AN: Some more Josney (Josie x Penney) hurt-comfort/fluff for you! I love this ship more than words can explain. And this oneshot is long, just a warning. 

Books: Adopted by Beetlejuice and Adopted by Falsettos
Year: 2021
Penney and Josie's Age: 15

TW: PTSD, flashbacks, panic attacks, mentions of cancer

Part 1
Josie's POV

"I'm glad today is movie day in science class. Last Friday of the month!" Penney Steingold said to me, smiling as she adjusted her ponytail and sat down in her seat.

Lately Penney's been sitting next to me every day in science and math, the two classes we shared together. She would always lean over to me and whisper stupid things and I would always have to stifle my laughter whenever it happened. That's Penney's gift, she can always make anyone laugh and smile no matter how bad of a day they've had or how serious of a situation they're in.

And to be honest, that's what I've always wanted. For Penney and I to get closer. Because as weird as it might sound, I think I might have a crush on that girl.

"Also, Monday is our lab. You wanna be lab partners?" Penney whispered to me as our teacher was getting the documentary set up. In that moment, I felt butterflies in my stomach.

"Of course!" I said with a smile that I hoped wasn't too cheesy. Penney laughed and took out her notebook and pencil as the documentary started.

I'm not gonna lie, the documentary was really boring. Sure, if I had actually paid attention to it, it might have helped me prepare for the test next week, but I wasn't really in the mood to focus on anything right now.

About twenty minutes later, I heard the sharp beeping of a heart monitor coming from the documentary and didn't pay much attention to it. That was until I saw Penney freeze and tense up next to me.

"Pen." I whispered, putting my hand on her arm. "Are you okay?"

Penney looked at me and ran out of the room, crying so hard she could barely breathe.

"I gotta go check on her." I said to myself, getting out of my seat and running after her.

_______

"Pen? Are you okay?" I said, coming into the bathroom. "Penney? It's Josie, can I come in? Or do you want some space?"

The stall door unlocked and swung open, revealing Penney curled up on the floor shaking and crying, her glasses on the floor next to her, her head buried in her knees and her hands in her hair. 

I quickly ran into the stall, locked the door, and sat down next to Penney, who immediately noticed me and crushed me in a hug, crying into my shoulder.

"Hey Pen, I'm right here, you don't have to tell me what's going on right now, wait until you calm down a bit. What do you need from me?" I asked, running my fingers through Penney's dirty blonde hair.

Penney hiccupped a bit, trying to catch her breath, and buried her face in the crook of my neck. 

"Breathe, Pen, take your time, it's okay." I whispered. Penney tried to take a deep breath and just buried herself further in my arms, clinging onto me for a few minutes while I rubbed her back and stroked her hair.

"Can you sing?" Penney whispered from my arms after a while. "You- you don't have to, I just really like your voice..."

In that moment, I panicked, trying to think of a song that I could sing for Penney. All that came to my mind was love songs, but singing a love song to my crush was just awkward, and I didn't want her to be uncomfortable.

Goddammit, Josephine. Penney needs you right now, stop worrying about being awkward and help her!

"Yeah, of course I can sing, do you have any particular song?" I asked. 

Penney sighed and choked out "What- whatever comes to mind. I don't care."

I held Penney a little bit tighter and started to sing the first song that came to my mind.

"It's been hot, also very sweet, and I'm not usually indiscreet. But when he sparkles, the Earth begins to sway...what more can I say?"

Penney leaned her head on my chest and started to relax a bit more, grabbing onto the hem of her shirt and fidgeting with it. I smiled at her and took my scrunchie out of my hair and handed it to her, giving her something to fidget with.

"How can I express how confused am I by our happiness? I can't eat breakfast, I barely tie my shoes...what more can I do?"

Penney sighed, shifted a bit in my lap, then sat up, taking my hand. "Um...can I tell you what happened?"

"Of course you can, Pen."

"Um...when that heart- heart monitor started beeping in that documentary we watched...it- it brought me right back to when I was sick and- and I felt like I was in the hospital again with all those lines and tubes on my body and being isolated from my family and everyone I knew and in the worst pain of my life, and I- I don't know. It was terrifying. I think I'm losing my mind." Penney said, choked up from the tears.

And then I started to realize what had happened.

"Penney. I think the heart monitor triggered a flashback. I get flashbacks too sometimes, I get flashbacks to when I was taken out of my mom's custody and when my parents got kidnapped, and sometimes the most simple things can trigger them." I said as Penney curled herself further in my arms.

"So- I'm not crazy?" Penney whispered.

"You're not, Pen, that's a promise. I know it's scary but I'm here for you, no matter what."

"I love you." Penney whispered, burying her face in the crook of my neck.

"I love you too, PenPen."

_____________

Part 2
Penney's POV

"Alright, so I got snacks, board games, some of my mom's makeup and nail polish, and a gift card to that pizza place down the block." Josie said as I was putting my things down. 

Josie had invited me over to her apartment for a sleepover and I was so excited. I had a massive crush on Josie, have had a crush on her for months, and I was hoping I wouldn't look like a total idiot in front of her.

"That sounds awesome." I said, heading into Josie's room and putting my stuff down. "Thanks for inviting me over, by the way, it really helps pass the time when my entire family's at work. That's the curse of having all your family work in the same place, they're all busy at the exact same time."

Josie laughed and looked at my stuff, "Anytime, Pen, you're always welcome over. My mama loves you. Hey, did you bring all your medicine and everything you need?" 

"Don't worry, Jo. I have everything." I said with a smile, showing her all my medicine and various medical equipment in my bag. I knew Josie worried about me sometimes- we had met when I had cancer so she had always had this lingering fear that something was wrong or I would relapse- which I completely understood. I just wanted her to be comfortable.

"Also, just a warning, I might crash at 9 or 10." I said, making sure all my stuff was in order. "I never stay up late at sleepovers- I never stay up that late in general."

"It's okay." Josie said, grabbing my wrist. "I get it, let's just focus on having fun tonight. If we both go to bed early, so be it."

God, I love Josie so much.

Josie giggled and headed to the kitchen, grabbing a box of mac and cheese and starting a pot of water for it. "Mac and cheese is my comfort food." Josie said. "I was wondering if you wanted to have some for dinner tonight- we could also order pizza or Chinese if you'd rather have that."

"Mac and cheese is fine, thanks." I said with a smile, sitting down at the kitchen counter. 

"Great." Josie said. I watched as she cooked the mac and cheese, tapping her foot and humming a tune I couldn't quite put my finger on. God, she was so beautiful...and even her humming took my breath away.

"Dinner's ready, Pen!" Josie said after a few minutes.

__________

Dinner was delicious, and Josie and I were relaxing on the couch watching some cheesy rom-com that just happened to be playing on TV. We chose it just to make fun of it, and we had popcorn and movie theatre-style candy and Josie had painted my nails earlier in the night.

Neither of us were paying much attention to the movie at this point, we were tired and it was getting late, but we both wanted to stay awake for the other's sake.

I was just drifting off into my own world for a little bit, until I felt a weight on my lap. I looked down and Josie had laid her head in my lap, curled up into a tiny ball.

"Hey Jo." I said, giggling a little.

"Hi." Josie said, yawning.

In that moment, my heart skipped a beat. I turned around and noticed Josie's mom, Stephanie, standing behind the couch and taking in the scene.

"What do I do?" I whispered, immediately cursing myself for how stupid the question was.

Stephanie laughed and sat on the other side of me. "Stroke her hair, rub her back, she loves when people do that. She must really love you, Penney, because of all the trauma she's been through she usually never clings to someone like that."

"I love her too." I said, slowly stroking Josie's hair and rubbing her back. "She's beautiful." 

Stephanie smiled as I continued playing with Josie's soft red curls. "I'm here, JoJo, I'm right here."

"Hey Penney?" Josie whispered sleepily.

"Yeah? You need anything?"

"I love you." Josie said, then curled up into a tighter ball and closed her eyes.

"I love you too, JosieBean." I said, seeing Josie smile at the nickname before falling asleep.