Josh woke up to Justin breathing heavily into his ear, it red and warm from the proximity of the younger man. But it wasn’t too bad, his arms wrapping around the lithe body in front of him as reminder, his nose brushing against his shoulder blades as he pressed kisses along his collar bone. Then he remembered where he was. And that the light tattooed to Justin’s face was his cue to leave.

He was about to wake Justin when there was a bit of commotion at the door and in slow motion he watched the doorknob tilt and Paul’s stone face appear, the elder looking just as surprised but that soon receded, falling into rage. Josh was frozen to his spot, his worst fear coming true all over again, but this time never wanting to involve Justin.

“Please,” he whispered as stayed put, torn between going home and being thankful he didn’t have to deal with Paul, or leaving Justin who didn’t deserve the whole blame and Josh would be damned if he voluntarily let something happen to the blonde.

“What the fuck are you–”

Josh put his hands over Justin’s ears before easing off the bed, picking up his pants and jumping into them, just buttoning them before he grabbed his shirt. The fact that Paul was still standing in the doorway was good. He hoped they could talk this out... or something.

“Don’t wake him up, please–”

“Boy, forget him. You won’t know what happens to him anyhow, I’m never letting him near your faggot ass again, hear me?” He pushed Josh towards the door and out, the brunette standing his place even as he stumbled slightly. He still had a feeling about leaving. Paul smirked before slamming the door, keeping a hand on the knob. “I should have listened to myself, you’re a little queen and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear ya raped him, just to get ya rocks off. Goin’ around, touchin’ little boys. You rot in hell, faggot,” he spat and bumped Josh again. “Now get the fuck out my house before I beat ya ass–”

The doorknob jiggled underneath Paul’s hands and both men stared at it, Justin’s knock heard next, his curses tightening in Josh’s chest.

“Shit, it was my fault, ok? Don’t do–”

“Didn’t I tell you to get the hell out my house?”

Josh was quite scared but Justin was in there. And he was worth it.

“Paul–”

“God dammit,” the elder cursed letting go of the doorknob, grabbing Josh by the shoulders and shoving him against the wall. “The fuck? You hard of hearing?” The brunette wriggled, squeezing his eyes shut in anticipation. He heard the squeal of the door opening and the audible gasp before he felt the fingers biting into his arms loosen before he stumbled to the ground. When he opened his eyes, Justin was toe to toe with Paul and it was all his fault again.

“Justin, stop, this is between–”

Paul swiped at him, pushing him to the floor, his back sliding against the wall. “Listen here, bitch, you need to get the hell out of this house before I call the cops–”

“And they’ll see how you beat your own mother fucking kid! Who the hell do you think is gonna go to jail tonight?”

“Why you little...”

Justin caught the hand that was about to be raised to Josh and in turn got elbowed for it, his fight never disappearing as he shouldered Paul aside to see Josh standing.

“Please just leave,” he whispered as he lifted the brunette up fully. “Please just–”

Paul grabbed him by the neck, pulling him back, shoving him into his room fighting. “Listen to the boy or I’ll deal with you in a way that’ll leave you cryin’ like the little bitch you are.”

“Fuck you asshole, now leave him alone or–”

“Or what, you gonna catfight me?” Paul chuckled before looking between the door and then Josh. He snatched Josh’s arm, hauling him down the stairs as he sped, the brunette fighting as hard as he could with the death grip the parent had on his right arm.

“Get the fuck off me!” he yelled and tried to hurt but it was to no avail as Paul struggled to get the door open, then, literally, throwing Josh out onto the lawn, spitting before slamming the door. And only one thing was on his mind.

“Mom! Mom, open the door!!”

Karen opened the front door with a creased brow, her eyes taking in Josh’s appearances before she inhaled shakily.

“Come in, now where is the fire?”

Josh was shaking beneath her touch. “Mom, I... At Justin’s house. Some shit went down and–” he stopped when she grazed the slight bruises on his arms. “Mom, Paul is going to fucking kill Justin if someone doesn’t go over there! I don’t know where Lynn is but he damn near pushed me down the stairs and oh my God, shit. Mom he’s gonna kill him, I know it! We have to–”

“Joshua!” She slapped a hand over the boy’s mouth, his chest heaving in front of her. “Now, let me call over there and see–”

“No! They’ll–”

“Josh, just settle down. Lynn wouldn’t let that happen, now let me just see what’s going on, alright? And then we can call the police and barge over there, alright? Just sit down and drink something. Where’s your shirt?”

His adverting eyes made her stomach churn. “God dammit,” she cursed before dialing the number, Josh sat, bouncing his leg until the doorbell rang a couple of times in succession, the brunette bounding towards it, on some whim it could be Justin who escaped.

But instead all he saw were dark curls and a small little boy hugged to the woman adorning them.

“Karen, please, they’re fighting like animals out there!”

Josh ventured outside while Karen brought Lynn and Jordan inside, grabbing the cordless. He bounded up the slight dip of their backyard into the Timberlake’s, hearing the familiar shouts. He damn near sprinted when he saw Paul on the ground, Justin’s heel pressed into his chest. The younger boy was shouting and Josh made his presence known, the blonde’s eyes shooting up to him.

Paul got him back at the lapse of attention though as he grabbed the boy’s legs and pulled him to the ground, the parent rolling them over until he was straddling Justin, throwing punches as if he himself were being unfairly attacked. Red washed over his vision like paint.

He was darting over in seconds, pummeling into Paul hard enough to get him to budge, grabbing Justin and flailing him from the ground. He wasn’t going to fight, he’d be stupid to think he could go against that man. Instead he held onto Justin’s wrist like a vice.

“Let’s go,” he said simply and Justin, with his face pink and bloody, nodded, holding tight as they sped down the hill towards Josh’s house.

It was quiet, had been ever since they had moved into the kitchen, the others in the living room, their hushed talking finally fading out as Justin sat in his chair, his face slightly swollen, Josh cleaning him up.

A soft washcloth wiped over his bruised mouth, the cold cloth against such a tender place making the blonde whimper, bowing his head.

Josh just lifted him up by the chin and dabbed under his right eye, the one that was almost swollen shut. The pink on his cheeks wiped away clean as he threw the washcloth to the side. The brunette then watched.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” Justin mumbled around his swollen lips, his tongue tender and hesitant to wipe over his chapped mouth. When he looked up, his eyes were tinged so pink the blue was just as black as Paul’s. And Josh didn’t know how to dissuade him enough.

“I love you so much. I swear, I would kill him now if I saw him.”

Justin matched his stare for a second before looking away and swallowing. His hand then came up to Josh’s shoulders, dark clouds marring his pale skin.

“I just wanted you to know that.” Josh stood, heaving a great sigh before sticking his hands in his pockets, pulling away from Justin’s touch. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he couldn’t stay here. He couldn’t bury himself into Justin and just forget that he was leaving, that Justin was going to be here alone, that this time he wasn’t going to be the fool.

“Why did you come back?”

Josh scratched his head to keep from replaying the incident, the whole morning as he deliberated on his words. And shit, if he kept looking to Justin, he wouldn’t make it.

“I don’t know,” he lied and turned his back to the other quickly. “Look, I’m... I’m gonna take a breather, I’ll... be back,” he muttered, already on the way to the balcony, his eyes closed as he stood in the doorway. There were police at his house but there was a lone officer in his car, Paul in the back, Josh closing his eyes against the picture.

But now it was all over, as were they.

TBC...

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