Wait to start the song.

It took several moments of debating with himself before Tyler was able to convince himself to get out of the car and go meet with Hayley. Taking a deep breath and steeling himself for the worst, he took the tiny black statue out of the glovebox and stuffed it into his pocket. He also grabbed the flowers and letter from the passenger seat before climbing out.

Ashley had JJ for the night. He was supposed to go back over there later, but that would kind of depend on whether or not he was emotionally stable enough to face her after this.

Hayley was sitting atop the memorial, which was admittedly pretty large. It had to be. About two hundred names had to be on it. She was on her phone, scrolling and looking bored. Tyler swallowed hard before walking over to the plaque. He set Josh's flowers down, making eye contact with her.

"You came!" She cheered.

"Just like I do every day," he replied calmly. "Did you ask him then?"

There was a crinkling sound as she dug through her backpack. She smiled at him as she pulled out a piece of paper. He took it carefully, unfolding it to find the same handwriting that had been on the note he'd torn down. Mentally building a protective barrier around his heart, Tyler read it.

The last present I gave you was my knife. It's the one that the boys all got from the elders when we turned ten. It's silver and has a ruby in the handle. I gave it to you because after you ran into me at school, it fell out of my pocket, and that was the first time anyone outside of The Family had ever apologized to me for anything. You kind of say sorry a lot, but you don't really ever have anything to apologize for since you're the nicest person I've ever met. I hope that's still true. I love you and I'm so sorry for all of this. -Josh

Tyler's hands were shaking as he lowered the paper and looked at Hayley, who smiled sadly. "Don't cry," she whispered.

He wiped his eyes with his hands, finding them wet with tears. A sob was building in his chest, but he forced it down as best as he could. His husband had been alive this whole time, and he'd had no idea.

"He's not dead," he whispered, needing to hear himself say the words out loud.

Hayley shook her head. "No," she whispered. "He's not."

Surprising both of them, Tyler laughed. "That asshole!"

Hayley laughed with him. "He's definitely an asshole, but his heart's in the right place. He wanted to be here, but he couldn't. It was family stuff."

"Okay," Tyler replied.

He watched her pull her phone out, scrolling again before handing it to him. "I did get a picture with the flowers, but the pictures of him being annoyed with me for taking his picture are my favourite. This is his 'I know what a camera sounds like, Hayley' face."

The breath left Tyler's lungs. "Oh my God," he whispered. More tears gathered in his eyes as he laughed again. "His hair is a little different."

Hayley smiled. "I'm trying to introduce him to colours. Dyeing his hair seemed like the best option given that everything he owns is black."

"He wasn't allowed to wear colours," Tyler said quietly as his eyes scanned the picture. "He looks...safe. He doesn't look afraid anymore. I forgot how cute his smile is," he laughed out.

"It's not pink on the sides. He said there was no way he was letting me dye all of it," she told him. "Want to see the sides?"

Tyler nodded eagerly, handing the phone back over. He couldn't believe he was seeing Josh again, even if just in pictures. Hayley handed him the phone again, and he smiled as he looked at it.

"He looks so annoyed," Tyler chuckled out.

"He doesn't really like it when I take pictures of him. I'm pretty sure he took my phone and put it on top of the fridge after I took this so I couldn't reach it," Hayley told him with a grin.

Start the song. It's Treat Your Woman Right by Soko.
***There are some mentions in here of bloodletting. It's not graphic, but be careful anyways.***

Tyler smiled, looking at the picture still. "I'm glad he's not scared anymore."

"He's still having trouble adjusting, I think. He disappears sometimes into his mind. Most of the time it's when things remind him of his childhood, I think." Hayley pushed her bangs back off of her forehead. "He was like that when I found him yesterday. I told him about the baby's name though and that fixed everything."

Tyler was quiet for a moment as he handed her phone back to her. He'd seen Josh retreat into himself only once. After he'd been forced to hurt Ashley, he'd become a completely different person. He'd become cold-self-loathing in a human form. If that was what he was doing right now, he needed someone to protect him. He needed his family back.

"I wish he was here," Tyler whispered. "He isn't safe when he does that."

A frown tugged at Hayley's lips. "How do you mean?"

"Josh was taught that whenever he did something wrong, he had to punish himself. Sometimes his dad punished him for super severe stuff, but usually he did it himself. Shutting down like that means he's either been punishing himself or going crazy trying not to," Tyler explained.

In all honestly, this was none of her business. If she wasn't the only person who could help him right now, Tyler wouldn't be telling her any of this. She was though, so he didn't have a choice.

Confusion crossed her features. "So you think he might be...punishing himself? How would he do that?"

Tyler thought back to when he'd gone in to get Josh while Ashley was in the bathtub all those months ago. Josh had been sitting on the floor with a bowl of blood and a broken pentagram in front of him. There were two ways to look at that, and both were fitting.

"Bloodletting is what his dad always taught him to do. He'd have to bleed out whatever he did to get in trouble. Sometimes his dad forced that though, so then he'd punish himself by forcing himself to admit what he did to their god. He hated that god, but it was the only one he knew. He'd pray to him as a punishment too."

Hayley had tears forming in her eyes when she looked at Tyler again. "Who was their god?" She whispered. Tyler could tell that she already knew.

Instead of responding, Tyler pulled the small statue out of his pocket and handed it to her. She turned it over in her hand, shaking her head. "He didn't tell me."

"Why would he? He's probably trying to move past it," Tyler said quietly. "Give him that, okay? It's kind of...its kind of a family thing."

"His family isn't something he gets comfort from though. He hates them," she said quietly.

That surprised Tyler. Josh had always been so attached to his family. Even when he and Ash had had problems, he'd still clung to Abigail and Jordan. His mother was the person he loved most in the world. What had happened to change that?

"It's not from that family. Ours. Us and our wife and or son," Tyler clarified.

Once again, Hayley looked taken aback. "You have a wife too?"

"Yeah, Ashley. She's JJ's mom. He's obviously biologically Josh's, but because of our marriage, we're all his parents. It's a cult thing. They were allowed multiple spouses. Josh took me in to save my life, but then it didn't really wind up being the worst thing."

Hayley was silent for a moment. "Josh didn't tell me about any of this until two days ago, so I'm still trying to wrap my brain around all of this. I always just thought his dad was abusive before he died. I didn't realise his dad was a cult leader responsible for over two hundred deaths."

"Every family has one, I guess." Tyler looked out across the cemetery. He should probably feel contemptuous for having had to be here so many days when Josh wasn't even buried here, but he was too relieved to care.

"He's coming by tonight to get the rest of the notes and to, and I quote, piss on his father's grave." Hayley smiled fondly as she spoke.

Tyler laughed. "Well, he's certainly making progress if he's doing that to his dad. Do you know what time he's coming?"

"I have no idea. His schedule is always spotty. Social services is still breathing down their necks," Hayley told him. "He told me that once but wouldn't tell me why social services was investigating them in the first place. I get it now."

Tyler nodded, looking at the small statue in Hayley's hand. Part of him wanted to snatch it back in case all of this was an elaborate hoax. That statue was the last physical reminder he had of his consummation with Josh. Ashley had a permanent one in the form of a baby, and there wasn't a person on earth who would want to remember hers. Maybe Josh needed the reminder more than Tyler did right now, though.

"If he doesn't want that, please give it back to me. It's kind of a big deal," Tyler told Hayley quietly.

"I'm concerned about your relationship if a Satan statue is a big deal in the history of your marriage," Hayley told him.

Tyler laughed. "You'd be concerned about our relationship if you knew the history of our marriage at all."

"That bad?"

"It was from inside of a cult, Hayley. It was very bad. The only thing that even made that place bearable was Josh. I wouldn't have survived without him. Ashley wouldn't have either."

Hayley nodded, sighing before pocketing the statue. "I should get home. I'll tell him you know he's alive. He loves you. I'd never seen him really smile until we found the notes."

"I love him too. God, I love him a lot." Tyler smiled slightly when he thought about being able to see Josh again. Everything was going to be okay again soon.

Hayley smiled before hopping down off of the grave. "I'm glad he has you back now. I'll see you around, Tyler."

"See you around," he replied quietly.

He watched her go, but didn't move. Maybe he'd just stay here a little bit longer. It was freezing, but his heart was too warm for him to notice. Josh was alive. Someday very soon, Tyler would be able to hug and kiss him and make sure he remembered how very loved he was and always would be. Tyler's smile was very inappropriate given his current location, but he didn't care. This was the best day of his life. He deserved to soak it in for a while longer given the Hell he'd been through this year.