People Involved: Josh, Tobi, Simon, JJ, Harry, Vik, Freezy, Lux, the only parents to be seen, random nurse A, random police officer, random nurse B.
Ships: Minizerksi, Behjzl, Wroetostar, low-key FreezyLux
Word Count: 8823
Idea: Typical Soulmate AU where whatever gets written on your arm is also written on their arm. Only difference is, your arm will match multiple other people. That way, you are still give a choice in the end of who to love.
Extra Notes: DO YOU SEE THAT WORD COUNT. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THIS TOOK. DO YOU KNOW HOW WORTH IT THIS WAS. I AM IN LOVE. PLEASE REQUEST MORE FOR THIS SO I CAN CONTINUE IT. Seriously though, this one shot took me forever, as you can imagine. I left in all my little tilde markers, which is what I use to break up a one shot into multiple parts. As you'll see, that would have required a few months of one shot updates just to completely finish this idea. So, I did it all as one instead. Hope you enjoy it. Until next time, Peace my Cheeses! I love you all <3
Format from here on: Normal is the story. Bold is written on their arms.

Written. Everybody had countless words and doodles penned on their arms. It was both a blessing and a curse, in the simplest sense. Every individual could directly communicate with their soulmates- blessing. However, you have more than one soulmate to choose from- curse. It was in an attempt to allow choice to the people that each person would receive more than one soulmate. That left room for if a soulmate died, or if they grew up to be a bad person. It gave choices, and these soulmates were simply suggestions. You could just as easily go against it, if you wished. Some did, although many did choose to find love within a soulmate. Of course, with the option of multiple soulmates, it left room in the society to be more accepting of polygamy. It wasn't exactly common, but it was possible for more than two people to be in a relationship. This typically would only happen within one's soulmate choices, or if a pair of soulmates met another without any left. It was rare, but a few would be without any soulmates. No matter, that doesn't immediately affect today's tale. I wish to tell you of a group of boys who had been raised near one another, and who were soulmates. Let us begin when they first began to find each other.

"Get back here Josh or I swear!" Tobi went running after his best friend, darting through the hallway full of students. The older brunet managed to get away from him, the shorter boy having to squeeze around a multitude of students crowding the halls. Couldn't they tell he was busy trying to rip Josh's head off? The two were a part of the same soulmate group, and Josh decided he wanted to start telling stories of Tobi embarrassing himself. Tobi was going to ignore it- he didn't necessarily mind them knowing- it was just that he was wearing short sleeves and he did not want everyone in his class knowing. Tobi groaned when he realized Josh was lost to the flood of students pushing towards the school exit, and instead settled on going to his locker. Tobi was quick to twist in his combination, throwing most of his books into his locker. It was a Friday, and Tobi had gotten lucky with his limited homework assigned. It would probably only take him a few minutes when he arrived home, then he could spend his weekend relaxing.

"Why'd you stop chasing me? It's not as much fun when you're not chasing after me." Josh's words made the younger roll his eyes, shutting his locker and turning to the brunet. As he went to make a witty reply back, he noticed a tall blond leaning against a locker behind Josh. Josh raised an eyebrow at the direction of Tobi's focus and turned around. He was met by the one and only Simon Minter, the big shot of the school football team. "Why are you here?" Josh's words came out harsher than they were meant to, but that was a frequent occurrence with Josh. He always struggled to keep his words to himself. The tall blond smirked, holding up his arm. The sleeve of his sweatshirt fell down to reveal handwriting, small and sloppy and rushed. Josh's story. About Tobi. Tobi wanted to cry out in annoyance and beat up Josh, but decided against it while there was witnesses.

"Just recognized my Maths distraction was on your arm as well. My right arm too, you a lefty or somethin'?" Simon's question seemed like an odd one to most, but it was not often that you would have writing on your right arm. That is, unless a soulmate happened to be a lefty.

"No, ambidextrous. I usually write right-handed for the sake of conformity, but I was trying to keep my arm away from that one." Josh pointed backwards at Tobi, who had been glaring daggers into the back of his head the whole while. Simon glanced to the younger boy, chuckling.

"You really got unlucky here dude. Trust me, I get you. My friend JJ's in this as well and he's a bitch about everything." 

"Hey, I am a pleasure to be around." Josh spoke, mock pain in his voice. Simon rolled his eyes, pushing himself up from the locker.

"As much as I'd love to chat all day, I've got practice that I'm late for. I'm sure you'll hear about it later." With that, the tall blond walked back the other direction. The pair were slightly shocked that they had just technically realized who two of their soulmate choices were, and they got the athletic kids?

"Josh, as much as I love ya man, I may have to kill you for the fact that Simon Minter and Olajide Olatunji now know those stories."

"Oh, please do kill me. He's hot as all hell." With those confessions out of the way, Josh and Tobi set off to Tobi's house. His parents were the most lenient about what they did when they hung out, so they frequently chose that house over Josh's. They were teenage boys, what do you expect?

As Simon had promised, they got to hear about his practice. Mostly in the form of JJ talking about how hot Simon looked while sweaty, but they heard about it nonetheless. The pair of boys were playing Fifa when the writing started, the familiar tickle spreading across their arms. They both quickly paused the game, eyes setting on the writing along their arm. It began in JJ's sloppy, wide handwriting, one simple phrase they saw often.

"Holy fuck is Simon hot". The pair rolled their eyes, but could now agree knowing they were talking about the Simon Minter. Neither wrote back yet, instead waiting for more.

"I am so sorry he's such a dumbass." Simon's handwriting was smaller, and only a little neater. The only distinctive trait that his writing had was that he always wrote in red.

"I am a truthful dumbass though". Josh quickly got up for a pen, Tobi rolling his eyes. This'll be good.

"I can attest to the fact that Simon is indeed hot." Josh's words appeared on his right arm, the boy trying to keep his pen away from Tobi.

"Oh, not you too." Simon's red ink bled onto Tobi's arm, the younger boy now noticing his arm was almost covered. He was a little worried of where they would move next. The others had gotten a little, adventurous in the past and he really didn't need that right now.

"BE NORMAL AND WRITE ON YOUR LEFT ARM". These words were written in a familiar blue pen, typical of one boy that also shared their group. They all called him Bog, not knowing his real name.

"MAKE ME". Josh's words sprawled once more over his right arm, Tobi quickly reaching over and guiding Josh's pen into his other hand, fighting him to get six simple words down.

"I made him for you -Tobi". Josh quickly pushed Tobi back onto his bed, climbing over top of him. The two began to wrestle slightly, ignoring the conversation.

"THANK YOU TOBI"

"Why did you stop him? We're running out of room." Simon wrote out, trying to take up as little space as possible.

"I was gonna write on Simon's stomach instead but he's really sweaty and needs to shower. If you can wait twenty minutes you'll have a fresh slate."

"Why do you take twenty minute showers?"

"Well, let's just say I usually don't get to shower alone." Simon's response was the last thing written for those twenty minutes, until they could all feel something tickle against their stomachs. Lifting up their shirts, the boys all rolled their eyes at the words.

"Just because our arms are blank doesn't mean we can't write elsewhere ;)".

"I will now formally apologize for allowing JJ my stomach to write on."

~~~

Their conversation continued on throughout the night, concluding with plans for Tobi and Josh to come to Simon's game that Saturday. The pair attended, keeping their other three soulmate choices up to date on the game. This was unlike what JJ would do, usually spending his time drooling over Simon. Well, Josh also spent a decent amount of his time drooling over the blond player, leaving Tobi in charge.

"And now, we witness the two horny boys up close, desperately eyeing up their pray: Simon Minter." Tobi's words went unnoticed by the two enticed boys, but not by Simon. He noticed the blond's attention flicker downwards before looking up at the bleachers and winking.

"Oh my god, this is priceless XD". This was Vik, the least chatty of the seven boys who were connected. He always said he was too busy to write as frequently, and he apologized every night overnight for not talking much. His handwriting was small, neat, and always precise.

"Wait, like Simon Minter Simon Minter? He's #7?" This was Behz, as they called him. He was yet another of the seven, and he was definitely an interesting character. Tobi became excited by the information, writing back quickly.

"Yeah, you here?"

"Yeah! After the match I wanna find you lot". Behz's response made Tobi smile widely, carefully rubbing his thumb near the words. He had always been fond of Behz's personality, and he was looking forward to meeting him.

"Alright, cool! Where you wanna meet?" Tobi was bubbly now, and Josh noticed as he broke his gaze away. He noticed immediately why Tobi was so excited, and decided to extract vengeance.

"And here, we can now witness the wild teenage boy trying desperately not to scream over the idea of meeting another boy." The words cut off Behz's writing halfway, leaving Tobi with half an idea.

"Idk, maybe the". Tobi smacks Josh, glaring. The two glare at each other, bickering with their eyes. They only broke the stare when their wrists began to tickle, Tobi looking down, watching as the words filled in. "car park somewhere. And believe me when I saw I'm about to burst from excitement too, it's okay." Tobi smiled widely, looking up at Josh with a smirk. Josh shrugged, before staring at the tall blond again.

"Yeah, sounds good!" Tobi wrote back carefully, noticing that they were running low on room. He felt himself frown, knowing he would probably have to get up soon to clean off his arm if he wanted to write more.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower, I'll be out as soon as my arm is clear." Vik's words made Tobi happy, and he quickly wrote out a thanks on his arm. He looked up at the game, noticing it was nearing the end. Of course, their school's team had a huge lead, the score being something like 7-2 (Why yes, I did steal the score from the first charity match because I'm unoriginal. Congrats if you noticed). Realizing this meant he was that much closer to meeting Behz, the boy wanted to squeal. Instead, he bit the inside of his cheek and watched as the clock ticked down the last few seconds. As soon as it reached 0, most the stands flooded out onto the field. Tobi looked confused, turning to JJ. The younger boy simply shrugged, and slowly walked down the stands. Tobi turned to Josh, who seemed to only be upset because he could no longer stare at the blond. Tobi rolled his eyes, smacking Josh from his daze and pointing to JJ who was awaiting them at the bottom of the bleachers. Josh got up and Tobi followed, the three boys eventually making their way into the locker rooms.

"Are you sure we're allowed to do this, JJ?" Tobi's words caused the youngest to roll his eyes, waving a hand at Tobi over his shoulder.

"No, but nobody ever has a problem with it. It's not like I'm eye-fucking all of them, just Simon." Tobi didn't even have to see his face to know that JJ now wore a brilliant smirk. The most mature out of the three, Tobi, rolled his eyes now, following JJ into the locker rooms. Inside, it looked like a wreck. Clothes were scattered everywhere, but JJ paid them no mind. Instead, he walked over to one corner and sat on the bench. Josh and Tobi joined him in sitting down, and you could hear the team coming towards the door. Within seconds, the room seemed chaotic. People were everywhere, and Tobi was much less anxious knowing Josh was right beside him. Eventually the shape of Simon wandered over, smirking at the three. He leaned down to kiss JJ's cheek, opening the locker before him.

"You couldn't resist for one day, could you?" Simon's smirk stayed on his face while he grabbed a towel from his locker. He closed the metal temporarily, making sure not to lock it.

"And miss out on getting to see you change? Never, Minter." JJ was smirking back at the blond, tilting his head at his actions.

"Well, isn't it a shame I have to go shower first." JJ went to make a smart remark back, but Simon beat him to it. "And no, you cannot come with me Jide."

"But babe!" JJ's whine rang through the locker room as a couple of the players laughed, one coming over to the three.

"Aw, trouble in paradise, JJ?" The boy was tall, but not quite as tall as Simon. His voice held a slight accent that Tobi couldn't recognize immediately. Tobi also couldn't quite remember his name, even though he was sure he had heard it before.

"Fuck off Cal, nobody asked you." The boy laughed, shaking his head at the boy.

"Well if you're playing that way don't come to me the next time you piss 'im off. No more good word from me." Cal commented, turning to the other two boys. "Hey, name's Cal, but you've probably heard me being called Freezy before." Tobi wanted to smack himself at how stupid he was being. He knew he recognized the boy, and that had been why. He was typically around another boy- also named Cal- whom everyone called Lux.

"You're the one with Lux, right?" Josh's words did not come out sounding like they meant to, and Tobi rolled his eyes at his friend. Cal laughed however, which relaxed Tobi.

"That's a mad way of putting it, but yeah." Cal then heard his voice being called from somewhere else, and the boy turned. "Hold on one minute!" Cal turned back to the three boys in front of him. "Speak of the devil, I gotta go. I'm sure I'll be seeing you lot more, right?" The boys all nodded, and said short goodbyes before the tall boy seemed to be sucked into the sea of football players. Soon after Cal's departure, Simon arrived back. Dripping wet from his shower, his hair was no longer styled up. Josh stared at his chest; Tobi simply blushing slightly and looking away.

"So what did you ask of Freezy this time?"

~~~

"Why do you always suspect I'm up to something! He just came over to make a comment about trouble in paradise or whatever." JJ now pouted, looking up at the tall blond. Josh was still staring at Simon's dripping chest, and Tobi couldn't help but glance again. The boy wasn't ripped, but he was perfectly toned.

"I'm sorry Jide, but you looked really guilty. You always look really guilty." As Simon spoke, he dried off his legs with the towel over his shoulder. Josh watched hungrily along the towel's path, causing Simon to roll his eyes. He smiled at Tobi after, noticing the boy was the only one who wasn't devouring his body with their eyes. Simon finished drying his legs, pulling a pair of joggers from his locker. He stepped into the clothes, and Tobi noticed how both Josh and JJ were watching the fabric climb up his legs. Instead, Tobi made eye contact with the blond. Simon smiled at him, breaking eye contact to grab something from his locker. "So we're meeting Behz after this, yeah?"

"Yes!" Tobi's response came out much more cheerful than he hoped it would, snapping Josh out of his stupor to tease Tobi. The younger boy realized his mistake, and knew it was too late to save himself. He winced only in response.

"Someone seems awfully excited about that, huh?" Josh elbowed his close friend; JJ giggled and moved to see Tobi past Josh. Tobi deciding it would be best to just let them continue. Simon, however, did not seem to agree with the plan to ignore the duo.

"Says the boy who hasn't taken his eyes off me the whole day. Even when I'm clothed you boys keep eye-fucking me." Josh looked away  and scratched his neck; JJ began doing that obvious whistling thing. Simon rolled his eyes, finally locking up his locker with his uniform in his hands. It needed a wash, badly. "So stop being mean to Tobi. He's aloud to look forward to meeting Behz." The two looked downward in semi-defeat, and Josh muttered an apology to Tobi. Simon honestly felt like such a mom around these boys, but he didn't usually mind it. It was kind of fun to watch JJ pout after Simon had scolded him. "Where exactly are we meeting him?"

"I dunno yet. I can ask-"

"No don't!" The two boys looked over to JJ, who seemed to have an idea. "Instead, I'll draw a dick on my arm while we are out there and whoever responds to it is Behz."

"Or, since he recognized Simon, we just have him walk out first and Behz can find us that way." Josh's suggestion seemed like the best at that moment, so the three boys nodded to it. "Come on then, we've got a Behzy Boo to find." Tobi chuckled at the nickname, the other two looking at him like he's crazy. Nonetheless, the four boys set off into the outside world. In the parking lot, there was still a number of people who stayed around. Simon found his way over to his car, lounging back on the hood. JJ leaned against the side, facing toward Simon's spot. Josh leaned slightly against the front, trying not to do anything to damage the car. And Tobi simply stood by Josh, trying his best to control the urge to just call out to Behz.

"I'm using this as a marker to tell if I've found you. Pay no mind to lil old me." Tobi smiled at the words, and quickly looked around. Surely Behz would still have his pen out, just in case. He found the next best thing, however. Not too far away, a ginger boy had his sleeve rolled up, showing the words that matched Tobi's arm. Tobi ran towards him, leaving Josh and the others confused. Behz smiled widely at Tobi, holding him in a tight hug when the older boy reached him.

"Hey Tobes."

"Hey Behz."

Those four words were all the pair exchanged, and that was all they needed to. Josh arrived over soon, closely followed by Simon- who would later swear the only reason he didn't get there first was from tiring himself out during the game- and then JJ. The other three smiled at the hugging boys, waiting until they split apart to interrupt. Behz broke the hug, even though neither one of them wanted it to end. He turned towards the other boys, smiling widely at them. He gave each a short hug, all of them happy. Simon had gotten his hug last, and Behz seemed to recoil from it.

"What are you, made of rock?" Simon rolled his eyes, JJ laughing insanely in the background.

"Why do you think we spent the whole game staring Behz?" Josh's words made JJ laugh more, his body falling to the ground. Simon groaned, throwing his hands up in defeat and pretending to walk away. Behz nodded, shrugging.

"I can make an educated guess as to why." Simon came back now, making it a point to kick JJ slightly on the ground. JJ just continued to laugh, Simon stepping over him.

"Give him twenty minutes or so, then he'll stop. You'll get used to it." Simon brushed it off, instead smiling at the ginger. "So now we've got five of seven, huh?" The boys all looked around, smiling at the thought. They now had five of seven. They had almost found everyone.

"In all honesty, I don't know how none of us have found Bog. He always seemed like he'd be all over the place, ya know?" Behz's words were agreed upon, Tobi speaking next.

"And I don't think we're ever gonna find Vik at this point. That boy is impossible to keep track of. He said five minutes and hasn't spoken again since his shower." The other three boys noticed this as well, staring at their arms questionably. Behz pulled out his pen and wrote, a question sprawling onto their skin.

"Hey Vik, you alright?"

It took three hours for them to get a response, and even then it wasn't one they wanted to hear.

"No. Please help"

~~~

They had been hanging out at Simon's house; Ethan had maybe an hour before he needed to arrive back home. Tobi and Josh had gotten permission to stay as long as they wanted, so long as they were at Josh's house for breakfast the next morning. They agreed, and the five boys all decided to play Fifa. They were currently taking turns, playing their own makeshift tournament. As soon as their arms began to tickle with the feeling of a ballpoint pen, the game was paused. Vik's handwriting was shaky, unlike it's normal neat letters. The writing appeared quick: he was in a rush. Tobi, who had been up next to play, quickly grabbed out his pen.

"What's wrong?" The words were written quickly, desperately hoping that everything would be fine.

"It hurts". Two words that only made them all more terrified.

"What hurts?" Tobi's writing had gotten sloppier than usual, and he was now shaking. Josh wrapped an arm around his best friend, allowing Tobi to hide himself in Josh. They waited only a few moments, and when no response came Tobi felt like crying.

"Vik, you have to tell us what's happening or where you are, please". Simon's red pen now wrote, trying to help this along. All their words were quickly smeared and scrubbed away. Vik was erasing them. "Getting rid of our words won't help your situation, ya know".

"Yes it will he's coming back I can't let him know I said anything please stop". The boys immediately stopped, trusting it would help Vik. Oh, how wrong they were. Because poor Vik spent the rest of the night being beaten again by his dad, and wouldn't be able to make it to school the next day because of it. But before then, around midnight that night, Vik wrote one more thing. "Please, I need someone. I don't know what to do and I'm scared". Before any of the boys at Simon's house could respond, blue letters wrote across their arms.

"I'm here Vik, and I promise that I will do everything I can to help you". They spent their night watching Bog and Vik talk, glad that Bog seemed to help Vik relax.

The next morning, Simon received a worried call from Freezy. Groggy and only half awake, Simon pushed JJ's arm off of him and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Simon, I understand it's really early in the morning and you're probably not even awake enough yet to understand what I'm saying but I need to ask a favor of you."

"Can't it wait like, another hour or so? It's early Cal."

"No, it can't. Listen, I woke up this morning to a note from Harry saying that he had to go help out one of his soulmates. I really don't care about that, but it says he left at like one in the morning and he left everything here. His phone, his wallet, his keys. I can't find him Simon, and the note said to contact you if I got worried. What the hell is going on Simon?"

"Do you think I fuckin' know? Hold on Cal, Jide wake the fuck up or you're going off this bed." JJ awoke, glaring at the blond.

"What time is it?"

"I don't know Jide. Did Tobi and Josh leave last night?"

"No, they said they needed to get home around 9 o'clock this morning. What the fuck is going on?"

"I don't quite know yet, for now just get your lazy ass up." Simon turned his attention back to the phone. "Did the note give any explanation for any of this?"

"It says something about how one of his soulmates kinda freaked out last night and needed reassurance. He said he was going to see him, that's pretty much it."

"He didn't leave a name or an address? Anything to go by?"

"Um, yeah. He said something about you and the kid's name was Vik."

"He went to go see Vik? Is he insane? Shit Freezy, this is bad." Simon moved the phone from his ear, backtracking down to his room. "Jide get up! Bog went after Vik and he hasn't come back yet."

"What the fuck was that kid thinking? He's gonna get himself killed! If he hasn't already!"

"Hence why I said to get up now, Jide!" Simon held the phone against his ear with his shoulder, grabbing his red pen from his bedside table. He quickly sprawled his thoughts onto his arm, hoping Bog was still aware enough to read them.

"Bog idk what you were thinking but tell me where you are please". Josh felt himself awakening slowly, feeling a swift sensation of pen on his skin. He looked down at his arm, his blurry sight barely reading the red lettering. But as soon as they did, Josh shot out of the bed he and Tobi had shared and raced down the stairs. Josh caught a panicked Simon before he could leave his room, catching the boy carefully in his arms. Simon nearly collapsed into the embrace, and Josh swore he felt tears.

"Simon?"

"Bog went after Vik. He didn't get back home last night, and he left his keys and his wallet and his phone back at his place. He's gone, Josh." Josh squeezed the blond tighter, rocking the two gently. Josh rubbed between the taller's shoulder blades, before separating from the hug. Josh quickly wiped away the few tears that did escape, smiling at the blond.

"You'll find him. I'm confident of your ability to do so. Is JJ going with?"

"Yeah, I'm coming." JJ appeared at the door, noticing immediately that Simon had been crying. He said nothing, however, and instead began to lead Simon by a hand on his back. The pair rushed towards the door, looking back at Josh one last time. "We'll keep you updated." With that, Simon and JJ were gone out the door. Moments later, Josh felt writing on his arm. Looking down, he was glad to see an address was written on his arm. They would find Bog now, and hopefully Vik too. Josh went back upstairs, finding Tobi sitting up and confused.

"Get comfortable, I think I have an idea of what's happened."

~~~

Tobi and Josh were anxiously sitting at Josh's family breakfast, having to force anything they ate down their throats. Every part of their beings screamed in agony of not knowing what was happening with Vik and Bog. It has now been two hours since they had last written, telling Behz what they thought had happened. While the pair learned his real name to be Ethan only the night before, they still preferred to call him Behz. He was just as anxious as those two were, and they all agreed not to write anymore until they heard from the boys. It took all the strength Tobi and Josh had not to just sprint out of the kitchen and run off to the address they had seen earlier. They both knew they would be dead if they pulled something like that, hence why they still sat in their seats. Their self-control went out the window as soon as they felt pen against their skin. Looking down, it first looked like JJ's writing, from the large sloppy shapes. That is, until a familiar name signed it.

"Simon and JJ are getting questioned, Harry's in ICU and I'm in room 123. Can anyone come to be with me? -Vik" Tobi and Josh shared a glance before they both shot up, running towards the door. Josh's father called after them, Josh only stopping long enough to explain simply.

"Our soulmate choices are all in big trouble and we need to be there." Josh then ran out the door, meeting Tobi at the older's car. Josh jumped in the driver's seat and set off, ignoring his parents screaming at him from the front door.

Upon reaching the hospital, Tobi and Josh realized they didn't know Vik's last name, or if they'd be allowed in. The rules seemed to always be changing. Josh had been convinced it only mattered which nurse you spoke to. Josh walked up to the counter, ringing the small bell to get the nurse's attention. The young boy looked up, tilting his head at the two. Josh showed him his arm, Tobi showing the same thing on his arm. The nurse smiled, standing up. He called out to the other that he'd be back in a moment, then signaling for Josh and Tobi to follow. He led them to room 123, smiling at the pair.

"I'm his personal nurse as well, and he hoped you'd be coming. Just be gentle; he is a little fragile after all that. He doesn't want to admit it just yet, but he's broken inside and out." With the final words of his warning, the nurse swung open the door. Inside sat a small boy, his whole body bruised and wrapped in bandages. This was Vik, they realized. The poor boy who barely spoke. They now could assume why, as well. "Hey, Vik. You were asking about your soulmate choices coming in?" Vik looked up at the door now, a smile spreading across his features.

"Hey." The word was short, simple, and all that Josh and Tobi needed as invitation into the room. Josh allowed Tobi to great the injured boy first, knowing he had a tendency to say random things or something he didn't mean.

"Hey, Vik. How you feeling?"

"A little bit like shit, but I've dealt with worse and not gone to the hospital."

"I think I might kill who ever has done this to you. Especially if this isn't the worse." Josh's words were low, barely a loud enough mumble for Vik to hear. But the smallest boy heard, and sent Josh a small smile.

"Hate to break it to you, but Harry pretty much beat you to it. Ha, get it? Harry beat him up and I said beat you to it." Vik let out an awkward laugh, earning one from Tobi as well.

"Your puns are just as bad as Tobi's." Josh whined out, shaking his head at the pair.

"If you're gonna act like that Vik will become my best friend." Tobi's threat was by a gasp, Josh clutching his chest like he was in pain.

"I've just been forgotten, over a pun! After everything, I want all my games back."

"Ha, nice try. They're mine now."

The three boys would spend the rest of the morning bantering about. They had gotten a smile out of Vik, and they all knew something about one another. Names had been shared earlier, just to make sure Vik knew who was who. They continued to entertain the younger boy until a policewoman walked in. They both quieted down, stepping back a little. The officer waved at them, walking over to Vik's bed.

"Well, Simon and JJ should be able to come visit you in a minute. The station called to their parents to ask them questions, and Simon's family hasn't answered yet."

"They go off on vacations a lot, leaving Simon alone for a little while." Josh mumbled, remembering the information from one of many late night conversations.

"That's what he told us as well. They have to keep him until they can get a word with his parents, and JJ wanted to stay with him. I'm sure you could've guessed that." The three boys nodded at the kind woman's words. Vik spoke up next, asking the question everyone else was too afraid to ask.

"And Harry?"

~~~

"Harry's in bad shape, I'm not going to lie to you. He took quite the beating for you." Vik's eyes began to swell up with tears, the poor young boy letting out a small sob.

"I told him I could take them, but he just wouldn't listen to me. I didn't want him to get hurt because of me. He wasn't meant to be coming home for a while still and if I had known I would have never called Harry over and." Vik's sobs began to cut off his own words. Tobi immediately jumped into action, wiping away Vik's tears as they spewed from his eyes.

"Vik, listen to me. I know you don't necessarily want to hear this, but you have to. All of us, we love you. We all love you so much. And Harry, he loves you even more, if that's possible. There was no way Bog would have been okay with watching whomever did this to you beat you up more. Not when he had the option of taking the beating instead. Alright? You gotta remember Vikky, Bog is pig-headed and stubborn. There was no way he'd let you get hurt first." Tobi's words relaxed the sobbing smaller boy a little, but tears still fell from his eyes.

"Do you know how long it will be until someone can visit him?" Josh turned to the police officer as he spoke, a certain tone of power and strength in his voice. Tobi recognized the tone; Josh would always speak like that when trying to protect someone. It was probably his attempt at protecting the small boy Tobi was hovering over.

"They said that you could probably visit now, but he's pretty beaten up. He doesn't exactly look his best. That's without mentioning he's on a lot of machines right now." Josh nodded, turning to Tobi. He noticed Vik sent him a hopeful look, and Josh smiled.

"Can you watch him Tobes? I'm going to go to Harry, that way he's not alone." Tobi nodded at Josh, the eldest smiling. Josh looked to Vik, smiling even wider when Vik mouthed a thank you. The officer opened the door for Josh, leading him towards Harry's room.

"You're one brave kid, you know that? And you're also very, I don't know. Fatherly?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot. I'm okay with it though, it pays off now doesn't it?" The woman laughed at Josh's words, opening Harry's door now. Josh took a deep breath, stepping in and looking at Harry. The youngest of their group looked like a mess, tubes attached everywhere. Josh felt a little sick at the sight, but continued forward so he was beside Harry. He sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair beside the bed, running a hand carefully through Harry's hair. It seemed to be uncomfortably stuck to his forehead. After fixing it, his hands wrapped around the one of Harry's by his chair. The skin was chilly, a little clammy too. As Josh squeezed, however, he swore he felt a squeeze back. He unfolded his hand that was on top of Harry's, kissing his knuckles lightly. He noticed how they were swollen and red, meaning he fought back. Josh looked up to still see the officer standing there, her cap off her head. It showed strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail. "Did you catch whomever did this?" The officer jumped a little at the words, and shook her head. She replaced her cap and sighed.

"No, he ran at the sound of sirens. We arrived moments after JJ and Simon. He was already too far gone even by the time they got there." Josh nodded, caressing Harry's hand. "I'm heading back out soon to hunt him down. The station doesn't want to sent out a task force for this, so I'll be going by myself." Josh looked up at the officer and smiled.

"Thank you, miss. Thank you so much. I want this bastard caught." Josh mumbled the last part, hoping the officer wouldn't hear him curse. She did, but ignored it.

"As do I, kid. I think it's disgusting what people can do to their own kids." With those words, the officer nodded at Josh and let herself out of the room. Josh would sit by Harry's side for many long hours, only moving when the nurses needed him to. One of them eventually told Josh the extend of Harry's injuries. A few broken ribs, all miraculously missing anything vital. He had some internal bleeding from the intensity of the beating he had received, but had already flown through the surgery for that. Harry would now be okay, so long as he woke up soon. Josh kept himself seated with Harry until someone else walked into the room. Cal, the boy who had teased JJ in the locker room only the day before, walked in with another boy. Josh didn't recognize him at first, until he realized who it was. It was Lux, the boy Freezy was always hanging around with. Josh smiled at the two, holding Harry's hand tight. He stood up from his chair.

"He'll be fine so long as he wakes up soon, they said. Just a few broken ribs and something about internal bleeding, but they've done all they can for that. Now it's just he wakes up, and then a long period of recuperation." Josh caught the other two up, recalling now that he had seen the two around Harry before.

"Thanks, Josh. How is Vik holding up, with all this?" Freezy's words sounded slightly awkward, but Josh guessed it was because Freezy didn't know him all that well.

"Vik's fine. Blaming himself a lot, but Tobi was watching after him. Last I heard, Simon and JJ were still in questioning. They out yet?" Freezy shook his head, blowing out some air.

"Simon's parents aren't answering. As far as Simon can remember, it's probably really late where they went. But you know how it is." Josh nodded, because he truly did know how it was. Josh had watched many a nights while JJ and Simon would talk away on their arms. Simon never liked admitting it, but he hates how distant his parents were. Josh sighed, feeling bad for the blond. While his parents were awfully clingy and attentive to Josh's every move, they always made sure they were there for Josh if something went wrong. He could only imagine that was why JJ and Simon had grown so close. Spending so much time all alone, Simon latched onto the first consistent person in his life. Josh shook away the thoughts, just in time to hear Lux speak.

"Has there been anything to suggest he's waking up?"

"A couple things here and there. Sometimes he squeezes back my hand, and recently I swear I keep seeing his eyelids flutter a little. But I'm not sure, I could very well just be going crazy."

"Why don't you go check on Vik for a bit, hm? Me and Lux can watch Harry here." Josh nodded at the suggestion, kissing Harry's forehead lightly. As Josh began to move away his hand, a small noise escaped Harry. The youngest's hand tightened its grip on Josh, making the brunet raise his eyebrows.

"Bog?" Another noise escaped Harry's mouth, eyes starting to flutter open. Josh smiled widely, watching as Harry's blue eyes opened up. They squinted at first, Josh assuming the room was too bright. He shaded his eyes with one of his hands. "Hit that red button and tell them he's waking up. That way they can take out his breathing tube. I can only imagine how irritating that is." Harry's eyes locked onto Josh, a certain happiness in them. Then they fluttered around the people gathered, and saw no Vik. Harry looked to Josh, hoping for his answer. "Vik is fine. He's with Tobi right now. They have him on an IV with painkillers, and another to keep him hydrated." Harry relaxed, and a nurse stumbled into the room. It was a short, stout man. He smiled at Harry, carefully removing his breathing tube. He checked his vitals, nodded as he saw Harry looked okay. The man left once more, leaving the four boys alone again.

"Hello."

~~~

"Hey Bog. How are you feeling?" Josh was the first to respond, knowing himself and the other two boys in the room all wanted to yell at him for being so stupid.

"Little thirsty, a little sore. I really don't want to move just in case, but I also really want to see Vik. Do you think they would let me?"

"Harry, you nearly got yourself killed. Focus on relaxing first, alright?" Harry nodded, looking up at Josh.

"Yes, I'll write to Tobi and see if Vik can write something to you." Harry smiled and cheered, taking a small sip from the water bottle Lux placed by his mouth. Josh grabbed out the pen he luckily remembered to grab, writing on his right arm to leave more room for Vik.

"Harry is awake and asking that you write to him, Vik." Harry smiled at the words, awaiting for them to be accompanied by more.

"Harry! Bog, I'm so glad you're okay! Oh god, I might be crying again." Harry smiled even wider at the words, a few tears collecting in his eyes.

"It's okay, Harry's crying now too. He can't exactly write right now, so I figured I'd let you know."

"Is everyone okay now?" Behz wrote out as small as he could, still sitting at home. He wanted to go and be with them, but he didn't have his license yet and his parents wouldn't take him.

"Everyone but me. They still don't know where my parents are." Simon's writing was in its regular red, a smiley face drawn after it.

"But I'm here with him until they do find them. And may I point out they're lucky we're almost 18 because otherwise I would fight them to get him away. Same with your parents, Vik." JJ's usually sloppy and large handwriting was smaller and more defined. Josh wouldn't have recognized it if it hadn't been for the fact that he was with Simon. It seemed much more, mature than how JJ usually acted. However, Josh soon realized that this probably was not something JJ would take lightly. You could tell how much JJ cared for Simon, and his parents were always a sore subject for the blond boy. Josh couldn't help but smile at knowing that JJ was there, protecting Simon from his demons as much as he could.

"Thanks for that, JJ. I'd feel horrid if he was there all alone. I still feel bad Behz can't be with us." Tobi's handwriting snapped Josh out of his thoughts, the oldest deciding to write back.

"That's because you're obsessed with him." Josh's writing earned a giggle from at least Harry, who was laying down and watching along with the conversation. Both Cal's stood against a nearby wall, watching after Harry carefully. Josh decided he wanted to learn more about their connection to the youngest boy in the bed.

"Fuck off Josh." Josh ignored the all too familiar response and looked up at the Cal's.

"Would you guys be okay with me asking some questions?" Lux looked up, nodded in agreement to Josh's request. "Do you lot live together?" Freezy nodded this time, moving up from the wall.

"Mine and Lux's parents said it was okay. We moved in together what, a year or two ago?" Lux shrugged, agreeing with Freezy's reply.

"And Harry?"

"Cal's parents adopted me when I was younger. They were in Gurnsey, met my family, and offered to take me with them to England since my parents couldn't take care of me. So they let me live with these two in hopes I would keep them well behaved." Harry spoke up, his voice soft as to not hurt himself. Josh nodded, smiling at the youngest.

"Yeah, I'm so glad it was us they had to worry about." Freezy mumbled to himself, Josh chuckling. "Mate, you don't even know the half of it. This kid right here, mad. He'll do anything without a second thought about it's dangers. Jumping off roofs, drinking weird mixtures, it's crazy." Freezy's little rant was met by another chuckle from Josh. The older boy carefully ran his thumb over Harry's bruised knuckles.

"Well, you're going to have to start watching after yourself more if you plan on hanging around Vik. I don't know what, but something tells me he won't be as big into the spontaneous stuff." Harry nodded solemnly at Josh's words.

"I know. And I'm going to try my hardest, for Vik. But I've always been like that and it's not something you can fix in a day ya know?"

"I can imagine. But I also imagine Com will gladly help you along. Plus, he seems like the type who will smack you if you're about to do something really stupid for no good reason." Josh countered, making Harry smile. Josh smiled too, glad that everything seemed to be going much better now.

~~~

It would be another week before all seven boys could finally be in the same room as one another. They all went over to Simon's house, his parents still off wherever. Josh had actually stayed the night before, spending it with Simon. JJ couldn't sleep over that night, so Josh snaked his way to being there for Simon. He could tell the slightly younger blond was thankful, especially when Josh more than willingly agreed to cuddle with him for the night. The two slept soundly, Simon feeling safe knowing someone was there. The next morning, Tobi would arrive early with JJ soon after. The four oldests would sit around talking, enjoying the company of one another. Harry was the next to arrive, Cal helping him in on his crutches. Simon swore to the safety of Harry while he was here, and Cal was on his way again. Next would come Ethan, who was nearly suffocated by Tobi upon entering the large house. The two were very close when they sat back down with everyone else, Tobi trying to subtly bury himself in Ethan. Well, that was until Josh's little outburst.

"My god, either kiss or full on cuddle! That's just awkward and uncomfortable, especially for the rest of us." Tobi and Ethan had shared a glance before Ethan pulled Tobi into his side. The older curled up into the ginger, gladly burying his head in his neck. Josh told them thank you, and soon after Vik found his way into the room. Vik had been forced to stay with an agency while the trial against his father went on, and they were very anxious about letting Vik go out without someone watching. Vik endured he would be safe and call the agency if anything seemed off, however. Upon entering the living room, Vik locked eyes with Harry. They hadn't really gotten to see each other since their time in the hospital. Vik carefully rushed over to the younger, straddling his lap to give him a hug. Harry wrapped his arms around Vik's waist, holding the small boy close. Josh smiled at the sight, happy to see the others happy. He turned to his right, noticing the mess of limbs that was JJ and Simon. Josh so badly wanted to include himself in that, but he didn't want to be rude. It was almost as if Simon could sense this, because moments later he whined out.

"Joshy, come cuddle too." Josh was not one to turn down an offer, and carefully worked himself onto the couch they were laying across. With a little manipulation, Simon was sprawled on top of both JJ and Josh, the two boys laying beside each other. Simon currently had his head buried into Josh's neck, the oldest trying to ignore the sensation of lips against the delicate skin. JJ couldn't help but chuckle, realizing what Simon was trying to do. He was trying to draw Josh in, bring him out of his shell a little. Not that Josh had much of a shell, but you could tell he felt a little like an intruder. JJ carefully moved, shifting an arm so it wrapped around Josh's neck. The older looked at JJ, confusion in his eyes. JJ moved slightly so his mouth was by Josh's ear.

"Thank you for sleeping with Simon last night. I always get worried about him being all alone. He doesn't handle it all that well." JJ's words were originally meant to be those of praise, but talking about Simon out loud must have brought out his concerns too. Josh smirked, twisting his neck to kiss Simon's head.

"It was my pleasure. I mean, come on. I got to see Simon shirtless. I even got to touch Simon while he was shirtless." Josh's tone earned a groan from Simon.

"That just sounds creepy Josh."

"Sounds understandable to me." JJ's addition made Simon begin to mumble to himself. Josh carefully wrapped an arm around, resting his forearm across Simon's back and his palm on his hip. Simon let out a him of satisfaction, cuddling into the other two more. JJ suddenly began laughing, Simon shifting himself completely onto Josh. "Well, I don't think we'll have to worry all that much about choosing favorites here, huh?" JJ's statement earned laughter from Behz, who then made Tobi begin to laugh. This got Simon to laugh, as well as Josh, Vik, and Harry. As they all slowly relaxed from their laughing fits, Ethan was the next one to speak up.

"I still think we should have a kinda free-for-all, just within the group."

"You're only saying that because it means you can see Simon shirtless." Tobi mumbled out, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Your words, not mine." Ethan's words came with the raising of his hands in surrender.

"That's a good shout." Harry now spoke up, Vik still sat straddling his lap.

"Why does everyone worship by body? I'm not all that hot."

"Babe, if you're not all that hot then I don't wanna know how ugly I'd be considered." JJ spoke up, his hands running up and down the back of Simon's thighs. Simon shivered at the movement, pressing himself further into Josh. Josh willingly accepted this, his hand not wrapped around Simon tangling itself in Simon's hair. The blond let out a happy moan at this, allowing Josh to play with his usually gelled locks.

"Do you guys want me to just start walking around shirtless or something?"

"While completely naked would be optimal, I think without a shirt is close enough for now." Josh spoke without thinking, causing Simon to ignite a bright red. Ethan let out a wolf whistle, and only then did Josh think over his words. "That was a little much, oops." Tobi rolled his eyes at his best friend of too long.

"Good job Josh. Glad you caught up."

"I think it was perfectly fine. I mean, I wouldn't mind that either." JJ followed his words with a quick squeeze to Simon's upper thigh, the blond shuttering at the feeling.

"Fuck off Jide, you see me naked enough."

"Simon Minter, there is no such thing as seeing you naked enough." Laughter filled the room, Simon burying his face deep into Josh's neck. The blond was now a deep red, hands gripping tightly to Josh's sides. JJ's hands continue to squeeze his thighs, and Simon could practically feel himself melting away because of it. He realized poor Josh below his could probably now feel the state he was in, not making the situation better. Or, so Simon thought. But Josh was respectful when it came to that, and he swatted off JJ's grabbing hands. He even moved his own hands so one was rested between his shoulderblades and the other was running through his hair. Simon relaxed into Josh completely, a happiness filling his heart.

They were together, and together they would get through everything.