the run down old caddie that all of a sudden appeared right in front of him. He didn’t remember the impact, only that all of a sudden he was crashing into the guy’s windscreen and rolling off the hood to land hard on the unyielding pavement below.

Death was close, he could feel it, and in that moment a part of himself embraced its approach with open arms. At least he couldn’t be a burden to anyone anymore.

But he didn’t die, that much was obvious. He was probably in the hospital judging by the whiteness of the walls and the staleness of the air surrounding him.

And he was alone, which was the part that surprised him the least. It wasn’t the first time it happened anyway so he was neither surprised nor disappointed. It was just life as he’d come to expect.

He didn’t have to look to know that his arm was fucked and he found himself a lot less sad than he thought he’d be. It was just as well, things were going too right in his life at that point, the hammer was bound to fall at some point, and obviously it had.

He was alone in the hospital, his arm was most likely broken, he could tell his shoulder at least was messed up, but for some reason he found that he was just too exhausted to care. Perhaps the reality of the situation was taking its sweet time to dawn on him, and maybe once it finally did he’d be sadder than he was at that time; perhaps he’d even cry like a little bitch, but at that moment, he was just too damn tired.

It was an unexpected snore that pulled him back into reality and he forced himself to turn his head to the side, watching the open door on his left and the couple of nurses that had just walked by, and glancing up at the hard plastic seat at his bedside – and the sleeping figure folded uncomfortably in it.

“Dad?”

That was the absolute first thing that came to mind when his brain finally registered the sight he was looking at.

The word spoken was barely above a whisper, but the man was startled into consciousness like it had been shouted at him through a bullhorn.

“Josh?” he said, his voice groggy from sleep. It didn’t seem like he fully registered the sight of the blue eyes staring up at him from the hospital bed, but when it did, he almost leapt to his feet, leaning down over the bed immediately, one had reaching over to brush some wayward strands of hair back from where it was sticking to his forehead. The action seemed like it came almost naturally and Josh didn’t know how to react. “You’re awake,” he said, the tone of his voice coated thick with relief.

“What happened?” he asked. His dad’s palm felt cool on his skin and he subconsciously found himself leaning into the touch.

“You don’t remember?”

He shook his head.

“You got into a fight with one of the boys from school and he shoved you into the street – into oncoming traffic,” his dad explained. “You’ve been unconscious for three days,” he said.

Josh didn’t know how to respond to that. His dad’s words only confirmed what he’d suspected, but to actually hear it being said really drove the reality of the situation home.

“My… My arm?” he asked, willing his voice not to get choked up by the words. Despite what he told himself, he really was afraid. Music was his life – it was his passion, and to not be able to do it anymore… that would be the absolute worst thing he could possibly imagine.

His dad looked sympathetic and Josh willed himself not to tear up. “You broke your collarbone and dislocated your shoulder,” he said, “You also fractured your wrist, but the doctor said that that injury was really quite minor; you took the brunt of the impact with his shoulder when you slammed into the windscreen. You also have a couple of broken ribs,” he explained.

It was funny, the more his dad spoke; describing his injuries, the more he could feel them coming to life in a way; he felt his shoulder first, then his wrist and all of a sudden the whole area of his chest felt like it was on fire. He forced himself not to show the pain so obviously on his face.

“Your friends were here. They’ve been here the whole time. They actually just stepped out for a moment before you woke up.”

At that point, Josh could still hear his dad talking, but nothing coming out of his mouth made a lick of sense. His whole body was in agony and he could barely force himself to inhale and exhale the necessary amount of oxygen to keep himself conscious. Even breathing hurt. He clenched his eyes shut to try and block out the pain, but it still came at him without mercy.

He could hear the concern in his dad’s voice and the fear; and for a minute he didn’t understand what could have happened to elicit such a response from the man. It couldn’t have been because of him? Could it?

His mom never cared when he got hurt in the past, after all, why would she? She never wanted him. She probably would have been just as happy – if not happier had he never been born. His dad didn’t care about him at all; otherwise he wouldn’t have left him behind like that. So why would he be concerned now by the unwanted child he got saddled with against his will?

Despite it all; despite his fear and his sadness and the overwhelming sense of self-loathing that came over him – the feel of his father’s hand on his forehead, the sensation of his fingers running through his hair and the sound of his voice in his ear saying, ‘It’s okay, Josh, just rest. I’ll be right here when you wake up,’ – it brought him such a sense of comfort and peace unlike anything he ever felt before, that he found himself drifting off, his own voice sounding like a stranger’s when it said, “Please don’t leave, dad.”

The second time around consciousness came back to him with just as much difficulty. It was like trudging through mud and quicksand that kept trying to pull him under and suffocate him and he couldn’t even use his arms to pull himself out. He couldn’t move or speak or scream for help. He could do nothing but feel himself being pulled deeper and deeper into the ground and watch as the light of the white sun above his head slowly getting swallowed up by the darkness.

All it took was one word to pull him up out of the depths.

“Josh?”

He tried looking for the source of the voice but all he could see was infinite darkness.

He felt a hand on his arm; the touch was warm and comforting and he tried reaching out to grasp onto it but be couldn’t lift his arms.

“Josh, it’s Angie, I’m right here, okay? You’re okay now, just… don’t panic. You’re okay.”

He knew an Angie; she was one of the dancers he mixed music for; one of the first ones to come up to him for help that day and the one who came to him and talked him into coming back when he walked out. He liked Angie; she always had such a warm smile on her face and a calm and reassuring presence. She probably came to say goodbye because he was of no use to them anymore. He couldn’t mix their music and he had nothing beyond that to contribute to the group. At least she had the decency to tell him to his face instead of ignoring his calls in hopes that he’d get the message himself and just go away.

He was used to rejection, but it never lessened the pain of it happening.

She was smiling down at him when he eventually managed to open his eyes.

“Hey,” she said, her hand reaching over to grasp his uninjured shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “How’re you feeling?”

“Been better,” he groaned, winching when he shifted slightly and felt a sharp pain stabbing into his side.

“I bet,” she said, lowering herself down to sit perched on the side of the mattress on his right side. “Should I wake you dad and tell him you’re up?”

He heard the question but for a second it didn’t really make any sense, until he turned to look at his side and saw his dad sleeping in the same position in the same chair that he’d last saw him in.

“Your dad told us you woke up for a while the other day just as we’d stepped out and everyone was really disappointed that we missed it,” she said.

Once again, he could see her lips moving and she was speaking English, but nothing she was saying made any sense whatsoever.

“When was that?” he asked, feeling unnerved by the amount of time he’d lost and not realized.

“Umm, it was yesterday morning,” she said. “You were out of it for almost three days before that, and you were in so much pain yesterday that the doctors had to knock you out again.”

He’d lost four whole days; he didn’t even know what day it was or even what was actually happening, because with every word that came out his dad and Angie’s mouth, he found his confusion growing more and more.

Why were they there? They didn’t have to be. What did they want from him? He had nothing to give any of them anymore. He found his confusion quickly morphing into frustration and anger and he didn’t know where to even begin directing it.

“You know, your dad hasn’t left the hospital since you were brought in,” she said and all of a sudden Josh felt his growing anger abruptly fizzling out.

“What? Why?” He asked. He knew his question and his tone baffled Angie, he could see the emotion clearly on her face.

“What do you mean why? He’s your dad right?”

He didn’t know where to even begin the explanation. There really wasn’t one; Angie didn’t know, none of them knew about him, about his history and about his parents or anything about his past and he was adamant on keeping it that way.

“Never mind,” he said instead. “Why are you here though?”

She looked hurt by the question, he could tell, but he just couldn’t find any other nicer way to get his point across. He didn’t really want her there; he didn’t want any of them there. He didn’t want their sympathy or their pity; he knew what was coming and he just wanted to get over and done with and pretend that he never came to that stupid town and he never met those stupid people.

“I was worried about you. We all were,” she said. “You didn’t see yourself when it happened, you… we all thought you were going to die, Josh,” she added, her voice shaking slightly and her eyes starting to glisten with slowly pooling tears. “We were so scared – Tony couldn’t stop crying and your dad… you dad was freaking out. You might find that hard to believe, but it’s true. I… I don’t know what happened to you in the past to make you this way, but people here – we, Josh, we all care about you. We worry about you because you’re our friend.”

He had plenty of friends back in New York. Everyone he met wanted to be his friend, but where were all his friends when he needed them? Where were they when he needed friends, or even just one friend? They left the moment he stopped being fun, when he stopped being able to help them, when he had nothing else to offer them apart from his friendship. The word friend didn’t mean the same thing to him as it obviously meant to her, so he kept quiet. But Angie didn’t seem discouraged at all.

“Maybe you don’t believe me, and that’s okay, I don’t want to force you to feel something you don’t,” she said. “But I want you to know that unfortunately for you, you’re stuck with us, for better or for worse. And trust me, Josh, I may be small, but I’m also the most determined person you’ll ever meet in your life.” That comment managed to elicit a small smile; if nothing else it was because of the sheer tenacity of it. He knew first-hand how determined she could be. “So… whatever happened to you before, just… don’t give up on us yet, okay? You didn’t give up on us then, please don’t start now.”

If there was something Josh could respect, it was passion, and Angie exuded it like an aura in both her dancing and in her personality. He couldn’t help but fall for her charms a second time as easily as he did the first time around. “Okay,” he said.

“Okay,” she repeated with a wide smile. Reaching over to grasp his hand in hers and holding it tight on her lap.

He drifted off feeling her eyes still staring at him intently and he found it more comforting than creepy.

The third time he dragged himself out of the darkness, it was much easier and less painful. The pain he’d felt constantly even with all the painkillers the doctors were pumping into him had dulled into a throbbing ache that hovered over him like a cloud, but it was a level of pain he could manage. It was at least tolerable.

This time the first thing he did when he woke up was look to his left, the seat his father had apparently been occupying for the better part of four days, and found it empty.

He didn’t know how he really felt about it. He wasn’t surprised, but the disappointment that bubbled up inside him wouldn’t stop making its nefarious presence known.

“Annie dragged your dad out to get coffee and some fresh air,” said a voice. A familiar masculine one and Josh didn’t know whether to groan first or roll his eyes; he opted for both at the same time before turning to look at the familiar face sitting half sprawled in the chair that had been occupied by Angie a few hours – days? – ago. He really didn’t know how much time has passed.

“Are you known for going out to hunt for your patients when they miss their sessions like this?” he asked, his throat felt dry and speaking was a chore but the mere presence of the other man just seemed to bring it out of him.

“Only when they go and almost get themselves killed. I feel like it’s my obligation to go check on them and make sure they’re okay,” he said with a lopsided grin. The silence lasted for a moment before Alex rightened himself in his seat, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “In all seriousness… I’m really glad you’re okay, Josh.”

Josh sighed. “Define okay,” he said with a pained moan when an inadvertent movement jarred his injured shoulder.

He’d only managed to pluck up the courage to glance down and assess the actual damage to his arm. Thankfully the worst of it was hidden by layers of bandages wrapped snug around his chest, collarbone and shoulder; his arm strapped tight to his chest by some kind of over embellished sling. His wrist was wrapped securely in a black brace and his entire arm half covered by the hospital gown that had been draped over him.

“By okay, I mean alive and breathing,” Alex said, his words slightly teasing but the tone underneath it thick with barely concealed emotion.

“Fair enough,” he said. He needed to find a more comfortable position; his back was killing him but he was terrified of moving even an inch. Alex seemed to notice because he got to his feet and hovered close over him.

“You need me to do something, kid?” he asked in concern.

Josh clenched his eyes shut and tried no to grimace. “My back hurts,” he said, “But I can’t move.”

He didn’t open his eyes even when he felt Alex shuffling around him. “Do you want me to get the doctor?” he asked and Josh quickly shook his head. “What do you need me to do?”

Josh didn’t know either. He didn’t want doctors or nurses; he just wanted the pain to stop, he just wanted everything to stop.

His mind was overloaded with the dark thoughts he couldn’t control or keep at bay; his mom’s words from that night; Mary’s words telling him that he didn’t understand how it felt to be abandoned; seeing his dad for the first time and realizing that despite the façade he put on, deep down he didn’t hate the man, he just wanted him to be there, he wanted him to care about him and love him and be a father to him. He was ashamed of his own thoughts that he couldn’t even bring himself to look his father in the face whenever they were together.

He felt himself being lifted gently onto his right side and the soft feeling of a pillow being pressed up against his back. He felt another one being tucked under his injured arm so it had something to rest on instead of being pulled down by gravity and putting pressure on his ribs.

The lack of pressure on his back quickly lessened his pain and after a while he finally managed to force his eyes back open.

Alex was once again sitting in the chair in his line of sight, his elbows on his knees and leaning forward slightly towards him. “Better?” he asked, and Josh thought he imagined the way his voice shook slightly when he said the word. He couldn’t bring himself to reply, his throat felt dry and the words just wouldn’t come to him, so he just nodded. “I’m glad,” said Alex as he reached over to pat him on the thigh. “Try and get some rest, Josh, you’ve been through a lot over the last couple of days, no one expects you to be a hundred-percent right off the bat. You still have a lot of healing to do.”

Josh couldn’t argue with that, so he didn’t. Instead he held Alex’s reassuring gaze until he felt his eyes slowly slipping shut and his consciousness drifting away to white.

The fourth time he woke up – or was it the fifth time – he really didn’t know, he couldn’t keep track; his dad was there, standing in the corner staring out the window. He didn’t make a move to let him know he was awake, instead he just watched his dad watching the scenery beyond the window.

He looked a little like his dad, he thought, or maybe that was just him projecting his emotions into something he desperately hoped was there; something he maybe had in common with the man besides his DNA. He didn’t know anything about him, and he was sure the man didn’t know anything about him either. But that was less of a shocker. His mom didn’t know anything about him at all and he lived with her all his life.

“Dad?” he called out before his brain could even register his mouth moving to speak.

The bright smile that spread across his face when he turned around and found Josh staring at him was unnerving; he didn’t know what to think about it. His mom never looked happy; at least she never looked happy when she was around him. He always suspected the reason why but it didn’t hurt any less when she confirmed what he’d known all along. He couldn’t even recall the last time he saw his own mom’s smile.

“Welcome back, son,” he said and Josh would never admit it, but there was a warmness that spread inside his gut from hearing his dad use the word son to call him. “How are you feeling?”

He could have said his usual line; the words he always fell back on when a situation seemed to be going towards an uncomfortably emotional route. He could have said ‘I’m fine’ and he knew his dad wouldn’t think of calling him out on it, their relationship was still too rocky, still on such a precarious ground that he wouldn’t think of calling his lie. But instead, he said; “Not too well.” And it was the truth.

He could see on his dad’s face that he realized the enormity of the three little words; the unsaid offer he was extending; allowing him leeway to try and get to know his son a little better and not just getting completely shut out, because that’s what Josh was to him: his son, and he was still Josh’s dad and until that moment, Josh was afraid of acknowledging those two undeniable facts.

“Can I do anything?” he asked, walking over and taking the vacant seat in front of him.

Josh just shook his head. He saw his dad’s face fall a little so he quickly added. “Just… please just stay.”

The smile on his dad’s face was priceless. “I can do that,” he said. Josh’s own smile came easily to his face after that.

“Have you been here the entire time?” he asked.

“Of course, Josh,” he said, “We were all very worried about you. Your friends – they’ve been coming and going every day since. Even your principal’s been by a few times to see how you’re doing; and of course your counselor. People at school ask about you all the time as well from what I hear – you’ve become quite the popular guy, I take it.”

Josh decided not to comment. “What about… um – about… the guys who…” he trailed off though he knew his dad understood who he was referring to.

“The ones who were directly involved were expelled. Your principal was furious,” he explained. “Though they were taken to the station after it happened, considering they’re minors, I don’t think any of them are going to be seeing any serious jail time, probably probation, of course, unless you decide that you want to press charges.”

Josh just shook his head. He didn’t really want to give any of them any more thought beyond what was already seared into his mind. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it. On one hand, he wouldn’t wish prison on anyone, not even any of those guys. On the other hand, he was suffering the consequences of their stupid jealousy. All the pain he’d gone through, everything he was suffering through, it was because of a couple of dumb ass teenagers couldn’t let go of a grudge. It was frustrating and infuriating. He didn’t know if he’d ever be able to do music again, and it was all their fault.

“You okay?”

He shook his head a fraction. “Not really… I’m just tired.”

“If you need to rest, son, I can –”

“Not that kind of tired,” he interjected quickly. “Just… tired about everything, about life… about… I don’t know… why did you leave?” he asked out of the blue.

His dad, to his credit, looked like he’d been waiting for that question for a while. He just sighed, scrubbing his face with the palm of his hand. “Back then, when your mom knew me… I was… I was a messed up guy – a terrible person. Not a person cut out to raise a family. It’s no excuse, I know that and I won’t try and make it out to be one,” he said. “Just uh… when she told me she was pregnant – I got scared; just the idea of it messed with my head, you know? I was a coward and a useless piece of shit and I ran and I didn’t look back.

“When I finally managed to get my life back together and on track, I thought it was already too late. You were grown and probably angry and I just let my own fear and self-doubt consume me. I know there’s nothing I can do or say that will ever really make up for it, but if it’s okay with you – if-if you want to… I would love to be a part of your life from now on. I won’t make up for the past, but I hope… I hope at some point I’ll be able to be the father you deserve.”

Josh didn’t know what he really expected to gain from the answer to the question that had been burning at the edge of his mind all his life; solace perhaps, maybe even peace, but on the inside he still felt empty. His dad’s words had answered the question, but it didn’t really afford him any sort of closure.

“Mom said she never wanted to have me,” he said.

“She told you that?” his dad asked, his brows furrowed. When Josh nodded, he added; “When?”

“When I was leaving to come here,” he said.

He surprised himself by how easily the words came tumbling out. He heard his dad curse under his breath and it gave him a small sort of satisfaction to hear the concealed anger and regret it indicated. He’d always felt so alone in everything, mainly because he never allowed himself to open up to let another person in. Eventually not saying anything to anyone became his default mode, but considering the company he kept with back in New York, it was probably for the best.

But right then, coming to know his father for all of a couple of months after a lifetime of hating his guts, the man was proving himself to be a better parent than his mom ever was.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that. No one should ever have to hear those words being said to them, especially from their parent, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you growing up – it is and will remain my biggest regret in life. I just hope that it’s not too late to try and mend these fences because I want to get to know you better, Josh, I want to be in your life and I want you to be in mine. I want to be the father you never had – if you’ll let me.”

Josh found himself at a loss for words.

Here was his dad, the man who left him and his mom before he was even born; the man he’d thought so many terrible things about and couldn’t remember not hating at any point in his life. Here he was offering him something he only ever dreamt of, something he could only look at from a distance when he was younger; something he could remember wanting from the time he was old enough to have conscious thought.

It was all he ever wanted and being faced with the possibility of it all of a sudden, especially when he was in such a vulnerable position, Josh couldn’t remember how to speak to properly convey his feelings.

Thankfully they were interrupted before he could open his mouth and no doubt mess up the perfectly good bonding moment they were having.

“Josh!”

Josh inadvertently flinched when the figure came barreling through the door and over to his bedside; he was still lying on his uninjured side and couldn’t muster up the energy to turn around to see who else had walked through the door.

But Tony ran up to him at full speed and skidded to an abrupt halt just as Josh subconsciously braced himself for the impact of the small figure barreling into him.

“Josh!” he cried again; the smile wide on his face but the glistening of his eyes told a different story, “You’re awake! I’m so happy to see you. I missed you so much!”

Josh couldn’t help but smile at that. “I missed you too, Tony,” he said, and he was being absolutely truthful.

“Are you feeling better? I wanted to stay the whole time, but Mary made me leave. She said I shouldn’t overwhelm you too much because you were still really hurt.”

“Mary wasn’t wrong, but I appreciate you being here,” he said, and he could see the way Tony almost beamed at his words.

“Of course, man. I got your back, right?” he said with a wide grin.

“Right,” said Josh, though his smile was tired and didn’t reach his eyes.

“Tony, what did I tell you about annoying Josh too much?” Came the new voice, familiarly disgruntled and if the irritated tone didn’t amuse Josh enough, Tony’s eye roll and disgusted groan certainly did.

“But Josh said it’s okay! Don’t be such a sourpuss, Mary.”

“Sorry,” said Mary as she walked up, “I tried to get him to stay home but he refused to listen.”

“It’s okay,” he said with a smile. “I appreciate the company.”

“See, Mary?”

“Shut up, squirt,” she said, giving him a small shove out of the way, but she was smiling and so was he.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked immediately when she sidled up to the spot his dad had vacated; he vaguely heard his dad’s ‘I’ll give you give some time to catch up’ before he left.

To be frank, he was getting pretty tired of everyone asking whether he was feeling better and whether he was ‘alright?’ But he forced himself to push down those negative feelings and just give them a simple nod in return. He wasn’t feeling okay but they didn’t really need to know that.

“Are you up for company?” she asked, “Cause the guys are all here as well.”

He wasn’t really up for it, especially trying to deal with more than one person at one time, but he just nodded his head with a simple, “Sure.”

It was jarring going from peaceful silence in the nearly empty room to having more than half a dozen people around him, talking almost all at once and asking him questions at the same time. He didn’t know that his discomfort was obvious on his face until he heard a shrill whistling sound before the room was once again plunged into silence; all eyes including his finding Mia standing off to the side with two fingers of each hand between her lips.

“You guys need to stop talking so loudly,” she scolded, “This is a hospital, not some rundown diner off the side of the road. Besides we came here to make sure Josh is okay, not to make him even sicker.”

Her words forced everyone to dial their enthusiasm back down to one and Josh was very much appreciative.

“How are you guys?” he asked instead without waiting for the obligatory ‘how are you’s’ to come his way.

“We’re okay. We’re not the ones in the hospital. We should be asking you that question.”

Josh sighed. “Everyone who’s been here has asked me the same question over and over again. I’m just sick of answering it. I just want to stop thinking about this at least for a while,” he said bluntly.

It was Angie who quickly jumped into the fray, her smile wide and her personality as chipper as always. “We went up against the Cardinals this weekend for a friendly,” she said eagerly. “We used one of the old mixes you made for us for the performance and everyone loved it,” she said. “Even the judges and one of the trainers that came to watch came up to ask how you were. Everyone heard about the accident and everyone was super concerned about you,” she said.

Josh didn’t know what to say to that. It was such a surreal thought. He had a lot of friends back in New York, at least he thought he had a lot of friends, but it had become abundantly clear to him that DJ Sparks had a lot of friends; Josh Harvest had not even a penny to his name and friends who were worth even less than that. No one cared to check up on his after his overdose; no one even seemed to care that he’d been sent off to the Boondocks to live in the swamp with the gators (because that’s pretty much how he expected the town to look before he got there). It hurt at first but eventually he came to accept that friendships, like relationships, were just never meant to last.

But here were these group of people in this rundown little army town that didn’t even seem to live in the twenty-first century and all of them had shown more concern about him within a couple of days than his friends of years and even his mother had shown him his entire life.

“Sorry I won’t be able to flip songs for you guys for a while,” if ever again. Deep down, he was still waiting for that final pin to drop, for them to finally drop the bomb and turn their backs on him because that’s what people did when things get hard or when someone’s problems turns out being more than they could handle. That’s what the people back in New York did, and that’s what his own mom did.

“What – why are you sorry?” asked Mary, her brows furrowed liked she was trying hard to find the logic in his statement. “What happened wasn’t your fault, not even a little bit. Besides there are more important things in life than music and competitions; one of them being your health.”

“I told you, didn’t I?” said Angie, “You’d be hard-pressed to get rid of us now. We’ve imprinted on you,” she said with a grin.

“Did you really think that we’re friends with you just because we want you to make music for us?” asked Lou.

Josh didn’t answer, but his silence was obviously answer enough for them.

“Why would you think that?” asked Mary, taken aback.

Josh took his time in responding. His eyes looking at absolutely everything else in the room besides the half a dozen gazes currently locked on him. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” he said truthfully.

“Well… then those people are dumb, and it’s their loss,” said Angie angrily. “Cause you’re amazing and a great person and one of the best people I’ve ever met, and you just happen to make kick-ass music on the side,” she said heatedly.

The vehemence in her tone brought a small smile to Josh’s face. “It’s okay, I’m used to it,” he said. He meant it to be a comfort but all it did was make all of them look even sadder.

“It’s not okay,” said Mary, “What they did wasn’t okay at all. You deserve better than that.”

“We’re not like that at all,” said Lou. “Sure we love your music, and sure that’s how we became friends, but it’s not the reason we want to stay friends with you. It’s cause you’re a cool guy and you helped us out when everyone else was laughing at us and mocking us and turning their backs. You’re the first person to ever do that and we won’t ever forget it.”

“He’s right. You’re our friend. You’ve been our friend since the moment you helped us at the dance and you’ll always be our friend.”

Josh could only stare at them; his gaze going from one person to the other and noting the same kind of steely determination in all of their eyes.

“You helped us, Josh, you saved our team and you helped save the town; don’t think we’ll ever forget that. And it’s not fair what happened to you because of someone in this town over such a dumb issue; we’re the ones who should be sorry. If we hadn’t dragged you into this, this probably would never have happened,” said Mary. “Not to mention that he did all those things because of me.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Josh.

“I know,” replied Mary, “And it’s not yours either.”

Josh sighed. He admittedly walked right into that one. “Okay,” he said, cause he really didn’t know how else to respond.

“Will you stop carrying the burden on your own shoulders? We’re here, you know, we can help you – we want to help you.”

“I know… just… maybe someday, but not right now.”

“When you’re ready,” said Mary, “We’re here, okay? Just know that.”

Josh smiled at that.

It felt like an enormous weight had finally been lifted off his shoulders that day.

The girls helped him to lie back down on his back after that, much to the teasing jealousy of the guys and they raised the back of his bed slightly so that he was more in a sitting position on the bed, able to look at everyone in the room as they lounged on every available surface and stayed with him talking for the rest of the day.

It was almost dark by the time they left, their smiles wide as they strutted out the room, shoving each other aside for the chance to be the last one waving at him as they left. His dad waited until they were all out of the room before he walked back in and Josh couldn’t help the very first instinct that came over him when he saw his dad’s face.

He smiled.

And his dad smiled back at him.

And for the first time in his life, he didn’t feel so alone.

It was a good feeling.

The end.

#bravetown #lucas till #josh harvest #whump #bravetown fics #reiven fics #reiven bravetown fics #fics: what was once lost #changed the cover image to something more appropriate

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