✓ ❘ 𝐄𝐌𝐎 𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒 ─ 𝐌𝐂𝐑. 𝐏!𝐀𝐓𝐃. 𝐅𝐎𝐁. 𝐓Ø𝐏.

Piercing Ears And Stealing Hearts. (Josh Dun x Reader)

High School/Teenage AU

"I'm digging the piercings, Bren," (Y/B/F) complimented while she tucked her legs beneath her as she took a seat on the recliner in your living room.

She was referring to the shiny metal hoops dangling from the boy's newly pierced ears. He'd only gotten them done the previous day and was completely stoked about it, as shown by the way he was grinning like a Cheshire cat at (Y/B/F)'s comment.

"Aw thanks, babe. I'm super into them," he smiled, reaching a hand up to play with one of the earrings.

"Makes you look a thousand times hotter, too," you remarked, swaggering into the room with some snacks and setting them down on the coffee table in the middle of your circle of friends.

Josh, who had been quietly sipping on his soda, tensed up rather distinctively at your comment and Brendon – being the only one who knew about his friend's crush on you – stole a nippy glance in his direction before averting the attention from himself.

"I tried to convince Joshy here to come with me and get his done, too, but he wasn't having any of it," Brendon informed the room, shaking his head and tutting in disapproval before reaching for a Twizzler.

"As if I could ever pull off piercings," Josh grumbled lowly, looking down and busying himself with picking at the stray bits of cotton on the rug.

"I think you'd rock the shit outta them."

Josh snapped his head up at lighting speed, furrowing and unfurrowing his brows as he tried to decide whether you had actually just uttered those eight words or if the jealous side of him had only imagined it.

From the way you were cocking your head and smiling at him, the former seemed to be true.

"You... you really think so?" Josh quizzed in a soft voice.

"Definitely," you nodded, absentmindedly chewing on a KitKat. You narrowed your eyes and pursed your lips as you scanned his face before speaking again. "A nose ring would suit you really well, too."

Josh's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. "A nose ring?"

"Mhm. But not the stud type; the hoop would be better."

"Yes!" Brendon's eyes lit up as he pointed at Josh, "I can totally see it!"

Josh looked entirely overwhelmed, and you couldn't help but let out a smile giggle at the sight before tossing him a reassuring grin. "You should go for it, J. Call the place and make an appointment."

"Why wait?" Brendon scoffed, brushing his hair out of his face as he jumped up. "We can do it right now!"

"Yes!" (Y/B/F) piped up excitedly, setting her soda can down on the table and springing off the recliner. "I can do it! I pierced all three of my sisters' ears during one of our sleepovers. All I need is a needle, some cotton wool, antiseptic and a couple ice cubes."

Josh was at a loss for words, having not at all anticipated this sudden turn of events, and all he could do was sit there with his mouth agape.

"Awesome! I'll go get everything," you offered, wiggling your eyebrows at Josh before rushing off.

"I've got the ice," (Y/B/F) called out as she bounded into the kitchen.

Brendon watched the two of you disappear with a small smile on his face. That smile was wiped off very fast, though, as Josh's fist made hard contact with his right shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What?" Brendon frowned defensively, looking Josh up and down as he rubbed his shoulder soothingly. "I'm doing you a favour, here! You heard (Y/N)... she'll totally be into you if you get piercings."

The younger boy remained silent for a moment, confusing Brendon immensely.

"You are still into her, right?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I am."

"So what's the problem?"

"I-" Josh cut himself off with a sigh, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to muster up the courage to explain himself. "I've never had a high pain tolerance. As soon as that needle breaks my skin, there's a fairly huge chance I'll cry like a baby."

"Oh," Brendon grimaced, leaning back a bit, "That's not good."

"Yeah," Josh whispered.

"So is that why you didn't come with-"

"Yeah."

"Huh."

The boys sat in silence for a little while longer before Brendon took a deep breath and slapped his hands against his thighs. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now; we're in too deep. You just gotta suck it up and take it like a man, Dun!"

"I hate you."

"Alright, I think we've got everything," you announced, dropping all of the materials onto the table and moving your head around as you mentally tallied everything up, looking up and smiling at a petrified Josh when you finished.

"Shall we get started?" (Y/B/F) asked, doing a little dance as she approached Josh with a bowl of ice.

The boy sat still as a statue, frozen into place as he watched (Y/B/F) reach into the bowl to retrieve an ice cube. He flinched a little at the coldness of the ice as she pressed it to his lobe to numb it, and when she reached for the needle, he gulped massively, feeling all the saliva evaporate from his mouth. He shut his eyes tightly as she brought the needle to his ear.

And then she pierced the lobe.

~

Josh woke up dazed and confused with no memory of how he fell asleep in the first place. With a soft groan, he slowly moved his head side to side, opening his eyes wide when he realised that it wasn't resting on a regular pillow.

Or any pillow, for that matter.

"Hi, champ," you giggled down at him, running your fingers along the sides of his face as his head rested in your lap, "How're you feeling?"

Josh looked up at your upside-down face and smiled softly. "My ears hurt."

"I wonder why that is," you laughed and rolled your eyes.

"What happened?" he asked, rubbing his eyes as he reluctantly lifted himself from your lap. "Last thing I remember was seeing that needle."

"You kinda... maybe... sorta... passed out."

Upon seeing the look of pure horror on Josh's face, you hurriedly continued.

"But don't worry, it's good that you did. (Y/B/F) was able to finish the piercings perfectly."

Josh groaned. "That's not embarrassing at all," he mumbled, blushing a bit.

You shrugged. "Paid off, though," you smiled, leaning forward to gently flick his freshly-pierced ears, "you look great."

"As good as Brendon?" he asked shyly, averting his gaze and focusing it on your fingers instead of your face.

"Nope." Dragging yourself across the floor towards him, you cupped his face and brought his lips to yours. "A million times better."

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Thank you for reading x