Death Pact ~ Joshler

Six

Longer update because it's been forever. Been hella busy with bday (I'm 18 now??) and Christmas. Please forgive me.
I know that Josh and his siblings ages are further apart but since I made Josh so young in this, I adjusted their ages for the sake of the story. xx
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Josh felt his heart drop when his mother's car pulled into his father's driveway. He couldn't wait until Thanksgiving was over so that he could go back home and into his isolated bedroom away from everyone.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, the boy stepped out of the car, grabbing his small duffel bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Now don't get him wrong, he was glad to be able to see his siblings after months of missing them. However, he was not as excited to see his father who he had been ignoring for just as long.

Kelly pushed him along, urging him to knock on the front door. She stood behind him, afraid that her ex husband would come but when she saw her youngest daughter open the door, she quickly stepped in front of him, hugging her. The twelve year old smiled politely, hugging her mother back before greeting her big brother.

"Hey, Abigail." He smiled, dropping his bag on the front porch so that he could hold his little sister tightly.

"Hi, Jish." She said back, hugging him for a moment before pulling away. She looked at Kelly, nodding for them to come inside. "Dad's still at work. The other two are in the kitchen, getting started on dinner."

The two followed the young girl inside, Kelly speaking to her children sweetly as if there were no issues between them. It wasn't until she left that Ashley and Jordan hugged their big brother and actually began having a real conversation with him. Jordan pulled Josh aside, leading him to his bedroom where he'd be sleeping that night.

"You haven't called in a few weeks, I was starting to get really worried." The boy admitted, plopping down on the air mattress in the corner of the room.

Josh shrugged, setting his bag down next to it before taking a seat across from him. He folded his legs, fidgeting with his fingers as he replied. "Sorry, just been really busy with school lately."

"How are you?" The younger boy asked, biting his lip. The two had always been close, being the only boys meaning that they always roomed together when they were young and even now when Josh came to visit.

"I'm al--"

"I swear to God, Josh, if you say that you're 'alright' with nothing else attached to it, I will straight up slap you."

A soft chuckle escaped Josh's thin lips, "but I am, I really am." He replied, and his voice was so scarily steady and powerful that his brother truly believed his lie. But Josh was so far from fine, however, he was more peaceful as he had come to accept his fate. He was going to die. And he wanted to make the best of seeing his brother one last time and not ruin his visit by whining about his shitty life as he used to.

"Good... How's- uhm, how's things with Mom?"

The black haired teen sighed, picking at his fingernails, one of his worst habits when he's nervous. "Uh, sober... For now, anyway. It's only been two days since she's quit so I'm sure she'll be back at it soon. It's kinda odd, usually when she's going cold turkey, she's ready touchy and snappy but... She's actually been pretty pleasant lately."

"Mom? You mean our Mother, right?" Jordan winked, chuckling softly before he nodded, his tone switching to a more serious one. "That's great though."

"You know that if it ever gets too bad that you can move in he--" Jordan started, placing a hand on Josh's knee which made the older boy jump. His brother quickly retracted his arm, apologizing profusely.