"breaking into a million pieces"
Amren pov
"Josh, what happened to your face?" he stood there in the door frame, his head held low so i couldn't see his face. He didn't look me in the eye as he replied:
"i fell and scrathed up my mug....silly me. " he forced a chuckle.
"Don't lie to me Josh Makerwits! "
Fortunately, and both unfortunate, i was much shorter than him so i carefully walked up to him and placed the palms of my hands gently underneath his chin, careful not to touch his bruised cheek. His hot breath fanned accross my face, i could smell traces of mint.
From this angle i could see his whole face. A faint purple bruise sat on the right side of his brow, followed by shallow scrapes running down his left cheek.
He flinched at my touch, but I knew it wasn't because i had hurt him, for some reason he looked frightened. He was hoping that i would just let this slide.
His eyes bore into mine. They were glossy and red with unshed tears. They were begging me not to ask any further questions.
I could feel his pain through his eyes, i saw what he had experienced the moment our eyes locked. His dad's older brother arrived at their house two nights earlier. He forced his way in and held a gun to Josh's chest. He told Josh's father that if he didn't give him something then he would shoot Josh. He tried to defend himself against his uncle, fortunately Josh is more muscular now than he had been a year ago. The vision ended with poor Josh getting a blow against the side of the face with the handle of the gun and he fell against a wall, scraping his face. His dad grabbed his uncle by the neck and forcefully shoved him out of their house. A Shot went off and the vision blurred.
"What did your uncle want from you guys? Where is your dad? "
His face was shocked. His eyes still held my gaze. It took him a while to answer my question with his own.
"how.....? My dad is in the hospital, a bullet grazed his right shoulder. How did you know, Amren? What's going on? "
In all of our years together as friends, he never knew about my gift. I was scared that Josh would think I'm a freak and abandon me. My mom told me that it was a family secret, no outsiders were allowed to know, only our spouses. I guess i could make an acception for Josh, he is afterall like a sibling to me.
"There is something you need to know, but first answer my question, please " desperation now audible in my voice.
"No, it....it doesn't make sense. " he started holding his head in what seemed like anger, no, fury.
"What doesn't make sense, please just tell me."
"No!" that was the first time Josh ever raised his voice towards me in such manner. I stood there frozen, shocked. His face mirror my horror. His hands reaching for my shoulders.
"I'm sorry" he stil seemed angry but not with me.
"i won't push you for answers, especially if they don't concern me. I'm sorry for being nosy. I'm just worried about you."
His eyes were dark with unfathomable emotions as i spoke. I touched his face again and saw another part of the vision. The heated conversation and a struggle for the gun between his dad and his uncle...it was mortifying to say the least. Before i could see the ending Josh gripped my wrist and gently pulled it away from his face. His eyebrows were raised in confusion.
"He wants me?"
Once again he was shocked. His eyes full of unvoiced questions.
"i guess it's time we had a talk, walk with me?" I asked him.