#joshau

It should have been a happy morning. Mornings were always happy when they were together, but strangely enough Vic couldn't bring himself to smile. He wasn't acting like himself and Kellin knew it. But still, he refused to admit something was wrong, choosing instead to practically mindlessly get ready for work.

"What are you planning?" Kellin asked, grabbing Vic's shoulder a little rougher than usual.

The tan boy sighed and looked at him, shaking his head. They had had such a perfect night and now this morning Vic seemed to be going insane and looking absolutely miserable until Kellin held out his hand to stop him.

"I know you're hiding something, I can sense it," Kellin said, turning the boy so that they faced each other. Still, Vic refused to meet his eyes. "Talk to me," ordered the Siren, sliding his hands from his shoulders to his waist and holding him close.

Vic sighed and rested his forehead on Kellin's shoulder. "I was thinking... about your safety," he admitted finally. "And how I don't want to jeopardize it."

"So? What do think we should do about it?" asked Kellin, giving him a look of concern. "And for the record, I'm more worried about yours."

"I don't know. Well, I just... I don't know. For now, I have work so you're going back to the ocean even though I'm going to miss you all day," Vic admitted. He picked his head up and gently pushed his lips to Kellin's before the siren had a chance to speak. The siren kissed back almost eagerly, gripping Vic's shirt with his fists.

They pulled away and Vic instantly turned his back, taking a deep breath. Knowing they had to be on their way soon if he didn't want to be late for work, he reached for the door knob, with Kellin stepping closer to follow him out. "Oh, fuck it," said the tan boy, turning away from the door and grabbing Kellin by his shoulders, pushing him back and against the wall. He smashed their lips together and pressed his body against him.

Taken aback, the siren kissed back with just as much vigor. "I just care about you so much, Kellin," Vic whispered before he got off of him and turned away to open the door. He couldn't really say anything back, but the words were precious to Kellin, and he had to stand there for a moment to take them in before he went to catch up with the human on his way out to the car.

--

Saying goodbye was a little more difficult than normal. Usually they embraced each other, smiling and kissing each other and saying, "I can't wait to see you later!" and a few "I miss you's," and things such as that. They were happy - happy that the other would miss the first just as much. Even though they had to be apart for a little while, it was going to be okay. They'd see each other again.

Now, something was different. Vic held Kellin's hand tightly as they walked down to the sand without a word. When they got to the edge of the water, Kellin stopped and looked out. It was cloudy that day and the waters were abnormally still. To Vic, it was just a gloomy looking day. Not to Kellin though - the siren knew a storm was brewing.

"I'll miss you," he said, turning to Vic and finding it a little hard to smile.

The tan boy nodded his head, looking at Kellin as if he was searching his face for something. "I'm scared," he said finally. "God knows what could happen today, you know?"

Kellin shrugged and stepped closer so that he could slide his arms around Vic, who did the same, holding the boy close. "Well, whatever happens, I'll be back alright? See you later," he told him.

They quickly kissed each other on the lips before stepping away, and Kellin backed in to the waves, while Vic turned to go towards his car. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw that Kellin was watching him go while he slowly went further out, until they got so far away that they could not see each other clearly, and Kellin had disappeared under the water.

Vic sighed as he walked to his car. He liked having Kellin in his sights, but he supposed he was a lot safer in the ocean, the place he called home. As far as he knew, he had Matty with him, and Matty was a much more able protector than he was. Granted, Vic probably wasn't giving Kellin much credit either. He had no idea what that boy was capable of doing. If it was anything like Matty showed him, he'd probably be fine.

Pulling out of the parking space by the beach, Vic tried to picture what a 'beastly' Kellin would look like. The boy was too innocent and cute and adorable and sweet to form an actual terrifying image in Vic's mind. Well actually, Vic would just find Kellin attractive regardless of what he looked like.

That thought made last night's conversation come flooding back, and Vic found himself blushing in his seat. "So naive," he said aloud, thinking of Kellin's confession that he wanted to fall in love with Vic. "And so sweet, and probably the only person capable of making me so happy." Vic shook his head; it really was crazy how strongly he felt for someone that wasn't even of his species.

And how strange was it, that the boy was practically smitten with a siren? And how extraordinary was it to find that sirens actually existed outside of story books? These thoughts flabbergasted Vic, but he just accepted them without question because honestly, he didn't care. Human or not, Kellin was amazing and he wanted to keep him in his life forever.

At that moment, Vic decided that regardless of what came their way, he wanted them to stick together forever. He really did want them to fall in love. As he drove, he grinned to himself, thinking of how lucky he was. His face was burning red by the time he was almost to the store. Kellin just meant so much to him, he never wanted to lose him. One of the things Vic loved the most about Kellin, was the fact that he wasn't afraid of Kellin hurting him. And that meant everything to the skinny Mexican.

Vic sighed as he turned the final corner to go in to the store, and instantly his good mood left him, replaced with an extremely bad feeling that only increased when he saw all the lights were off inside the store. That didn't make sense; Josh usually got here a good twenty minutes to a half an hour early to open up. Vic frowned, sitting in his car and turning over what he saw in his mind. He didn't like when he had a bad feeling, and simultaneously something out of the ordinary was happening...

Figuring his boss must be sick or something, Vic cautiously got out of his car to see what was up. He looked around outside; no sign of Spencer, or anyone for that matter. Only uneasy gut feelings. When he walked over and opened up the door, his fears only increased when he felt that the store was much warmer than it should have been.

"Josh?!" He yelled in to the store, going deeper inside. That's when the burning smell hit his nose, and he could see the faint appearance of smoke gathering up on the ceiling. "Holy hell, Josh!" he rushed over to the counter, praying his friend had just blown up the microwave or something dumb like that.

Without a second thought Vic ran behind the counter, where the smoke seemed to be coming from. Fear made his heart pound and the smoke stung his eyes as he got closer and adrenaline was pumping through his veins; but he wasn’t leaving until he was sure Josh was alright.

His hand slipped in to his pocket with the intent of grabbing his phone and calling 911, but just his luck, it wasn’t fucking there. Smoke was pouring out of the back room now.

“JOSH! ARE YOU IN THERE?! ANSWER ME!” he bellowed. When he inhaled, the smoke stung his throat, making him choke. Still, he silence his fear and apprehension and walked in, gasping at the flames engulfing the room. How the hell had this started?

Vic’s stomach dropped when he saw a large, crumpled up heap of person in the middle of the room, a guitar sitting only a few feet away. “JOSH!” Vic yelled. He hung back, afraid of getting burned, but he wasn’t going to leave Josh to die. He stuck his head out of the storage room and sucked in a chest full of fresher air, then bounded in to wear Josh was laying.

He tried shaking him, but he didn’t respond. “Come on,” Vic muttered, releasing the breath he’d been holding. The flames were getting hotter and Vic was sweating under the intense heat they were giving off. He hooked his arms under Josh’s, dragging him away from the flames that were coming ever closer. Vic glanced around wildly; he could see parts of the building and the things in the store room literally melting.

The lack of oxygen and heat made him feel on the verge of passing out, but he pulled through and got both himself and the heavy man out of immediate danger. He pulled Josh out from behind the counter before dropping him and falling down himself, struggling to breathe.

“Josh!” he said weakly, unsure if he was even alive. How had this happened?! Damn it, he better not be dead!

Luckily for Vic, since he had fallen, he gained access to the cleaner air under the thick layer of dense smoke as the fire grew stronger. It renewed his strength and focus. The scared, tan boy got to his feet and ran for the phone on the counter, dialing the number for 911. Just his luck; the line was dead. The smoke clouding his vision and scorching his throat would have made speaking difficult anyways.

“Fuck!” he said hopelessly, his voice scratchy. The heat was becoming more intense - the fire was growing, meaning Vic had to move quickly. He went back over to Josh and tried to drag him once more, but to his dismay, he was growing weaker, and the smoke was growing thicker. His phone must be in the car; if only he could reach it! But could he afford to leave Josh here? He didn’t want to risk it, he had to drag his friend and boss with him, but it was easier said than done, and before long Vic found himself hopeless tripping over his own feet, the world spinning around him…

It was at the last second of consciousnesses that he felt another pair of arms grabbing him from behind and pulling him away. Wherever that may be, he had no idea. he just had to let it happen because he didn’t have the strength to fight it. 

—-

His eyes blinked open and saw white sky staring him down. He was lying on something extremely hard and rough… pavement? God, he was parched. His throat was sore and he could only smell smoke… and suddenly the memory of what was happening before he passed out sprang back in to Vic’s mind and he shot up, looking around. There were paramedics standing over him; red lights flashing - fire trucks and ambulances.

The skinny Mexican turned his head and saw a very blackened Josh lying on the ground a few feet away, an oxygen mask pressed to his face. The paramedic closest to Vic was holding one as well, looking at him with satisfaction. “You alright, son?” he asked, placing a steadying hand on Vic’s shoulder.

“F-fine,” he croaked out, instantly coughing after he’d spoken. “Is Josh alright?”

The paramedic reached behind him to grab a bottle of water that he handing to Vic, who thanked him instantly and took a drink. “I dunno, kid, you’re my main concern. How much do you remember?”

“I pulled Josh out, then someone else pulled me out…” Vic admitted, looking around. Again, his eyes only landed on Josh, who still wasn’t moving. God, was he even breathing?

“I think it was that guy,” said the paramedic, pointing to someone that was talking to a fire chief and a police officer.

Vic’s eyes went wide with shock as he instantly recognized the man standing there. “I could be wrong though,” the paramedic shrugged. But Vic was almost sure that the paramedic was right - because he knew that that was the same man who had been kind to Kellin and himself when they’d almost been hit by a car - what was his name?

“Danny!” shouted the boy, trying to get to his feet. To his surprise, however, he found that standing was a lot harder than he remembered. The other man looked over at the sound of his name and smirked at Vic, waving a hand at him before looking back to the officers he was speaking to.

“We’re losing him,” the voices next to Vic distracted him and he whipped around, noticing a stretcher being wheeled over.

“Hey, is he going to be okay?!” Vic asked loudly, catching the attention of the other emergency response workers. They looked around grimly at each other, and one of them even shrugged. Ultimately they ignored the question, turning their eyes back to Josh. Vic had no idea how long he’d been in that room; he just knew that if it had been much longer there wouldn’t be a body to pull out.

He was taken away in a matter of seconds, rushed in to an ambulance that took off. Vic watched it go hopelessly, unable to even wrap his head around all that had just happened. How long was he even out for? Long enough to get the fire out, or so it seemed. A group of onlookers had gathered to stare at the burned-out store. Vic figured if they were allowed to get that close then the flames must have been put out by now.

“I can like, get up now right?” he asked the man that had been tending to him, who nodded his head.

“You feel alright?” he asked as Vic slowly got to his feet. The skinny boy nodded, making up his mind that he wanted to speak to Danny, mostly to thank him. But when he looked around, he was no where to be found.

Instead, a new sight made his heart grow cold as he scanned the group of onlookers.

Spencer was among them, that unblinking stare fixed on Vic.

—

“Vic, stop! You’re being too rough, you’re hurting my arm!”

Kellin wrenched his wrist free from Vic’s tight grasp, stopping in his tracks to stare at the boy. They were half way to the car, standing alone on the beach. The wind had picked up now, blowing waves on to the sand that were a little crazier than normal.

“Sorry,” Vic muttered, turning to continue walking. Kellin sighed angrily and followed closely behind. They got to the car rather quickly, slamming the doors shut. Vic jammed his keys in the ignition, but his hands were shaking and he accidentally dropped them on to the floor of the car. “Fuck,” he mumbled, bending over to pick them up.

“Vic, what is wrong?” Kellin asked, reaching over to stop his arm. He stared in to his eyes, drawing his focus in. It was like earlier that morning, only worse. “Did something happen?”

Vic sighed and buried his face in his hands. How could he explain this? “There was a fire,” he said finally. “At the store. I just came from there and I don’t know if Josh is okay and I don’t want to go to the hospital to find out. Kellin, I almost fucking died again. That was terrifying! And guess who showed up?”

“Spencer,” Kellin answered instantly. “Spencer was there. I bet he started it!”

Nodding vigorously, Vic couldn’t even speak. He didn’t even know what his emotions were even doing right now. He was mad and scared and sad and worried and he just wanted Kellin to hold him and make it all better. “Danny was the one that apparently pulled me out,” he said after a moment. “You remember him?”

“From the car incident?” Kellin asked, nodding his head. He sighed, reaching over to grab both of Vic’s hands. “Its going to be okay Vic. Oh, you’re shaking…”

Indeed, his hands were trembling. They hadn’t stopped shaking since he woke up. “Just scared… I… God, can you please just like, kiss me?” he pleaded, looking at Kellin with the saddest eyes he could muster.

Of course, Kellin was happy to comply. He raised a hand to place on Vic’s cheek, then kissed him as tenderly as he could. “Its gonna be okay,” he repeated after a moment. “We should go check on your friend, yeah?” he suggested.