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sigma-alpha-writer-chad · 4 months ago

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Upstairs [Hiromi Higuruma]

[Hiromi Higuruma / F!Reader]

Not sure if this will be multiple chapters or not. Depends how it does, maybe?

[Reader is 25]

[No warnings]

Word count: 3.3k

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Rays of sunlight pool onto you and your bed through the blinds of the window, the light of a new day nudging you awake as it slowly crawls it's way across your sleeping form. You groan as it makes it's way directly into your eyes. You turn over to postpone your awakening, but it only takes half an hour for it to reach your face once again. You want to go back to sleep.

But you can't.

You reach out from under your blanket for your phone on the bedside table, exposing your arm to the cold air of the early Spring. With a slight shiver, you grab the device and pull it quickly towards you, simultaneously pulling your blanket over your head to trap the warm air of your breath and body.

You wipe the wetness from the screen from your breath as you skim through your notifications, hoping for anything interesting to appear, a good morning text, a recommended article. However, nothing. Aside from your normal spam emails and the weather, there was nothing of note on your phone today. You turn your phone off and lay there, briefly weighing the decision of staying in bed all day rather than going to work.

However, you are just fine. If you call in, you will feel guilty.

And you'll make less money.

With a quick glance at the clock to decipher how much time you have to get ready, you begrudgingly roll out of your warm, comfortable bed and into the cold air and make your way through your home and to the kitchen.

Nothing sounds good.

You think, scanning your cabinets and fridge for your breakfast choices. You're out of milk, so a bowl of cereal is out of the question. A mental note is made to pick up a gallon on the way home from work, though you make another mental note that you'll likely forget anyways.

Coffee it is.

You make your way back into your bedroom and get dressed, business casual being the dress code for your boring office job. Black slacks and a pale blue blouse under a black suit jacket will do just fine, with shiny black shoes and a long black button up coat to protect you from the weather. Despite the cold, the office was close enough to walk, so walk you did. Every day, no matter the weather.

As you step out of your door and into the sunlight, you flinch. The sun hadn't shown itself this brightly in weeks. As grateful as you were for the warmth on your skin, the robbery of your vision was not so beloved. You fumble in your pockets as you begin to walk, finding your sunglasses and putting them on as you make your way towards the office.

The bustling city wakes up with you, cars driving past and people walking by. Though you weren't downtown and in what some may call the outskirts, it was still the city. Buildings still tower over you despite the smaller businesses that make up most of the street and marijuana and/or cigarettes can still be smelled at random.

No matter your feelings for the scent of cigarettes, however, you didn't appreciate the cloud blown directly into your face from your left as you turned the corner.

"Oh, shit," you curse, waving your hand in the air and stopping in your tracks. You squeeze your burning eyes shut as you make a face, briefly concerned about the smell sticking to your clothes. The man does not apologize.

"Watch where you're going." He says blankly, more smoke escaping his lips - at least he has the consideration to aim it away from you as he speaks. You scoff and kiss your teeth, smoothing out your clothes as you continue your walk.

A minute passes before you hear the sweet tingle of the brass bell in front of the door ringing as you enter your favorite café. You breathe out a sigh of relief as the smell of freshly ground coffee beans replace the bitter scent of tobacco and nicotine that hangs in your nose. Taking a deep breath, you approach the counter. The tall man in front of you orders a medium black coffee.

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"I thought you didn't smoke, (y/n)." You look up from your computer and over your blue light glasses to look at the woman sat at the desk in front of you, turned around to talk. Slowly, you take off your glasses and fold them before tucking them in your breast pocket.

"I don't." You say.

"You smell a bit like cigarettes."

"Somebody blew their smoke straight into me on my walk in this morning. Even so, it's impressive you can even smell it." You tilt your head down to briefly smell yourself. You're met with the scent of coffee, your deodorant, and your laundry detergent. "I can't smell it."

"You get the sense after smoking a pack a day for a few years, I guess."

"What do you need, Cathryn?" You say this as politely as you're able. Cathy had the habit of trying to spark a conversation with you before asking a favor, as if to ease you into saying yes. She was terrible at it. Even so, she smiles sweetly.

"I was just wondering if you could deliver this for me." She smiles shyly, slowly holding up a small white box below her eyes. You look at it and furrow your eyebrows, frustrated at the interruption in your focus for something so miniscule.

"...to where?"

"Upstairs. There's a law firm a floor above us and I've got my eye on this one that's gained quite the reputation. He's foreign." You press your lips together in a tight line and keep your eyebrows knitted together.

"Foreign?" You repeat. There's a slight disappointment in your voice at the woman.

"He's from Japan. Immigrated here a few years ago." She sighs. "His English is just excellent." You can't help the faces you make. "Stop frowning, you'll get lines." Your forehead relaxes immediately, mostly just in surprise of the sudden motherly chastisement.

"You've always got your eye on somebody," you sigh. "How old is he? 20 or 60?" It's Cathryn's turn to frown, her face growing red in embarrassment. She had a habit of setting her sights on men that were either 20 years her junior or 20 years her senior.

"I heard he's in his 30's." She huffs. Though your glasses are in your pocket, you look at her as if over them.

"You've never talked to him?"

"...No. But we've ridden in the elevator together a few times when I've worked overtime."

"Then how do you know his English is good?"

"I heard him talk. He still has an accent, but-"

"What's in the box?" Cathryn huffs again, and you're tempted to tell her that her face is going to get stuck like that.

"It's nothing, actually. I'll give it to him myself." She crosses her arms and turns back around dramatically.

"Great, let me know how it goes." You sigh, retrieving your blue light glasses and returning them to your face. It doesn't take long for the woman to turn around to face you again. Before she even speaks, you sigh heavily and the glasses return to your pocket.

"You at least have to see him, (y/n). You'd understand. He's a very handsome man. Your classic tall, dark, and handsome."

"I'm sure he is." You're done with the conversation now, not even bothering with the glasses.

"Just stay late tonight. He usually stays until pretty late, around 9 or so."

"There's no way I'm staying that late.. and it's creepy that you know that."

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You look at the clock.

9:03 pm.

A grave sigh leaves you as you close out your final project for the day. A few of your coworkers were still at their desks, typing away on their keyboards, albeit slowly. It was silent in the office otherwise, and you make a mental note of the steadily increasing workload. You had been staying later recently, sure, but four hours past your time to clock out?

Thank God you're hourly. The check will be nice.

"Alright. I'm heading out." You sigh, standing up and stretching. Your coworkers hum their goodnights, and you grab your coat. As you walk to the exit, putting it on, you notice a man - Jason is his name - snoring softly. His fingers are still on the keyboard and his screen saver reflects off of his clear skin. You would think he was just sitting their with his eyes closed if the snoring hasn't given him away.

"Jason." You say, tapping his shoulder. He jolts awake, causing you to jump as well.

"I'm up!" He says, a little too loudly. You can't help but laugh.

"Go home and get some sleep."

"Okay, sure, maybe I should do that... What time is it?" Jason looks around him, his pale blue eyes shifting from desk to desk to see who was still around. You pretend not to see the massive clock directly in front of the man.

"It's after nine."

"Shit."

"Goodnight, Jason," you smile. "Be safe."

"Yeah, you too."

"See you tomorrow."

You head down the long hallway to the elevator, yawning and running your hands through your hair. The sound of your footsteps on the tile flooring echoes off the grey walls. You get to the elevator and press the 'down' button with your knuckle. You yawn again as you watch the red digital number slowly count down the floors as it came closer to you. It pauses at the floor above for a while before coming to you.

Ding!

The doors open to reveal a man in a black suit with a circular pin on the left lapel, tall and exhausted. He stood with his eyes closed as if he were sleeping where he stood, his hands clasped together in front of him. You were hesitant to enter, as if you feared waking him up, but enter you did. When you enter, the button for the ground floor is already lit up.

As any elevator ride is when you're next to someone else, the air is awkward - though, of course, only for you. You worked on the 17th floor, so the ride down is long. No one else in the building had apparently decided to work the hours you did, because the elevator never stopped. You take a moment to look at the man next to you. He's tall, at least 6 foot, and his thick hair was a very dark brown, styled He is clean shaven and appears well groomed aside from the few stray hairs that fell onto his forehead, the only evidence he was, in fact, human. His eyelashes were thick and dark, and his eyebrows matched. Even though his expression was relaxed, they made him look sad, worrisome - tired. The most prominent thing about the man is his sharp features - specifically his nose. Downturned and prominent, a bump on the bridge between his eyes.

He's a handsome man.

Tall, dark, and handsome.

You make an 'ohhh shit' expression.

The elevator finally stops at the ground floor, and the man doesn't move. You wait a few seconds, and he stands completely still.

Is he asleep?

The doors start to close, so you hit the 'open' button before opening your mouth to speak.

"Excuse me," you start. The man doesn't move. "Is this your floor?" You speak quite a bit louder, this time, but his eyes don't open. You gulp, hitting the open door button again as you reach for him, anxious. "Hey, is-" as soon as you touch him, he jumps slightly.

"Oh, I..." He starts, blinking quickly. His hangdog eyes match the rest of him. Dark and exhausted. "I apologize. I must have..." His eyes meet yours. You move your arm in the doorway instead of hitting the button this time. Despite his height advantage, he turns his head downward so that his eyes look up at you. "I must have fallen asleep."

"You're good." you nod, motioning for him to exit before you. He shakes his head and mirrors the notion.

"Ladies first." Your eyes widen slightly as if processing what he said.

"Oh! Thank you!" The elevator doors close completely and you hit the button - again. You step out, flustered with the incredibly awkward situation.

"Have a good night, ma'am." He calls after you.

"You too!" You reply, only turning your head slightly and waving your hand in good-bye. It's only made slightly extra awkward that he's following you, as there's only one exit, but you're walking faster.

The cold air hits you as you open the door and you wrap your coat tighter around yourself. You shiver and huff as you do so and shove your hands into your pockets as you begin walking home in long strides, your teeth chattering. You weren't freezing, but it was times like these where you wished you'd just drive your car. But the environment.

A few minutes pass before you hear footsteps behind you, walking quickly. It occurs to you now that you're walking home alone at night in the city, and that maybe you should have asked Jason to walk or drive you home. You pick up your pace slightly before you hear someone call out.

"Excuse me, ma'am." You flinch slightly, but slow down to allow whoever to catch up. You could run, but they might chase. Turning your head slightly, you see that it's the lawyer, now in a long black coat and scarf. You stop walking and turn around to face him. "You're ok?"

"What?" He furrows his eyebrows and frowns, looking up in thought.

"Are you okay?" He clarifies. He looks back at you, his head tilted downward again. It was odd, you noted, that despite his almost ashamed body language, he exuded a dominance and superiority.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," he starts. He doesn't break eye contact with you as he speaks. "You are walking alone, and it's dark out." He glances upwards at the pitch black sky for a moment as if to make a point. "We are in a city. Can I walk with you?"

"What?"

"May I walk you home?"

The two of you stand there in silence for a minute, your eyebrows knitted together as you stare at the lawyer. His expression is blank but his eyes don't leave yours.

"I don't want you to go out of your way."

"I am already walking, anyways. It cannot be that far." You let out a long breath, watching the cloud escaping your mouth swirl and dissipate through the air.

"That wouldn't be so bad."

"...that means yes?"

"Yes."

He nods and begins to walk forward to take place next to you, and you walk together. It's a comfortable silence for a while despite the air of awkwardness. You can't help but smile a little in appreciation. He seems like a gentleman.

"What should I call you?" You ask.

"I'm sorry?"

"Your name. What is it?"

He hums as if in thought.

"Hiromi Higuruma."

Your eyebrows twitch upwards for a second before you whisper it to yourself as if it will help you remember.

"Higuruma is a pretty name. Does it mean anything?" He pauses, glancing sideways at you.

"To put it simply.. sunflower."

"That's ironic."

"I don't know that word."

"Right. Uhm, it means it's the opposite of what you're expecting, I guess. In an amusing way."

"What were you expecting?"

"I'm... Not sure. Just not that. It suits you, though." You pause before clarifying. "I saw your lawyer pin. It looks like a sunflower."

"That is because it is a sunflower."

"Exactly. Uhm, turn here." You point to the left, and the two of you stop at the cross walk, looking both ways. You start forward, but Higuruma stops you.

"It's a red hand. Do not cross."

"What are you, a cop?"

"I am a lawyer."

You can't help but laugh, and Higuruma smiles at you, offering a small breath out of his nose in amusement. Despite your usual habit of jaywalking, you humor the lawyer and wait for it to be perfectly legal to cross. When the white 'walk' symbol appears, the two of you walk to the other side of the street. It's only about another five minutes to yours, which you express to Higuruma. He nods, slowly.

"It is about the same for me."

"Really?" You ask. He nods. "Where do you live?"

"High Rise."

"That's where I live."

"....oh."

There's another awkward silence aside from you clearing your throat.

"What floor?" You prod.

"Third floor."

"I'm on the fourth."

"I leave very early. That must be why I have never seen you before."

"Did you move in recently?"

"A few months ago." He scratches his chin and looks downwards as he walks. "I suppose we miss each other." You open your mouth to say something else but decide against it, only nodding instead.

Finally, you both approach the apartment building, scanning your key cards to enter. You head up the stairs, stopping at floor three before you turn around to look at the gentleman who'd walked you home.

"This is the third floor," he speaks before you can say anything. "You are not home yet." You smile and continue up the stairs. At the fourth floor, you stop again and Higuruma offers a small smile.

"Are you good to let me go here or do you want to walk me to my door, too?"

"Do you mind me knowing your exact address?" You shrug. He has a point, but he already knows your floor.

"Our names are on our mail slots downstairs. It doesn't matter."

"Right." With this, he walks with you to your door. You unlock it before turning around.

"Thank you for walking me home, sir." You nod, bowing slightly.

"You don't need to thank me. I would have been thinking about it until I saw you next if I let you walk alone."

"Thinking about me?" You tease. Higuruma rolls his eyes weakly, but he doesn't frown.

"Safety is important. Please do find me if you are to stay that late again." Your face heats up slightly, and he notices quickly.

"Or anyone. I am sure you work with many trustworthy men."

"Thank you, Higuruma." You repeat your thanks.

"I would accept your thanks if you would tell me your name." He responds. You cringe slightly, embarrassed that you forgot.

"My name is (y/n). (Y/n (l/n)." Higuruma repeats it, sounding it out quietly to himself before nodding.

"That's a good name. Pretty. It suits you well."

"See you later, Higuruma." You say, trying and failing to hold back a smile as a light pink dusts your cheeks.

"See you later." He repeats. You turn around again and open your door, stepping inside your apartment. As you turn again to close it, you see Higuruma still standing there, and you wave as you slowly close the door, smiling foolishly. His lips twitch into a smile as he does the same before you close the door completely and he's out of sight.

You sigh heavily and lean back against the door, closing your eyes. The silly grin on your face is uncontrollable and you change into your pajamas quickly before flopping down onto your bed, giggling and kicking your feet.

The interaction was not necessarily romantic but such attention one on one with a tall and handsome man was something you hadn't experienced in a long time, if ever. You plug your phone in before tucking yourself into bed, the happy expression never leaving your face. Despite your excitement, though, you quickly began to drift off to sleep as soon as your eyes closed. There was one thing you thought to yourself right before losing consciousness.

I forgot to stop for milk.

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Hello, thank you for reading!!

#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #fanfiction #hiromi #higuruma #higuruma hiromi #hiromi Higuruma #higuruma x reader #hiromi Higuruma x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #higuruma/reader #f!reader

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sigma-alpha-writer-chad · 5 months ago

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Grow Up, Would You? [Josh Washington]

“I don’t know if you’ve changed any since middle school but I really hope you’ve learned the difference between pranking somebody and just being a fucking bully.”

You can also find this story on Ao3!

Chapter Six / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight

[CHAPTER SEVEN]

I come to to the feeling of being shaken gently awake. The first thing I feel is the cold biting into the tip of my nose and cheeks.

"Jordan!" Chris yells. When he sees my eyes start to flutter open, he shakes me harder. "Wake up!"

"What the fuck..." I mumble. He starts brushing my clothes off with his hands.

"Jordan," Chris huffs, shaking. "We've been looking everywhere for you."

"How... long have I been out here?" I groan. Chris pulls me into a tight hug, shuddering as he breathes. I can hear his teeth chatter in my ear as he sighs.

"About an hour... hour and a half?" he sighs. "Josh nearly lost his shit."

"What?" My own teeth start to chatter as the cruel cold sets into my skin and bones. "Josh?"

"Jordan..." Chris starts. He shifts to hold me closer as we shiver together. He starts to stand up and take me with him. I try to imagine Josh worrying about me, and I can't. "Josh actually cares about you, believe it or not." I say nothing, focusing completely on Chris's warm embrace. "Gosh, Jordan, you're going to get sick." It's only when we start moving towards the stairs and he brushes the snow off of me that I realize I had been half buried in the weather. "Why are you wearing Josh's coat?" I say nothing once more, but Chris doesn't press for an answer. Once we're up the stairs, I can see everyone in the kitchen. Josh has his arms crossed tightly in front of him, wearing a dark green half zip up sweater with a white stripe across the front, jeans, and boots. I suddenly feel embarrassment and shame - guilt, even, as Chris knocks on the clear sliding door. Everyone jumps, and Josh is the first to open the door.

"Jordan," he gasps, nearly tearing me from Chris's arms. "Oh my God, you're freezing..."

"I'm sorry," I sniffle. Josh shakes his head and leads me to the fire. Everyone else was chattering, asking me where I was. Emily stops Josh and I in our tracks, her arms crossed and her expression that of rage.

"Are you fucking serious?" She asks. I feel so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open to return her gaze. "I finally start to tolerate you and you almost go and freeze to death?"

"Emily-" Josh starts. Emily puts a hand up to his face, effectively shutting him up.

"Get warm. If you get me sick I'm going to be so pissed." I nod weakly, and she scoffs before turning on her heel and sashaying away to her boyfriend. I can barely catch Hannah slinking away from him as Emily approaches. My eyes close and I let Josh lead me to the couch and helps me take off my coat.

"Hey, stay awake for a little bit for me, yeah?" He asks, kneeling in front of me. I look at him and nod again. He sighs and, for just a moment, lays his head in my lap, his hands on the sides of my thighs. "I was worried sick, I..." He sits back up quickly and I apologize again. "I thought you got lost, I thought I would never - I thought we might not find you." My eyelids feel so, so heavy, but I fight sleep for him. He backs away from me enough to start untying my boot laces.

"Josh, you don't have to -"

"I want to, okay? I want to." I only nod as he slides off my boots and my wet socks. "You need better boots... Waterproof ones." I let out an airy laugh in response.

"Here, Josh, relax," Jess coo's, offering a red solo cup. He takes it and sighs, looking into the cup with a worried expression. She places a kiss on his cheek and saunters off to be with the others in the dining room.

"Hey," I start, placing my shaking hands on his face. I move his head gently to look at me.

"God, your hands are so cold." He presses his warm hands over mine and closes his eyes as if my touch kept him from falling apart. I hear Hannah and Beth whispering behind us, but we ignore it.

"I'm okay," I assure. Josh says nothing and doesn't open his eyes, only offering a subtle nod in response. "I'll stay here by the fire for a while and I'll join you in the... In the drinking festivities." He smiles softly and nods again, slowly opening his pale green eyes. "Now stand up. As much as I love you kneeling before me, Beth and Hannah are never going to let this go."

"Good idea." He whispers. Josh stands up slowly, staying bent down as long as possible as of to keep my hands under his for as long as possible. Of course, though, I have to let go. His stubble lightly tickles the palms of my hands as he slips away. Beth and Hannah quickly sit themselves next to me, the personifications of guilt.

"Chris told us about your thing with... Being trapped," Beth starts, placing her hand on mine. I let her, but I wish she wasn't touching me. "We're sorry, if we knew..."

"I told you both to leave it alone," I gulp, furrowing my eyebrows. "Josh and I."

"But we -"

"I have told you over and over that I don't want you interfering and you still keep crossing my boundaries. I love you both, I do, but I need to be respected."

"I'm sorry," Hannah whispers. Beth agrees, and both girls just watch me.

"I accept your apology," I sigh. "But I'm still unhappy. Respect my boundaries now, please." The both of them smile and sigh heavily with relief.

"Yes, of course!" Hannah squeals, wrapping her arms around me. Beth does the same, the two of them nearly crushing me in their embrace.

"Okay, okay! Thank you! Go do... Whatever it is you have to do and let me warm up." They release me and happily go to the kitchen. I let out a heavy breath and turn my head to watch the group from the corner of my eye. Hannah is already standing directly next to Mike, constantly bumping into him as if she's drunker than she is, playing up the affects of alcohol when she hasn't even finished her first cup. Emily is across from her, but instead of the normal seething, she only had a severely suspicious smug look on her face. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

What was she planning?

I try to ignore it - I try to ignore the smirks and glances on most of the groups' faces. Josh, Chris, and the twins seem out of the loop of whatever the joke was. Sam looks guilty, like she knew something yet was doing nothing to stop it. When she catches me staring, she hurries over to me, the embarrassment and shame across her expression failing to cease despite the bright smile she offered me.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" She asks me this as if I'm an upset child. I know she knows I know something.

"What are they planning, Sam?" It's hard to hide the disdain in my voice. Whatever was going to happen wasn't good.

"What? Jordan, I don't..." She scoffs and averts her eyes, her smile just barely faltering. She was a terrible liar and terrible at hiding things.

"Sam."

"It's nothing, ok? Seriously, don't worry about it," she promises. I frown and my heart sinks. "You trust me, don't you? I wouldn't let anything bad happen." I didn't know much about Sam, but she did seem morally stronger than most - I let out a deep, heavy sigh and nodded in defeat.

"Okay, Sam. I trust you." I don't lie to her, but I'm not telling the truth, either. The displeasure doesn't leave my expression, but she seems satisfied anyways as she gets up and goes back into the kitchen. As the sun finally disappears, I'm feeling well - and suspicious - enough to get up and join the group in the kitchen.

"Hey guys," I greet. I'm met by warm smiles and greetings, even from Emily. Behind their eyes though is a hint of mischief. It's almost scary. Emily comes up to me and hugs me, her drunkenness feeling almost exaggerated.

"So glad you could join usss!" She slurs, not letting me go from her embrace.

"Yeah, me too," I agree. I try to pry her off of me but she doesn't let go. "Uhm, Emily..."

"Jordan! Nobody calls me Emily, it's Em, here! We're friends now, right?" I cough a little.

"Yeah, uhm, Em, we're friends but can you let me go?" She pulls away finally before handing me her drink, suspiciously full for how drunk she was acting.

"Drink up!" And she's gone, draping her arms around Mike like they belonged there. I can see Hannah shrink away, and I furrow my eyebrows. She makes eye contact with me and I give her a look, one of disappointment and frustration, conveying "Are you fucking kidding me?" As best as I could through expression alone. Hannah only sticks her nose up and looks away from me, letting me know that she knew what she was doing and just did not care. Before I can go over to her, Beth places a hand on my shoulder. She looks defeated and shakes her head gently before leaning in to whisper in my ear.

"I've tried. She won't leave him alone." I shrug in defeat as Beth moves on to talk to Matt and Ashley. I guess it isn't my job to keep Hannah from trying to get with a taken man - she's not my responsibility. I glance over at Josh, who I find already staring at me unabashedly as Chris yammered on about hacking technology or something. I tilt my head down shyly and I can't help the flustered smile that spreads across my face, all of the stress and suspicion swirling around in my head slowly fading away and being replaced with anxiety and butterflies.

"What's up?" I ask, approaching the boys.

"Chris is..." Josh starts, then gulps. His face is redder than usual from the alcohol. "He's going on about some hacking tricks... Saying anything can be hacked."

"Name one thing that can't be hacked," Chris says, placing his hands on his hips and making a show of tapping his foot on the ground expectantly. "I'm waiting."

"A human being." I respond like a smartass.

"Well, if you want to get technical, you can hack somebody to pieces." Josh states. I raise my eyebrows, not expecting him to say anything like that.

"Like, with what, an axe?" I ask.

"Duh."

"Technology, you guys."

"Yeah, whatever."

---------------------------------------------------

A few hours pass, and the only ones left on the main floor are the twins, Josh and Chris, and I. Both girls stayed sober, Chris was passed out on the couch with marker all over his face, Josh was absolutely wasted, and I was somewhere in the middle, sipping on my own beverage throughout the night while the boys chugged. Beth and Hannah were given the role of babysitters, though I helped best I could.

"Josh, you can't put all your weight on me," I laugh embarrassingly loud. Josh had been insisting on showing me how to line dance in the middle of the living room after the twins hastily moved the coffee table. He was leaning against me to the point where I basically carried him as he clumsily did the Boot Scoot Boogie. "I can barely hold myself up!"

"Sorry, sorry, you're just so comfortable to be against," he mumbles, his eyes half closed as if he struggled to keep them open. "You're.. warm and safe and whatever the fuck." I laugh, again, mostly to hide my shock and embarrassment. Hannah hoots and cheers. She claps in rythm for us to follow as Josh goes through the steps again, mumbling the numbers and I do my best to follow - even though I may have already known the steps beforehand. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Beth sitting on the floor in front of Chris, his limp arm resting over her shoulder while she held it, tracing the veins on the back of his hand. A knowing smile tugs at my lips as I make eye contact with her, and she shrugs and smiles shyly, shaking her head. Eventually, Josh finally starts to slow down enough for me to convince him to go into the kitchen for water.

"I'm not that wasted.." he insists. His eyes are completely closed now as I seat him.

"Of course not," I answer. Beth and Hannah get up and begin cleaning up as I babysit their brother. "But let's get some water, anyways. I'm your bartender this time." Josh scoffs and buries his face in his arms. I take his red solo cup and pour the little tequila left into the sink before filling it with tap water. "Drink up."

"No... I don't want to move." I groan loudly and dramatically, picking the cup back up and walking around the counter.

"I'll pour it in your mouth, just sit up and tilt your head back." He groans again but does as I say, closing his eyes and opening his mouth as wide as possible. "Ok you don't need to open it that much, you're going to choke." He closes his mouth and furrows his eyebrows as if thinking of the right distance his lips needed to be from each other. Eventually, he barely parts his lips. I sigh gently and rest my left hand on the side of his face and place my left thumb on his bottom lip, pulling down gently and parting them further. He takes my thumb lazily between his teeth, allowing me to pull his jaw down enough to give him the water. As I tilt the cup, he opens his eyes slightly and makes eye contact with me. I gulp as I feel my face grow hotter. I find myself grateful for the alcohol, as it'd already reddened my face enough to where I believed there was no way Josh could tell I was nervous.

I place the cup down and remove my hand from his face, turning away from him.

"Can I have some more?" He asks. I can't help but feel like it's not the water that he actually wants and I try not to smile.

I hate that I'm feeling this. The giddiness, the tension between us - and all for someone who used to make my life so miserable. I'm able to frown as I remember it all, though it slightly ruins the mood when I'm reminded he's never really apologized.

Josh has never apologized.

"What's with you... Your face, you stopped smiling at me," Josh slurs out, leaning forward and resting his jaw in his hands. "I miss it already."

"It's nothing, I'm just tired, Josh." I lie. He says nothing, instead nodding and squeezing his eyes shut. I give him more water - making him drink it himself - and try to stifle the guilt I feel for needlessly ruining the mood. After a few more glasses, he lays his head in his arms and falls asleep, his breathing slowed.

I lean over him and study his features as if something might hint that he was still conscious.

"Goodnight, Josh." I hum. I walk around the counter to sit next to him, resting my chin on the heel of my palm and closing my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

---------------------------------------------------

I stir slightly as I sense movement around me, my eyes refusing to open. I hear two pairs of footsteps and I can hear the crinkling of trash bags and the clinking of glass bottles being put into them. I groan as I stretch, my eyes finally allowing some sight.

Beth and Hannah are cleaning up.

"Morning already?" I ask before I notice that it's still dark out. I hear the twins laugh at me as I awaken.

"Go to bed, girl, we got this."

"No, no, let me... let me help." I insist. I stand up and drink the little bit of water left over in Josh's glass from earlier that night.

As Hannah and Beth move their brother to the couch, I continue their collection of the bottles and cups laying around. Out of the corner of my eye I see Beth crouching down to look at Chris and smile, and I barely hold back a comment to let her have her moment. His face is covered in marker that I can only hope isn't permanent. I can't help, however, the smile that spreads across my face. I wish so badly that Beth would say something to Chris about how she felt - Ashley clearly wasn't going to.

As I take care of the last bag, I turn around to see Hannah holding a piece of paper and standing in front of her laptop. I can see a drawing of her on the back and for some reason my stomach drops.

"Hannah." I say. I don't mean to, but my tone sounds like that of a warning. She jumps and eyes snap up to meet mine, a blush across her face. "What is that?" She tries to hide a flustered smile but she miserably fails.

"It's a note..." Hannah says, placing it back onto the computer.

"From who?" She shrugs.

"Hannah-"

"What do you care?" She snaps, suddenly. Taken by surprise, I take a step back. "You're always telling what to do and acting like you're so high and mighty and moral."

"Woah, I didn't -"

"It's from Mike." She states. She picks the note back up and waves it in my face before shoving it hard against my chest. "I thought you were my friend."

"Hannah-" she turns on her heel and storms off to her room. I'm shaking as I hear her bedroom door slam upstairs. I look behind me to make sure Josh and Chris were still asleep as I hold out Hannah's note.

Sure enough, it's Mike. But this didn't seem like him - sure, he was a bit of a flirt, but he still seemed mostly loyal to Emily. My mind races. Should I find Emily and tell her? Try to talk Hannah out of it? Confront Mike? This all felt wrong and out of place. This isn't my place, but I can't do nothing, can I?

"Jordan?" Beth says. I jump.

"Beth," I start, gulping as I hand her the note with my shaky hands. She furrows her eyebrows as she takes it from me, her gaze moving back and forth between the paper and my worried expression. "What do we do?" The color drains from her face as she reads, the portrait on the back distorting as the paper crumples in Beth's worried grip. I realize now it looks like one of Sam's portraits.

"What is my sister getting herself into now?" She asks, looking up at me. I don't know what to say.

"She's real mad at me, Beth," I choke out. I hated that Hannah was so cross with me. I swear that Beth will see my heart pounding through my shirt if she looks. "I tried to tell her-" voices upstairs. Beth and I both look up as Hannah runs down the stairs in a thin black short sleeve shirt halfway unbuttoned, her arms crossed over her chest. Before I can even react Beth grabs me by the shoulders and turns me towards her.

"I'm going to get my coat and go after her, you wake up Josh." I nod quickly, my heart pounding. I can still function under pressure, mentally. But my heart is pounding so hard I'm sure I could die. As Beth runs from me to her jacket I hurry to Josh, hoping I could wake him up without too much effort. I can hear the sound of everyone else clambering quickly down the stairs after Hannah.

I get to Josh on the couch and grab his shoulders.

"Josh. Wake up, right now." I plead, shaking him not hard enough to give him whiplash, but not gently either. He doesn't even stir. "Josh, please!" I see Chris roll over in my peripheral, mumbling something. "Chris! You too, wake up now!" The panic laced in my voice and the amount of time he'd already been sleeping allows Chris to get himself sitting up, rubbing his eyes with that stupid marker drawn on his face.

"What's going on?" He slurs, still not opening his eyes. I'm somewhat slapping Josh's face back and forth, becoming more and more frantic.

"Something happened and Hannah ran outside," I gulp. Josh finally stirs slightly, mumbling out what sounded like his sister's name. "We need to find her, right now." He lazily grabs my hands to stop my smacking and attempts to hold them to his chest. Chris stands up and wobbles but I can see him slowly wake more and more.

"JOSH!" I yell. He's up now, jolting awake and staring at me wide eyed and near as frantic as me.

"WHAT!?" His expression softens slightly when he sees my distraught expression.

Sam comes into the living room. Chris, Josh and I all look to her in a sort of anticipation, Josh utterly confused and dumbfounded. She gulps before opening her mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry."

---------------------------------------------------

Hey everybody, sorry for the long wait. Unfortunately I lost my hyperfixation but I still plan on writing this out! Much love. Hopefully can get back into the groove!! Apologies if this seems really everywhere, I've been slowly writing it over time. Anyways, been hyperfixated on Hiromi Higurumi from Jujutsu Kaisen lately!! Maybe I can write stuff with him? Peace and love :)

Taglist: @sc4rrc@mattymxmo @cellyx33 @jenepleurepasbaby@kalynnjonas@spinback-kiva@frankcastlesvest @barnxsromanxff @kapczan

#josh washington #josh washington x reader #josh washington x you #joshua washington #until dawn #until dawn x reader #x reader #fanfiction

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