Lifetime Guarantee ➪ Josh Dylan

twenty three

Josh can't hold back his laughter as Cassie coughs up a storm, handing what's left of the blunt back to him.

"T-That is strong," she manages to choke out. She catches her breath and watches the boy finish the roach. As she starts to feel the sensation of floating, she is sexually drawn more to Josh. He tosses the rest on the ground and immediately grasps the girl's face, pulling her in for a sloppy, yet passionate kiss. Cas moans against him, not even thinking for a second about their location. The only light they have is the small, flickering lightbulb directly above the backdoor of the club. The two lovers slovenly make out for what seems like hours to them, but in reality only lasts a few minutes before a sudden, loud crash startles them. Jeremy stands in the doorway, angrily studying his little sister and best friend caress one another in the darkness, a rancid smell vaporing off of them.

"Get the hell off of her, bastard," he snarls at the man. Josh slowly pulls himself off of Cas, the narcotics starting to affect the world around him.

"Lad, you scared the shit outta-,"

"Get the fuck away from her." Josh twists his face out of confusion.

"Why should I?" Josh cockily slurs in return. Jeremy steps out of the door way and marches towards him, pushing Josh on the ground. He tumbles, wincing as the pavement scratches up his arms. "Fuck- Jay, calm down. I'm way too fried to have this go down."

"Oh yeah? Then just let it go down," Jeremy says, cracking his knuckles as he saunters towards the impaired boy laying on the gravel. Cas tries to yell, but nothing comes out, almost as if she's in some type of nightmare. Her entire universe slows down, preventing her from being able to move towards her brother. "Liquoring and smoking up my sister isn't going to work like it does for all your other girls," Jeremy snaps. Josh forces himself off the ground, struggling to find his balance. "She isn't another one of your bitches," he roars. The trembling girl on the side catches the instinct to call the police, but is conflicted over the fact that the fight is between her brother and her 'boyfriend'. She doesn't want either of them to get into trouble with any foreign authorities.

"Mate," Josh mumbles breathlessly, barely being able to hold his hands out in defense. Before he knew it, he was on the ground again, this time due to Jeremy's swinging fist against his face.

"Jeremy!" Cas squeals in horror, her legs shaking as she watches her brother get on top of Josh and continuously punch him in the head. The backdoor swings open once again and Hugh rushes out, eyeing up the scene before sprinting to Jeremy and attempting to yank him off.

"He gets it! He gets it," Hugh shouts sternly. Josh grunts against each of Jeremy's intense blows.

"She's," punch, "my," punch, "fucking," punch, "sister!"

Josh passes out from the severe jabs, blood gushing out of his nostrils as his body goes limp. Hugh glances back at Cassie, a look of terror spread across her face and intertwined in her body language. As Jeremy pauses for a moment, Hugh quickly takes the opportunity to wrench him off of their unconscious friend. He forces Jeremy's hands behind his body and leads him towards the wall of the club, holding him against it. All the shouting draws out Alexa, Lily, and Jess, and the same fear strikes them as they glare at the sight. Cas slowly walks towards Josh, kneeling down and checking his pulse.

"Is he dead? Is he dead? Is he dead," she murmurs under her breath, too high to process what just occurred right in front of her eyes. Jess rushes over and checks his pulse, as well.

"He's okay," she whispers comfortingly. "He definitely needs medical attention, though." She remains calm for her friend.

"Is he dead? Is he dead?," Cas continuously exhales the question, the feeling of panic washing over her the longer she looks at the listless boy. "Is he-,"

"Shh," Alexa rushes over and helps the girl up, bringing her somewhere where she can no longer see Josh. Lily, filled with utter fear, cannot hold her anger back much longer. She storms over to Jeremy, who remains pinned against the wall.

"What the actual fuck is wrong with you?" She screams in his face. Hugh looks as if he might say something to her, but she glares him down before he can even open his mouth. "You could have killed him, Jeremy! All for what? You don't like it when your sister talks to boys? Grow the fuck up," she literally spits on the ground in front of him.

"I want to protect her-,"

"Save your bullshit for tomorrow when Cas sobers up. I guarantee she'll have a lot more to say than I do," Lily struts off to console her friend who's off sitting in the grass with Alexa. Jess stands near Josh, on the phone with the local paramedics.

"We need to wash your hands to make sure you aren't a suspect if the police get involved here, mate," Hugh grumbles, dragging Jeremy inside the club and into the bathroom.

As flashing lights approach the scene, Cas cannot take her eyes off Josh's insensible body, and the blood pouring from it. Lily pulls her into a tight hug, but it's not able to cease her horrid view of the paramedics loading his almost lifeless body onto their car...