“You okay?” Justin asked as Josh stared out in
front of him, standing by the window of their apartment.
Josh
had moved back in and Justin wanted to stay for a while; Josh hadn’t
complained, he actually liked it. Chris hadn’t mind moving out either, he’d
wanted to stay with his family for a little while before he’d go back to work.
Chris had gotten a promotion due to the case he’d solved. The Treydson’s
weren’t easy to get and Chris had managed it. He’d went into overdrive when
he’d arrested Louisa, Dan and a few employees that had aid them into
threatening Josh and other victims. Chris had made it his top priority to track
down the other boyfriends to get them to file charges so they could convict the
family. Luckily it had all worked out well.
“Uh-huh”
Josh nodded, coming out of his daze as he turned slightly, a lazy grin
spreading over his face.
“Tell
me what you were thinking about” Justin instructed lightly.
“Random
things” Josh told him, shrugging, brushing it off.
“Josh,”
Justin warned. “This was what got us in the whole mess”
“I
know” Josh whispered, dropping his head.
“I
just remembered some things, what Dan kept saying, what Louisa wanted” he said
with a sigh. He knew Justin was right; they shouldn’t keep secrets.
“I
know it was tough Josh but it’s over now. They’re in jail” Justin reassured his
brother.
It
had been months ago but Josh’s memories were impossible to erase. The trial had
ended three weeks ago, the ending couldn’t be better; they’d all been
convicted. Both Louisa and Dan had gotten severe punishments for threatening,
man handling, kidnapping, rape, the list went on and on. They wouldn’t get out
any time soon and Josh couldn’t have been more relieved but it hadn’t exactly
been a walk in the park. During the trial he’d had to repeat all the things
they’d done to him and had made him do, it took them almost a whole week to
cover all those months and it had been emotionally draining for Josh as he
relived the fear he’d felt for his brother getting hurt because of him.
He
was recovering now and he enjoyed his freedom more than anything. He’d started
going out to the movies again with Justin and also his new friend; Julian who’d
been through the same thing. It was the guy who Chris had tracked down. He’d
been held for three months and he was threatened with the exact same thing; a
sibling. They’d gotten very close during the months of the trial and they hung
out quite a lot, they understood what the other had been through. Justin was
great but he couldn’t understand and Josh was glad he couldn’t.
He
was still so grateful he’d succeeded in protecting Justin against the
Treydson’s and so grateful Chris and Justin had been able to get him out of
there. He couldn’t imagine what his life would have been like if he would have
married her, he really didn’t want to think about it. Sometimes Julian and he
talked about it, talked about the what ifs. They couldn’t know exactly but they
both knew one thing for sure; they wouldn’t have lived long. You could only put
up with it for so long and after a while, maybe not a week or a month, maybe
not even after a year but sooner or later, you’d realize there was only one way
out; death.
Josh
shuddered as he thought about it, but then he would remind himself that he was
still alive, Justin was safe and Dan and Louisa were behind bars.
“I
know,” he acknowledged with a small smile.
“But
it’s hard to forget” he admitted.
“I
know Josh but it will get better” Justin said smiling as a reassurance.
Josh
nodded. “Yeah”
Silence
filled the room.
Josh’s
mind wondering again; he owed Chris and Justin a lot, because of them he was no
longer trapped in the Treydson’s web of threats. Instead the people who’d
trapped him found themselves in his shoes as they’d spend years of their lives
in prison. Josh knew he was free, free to start his life over filled with
friendship, love and above all freedom to go and do what he wanted. He promised
himself that he’d never let anyone rule him like that again.
Never
again would he be; trapped.
“You
wanna go to the movies?” Justin asked suddenly.
“I
saw they had the new Julia Roberts movie” Justin suggested, wiggling his
eyebrows playfully. Josh laughed lightly.
“Sure”
It
was still strange to be able to make his own decisions again. He knew it
sounded weird but sometimes he realized just how imprisoned he’d been.
“I’ll
drive!” Justin exclaimed playfully.
“We’ll
never make it safely” Josh countered jokingly.
“Watch
out Josh or I’ll let you walk” Justin joked back before going in front of Josh
down the stairs to the car. Josh just laughed.
“Sure
infant”
“Hey!”
The End
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