Work Text:
Even in all the noise of the bar, I could feel that something was wrong. Some loud voices got quieter and the voices that normally say a wise crack under their breath suddenly raised to a shout. “Is that our guys?” I asked. CJ and I were getting our coats on to meet the rest of our group outside when I thought I heard familiar voices. CJ paused at my suggestion and we both stood there like hunting dogs waiting for a sign of trouble. Through all the clinking of glasses and laughter I recognized a tone of voice that I only heard through walls and on stressful mornings but was instantly recognizable: Josh was furious . CJ heard it too because she looked at me with a concerned, quizzical expression on her face. “That’s Josh, right?” she asked and I nodded.
We both walked quickly to the door, afraid of what could be awaiting us outside. The cold DC air surprised me as did the scene unfolding in front of us. Josh was standing dangerously close to another man, both of their shoulders were extremely tense and fists were clenched as they screamed at each other about something I couldn’t place. Toby stood at Josh’s side, trying to be a peacekeeper. He pulled him back when he could but Toby was clearly enveloped in the argument as well. Josh’s hands flew wildly as screamed and inched his red face closer and closer to the man who was just as, if not more, angry. “What is going on?!” CJ yelled, walking toward the scene with me. “Nothing!” Toby shouted, now moving in between CJ and I and the fight. “Well it looks like something-”
“It’s not, right Josh?! ” Toby turned to yell back at Josh. I still couldn’t figure out what he was arguing about. All I could decipher was expletives and foul comebacks. “Where’s Sam?” I asked. If Sam were here, Josh would either be pulled out of this or they would both be kneeling in the snow beating up this guy. CJ, Toby, and I were able to turn our eyes away from the argument as a pair of bright headlights came into view. “That would be him.” Toby said, “We need to get out of here.”
“Yeah no shit. Let’s go Josh!” CJ said. Still, the man and Josh continued to scream at each other. Sam stepped out of the car. “What’s going on?” I could already see him going into defense mode as his brows furrowed and he attempted to make himself taller. “Nothing Sam. C’mon Josh.” I said. I pushed past Toby and grabbed Josh’s coat sleeve and pulled hard. With a final statement of “Fuck you!” Josh let me drag him away. As we walked to the car with Toby and CJ ahead of us, I looked at him. His face was red, he was breathing hard out of his nose like a bull, and his eyes were furious. Suddenly, I heard steps coming up behind us. We stopped as Josh felt a tap on his shoulder. We turned around to see the same man. Before anyone could even blink, the man raised his arm and punched Josh square in the face. I let out an involuntary scream as Josh’s head went back and he stumbled into my arms. Sam appeared as quickly as the punch happened. I made the decision to lead Josh toward the car before he got his head back on straight and decided to get punched again. I dragged him in the opposite direction as CJ and Toby went to go get Sam. “Did he hit me?” Josh asked softly as he leaned against the car. Blood began to slowly flow from his nose and his cheek already began to turn a different color. “Just a little bit.” I began to fish a tissue out of my purse. I looked back to see that the rest of our friends were walking towards us, luckily no one else had been punched in the face. I gently pressed a tissue to his nose and Josh let out a soft grunt of discomfort in response. CJ’s glare could’ve incinerated Josh on the spot if he was brave enough to look at her. “Get in the car, CJ’s gonna kill you.” I said and ushered him inside. Josh let out another groan of pain as he hit his head on the ceiling but I didn’t apologize.
The car ride home was deadly silent except for CJ swearing that she’d give Josh a worse hit than what he got. Sam had tried to make the situation a little more lighthearted but CJ shot him down with one look. I wanted to ask about what had been said but I could feel the anger radiating off of Toby and Josh was struggling to stay awake. I hoped that he was just drunk and not suffering from a brain injury. I was embarrassed and angry that he made a scene like that, but I was also concerned. Josh has never been a fighting drunk. What I had learned from nights when he would show up to my apartment after a tough day was that he was more prone to tears and blabbering when he had one too many drinks, not anger.
I was the house closest to the bar so when the car came to a stop in front of my front step I nudged Josh awake; he had closed his eyes while still pressing the tissue to his bleeding nose. “You’re taking Josh with you?” Sam asked, looking at me in the rear view mirror. “Yeah, I’m afraid he’s gonna get blood all over your car.”
“I’m afraid they’re gonna kill me if I stay in this car one more minute.” Josh mumbled quiet enough so I could only hear.
“Won’t be the first time I’ve taken him into work-” CJ, Sam, and Toby all exchanged a look when I said that. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Come on Josh.” We said quick goodbyes and then we stood outside and watched them pull away. “I have a lot of questions.” I said.
“I’m sure you do.” Josh began to walk up the steps to my apartment, I followed behind. “I appreciate y-” I watched as Josh wobbled for a moment on the slippery ice and then fell face forward onto the steps. “Jesus fucking Christ!” Josh yelled out in exasperation on the steps, perching himself up on his forearms. I couldn’t stop the gasp that leapt from my mouth as much as I couldn’t help the loud burst of laughter that followed it. “Are you okay?” I asked between fits of giggles. “You know, I could really do without the laughter.” he grumbled. I gently took his arm and helped him step upright. “That must’ve been some kind of karma.” I said as I unlocked the door. “Karma?” We began to climb the steps up to my place. “I don’t deserve karma. I’m the one who was hit!” Josh’s voice bounced around the walls. “Shhh!” I hissed.
“Don’t-!”
“Josh.” I hoped my tone of voice reminded him that he was staying at my place tonight and that I didn’t leave him in the car to face the wrath of the others. I think it worked because he rolled his eyes but was quiet until we got up to my apartment.
I tossed my keys on the table by a door with a sigh and took mine and Josh’s coat. “Damn it.” I heard him say.
“What?” I walked to the bathroom where he was.
“Look at me! I look like I belong in a Scorsese movie.” We both observed his face in the mirror. The fall on the steps had caused his nose to slightly start bleeding again and a mark on his cheek was now a discolored yellow. “I can’t go to work like this.”
“Just say you slipped on the ice, which is partly true.” I almost let out a laugh at the memory of him face planting. He shot me a look, clearly telling me that I thought about laughing. I cleared my throat.
I watched the way his face clouded with worry and shame. I could illustrate how his face looked in bad times from memory because I had witnessed it so often. Although no matter how many times I had seen it, it made my heart hurt every time. I never learned how to just let him be, I had to help if I could.
“Alright. Sit down.” I said, pointing to the lidded toilet. His brow furrowed in confusion but I kept pointing until he sat down. I knew he watched me as I dug through the medicine cabinet and then walked to the kitchen and back, returning with an ice pack. “I can do it myself.”
“Can you?” I said in a tone that was more snide than I wanted to sound. “You got in a fight with someone tonight because you were drunk.” I wet a washcloth under the sink.
“Okay, first of all-”
“Hold still.” I gently dabbed the washcloth under his nose.
“First of all, I am not nearly as drunk as you think I am,” he said. I gently took a hold of his chin for balance. “The fight was not a drunk decision.”
“So it was a sober one?”
“It-” I raised an eyebrow at the beginning of his defense.
“Well.” He sighed. “It was aided by alcohol.”
“Mhm.” I stepped back and crossed my arms.
“Hey you do not get to lecture me on this-” he pointed his finger at me.
“You lecture me all the time! It’s my turn!”
“If you knew what it was about, then you wouldn’t.”
“Well then what was it about?”
That shut him up. Clearly it was on the tip of his tongue but he refused to say something; instead, he just stared at me. I sighed and gave him the ice pack to put on his nose.
“Does my nose look okay?” he asked quietly.
“If it didn’t, I’d be in tears.” I said jokingly, but also I wasn’t completely lying.
“Over my nose?”
“Well, don’t get too ahead of yourself. But you have a good nose.”
“I thought you loved me for my charm and wit, not my looks.” I scoffed at this. I couldn’t help that my cheeks quickly turned a bright red and I attempted to hide my face in the medicine cabinet. I turned back to face him to see him having a stupid half smirk on his bruised face.
I gently cupped his face with my hand and slowly began to rub the bruise away on his face with my thumb. “What’re you doing?” he asked. I could feel his face growing hot; which made my face grow even redder. “Making the bruise heal quicker.” I said quietly. What he did next surprised me but it wasn’t unwelcome. I was bending over slightly in order to be on his eye level. Cautiously, he reached up and placed his hands on my hips. He left them there for a second, testing the waters before relaxing a bit. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Are you?”
“... I just can’t stand you being mad at me.”
The next day I had barely set down my things before Toby and Sam appeared in my doorway. “So I take it Josh told you what the fight was about?” Toby said in a teasing tone. Sam had a big smirk on his face. “No?”
“You seriously don’t know?”
“No! Was it about Bartlet?” I said, genuinely confused. Sam’s face contorted in confusion and Toby sighed.
“What?!” I laughed and raised my eyebrows.
“Nevermind.” Toby said and turned to walk away, Sam trailing behind.
“What? What!” I followed them into the busy hallway.
“Is it about you? CJ?” Toby and Sam both turned around, Sam shrugged and Toby had a deadpan look on his face. And then it all clicked in my brain.