First ficlet inspired by @danji-doodle ‘s comics. you should all check them out.
Josh’s grip on his hand was close to crushing; Chris could actually feel the small bones grinding against each other, and he could barely keep a wince off his face as he glanced back at his friend.
It wasn’t hard to read his face, even though half of it was obscured by the white mask. Josh’s eyes had always been his most expressive feature, after all. Even though he was so different to the boy Chris had grown up with, some things seemed to never change - from the crooked smile that was now just a little more crooked, to the big eyes answering his gaze for a split second before flitting back to the mall, seemingly trying to take in everything at once.
People were parting around them to get to the entrance at their back and throwing them short, uninterested glances before looking away again.
Chris wondered what they were seeing - they probably thought Josh was merely sick, what with the perpetual shadows beneath his tired looking eyes and the mask wrapped around his lower face.
Nobody looked like they had an inkling of what lay beneath and that more than anything else relaxed Chris back into giving Josh a friendly nudge with his shoulder.
“Dude. You’re breaking my hand.”
Josh jerked and looked down to where he was clutching at Chris, then loosened his grip.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. Chris could see a small flush climbing onto his cheeks from beneath the mask and grinned with a sad twist to his lips.
“Come on. Let’s go to GameStop, eh?”
Josh didn’t look convinced at all but he was docile in letting Chris pull him along. He stayed close behind him, looking miserable and wary whenever Chris caught a glance at him through the reflections in the store windows.
It was hard to keep an optimistic front when he was confronted with the aftermath of what had happened a year and a half ago now. Would it never just end?
He still woke up in the middle of the night drenched with sweat - then felt guilty when he remembered how it’d been Josh hunting him in his dreams, clothed in a dirty overall and his skull mask hanging around his neck.
Since he got the call from Mrs. Washington half a year ago, the dreams had gotten worse even though Josh was so very docile - so much more gentle than the lovable asshole he’d been before everything had went to shit.
“We’re here.”
Chris startled out of his thoughts and looked up at the sign, then down into the store lined with video games.
“Oops. Well - let’s go. You should get back into the scene, dude. Haven’t played some good and honest game in way too long if you ask me.”
Josh looked like he was close to god damn bawling, a trembling whine reaching Chris’ ears before he squeezed his hand and resolutely pulled him inside.
One of them had to be brave today, after all.
.o.
Josh looked dazedly down at the game in his hands. He looked exhausted even though they hadn’t been inside the mall for longer than half an hour. He was slumped against the sidewall of the building where nobody was likely to come around and see them.
“You okay?” Chris asked, unconsciously stepping closer and shielding his friend with the bigger bulk of his body.
Josh still was looking at the game and nodded slowly and dream like. The corners of his eyes were crinkling a bit and Chris caught himself thinking about pulling down the mask and looking for that crooked, sharp fanged smile.
Instead, he pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his parka and felt his face heat up in embarrassment.
