Empathy [Josh Dun - Twenty One Pilots]

TWENTY ØNE

"Are you sure you wanna do this?"

Josh sighed heavily. "What other choice do we have?"

"We could just go back to the police station," Tyler shrugged hopefully, "and convince them?"

"Convince them of what, Tyler?" Josh shook his head. "That we had a vision, making us believe that our friend who's been missing is held captive in Cincy by people who are gonna murder him soon? Who in their right mind would believe that?"

A veil of sadness and hurt soon covered Tyler's face, and Josh instantly regretted his words. "That's not- I didn't-" Josh stuttered, but Tyler brushed it off with a swift movement of the hand. 

"You're right," he said, looking down at his feet, and Josh could tell, even though he could not feel, that he had hurt his best friend. "We're doing this, then. Are you ready?"

Tyler was still staring at the ground, the tip of his shoes tracing small circles on the pavement as the question resonated in the chilly night. Was he ready? Josh had the strange feeling that this question  entailed much more than he was able to admit. What should he be ready for, exactly? Josh wasn't sure. All he knew had come from a sudden feeling, triggered by a picture of Mark that was hanging in the police station.

They had finally gotten the truth out of a sobbing Ethan, back at the abandoned barrack: Mark was part of some kind of gang initiation, after all the boys had convinced him that this was the best way to tighten their bonds as friends - something that sounded far-fetched to Josh but he decided against looking into it much further. The why didn't matter. The only question they wanted answered was "where".

"I swear I didn't know it would involve drug dealers," Ethan had sobbed miserably at some point of his interrogation, "but then I couldn't back off you know? I didn't want them to think I'm a pussy."

Trying to forget about his anger for a while, Josh had continued asking questions until he got all the details: Ethan's cousin, Johnny, had set up a plan for Mark and the boys to rob a massive amount of marijuana to some guy he knew. He had told them the dealer was one of his friends, and that once the deed was done, they would put the drug back where they found it, and all of that would have been nothing more than a bad prank. Thing was, Johnny hadn't been truthful, and he just wanted to get back at the guy for stealing his girlfriend, or so the boys learned when it was already too late. 

"I would never have gotten us into that if I had-"

"Us?" Josh had lost his temper at that point. "US?" Do you realize that it's only Mark that's missing? While you're pretending you miss him in front of his mom and whatnot?" He had gripped the collar of Ethan's t-shirt and shoved him back into the wall behind him. "Has it ever occured to you to TALK to someone so we could get Mark to safety?"

"Who could I tell, man?"

"An adult? A policeman? Someone, anyone! Don't you fricking care?"

Ethan had swiped his cheeks from the tears, spreading dust on his skin. "I don't know, okay? I was scared! I am scared! I don't wanna go to jail!" he bawled. 

Josh had stood up by then, not so much because he wanted the conversation to stop, but as a way to avoid hurting the boy any further. He could already feel his hands shaking, balling into fists, and he didn't want to beat him up. He couldn't. "You won't go to jail, you're just a fricking stupid teenager."

From that point on, and much to Josh's dismay, Debby had taken over. Slowly, she had joined the three boys from her corner of the room, and sat down at Ethan's sides. Her voice low, she then started to explain how the police system worked - because she was smart like that - and somehow convinced Ethan to turn himself in and tell them everything he knew, with words of compassion and encouragement that could have made Josh barf. 

Josh didn't say a word until they reached the police station. He couldn't believe Debby and her soft spot for Ethan. How could she be so nice and reassuring towards a guy like him? He had gotten Mark into this mess, obviously hidden the truth of what he knew, yet she was acting like he was just another casualty. She wasn't being fair, and suddenly Josh had forgotten about her red hair like flames in the wind, and her beautiful green eyes and her pouty lips. It didn't matter anymore. 

"So, tell me again what you saw," Tyler interrupted Josh's thoughts. Getting back to reality, Josh shook his head. He didn't have time to reminisce, and this was definitely not the time to get angry at Debby. He would deal with that later. 

"Okay," he sighed heavily. "When we passed the doors of the police station, my eyes met that poster, you know? The one for the missing persons, with Mark's face on it?"

Tyler nodded. Josh was sure he had seen it too, but he was somehow forcing Josh to let the words out. "It felt like a punch in the gut, and suddenly I couldn't see anything... but I could see. You know?"

Josh didn't know how else he could voice what happened, but he was certain Tyler, of anyone, could understand the blue screen, and then the feeling of being awake in a dream. Then, Josh felt. Josh saw. He saw Mark, tired, hungry, almost dehytrated. He felt the fear, the nervewracking fear, the one that tear at your guts and makes you wanna vomit, the one that compresses your heart in a strong hand made of cold steel and burning flames at the same time. He heard the scream, and the detonation of a gun. 

Josh knew. He knew that Mark was in danger just like he knew two plus two equals four and Christmas happens on December 25th. There was no denying it: if they didn't act soon, Mark would be dead before his mother would be able to place the star on top of the Christmas tree in a few days.

And that's what got Tyler and Josh to where they were. They had left Debby and Ethan, summoning them to make sure the police knew that Mark was in danger before running away to the one place Josh knew he could get a car without being asked too many questions: his father's. 

"Are you sure?" Tyler asked again. 

"You know as much as I do that we have to," Josh nodded, walking up the driveway towards the house, noticing with relief that the front porch light was still on, meaning that his dad still hasn't gone to bed. When they reached the door, both teenagers sighed heavily, looking at each other for reassurance. Finally, Josh rang the doorbell. 

Only when his dad opened the door did Josh realize that they didn't have a plan.

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Short chapter; the following might be super long. Some action awaits. I hope you like it.