AREA CODES

eight

a/n: friendly reminder that the only person i'll ever love as much as louis tomlinson is lars, and that you breathing a mere insult towards one direction within eight miles of me will make me spaz, and i hate doing that cause i get headaches xx

and i still cannot stress the language warning enough, because i get annoyed when people call each other 'pussies' and shit because i think it's offensive, and i don't know where y'all stand, and it's a character. not every opinion i write about, write for, is mine.

***

JOSH WILLIAM DUN

"To be fair, I don't like doing this shit so early in the morning, either. And not in front of the kids. It's a hassle for me as much as it is for you."

With an almost bored sigh, Josh grabbed at the business man in the expensive suit and tugged his sleeve roughly, practically dragging him closer. The look on the man's face was nearly comical, expression only morphing into more panic as Josh's hand clamped down on the back of his neck quicker than he could think to react, shoving him down onto the ground, knees hitting the pavement, impact tearing a small hole in his right pant leg.

"Personally," Josh continued his conversation more to himself than anything, seeing as the man probably thought he was going to die. That kind of knowledge does one of two things to you. It makes you unbearably talkative or completely silent. This man went for the second one. "I'm not sure what's so difficult about paying what you owe. Would you like to tell me why you don't have my money?" A pause. Josh's best friend, Phoenix, stood behind him, knife twirling like nothing in his long fingers. "Did you plan on giving it to me?"

Josh's voice was patient, and the people standing behind them rolled their eyes at all the interacting he was doing. But, Josh wasn't patient on the inside, wasn't feeling any hesitance at all. He was still deciding, though, what to do with the person in front of him. Crouching down to his level, Josh peered into his eyes, giving a short scoff.

"Do you have kids?"

"Fuck do we care?" Yale, another one, spoke. He pushed himself up from against the brick wall, arms crossed. "Just fucking get a move on."

"You nervous?" Josh teased over his shoulder.

"No. But it's fucking cold out here, and you're talking like you're best friend--"

His sentence wasn't even completed when Josh shot a look at him, his eyes glinting with something rough and stable. A warning. It was all Yale needed to fall back, mouth shutting and eyes cast downward. Finally.

With that out of his face, Josh turned back to the man. "I have a right to kill you, you know." The man nodded. "What's your name?"

He didn't speak.

"Okay. Empty your pockets."

"I--I don't have an--"

"Alright," Josh cut him off, patience thinning a bit. He didn't let it show, though. He enjoyed this part the most. The psychological part. The conversations. "I'll tell you what I have, then. I've got your records. I know where you work, I know where you live, I know what time you go eat lunch everyday." Josh smiled, "and I know that you've got three kids."

The panic was almost sad. It was like someone set him on fire.

"Two boys and a girl. Fifteen, nine, and five. Brady, Joey, Amy. You think I don't know the routes they take home from school. The times?"

"I'll give you anything you want," he suddenly blurted, the most he'd uttered since Josh walked up on him five minutes ago.

"For fuck's sake," Josh huffed, shaking his head in what appeared to be disappointment. "You're clear dumber than I thought." With a single swift, practiced, calculated movement, Josh grabbed at the man's neck again and slammed his head down against the ground before tugging him into a sitting position, and wrapping his arm around his neck. The man gasped, Josh didn't care. "It's always the same inane, basic things. You tell me not to hurt your kids, tell me you'll give me anything I want. . . it's dumb. What you guys don't get," Josh's grip tightened, Phoenix chuckling at his words. He'd been doing this shit long enough to know how true everything was. "Is that I'll get what I want with or without you. You don't have to give it to me. I'll take it, if it's what I want. I could go rob your entire fucking house, right now. Kill every member of your fucking family. And before I get to your wife, who you don't deserve whatsoever, I'll let her know that you cheat on her with cheap crack whores every weekend."