#g.josie

[containatrocity]

"Well I mean, most of these boxes are just my books- and you've got a bunch of copies of the same books so I was thinking maybe if we're um, okay with consolidating the book collection to like, one copy of most things, we could sell the other books or donate them to the library and-" G pauses, gathering his hair into a bun and tying it off at the top of his head. "Jo. Jo! Focus, baby. Nothing fun happens with me moving in until we've got all the boxes of my stuff off the bed." He reminds, motioning to the pile of well-used cardboard boxes labeled time-and-again by several people relocating around town- many of these with their previous labels scribbled over and marked with "Books." or "Stuff for G's Bass." in his or Edgar's handwriting.

Lenore sits nearby, the cat grooming her paws stretched languidly atop a newly reconstructed, vacant bookshelf, Gabriel's stalwart feline companion not taking his decision to move in with his girlfriend as anything other than the invite to decide someone else's home was hers now too. G stands from his place in the floor, long enough to reel Josie in at the waist for a kiss with tattooed arms- new ink settled against his arms and neck now that his artist wasn't preoccupied with work at the high school. He's not much better than she is, really, they're both excited, easily distracted, and still, somehow, running nearly as hot as they had last Christmas. His grip slacks slightly, hand settled at her lower back. "All I'm sayin' is there's very little space for any ravaging until we decide where to put the boxes somebody insisted we could fit in our bedroom, instead of just making an office space for all the shit I brought over."

@lxvenderhxzehv

[containatrocity]

"If this is a dream, I'd like to talk to whoever thought I'd be happiest finally getting a girlfriend in these circumstances." G laughs. "But- far as I can tell- through my pretty... screwy lens, all this is real. Me, you, Huntsville." And all the good or bad that comes with it. She chases him for another kiss, easing up on her toes, his own frame bending slightly to make the effort just that little bit less. He wonders how it got this way- if the kid who's gravesite he'd tended so doggedly for 12 years might forgive him for letting things slip- to finally live a life instead of laboring in a self-perceived death.

He also supposes, there's a number of pros to the fact Josie seems to love horror and it's trappings, he's a hard sell, otherwise, 'undead' in his mind and surrounded by death for the comfort of it in his day-to-day life. It had been luck that brought him Lucy, Parker, and Jerico- fellow oddballs mired in their fascinations and mental hang ups that placed them on an even ground. The band had come with Cyan, who probably just felt sorry for him, at first- and chance... well, chance had come with Josie.

Her friendship bracelet still lives among straps of leather and salvaged chains around his wrists beneath his usual patched denim jacket, a touch out of place, but fondly regarded, nonetheless. He considers it for a moment, the chill of the weather, the sun dappling through leaves, despite the bite of the wind. "It's a little cold out- you uh, you wanna head back to town? If I'm not gonna be sitting out here feeling bad for myself and- if Gabriel's grave's all clean then there's no point in us just. standing around. Grab somethin' from the diner to carry out and head back to one of ours maybe? Warm up?" He offers, fingertips cool to the touch as they brush tears out of her eyes.

"you found me..." She echos fondly. She felt her heart flutter at his worlds. Taking in his face. Seeing his forehead crinkle as frustration comes through at himself with the state of Gabriel's grave. "Hey, you don't have to worry about that on your own anymore" She said softly and looked at it as he did "If you want me too I'll always come out here with you, to clean it or to just sit...Maybe I can talk to someone about putting a bench out here for us..." Teddy came to mind. He'd be a sucker for this whole thing, this whole story.

Josie giggles softly "Yeah...I do..." She wraps her arms around his neck hands playing at the nape of his neck. "between everything in July and now this...I don't want to look back on my time here and regret not going after this..." She explain "I'm- Actually happy for the first time in my life despite everything. I have a reason to smile..."

"You're doing pretty good so far id say..." She adds softly "I'm....good at the phyical stuff ya-know" she admits with rosy cheeks "You're my first boyfriend...so were in this together okay?" she reassures him. she nods listening to him talk. Theres those wells again, she fights it. "G, I don't think you realize how nervous you make me. No one has done that to me before. Usually I know what to say or what I want to do...I find myself nervous to do anything in fear that you're not real. That this is a dream and I'll wake up the moment we touch." He kisses her, proving he's VERY real. He's getting better every time their lips touch. It sends a flutter through her stomach. She hums contently as he pulled at her lip a little, the frustration lingered from the festival that they never got to finish what they started because of the earthquake. "good.." she says breathlessly and pushes back up on her tip-toes and pulls him into another kiss.

[containatrocity]

"I'm clocking ouuuut." G declares, dropping his nametag in his cubby in the staff area of the Food Market and grabbing his coat from the hook by the door. "I'm closing tomorrow, right?" He questions, nodding once he's given the affirmative and sparking up a cigarette once he clears the front doors. It's a relatively short walk from work to his place, to pick up his bass and change his clothes, and then a slightly longer one to Josie's place, but it's always just enough time to get a nicotine fix so he's not smoking around her. It's tattooed fingers rapping at the door for a moment as he checks his timers on his cell phone- he's been slacking on remembering meals again, simply too busy with other things to remember that he should take a few minutes every day to put some fuel in a body he doesn't identify as "G" anyway.

"Jo!? you in? It's G." He calls, stepping back slightly when the door comes open, a lopsided smile on his features, dark hair tied up into a bun and usual sunglasses over blue eyes. "Hey. Sorry I'm late, spilled something on myself while I was helping put out the fresh meat so I had to change while I was home. You still up for lunch?" he questions. "Brought my bass too, just in case we wanna just hang around."

@lxvenderhxzehv

[containatrocity]

"Hey! Josie!" It's a while after spotting her at first that G eventually hustles over to interrupt Josie's conversation, dark hair pulled back into a bun at the back of his head and smile warm, despite the way his costume actively communicates the freezing cold, frostbitten nose and frozen over patches on flannel and jacket- The Shining- it had been easy, once they both knew the other had an affinity for King, to decide on a costume to wear together. "Sorry- I uh, was doing something. You look great!" He's not as nervous, after a little bit of time, tattooed fingers shifting to lace in hers for a moment before pulling her into him, slinging an arm over her shoulders. "I would have met you at your place but I accidentally roped myself into helping move stuff around for the haunted houses. Yanno. because I'm so so very strong." He lifts his free arm in a mock-flex, nothing particularly impressive to show in the action. He leans down, sets a kiss on her temple then her lips softly. "The band's kicking around somewhere, but if Mr. Romero sees Wren he's gonna have a heart attack and I don't wanna watch him kick the bucket." he chuckles. "You got any ideas for what you wanna do for the pumpkin contest?"

@lxvenderhxzehv

[containatrocity]

💭 G @ Josie

"I don't deserve you. I deserve a lot of things, but you're not one of them. Everything I touch rots, just like me. Esther can't stand to look at me- and every thought in my mind insists that I'll get my friends hurt, somehow. Or they'll get tired of me, move on. It's kinda... hypocritical, I guess. I always thought Declan deserved the world even after his accident and he doesn't believe me- But I don't think I deserve a kindness from the world and especially not one that's as good as you. I deserved the death I was given, buried, mocked. And when I surfaced again, I killed my parents. And I know whether or not it was an accident and it was the kind of thing that sends you to hell so why did fate hand me all this good? I don't think a lot about God anymore. If the God my parents insisted upon shoving down my throat exists, then I defy Him. Because I know goodness, and it's in you. in the freaks and the self-professed whores and addicts and single parents clamoring to make the world we inherited work."

"And if you are close to holy- I worry that I'm just the artist clinging to his muse, a painter with his mind set on angels. That you are deserving of so, so much and that I... I'm just G."

[containatrocity]

"...I know! There's a lot more bulbs out on this string than I thought there were gonna be, I guess that's what I get for scavenging stuff from the radio station that KB hasn't used for years huh?" At first, it certainly seems like Gabriel is talking to himself, stood atop a ladder on the front porch of the house he and Josie now share with a number of dusty Halloween decor pieces piled up around the feet. Of course, that's before an answering "Mraow!" comes from a box below, Lenore's fluffy tail flicking absently as she slaps the string on a decorative spider who's missing more than a couple legs. "You're right, I think it gives it a more run down and spooky vibe too, and that's that."

He's so resolutely lost in his work, tangled up in string lights, and his conversation with his cat, that it's with a short squawk of fear- and a tumble off the ladder into a pile of decorations- that he makes any notice of Josie returning from work. "Heeeey babygirl, welcome home!- ow." He doesn't seem too bothered by the fall, groaning and standing to dust himself off. "Hope you don't mind. KB gave me the day off so I uh. decided to get a jump on decorating for Halloween- Though I think some of this stuff hasn't been used since like, the nineties."

@lxvenderhxzehv

[containatrocity]

Embarrassment chews through him the way the false-infestations have been for hours, the moment he realizes who's found him, haunted blue eyes flickering down to his lap. Oh, he can live with anyone else knowing he's a fucking freak, but does it have to be Josie? He says a quiet prayer for his grave underneath him to crack open and swallow him, her fingers cool against the bruise under his eye. He can't look at her. He feels sick. "Saw myself at work." He manages, hardly louder than a breath. "Didn't know how bad I'd gotten..." In his eyes he's a rotten, terrible thing, falling to pieces as they speak- her hand settled on his face only grounding him a little to the more believable reality he's managed to anchor himself in for the past several months.

"I'll be okay." he insists. "I'll come home once... once I don't want to be out at night anymore." The implication is clear- he's horrified he'll open a door, get someone he loves killed. He's only ever truly been afraid of hurting the people around him, after all. He finally looks up- looks at her. She deserves better than the resident living dead boy. He swallows slightly. "I'll be okay." he repeats. "I'll just... sit... sit right here. and then I'll come home um... tomorrow."

Josie was getting worried, She hadn't heard anything from G all morning. unable to focus on anything at the library she asked to go home early. Hoping G would be there, perhaps also leaving work early too but the house was empty. She decided to get a jump on Dinner but by the time she was done still nothing. She she went out walking, hoping something would come up, someone would call over the radio. Then she hears it the bass, playing softly in the distance from the woods. She follows it, like a moth to a flame she knows its him. She can feel it deep down.

as she gets closer, the volume grows as well as the knots in her stomach. It was a bad day for him and she mentally prepares for it, for him to push her away. She feels a sigh of relief push from deep in her chest. Pushing the tear up and past her eyes he's okay. She remind herself. He's still here. "So should you.." She says back to him. She can see him better now. The bruise on his face, his hands. "baby...." She says softly as she kneels down to be level with him. Reaching her hand out to getting a better look "why didn't you call me?"

[containatrocity]

There is... an alarming amount to unpack, as Josie curls into him, relaxes enough to speak. He takes the time he's removing his gloves to think about the way to approach this- she just confessed to a murder. It's almost funny, in a terribly dark way- that those words would spill out to one of the few people who could relate. He'd opened the door that night, hadn't he? In as sound a mind as G Westfall could manage, he'd flipped the deadbolt and cracked the front door just slightly- the ghosts wearing the faces of people he knew from church and the kids who buried him in the woods had done the rest. He'd had enough time to hear claws rend flesh, before Esther had dragged him the short distance to the backyard shed and locked the two of them inside to weather the night.

He'd done the same thing, for the sake of an escape. A brother who killed- hers had fled. "Jo..." He manages, after a long moment of simply holding her- and struggling to find something, anything to say. "I know you're upset. You've got every right to be, he shouldn't have just left you here- but... it was what he thought was best." He knows a little something about 'an older sibling doing their best'- his own visit to Esther had been... productive, if not painful. "You don't have to forgive him. You don't have to let him back in. But you do have to accept that he's here, you know? And that uh, no matter how upset you are about that... Him leaving did bring you some good- Um, Chris, and Lachlan, and your friends- you know?" He brushes long blonde hair back from her cheeks, kisses her forehead fondly. "When you're young it's hard to make those decisions. Especially for somebody else. It's a lot of weight to put on somebody- on you, on um, on your brother, too, you know? Maybe he made the wrong choice. But... You made it, despite it and him. That's important, you know?"

She lets his arms engulf her as she buries her face in his chest. She's so thankful for him, so happy to find comfort in someone for once. he's warm and he calls her baby. It soothes her enough "I have a brother...." She says against his chest. "stopped by today.....I-" She closes her eyes "I had hoped the nightmares weren't real....that he wasn't real but he is and he's here..." She sighed soft. "H-he left me G he left me here with those monsters I called parents." she tightened her grip on him. "becasue of him I had to kill my own father just to survive..." The words spilled from her lips without even thinking. She felt her heart pick up and she froze.

"I'm so mad at him G...." she whispered softly "But I- I can't be....because if he hadn't left me....I-" She pulled away to look at him "I wouldn't have you..." she was starting to see the pros. The amazing people in town that she loved. Her Found family the people that she was closest two not becasue of blood but becasue of what they had all gone through. She sniffled "I'm sorry....it's be a long day" She rested her head back on his chest. His breathing and his heart beat relaxing her a bit.

[containatrocity]

Of sound mind, that would probably have freaked him out. They'd not said it before, had they? Sure, G went out of his way to try and show it, every single day, in quality time and his odd presents, trinkets of fur and bone, drawings on margins of papers- notes of affection stuck around Josie's house and in her things for work at the library. Oh, he loves her too- saying it was just too scary. And now there it is, on the air between them in the cold of the woods as the sun threatens to trap them among the trees with a hungry swarm. He has time, though- so he remains, sat silent in the snow with gentle fingers in his hair- a soft press of lips to his forehead.

"What if I can't help it." Comes the response. She insists she could hurt him too- had runed her home to ensure that there was no possible danger that her father might doom them both, trying to get inside. He'd unleashed the ghosts upon his home for a similar reason, the door partially open- the cops hadn't even noticed the way he'd scratched the paint marking the rune in the door off with a finger- red beneath his nails brushed off as old paint from an art project- the kid was nuts, after all, constantly painting angels in his free time. His madness had freed him, just the once. It burdens him now. "What if I can't help it and I hurt you, and the baby, and all the people you're so special to- what if you're wrong and I'm..." He swallows, adjusts, to reel her in instead, tucking his face into soft hair. "I love you too." It's sniffled, barely spoken. "But I'm not supposed to have good things. So what if I do something and ruin- ruin it? I should stay out here. Until I'm better."

She shakes her head "Then let's go home..." She says softly. "I'll draw you a warm bath. Get you cleaned up. You have more than enough clothes at my place.....I'll stay up all night with you if you need me too..." she shook her head "I love you G..." She said softly. Her voice was shaking her eyes watering. The fear that those three words just fell from her lips so easily. "I love you, and I'll do whatever it takes to help you through this..." She closes her eyes shut and places a kiss to his forehead. "I'm not leaving you, you mean too much to me"

"you won't hurt me" she shook her head once more "I know you won't...." She squeezed him gently. "If I lost you I'd never forgive myself...." She argued. "You still feel him though.... don't you?" She questioned gently. It's just a question, nothing rooted in her voice. "He's still here..." She points to his heart. "That's why I know you won't hurt me. You have a heart that is so full" shaking her head "I feel that, when you hold me, kiss me....Make love with me" she looked down at her hands "There are Runes above every closeable door in my house....I did that because I wanted to make sure...that when I locked my father out if the monsters got in....I'd still be safe." She admitted softly. "I watched them tear him apart and I enjoyed it....smiled even..." shaking her head. "I could hurt you, just as easily as you could hurt me" she said simply. "there's nothing you can tell me, that's getting rid of me..."

[containatrocity]

"Listen! I can't be too sure, He's spent the entirety of these past few weeks actively riling you up, I'm worried next time we all get together to hang out you're going to try and kill him with his own mic cable." It's good natured- he knows Cyan doesn't mean any harm, and that he and Josie's dynamic is one built on the idea they do respect each other- they simply find bickering more fun. "And that's gonna leave me conflicted, because I like, 'support women's wrongs' or whatever that phrase he taught Wren the other day was, but also I like GiGi, and it'd be kinda rude to kill her dad." He laughs as she declares that the 'going at it in a pile of books' idea is hot. "Baby." He admonishes softly. "You're fuckin' incorrigible, you know that?" It leaves him just in time for her to turn and bite into his arm a short, alarmed squawk before he laughs. "Okay. I should have expected that one- We aren't ruining any books we could sell or trade or give to the library just because you're not looking at the bigger picture of 'papercuts in weird places'."

There's a comfort in people who's promises he knows aren't empty. The Weirdlings and Declan, the Band, Edgar- even Esther, despite the newness of their tentative mending of bridges- people he knows he can trust, despite it all. Josie makes sweeping promises for the future, and he believes her, just like he believes them. They'll be good parents, when the time is right, when he feels safe enough to take that plunge. They'll look after his grave- he just needs to say the word, and pick a day, and they'll go. It is... strange. To be a priority in some capacity for his friends when he needs them and to not feel the guilt that chewed at him as a boy when he was forced to be the priority for his sibling- and an afterthought for anyone and everyone else. She relaxes into him- insists she's calmed down, over the past few years. "Little victories where you can take 'em." He teases, setting a kiss against her temple as she snakes his cigarette for a drag. "Ah, I think we're doing okay, all things considered. Until a pharmaceutical truck and a full psychatric ward drops out of the sky into the middle of town, 'okay' is probably the best we can hope for, right? But- Maybe this weekend, then? KB's going to be at the station all day, I don't have work on saturday, so my uh, 'dance card is free' as Mr. Romero likes to say."

"Silas is different, I mean I don't want to beat the living shit out of Ben and he's my actual brother" 'Give it time josie' She thought. It was only a matter of time before they got comfortable and started picking on each other. "Cyan just has a Punchable face and the mouth to match it" she said this with all the love in the world. There was a part of her thought that dispite her outward appearance she able to take on a man of Cys stature. She was certain he was letting her win. But she would take it none the less. She rolled her eyes "The sex babe, always " she smirked at him before Tilting her head at him "And I like it when you do....I don't go out side so you shouldn't have to. This is your home too now.....our home" she echoed a bit almost like she was still processing that. She had missed smoking, but she had found that maybe a tiny bit of her attachment to G was getting her fix on the mess of cigarettes. From His lips, his hair, his hands, his clothes. She almost didn't want to smoke anymore just so he could be the only vice she had. Still she indulged once in a while. She took in his second hand in that moment. Something she had always wanted to do with someone she loved. "hm you hold that thought about the books. That's hot." She pointed to him, her mouth going to his arm and biting down like she always did.

Had she learned from it? Learned to push people away. To hurt people, to let them fall for her and break their heart. Gaslighting them to thinking they were the problem that she had made it very clear she only wanted something casual when she hadn't. She had done that the Nico. Why was G so different? Why had she never imagined doing such horrible things to him. Was it that she felt that they were so similar and so different that it wasn't as scary? And also so terrifying it was almost paralyzing. She had hid this part of herself from everyone that hadn't even seen her romance novels until just recently. Her copy of warm bodies ripping at the seams long since past the point of repair, gave her away. Then he mentions being a better parent and her cheeks get warm and she gets flustered. She puts the butter knife down to settle herself down. while any other thoughts or guilt go out the window "You will be....we will be. when the time is right" she smiled softly at him. "You just say the word hon and we'll go. I really don't mind going We can always put on the calendar make it a thing we do like every month." She leaned into his kiss and she settled down. She still wasn't used to this being thrown off by the other. His arms around her waist making her heart beat out if her chest. More so now than ever. She leaned back in his arms sighing contently. She was so Happy . "and that's because of trauma folks." She said with a laugh reaching for his cigarette now taking a drag from it herself. "I think I have calmed down in recent years...."

[containatrocity]

There's hesitation- still colored by being restrained during episodes by people who didn't understand. But tenseness fades, as Josie reels him in, his face shifting to tuck against her neck. He feels terrible that surely, he's going to get her dirty, bloody, some kind of rot or bugs- And then gentle fingers find dark hair, and his eyes close, body slumping slightly into her embrace. "Fell down on my way out here, landed on my..." A slight motion, to his scraped jaw and the bruise around his eye. "It's alright. Doesn't hurt much." Probably from the cold, nature itself a pretty solid salve against the hot ache in his fist and face. "You can't stay out here." Comes the declaration, soft, breath warm against her neck. "It's not safe, if the sun goes down before you're inside you'll get hurt. I don't... want you to get hurt." He knows the rules- believes his perceived undeath enough to spare him the claws of the things that lurk in the woods at night.

"I don't want to hurt you." There's the core of it- not simple protection from harm- protection from him. "I've opened the door before." But that, oh, that was on purpose- a ravenous pack descending upon his parents to finally free the Westfall children from the pain they'd endured for 17 years. He'd never hurt her on purpose, or his friends. But the fear endured- if he was a monster, a thing reanimated- how long could his humanity hold out? Would he eventually hurt everyone? He doesn't want to think about it. She calls him Gabe. He shakes his head. "G." It's a firm correction, voice breaking, soft. "Gabe's dead."

"oh honey..." She says softly as he explains. She leans forward and kisses his forehead. She gently took his bass moving it to rest against the tree behind him "here, let me hold you." She said wrapping her arms around him tightly "It's going to be okay... you're not alone. I'm here" she whispered quietly. "We need to clean up your hand. You have glass in them....you smashed the mirror huh" she gave a squeeze. A gentle kiss on his palm "it's okay....we can just sit here until you're ready. I'm not going anywhere" she argued. "but....we really should take care of your hand....get an ice pack on your eye"

She sighs, reaching her hand up to him to gently run through his hair "you can stay in my guest room..." She said softly "I have rues over every door in my house....I'll be okay" that was what scared her. She knew she'd be okay but him. Oh if she lost him she'd never recover. She loved him, she felt that right now in the heartbreak she felt seeing him like this. She wished she could take this away from him. If she could she would do it in a heartbeat. "We're going home tonight Gabe..." She said firmly. Only using his full name when she was serious. "I can't willingly go home and leave you here. I won't." She'd be up all night.

[containatrocity]

"Did you choose Silas, or are you afflicted with him like any insufferable older brother? Because I'm not sure sometimes if the recovery date was being looked forward to because it was when we could have sex again, or when you could jump Cyan outside of the Romero place." He teases with a laugh, sighing as she pushes the ashtray toward him. "You know I don't like smoking in the house..." It doesn't stop him, as he lights up and takes a long drag, white smoke coiling from his nose slowly as she smacks his upper chest. "Well we're going to be tired anyway! The specifics about which part of the unpacking process is the reason we're tired is like, honestly secondary, Jo. Could be the boxes, could be the setting up the office-" A pause, to take another drag. "Could be the celebratory fucking-in-a-pile-of-books, the important thing is that we will be tired at some point, and I can't start a house fire with the microwave."

He also isn't particularly bad with a knife, already moving to cut up fresh vegetables for their sandwiches- cigarette set aside in the ashtray as he works- and Josie insists he deserved a second chance- that his father had been cruel to insist that simply wanting to escape- to see the world through a wider lens than the 'good book'- was wrong, somehow. He knows that, now- had learned that lesson the night he left a front door slightly too-open for a sigil to protect the family inside. He'd killed his parents- intended to, perhaps, destroy the entirety of the Huntsville Westfalls the way someone had killed Gianna years later- Esther had ensured he wouldn't answer for what he'd done- by death, or jail time. Another thing he owed them for. "Well. That's been a long time ago now." He reasons, skirting past Josie to retrieve a mason jar of apple juice. "And you know... we've... learned from it. I like to pretend maybe I'll. Be a better parent, if the time comes, because of what Gabriel went through." He unscrews the lid, pouring himself a glass before bending to kiss Josie's temple. "Yeah I... I'd like that. I haven't been... out to see him in a while." Busy with the station, the move, his friends, and Josie, he'd neglected the burial site, unintentionally. "At least clean the marker up, I'm sure it's due for a weeding." There's a relief- in the way she doesn't argue against his worldview- adapting to it instead was a comfort- one that made him cling to it less violently- He'd been rather stable, since the last incident, careful to get in touch with someone on rough days and keeping himself distracted, otherwise. He reels her in by her waist gently, larger frame draped over her back slightly as she works, his other hand retaking his cigarette for another slow drag. "You are scary though. Absolutely terrifying." He teases. "five-ish feet of unbridled rage."

"oh now quite the opposite.. " she smiled softly. It had gotten to the point where she had gone just to see him. At the time she didn't realize it was crush she had on him. She just assumed she enjoyed his presence. He made her smile and laugh. But she never would have thought. She moved closer to him wrapping her arms around his waist as he pulled out his cigarettes. "You did, but I did too" she giggled a little "I wanted you to stare so I guess...I can make an exception...." She reached for the crystal ash tray on the counter and brought it closer signaling that she wasn't about to let him go just yet. And she wanted to smoke she wanted him to stay right there and do it. Clinging to him like he was a tree and she was sloth. She had never been clingy before. But now that she had so much too loose....she was scared and has a reason to be. Any Chang to hold him close like this she was going to take. She scoffed "You're telling me you were scared of little old me" she looked at him with doe eyes once more. He should be, she didn't know anyone who did half the dumb shit she did. Slapping mercy being the icing on the cake for dumbest things she had ever done. But she would never do anything to harm him. God she would do anything in the world to keep him safe. "girls are scary I get it" she said with laugh.

"This town has a weird way of bringing people together I think...." She mentions. "Lach was just my teacher until suddenly he wasn't and now he's my dad...." At last in her eyes he was. "Cal was my boss and then next thing I know he's like a brother to me...." She shrugged "Myles is my family too. Just like cyan, sissy....you" she said with warm cheeks. "I begged and wished for a family that actually loved me and suddenly I have a over abundance of it." She smiled Brightly. Josie smirks at him "Exhausted from unpacking....right..." She slaps his chest playfully and heads to the fridge to bring everything out before grabbing the bread and the plates "I have all he faith into. Just be careful... please" there is a seriousness to her voice. The first aid kit was on Deck just in case something went wrong. She begins to spread the condiments.on the bread and spreading it with the butter knife she had set aside. "Hey, you always deserve that second Chance....." They all did. Still she felt like she didn't, she didn't deserve him, or his Love. She needed to remind herself that, that was her father talking. She was trying to Better. For G, he deserved a good girlfriend. And she was going to die trying to be just that. "baby..." She said softly going to him as he talked about his father, the book, how he treated him "no one Should be punished for wanting to escape..." He cupped his face. "my dad tried to burn a lot of mine..." She said softly. "Only time he ever waisted alcohol was the drench my books in it and light them on fire...." She said with a sigh. She feels her cheeks flush a bit at the mention of Gabriel also liking her "I probably would have liked him too..." She smiled softly. She knew of him back then. She had made a mental note if how hot he was but that was all 13 year old Josie brain could think of at the time. "We should check on him, make sure everything is okay after the flood...leave some fresh flowers? Wouldn't have to stay just a quick stop" she suggested.

[containatrocity]

"Eh, I was a weirdo... Really deep in the Jesus juice kind of weirdo and not... dead guy makes dead things into art weirdo. I clearly... kinda work with the latter. I wouldn't have subjected you to me, honestly. The paradox hit right before I graduated high school, parents died shortly after- It's... probably a good thing we didn't end up friends until after I kinda... mellowed out." He reasons. "And I mean, I am still here, right? Dead doesn't mean resting, just not living anymore." He shrugs, smiling a bit, as she adjusts on the couch to lay her head in his lap- his cheeks flush red, blue eyes usually so frantic, scanning, flickering- settled comfortably on her face- head leaning slightly into the graze of fingers up his jawline and faintly into dark hair- his tattooed digits adjusting slightly against the frame of her stomach. It's comfortable, the closeness, the quiet. He's a little upset with himself for missing out on this for so long.

"Oh cool, I'll definitely take a look at them- I've not been to the library to write for a minute, the band and work kinda take up my time now. I should find a day of the week to head up there and just work on my book sometimes." He reasons. "But I'll drop by for those books- you can help me figure out the best parts of the skulls to run wires through to hide 'em in the final product." He laughs. "Oh. Uh- the fall festival is coming up too- you planning on going? I've been helping Wren get her costume together, she's gonna have a rare couple nights without her dad and brother around so she's kinda gone a little insane- but that means I've been like, trying to figure out what to dress up as while my friends are like, totally done with their costumes. You uh, wanna help me figure one out? At least yanno, 'til we gotta head to bed?" The night might have fallen to keep him from leaving, but it's still young, after all- and as his first time at a girl's house overnight- G's not exactly sure he'd be able to sleep anyway.

"But what kind of person would I be if I said I really liked you and then didn't give you so much as a proper bed to sleep in" She admitted "Besides I would be up all night worrying about you if you slept on my couch...at least the guest room is right down the hall" She mentioned. "If anyone should be burning in hell it's me. Sex before marriage, Baby on the way....not married!" She continued to list off everything before laughing a little "I'm a bit of a nightmare" She smiled softy and then she nodded "Yeah! we can do that. One day at a time." She cleared her throat "I mean you know my situation. The fight I had with Nico...his brother....it's part of the reason I held back my feelings for you for so long." She looked down and tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "I have a habit of ruining the good things in my life" She squeezed his hand "And I-" her over active doe eyes finally met his own calm and cool "I can already tell this is one of those good things..."

Josie thought for a moment and nodded just listening to what he was saying. "I probably would have dated you back then...before my mom died. After that I sort of flew of the handle" She cringed "then my dad died and I got...so much worse." She felt for a moment, though it was fleeting that she could eventually tell G what she had done to her father. The true reason she had runes over every closable door in her home. "I'm glad you're still here...even if you don't feel like you are" She smiled softly at him. "I'm glad we both are." she shifted a bit so her head was now resting his lap. His hand on her waist moving it to her stomach. She felt her heart rate quicken, her body hadn't changed much yet if not at all she was only 2 months in officially then. Even though she wasn't showing she was already trying to cover herself with baggier clothes. G's Flannels really helped. She tried to steady her breathing. Focus on his words. "I would love to! That would be so much fun!" She finally spoke realizing she had been lost in thought "If you want we can meet at the library. I actually have some books for you..." She had taken out almost every book about taxidermy she should find. She was certain her co-workers thought she had lost her mind. Pregnancy Brain she would tell them. She looked up to him from where she laid. Bringing her hand up to gently move the back of her fingers along his jawline. Something she wouldn't dare have done only moments ago now she couldn't help herself.

[containatrocity]

"I mean I can kinda sleep anywhere. The church my parents took me to used to do these lock-ins for the sunday school kids, we all just like, slept on the floor in the rec room. And it was like, the only time I got out of the house with kids my age when I was growing up." So he could probably sleep in the floor, all things considered, and have been fine. He nods, when she points out that he isn't on fire. "Well, little victories, right? Not immediately being set ablaze by an angry God for kissing a girl can definitely go in the 'wins' column." She admits she should have kissed him at lunch, and he waves a hand slightly. "It's fine, It's not a big deal or anything, I just uh. Gotta take it a day at a time. I'm not like... particularly driven to go outside right now." Josie made a pretty solid distraction from that underlying urge, after all, it was only left alone at home that he tended to sink into the want to join the masses outside- loneliness drove his worst tendencies, after all, and here, well, he didn't feel particularly lonely, Josie was warm, and all-too-alive and holding his hand- and oh god now he's nervous again.

"I mean it probably could have been. In high school one of my best friends was Declan, you know? And before his whole... accident, he was real popular- popularity alone probably could have talked me into dating somebody but I was... well. Let's just say I kinda. understand, people around here who felt... Relieved, when some people didn't make it to the other side of the paradox." He sighs, cheeks flushing red as her lips graze tattooed knuckles. "Well, good... Because there's a lot of weird attached to me. I should have figured you were in it for the long haul when you didn't immediately freak out about the whole taxidermy mouse thing." He laughs. "Oh- Cyan's agreed to help me with the electrical stuff I wanted to do for the skulls with the stones and stuff on them so I'm gonna have my first proof of concept deer-skull lamp in a few days- you uh. wanna come over and help me replace the front teeth with crystals? I think it'll look cool if it's an herbivore skull with like... sharp stone teeth." He declares, shifting just enough to snake his free arm around her waist- the closeness is nice, he reasons- he gets why Cyan and Sissy are borderline inseparable when she's around, now- just being alive feels a little less cold with the company.

“Well you don't look like you're on fire to me” She smiled sweetly before placing the back of her hand to his cheeks “Cheeks are a little pink but, I think that's just a symptom of being so cute” She teased. Suddenly she feels the air getting caught in her throat at his question “oh! No I don't mind but…I have a guest bedroom you can stay in.” She wasn't about let him be uncomfortable. “I was going to ask you to stay anyway…” She said sheepishly. ”I would have understood if you had to leave…It doesn't help I have a bad way with my timing…I should have kissed back when we were having lunch“ she laughed a little. ”You've been too nice for me to ever think you were a dick“ She argued.

”Oh..!” Josie realizes what he was saying, that he had never done this, that he wasn't used to this, it was all new too him. She shook her head “That's not lame at all, you have gone through so much in Life…and in death the last thing on your mind would be dating anyone.” She shrugged “And I don't mind answering any question or walking you through anything..” She explained a blush rising to her cheeks again. “I like you too and all of your weirdness” She was smiling so brightly. “yeah, I don't mind…you take all the time you need. She giggled a little when he pulled her forward on to the couch. She intertwines their fingers together “You do to…” She brought the back of his hand up and placed a kiss to his knuckles.

[containatrocity]

"I mean, up until like, five years ago I was still pretty sure if I felt anything aside from completely wholesome desires to like, repopulate in the name of Christ or whatever I'd immediately be sent into the flaming pits of hell?" He doesn't appear to be suffering the fallout for his actions the way his parents, and sister, and the church had insisted, however- but all things considered, he very well might be in Hell already, and as the sun sinks lower across the horizon, he realizes that it's probably rude to kiss somebody, declare you like them a lot, and then bail. So it's with her arms looped loose around his neck and her lips against his own that he manages a "you mind if I crash on your couch?" In the space between them. "I uh. I don't have work until tomorrow afternoon because I swapped shifts with Wren. And I should... leave now, if I'm making it home before dark." He pulls back slightly, wets his lips- this close, it's more visible- a clear bit of plastic spiked through his tongue- holding a hole open that he was in all fairness, simply too lazy to put a proper piercing back into. "And I feel like that's kinda... kind of a dick move, right? 'Hey i like you a lot or whatever... okay bye!'" He knows it's the logical thing to do- and he almost regrets the question the moment it leaves his mouth- he's dangerous, a frequent portion of his delusion oft beckoning him to open windows and doors.

He's resisted, since his teens. But the worry remains. "And I uh. well, I can kinda breathe, now that my brain isn't working through a zillion different ways to fuck up whatever's going on and accidentally reveal that I'm an utter loser with no romantic or physical history to speak of and then get... i dunno, laughed into my second grave. So I can probably uh. Hang out. Without getting weird about it." He is always going to get weird about it. "But I mean, listen. I like you, a lot- and I am very thankful I'm not sitting on it anymore because I was genuinely worried I was going to explode if I didn't say it at some point but. I'm.... Not normal?" He hates it, the fact that he has to ruin something that makes him feel normal with the disclaimer that he isn't. "So I just. I might need... patience, is all." He sighs. "I was raised in a way that was... really fucked. So. Even this kinda. Makes me nervous." He swallows, groans, and slumps onto her couch- fingers trailing from her hair to her neck-shoulder-wrist-hand. Tugs her to sit with him. "But it's good nervous. You. You make me... good nervous."

Feeling him not recoil but bend down to meet her. His lips are soft and she can feel her cheeks warm, her nerves settle. Her hands placed on either side of his face swiftly moving to the base of his neck, fingers on slightly slipping into his hair. If he's never done this before, she can't tell, he feels almost natural here in her arms. Then he pulls away to breath and he kicks the door shut. A breathless laugh escapes from her chest. Almost like it was the first time she had breathed since she had kissed him.

“Good..” She said softly with a nod another awkward but sincere laugh her arms still resting on his shoulders. Josie nodded “Yeah…” She said a little embarrassed. “I-I just didn't want to push anything…I was scared maybe I got the wrong impression” She rambled, then he confesses how he was close to drooling over her and she covers her face in embarrassment “No, I'm sorry…. I've been so stuck in my own head with the baby news and…how I felt about you myself I-I mean I knew you liked me enough to have me around as a friend but I-” She sighed "I thought I was the one making things painfully obvious that i liked you. I don't exactly look at any one else when I hang out with you and others...I don't want to stop looking at you...I can't...especially when you're playing..." She felt her cheeks flush then she laughed once more and nodded in agreement ”I guess we are…“ she shook her head when he said he wasn't good at this. “You're perfect fine…” She assured stomach fluttering as her arms wrapped around his neck once more like they were meant to be there this whole time. Humming softly feeling his touch in her hair, even better than she had imagined for the last few months.

[containatrocity]

Okay, well, he hadn't stepped on any toes, which was maybe the last thought he was able to manage before she said his name- Not G. A name he hardly considered 'his' anymore, if he was honest- and requested he not hate her- He's about to offer some kind of insistence he could never do that, that she's his friend, and it's still his name, just one he doesn't feel right using- at least until he realizes it's probably not his name she's worried he'll hate her for, soft hands on stubble-rough jaw pulling him down into a kiss. The door's still open behind him, the cool of the evening starting to seep in- but he's barely cold anymore- in fact his face feels like it might catch fire, as lips meet his own. Blue eyes go wide for just a moment, before he settles, and they slip closed. He's clumsy- confident as he may have been, G's talents in romance often left much to be desired- he'd kissed maybe four people in his life- and at least three of those, he'd been quickly punished over. There's no punishment coming now- no matter the ghostly hand lingering in the back of his mind poised to scruff him by the collar, and while unpracticed, he's eager, following her down into a half-bend to compensate for their heights.

It's only broken for breath- and the fact the door's still stood wide open behind him. "Door." he manages, backing up enough to plant his boot against it and kick it shut in a motion that is, at the very least, kinda cool despite his brain buzzing in a way that is deeply not cool. "Well. I. don't hate you. And I didn't hate that." He manages a laugh, a little breathless- some of the nerves seem to lift- a scrap of confidence found in the knowledge he's not the one-side to the crush he's been idling on for months now. "Wait-" He realizes, a dark brow arching. "Did you seriously think I'd be mad at you for kissing me? I thought I was being... hideously obvious, about the fact I was like, one drink short of literally drooling over you like, constantly." He confesses, tucking a strand of dark hair behind his ear again. "Maybe we are as blockheaded as Cyan keeps saying I am." He laughs- toeing out of his shoes again. "I um. I am at least kinda. Definitely not good at this?" He admits- it doesn't exactly stop him from bending to pull her in again, rough fingers catching in soft hair this time.

"fuck" the words finally slipped from her lips once the door shut behind him. running her hand through her loose blonde Locks. Covering her face in embarrassment "Sure Josie, a sleepover what are you? fucking 12 years old" She groaned in frustration before she stood up and paced in her living room. The habit of biting her nails in full swing ever since she had stopped smoking, but the pacing? that was new. There was a 1,000 things running through her mind. The guilt she felt for wanting him, liking him, thinking about him, fantasizing about him. She had been reading more romance novel recently, it was messing with her brain. She wasn't thinking right or clearly. She was pregnant and not only that but she was also going through withdrawals. Then she glanced out the window and there he was, still smoking his cigarette. She wished he could see himself the way she saw him. He was beautiful in the way boys were in the Romance books Josie read and clung to every page. and yet he possessed every bit of intrigue in the characters she loved in her horror novels. On top of that all he was kind and he was gentle. She saw that every moment they spent together. She huffed "Fuck it..." and she marched her way to the door. He was going to have to leave soon, she wasn't going to let that happen just yet.

"Shit, sorry" she said as the two collided his hands on her waist and the other on her shoulder keeping her in place. "N-no I'm fine" She said simply her eyes scanning his face slowing glancing down to his lips. "Gabe-" His name, his actual name leaving her lips felt like a sin "Please don't hate me..." She whispered simply, bringing her hands up to gently cup his face she pulled herself up on her tip toes bringing her lips to his. The taste of smoke and tobacco ever present as her heart felt like it was going to fly out of her chest. The cold early autumn air leaving goose bumps on her skin, though she was certain it was all him.