Joshua walked down the gravel road, crunching noises emitting under his footsteps. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his leather jacket but he couldn't help but shiver as the wind picked up ever so slightly.

"There she is. Ain't she a beaut?"

Joshua looked up to see the big top in front of him. He then looked over to the man next to him: the ring leader, Brendon.

Brendon whistled slightly. For now the man was wearing a white button up and high waisted navy suit pants but Joshua knew he'd change into a ridiculous getup later for the show.

"She is," Joshua hummed, not knowing how else to reply. This man just offered him a job he sure as hell wasn't going to insult his "beaut".

"When my father passed this circus down to me a few years back he trusted me with what was his whole life besides his family. I don't have any biological family so the folks you're about to see in there are my family. I'm trusting my family with my whole life like my father did with me. Don't fuck this up, Joshua. I'm trusting you and if you gain my trust you become family too."

Joshua nodded. He wasn't scared of Brendon but he wasn't malicious. He wasn't trying to ruin the poor man's dreams. He just wanted a place to stay and some money. He didn't have either of those since... the incident. "Yes, sir."

"Don't call me sir that's weird you're older than me," he laughed making Joshua smile. "C'mon lets go inside."

The dark haired shook his head slightly with a chuckle and followed Brendon into the main circus tent. As soon as they entered Joshua was greeted with the buzz of chattering and sudden laughs and squeals. His eyes widened when he saw just how many people were in there and he doubted that was all of them. "I am very overwhelmed," he breathed out.

"That's alright," Brendon nodded understandingly. "Let's start in the corner," he began, leading Joshua towards the back of the tent. "Over there is—"

Suddenly, as they were walking, someone swung down from the trapeze rope ladder hanging above the stage. He was upside down and his legs hung around the bottom rung. He grinned. "Hello Brendon! Hello stranger!"

Brendon chuckled. "Well scrap that," he pointed to the guy hanging upside down right in front of Joshua. "Joshua this is Tyler, Tyler this is Joshua. Tyler's one of our trapeze artists and he does aerial work."

"Nice to meet you," Joshua smiled nervously.

"You too! Hey can I call you Josh? I think it suits you better than Joshua. Joshie's cute too," he giggled.

"Uh, sure," he nodded, not used to the insane energy Tyler possessed.

"What do you do? Are you joining our mighty band of misfits?"

"He's an escape artists and contortionist," Brendon cut in, sounding proud of his collection of acts.

Tyler gasped and grabbed the rung, swinging down and landing perfectly on his feet. "Do you think you could suck your own dick if you tried?"

"Uh—"

"Sorry we've never had a contortionist before and I've always wanted to ask that. I'm the most flexible of all the trapeze artists but I ain't that flexible," he giggled once more. "Trust me, I've tried."

Joshua's eyes widened and he looked at Brendon, almost asking for help. "Tyler," Brendon just laughed. "Calm down. You don't wanna scare him away before he even gets a chance to put up with us."

"Sorry, Brennie," he giggled... again. Joshua was starting to think this kid had never been sad a day in his life. "Hey, Joshie? How old are you?"

"24."

Tyler nodded. "I jus' turned 19 a few weeks ago. We threw a big party and Jenna made me a cake and everyone got me a present and I was given a little bit of alcohol with made me super giggly and then we danced and—"

"Jesus, Ty," Brendon cut in. "You're gonna talk his damn ear off."

"Sorry," he smiled sheepishly, apologizing once more. "I'm just excited."

"He's always like this," a voice teased. "Even when he isn't excited."

Joshua turned around to see a blonde woman standing next to Brendon. She looked a little older than any of them but not elderly. Maybe mid thirties? "Hey, Jenna!" Tyler grinned again. "I was jus' talking about you!"

"I'm flattered," she chuckled softly. Then, she turned to Joshua. "Who's this?"

"His name's Josh!" Tyler informed. "He's an escape artist! He's joining our family!"

Although Joshua had only known this kid for about ten minutes, those words made his heart swell with happiness. He's never had anyone that willing to accept him, let alone a family. However, when they find out about his secret they won't want him anymore. That's why his real family kicked him out. It was either that or death.

Jenna turned to him. "Nice to meet you, Josh. I'm assuming you already heard from Tyler but I'm Jenna," she smiled.

"What do you do?" Joshua asked curiously.

Jenna held up her hands and Joshua refrained from letting his eyes widen. Her thumb, pointer finger, and middle fingers were fused together and then her rung and pinkie fingers were as well but separately. It was like this on both of her hands and they looked almost like a— "Lobster Girl. I do a juggling act with Dallon who you'll probably meet later. People like to come talk to me after the show too and see my hands up close. It's a genetic deformity. My dad had them too."

Joshua nodded slowly. He didn't have "lobster" hands but the insane things he could do with his body freaked people the hell out. He even got grossed out by himself sometimes. "I think they're cool," he told her honestly.

"No you don't but thanks," she laughed. "I'm also the resident chef. You'd think that would be hard with my hands but it's not. At all. Tyler helps me sometimes when I do need the assistance but I can do most things by myself."

"And she makes really really yummy food too," Tyler assured.

"Thanks, bud," she smiled. "Anyway I came over here to get Brendon. We needed your help with where you wanted us to place posters."

Brendon paused before looking at Joshua. "I was about to show Josh around and introduce him to everyone..."

"I can do it!" Tyler offered excitedly.

Brendon raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Of course, Brennie! It's just showing Joshie around, right?"

Brendon seemed hesitant but agreed anyway. "Alright," he turned to Joshua. "If he overwhelms you just come outside. I'll be around here."

"Will do," Joshua nodded in response before Brendon and Jenna walked off. He turned to Tyler who had a huge grin on his face.

"Let's go!" He grabbed Joshua's hand and began tugging him towards the corner Brendon was going to take him to when they first stepped into the tent.

Tyler hummed a song to himself happily while they walked. Well, Tyler more so skipped and Josh speed walked to keep up with him. They approached three girls talking together in the corner and Tyler greeted them happily. "Hey guys!"

They turned to Tyler with smiles on their faces. "Hey, Ty," one of them replied. "Who's this?"

"This is Josh! He's joining the circus! He's a contortionist and escape artist. He's 24 and—"

"Breathe, Ty," another one of the girls laughed. "Nice to meet you, Josh. I'm Hayley," she pointed to to the girl next to her. "This is Ashley," and then pointed to the one that spoke first. "And that's Sarah."

Tyler bounced around excitedly. "Sarah's a knife thrower, Hayley's a sword swallower, and Ashley's a fire breather."

"It's nice to meet you guys too," Joshua cut in, returning formalities from earlier.

He looked down and saw Hayley and Ashley's hands were joined together. His heart swelled with happiness for them. Maybe they would still want him if they found—

"Do you have a problem?"

He looked up from where he was watching their hands to see a scowl on Sarah's face. "What?"

"Do you have a problem with them?" She gestured to the two. That's when Joshua realized he must've been staring too long.

His eyes widened. "No!" He said quickly. "Hell no," he scratched back of his head nervously. They didn't looked convinced and Sarah looked like she was going to beat his ass. Here goes nothing. "No, um, that's a part of why I'm here actually. My parents found me with a guy and gave me thirty seconds to grab anything I could and leave or else my dad was gonna shoot me. He had his gun and everything and got one shot to the ground behind me."

It was silent amongst all four of them and even Tyler calmed down enough for Joshua to tell his story. "Shit. When was that?" Ashley asked softly.

"Um four years ago. I've been kinda doing random shit to stay off the streets since then. All I had time to grab was this jacket and these boots and the clothes I was wearing," he laughed awkwardly, trying to ease the tension.

However, they still looked pitiful and grim. "I'm so sorry, dude," Hayley told him, grabbing his other hand. "Welcome to a family that actually gives a shit about you. And we give plenty," she smiled lightly.

Joshua smiled back. "Thanks."

Tyler was the one to ease the conversation back to make it more lighthearted. "So you like boys?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Girls?"

"I don't think so."

Tyler pondered, nodding his head. "Me too," he paused. "So are you sure you've never tried sucking your own dick?"

"Tyler!" Sarah scolded, laughing as she did so. The other two girls laughed and Joshua managed to crack a smile.

"Kidding," he grabbed Josh's hand again and squeezed it tightly. "Bye, ladies," he said before leading Joshua away from them. "I want you to meet Dallon next."

And off they went.