Joshler Because I'm: Soft

Part 17

(Tyler's POV)

On our way to the office, we passed by a few kids coming from their club meeting. They stared at us with judgy looks and whispered to each other, making me feel insecure. I grasped Josh's shirt and frowned up at him, making him rub my arm while still carrying me.

"Hey, it's okay, Tyler. I got you, it's okay. We're almost there. It doesn't matter what they think, what matters is that you're here with me, and you're gonna be okay." Josh comforted me when he suddenly lifted me up a little higher and-

He kissed my head.

My face flushed pink. Despite the fact that it only took a second, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I held tightly onto Josh as he got me to the nurse's office. He softly set me down in a chair in the office, making sure I was comfortable. The nurse gasped when she saw my injuries and quickly took Josh outside to figure out what happened.

While they were talking outside, I sat alone in the nurse's office, fighting consciousness. Suddenly, the second door in the office opened.

"I didn't think you'd ever make it, flower boy." A voice muttered in the shadows, stepping into the light.

Why is he back.... He shouldn't be back.... Where's Josh? I need Josh. Josh, please come back.

"You've gotten away with too much. And now you're really gonna pay. I'm not letting your boy-toy ruin this for me again." Lucas took a step closer and immediately threw all his force into a punch, hitting me square in the chest.

The wind got knocked out of me, but I didn't have much time to react to that as Lucas threw one more punch at me. Before I knew it, the room went dark and I fell unconscious.

When I woke up, I couldn't move. And not just from pain, I physically couldn't move. I looked around to see that I was tied to a chair. I also noticed the doors in the room were barricaded. Across the room, Josh was also tied up, and had duck tape over his mouth. And suddenly, Lucas was standing right in front of me.

"Morning, mute boy. Did you have a good nap?" Lucas sarcastically questioned, smiling an evil smile. I looked around nervously and started panicking again. What happened? Why is Josh here? "No? Well good thing I'm about to make it a whole lot worse." Lucas took out a switch blade from his pocket and walked towards me.

Josh started struggling in his bonds, trying to tell Lucas to stop, but his words were muffled. I tried flinching away as far as I could, which unfortunately, wasn't that far. Lucas loosened the rope on my right wrist, pulling my shaking hand out. He seized it with a firm grip and brought the knife up to my arm. Josh was practically yelling at this point, but Lucas wasn't paying attention.

In a few quick motions, my arm had 4 short cuts horizontally on my wrist. I cried out in pain as Lucas let go of my trembling arm, blood dripping on the floor. Josh was shouting and struggling to get out, desperately looking into my eyes, tears building up in his own. I was already crying at this point, my arm shaking intensely.

"Wh-why are you d-doing this? What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you?" I asked painfully, holding my bloody arm up because it hurt too much to set down.

"Because it's fun seeing you like this. Oh, and it's fun seeing Josh watch his boyfriend in so much pain." Lucas gave a sadistic grin as he looked back at Josh, who was looking down, eyes squeezed shut. He swiftly walked over and jerked Josh's head up. "Nope. You have to watch. Unless you want to be next." Lucas muttered, walking back to me. "Time for the next arm!"

Lucas quickly untied my other arm, holding it up. He pressed the blade against my left wrist, paused for a moment to mess with me, and made 3 cuts. I cried out in pain again and started crying harder.

"Josh, help me.... Please help...." I whispered through my tears.

I knew it wasn't right to put that on Josh, but in the moment, I was in too much pain and fear, so I turned to the person who gave me the most comfort. Josh looked at me with the most frantic, sad, and hopeless look, and I immediately felt guilty.

"Oh, boo hoo. Wittle Tyler is bleeding out!" Lucas imitated a child while pulling a long, fake frown, until a moment later when his expression suddenly turned to that of a sociopath. "Time for the stomach!" Lucas smiled with a sadistic look in his eyes, tying my arms back up. My heart dropped and I froze. Lucas lifted up my shirt to show my stomach and looked at it for a second. "Wooow, those must've taken a while to heal, huh?" He poked at my scars, making me cry all the more. "It'd suck if they opened back up...." Lucas brought the knife up close to my stomach.

"No. No, no, no, no, NO! Please, no! I can't-! Not again, please!!" I shouted, starting to sob as he walked closer to me.

"Shut up. You deserve this, and Josh deserves to watch you suffer. You did this to yourself. It's your fault. All of this and everything that's happened to you has been your fault. You deserve this." Lucas muttered word after word, slowly bringing the blade closer to my skin.

I didn't want to believe it at first, but as he repeated it and the words echoed in my ears, I believed it. This is my fault. Despite my rapid breathing and my thoughts, I tried shrinking my stomach as the knife was pressed lightly against my skin. I looked away and closed my eyes as I loudly sobbed. Not again, this can't happen again. It can't happen again. Not again.

I stayed like that for seconds, expecting to feel the same excruciating pain that I knew all too well. After 10 slow seconds, I got too anxious. The wait was killing me, so I hesitantly opened my eyes, knowing full well that I would regret it.