Josh's P.O.V.

Melanie's eyes widened to the size of saucers when she noticed the two men coming towards her. She looked surprised and scared and infuriated all at the same time.

As they brought her forward, she looked up at me and narrowed her eyes into little slits. I was uncomfortable for multiple reasons.

1. I'm about to buy her from a whore house

2. She looked like she really wanted to kill me

3. She was even more beautiful in person

She's changed a lot since whenever it was that she took that picture. Her hair was shorter now and only reached her shoulders in pale blue curls she had pulled into high pigtails with red ribbons not to mention she looked a little older by perhaps a year or two.

The sound of a snap broke through my thoughts and I turned abruptly to see Blurryface smirking at both Melanie and I.

With a small blush, I got my payment together and faced Melanie again. The Skeleton Clique, which is where me, Tyler, Brendon, and Patrick work, gave us all the money to buy the girls. Then, when we take Blurryface down, we can get it all back.

I resisted the urge to rock back and forth on the balls of my feet because I have to pretend that this is what I want. I have to act like I think buying women for sexual pleasure is acceptable.

Melanie didn't move at all and just crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at me. Already hearing the guards footsteps, I held out my arm to stop them but they shoved past me.

"This one is wild. She has to be contained." They explained with a small smirk. Yeah, right. I bet they just haven't gotten to harass many women today and want to be jerks.

Still, Melanie didn't flinch when they placed her handcuffs back on and handed me the key before announcing that I could leave.

The second I grabbed her hand, she dug her nails into my skin. I bit my lip so I wouldn't hiss in pain. If they thought she had hurt me, she'd get into trouble and I couldn't let that happen.

So I just took the pain in silence all the way back to the room I had been given. She kept applying more and more pressure and I'm pretty sure she was drawing blood by now.

Even after I opened the door and led her inside, she didn't stop impaling me with her nails.

Once the door was fully closed, I yanked my hand away from her and cradled it gently. I was right. I had started bleeding.

I was about to begin explaining what was going on to her, but she cut me off with a simple wave of her hand and began speaking.

"Look, I don't give a fuck about how much money you spent or what you'll do to me, but I'm not doing anything for you." She snapped.

I was a little taken back by her statement. I wasn't expecting her to just let anyone touch her in any way she didn't approve of, but I wasn't expecting her to be so sassy.

I shook my head and started to form a response. If I didn't, she would think I was actually going to try something.

"I know that you have no reason to, but you're gonna have to trust me. I work for an agency called the Skeleton Clique, we're dedicated to helping people across the world whenever we can. And my current assignment is to break you and three others out of here with the help of my friends." I said it all in one rush so she wouldn't interrupt me again.

She stared at me for a few seconds, a glimmer of hope in her eyes before it quickly vanished. She snorted and rolled her eyes. "And why should I believe you?"

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. This was gonna be harder than I thought.

How do I show her I'm not lying?

"I know that it's unbelievable, trust me, I wouldn't believe it either. But I'm telling the truth. Me and my friends just want to help you and the other girls here. I swear, I'm not going to make you do anything." I promise as sincerely as I can.

She cocks an eyebrow and looks me up and down, searching for any red flags. I didn't say anything and just held her calculating gaze.

After a few beats of silence, she sighed and ran a hand through her black and blue curls. "Alright, I trust you." She said and I smiled.

"But if you try anything, I will rip your lungs out and strangle you with them." She threatened and I gulped nervously, wide-eyed as she jabbed a fingernail into my chest.

Then, she dropped her glare and smiled at me. "But you haven't managed to make me hate you yet, so thank you. I really appreciate what you're doing to help me and these girls."

Her smile was so dazzling, I couldn't help but stare in awe of her beauty. Her cheer was so infectious, just being around her made me want to smile and never stop.

My heartbeat sped up and I felt my face growing warm.

No, no, no, no! No! This is strictly professional! No funny business!

I recited this to myself as Melanie seated herself on the bed in the corner of the room. She sighed as she plopped down, resting her hands behind her head.

"This mattress is so soft!" She exclaimed in awe. "Or maybe it's just because I was sleeping on a cold, metal floor for the past week." She shrugged and continued to lay on the bed.

My eyes widened as I stared at her. They had her sleeping on the floor? Did she just not care?

Her small sigh of comfort broke me out of my stupor and I cracked a small smile. She looked so cute all cuddled up with the pillows and blankets.

Be professional!

I cleared my throat uncomfortably and crossed my arms, leaning against the wall. She looked up at me before shifting so that she was sitting up, swinging her legs back and forth. She raised an eyebrow at me and patted the spot next to her.

"You can sit down if you want. I promise I won't try to stab your hand again." She joked, giggling to herself. I cracked a small smile and sat down next to her. She smiled too and turned slightly so that she was facing me.

"So who else is a part of your agency or whatever?" She asked.

"I don't know if you remember them, but the last three guys before me are my friends and fellow agents. Two of them were brunettes and one was blonde. He had a fedora." I began describing them and she nodded to indicate she understood.

"Yeah, they got some girls I knew. Jenna, Sarah, and Ashley. But she likes Halsey better." She shrugged and I rose an eyebrow. She was friends with the other girls? Well, that certainly makes things a bit easier.

"Their names are Brendon, Tyler, and Patrick. We were all assigned to them specifically to help them out of here. Once that's done, we help everyone else and take down Blurryface." I explained, and she nodded. Melanie began playing with the ribbons in her hair and continued asking questions.

Melanie's P.O.V.

"So how long are we stuck here?" I asked, playing with the ribbons in my hair.

"I don't know. It'll probably be a while before we can get what we need." Josh shrugged. I frowned at this.

I was hoping we could leave in like a few days. But in order for them to get close to Blurryface, we would have to stay for a pretty long time.

"Well at least we're leaving in the first place." I mutter. Josh gave me a sympathetic look and for some reason, I smiled. Genuinely.

"So what is the plan? I know you're trying to break us out of here, but how are you guys gonna get close to Blurryface. He literally killed his supposed best friend the day before you got here." I tell him and he sighs, running a hand through his hair. I watch his hand silently as it weaves through his curls before bringing my eyes back to his.

"We have an idea of how this is gonna happen, but the details haven't been fully worked out. So far, all we have is that we'll work our way up Blurryface's ranks then find a way to end this business and eventually, him. If it ends up taking too long, like over a month, we're gonna have to find another way. You guys are our top priority and Blurryface is second." Josh explained and I nodded.

"And how are we going to do this?"

He gave me a confused look so I explained.

"Well, you kind of bought me in case you forgot. They think that we're screwing each other's brains out and if they find out we're not, your whole plan falls apart." I tell him and he nods. I try to ignore how red my face must be from what I just said and hope that Josh doesn't notice as well. If he did, he didn't make any comments and for that, I was grateful.

"Guess we'll just have to fake it then." He shrugs.

"How?"

"Well, they have audio recorders in here that they turn on at night so it's not like we have to do anything as long as it sounds like we're doing something. And whenever we aren't in here, we just put on an act."

"Okay, that makes sense." I say, applauding jokingly. He laughed and I felt a rush of butterflies in my stomach.

Wait, what?

Never mind. I'm probably just nervous about this whole thing. Yeah, that's it. I'm nervous.

"Do you think we can really pull this off?" I ask softly after a moment of silence.

"Yeah. I think we can." Josh smiled at me and I smiled back.

I was about to say something back, but then I heard footsteps. I shook it off and opened my mouth again to speak, but Josh shushed me, holding his finger to his lips.

I obeyed and stayed quiet but gave him a confused look. The sound of a door being opened and muffled voices reached my ears and I grew even more curious.

"They're doing room checks to make sure no one escapes. Some girl tried to leave earlier today and apparently, she almost got away with it." Josh whispered and I nodded.

The footsteps sounded again but this time, they were a little louder as if they were closer.

Were they coming to our room?

Just as I was about to ask Josh, he rose from the bed and grabbed my wrist, placing me against the wall. He flung his shirt over his head and to the floor before walking up to me and pressing himself against me.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, my voice wavering slightly as I took in how close we were.

"If they come in here and see us having a conversation instead of making out or something, they're gonna be suspicious." He says and the footsteps get a little closer again.

He then settled his hands on my waist and leaned his face closer to mine. My breath caught in my throat as I stare wide eyed at him.

Another door closed and I heard more footsteps.

Just as the door began to creak open, Josh whispered "Just follow my lead."

"Wha-" I began but never finished. I gasped as Josh swiftly grabbed one of my legs and hooked it around his waist then attached his mouth to my shoulder. Small kisses were being peppered across my skin and he sucked slightly on my neck.

A small moan escaped my lips before I could stop it and my cheeks blazed in embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't know we were interrupting."

Josh and I both turned to the doorway to see two guards. They were both smirking as they stared at us.

I shifted uncomfortably, but didn't say anything.

"Yeah, we were kind of in the middle of something." Josh says and they nod before leaving and closing the door.

Once we heard the footsteps lead away, Josh backed away from me and my leg fell back to the floor.

Did that really just happen? Did that really just happen?

"Sorry, that's probably gonna end up happening a lot. They're doing more room checks now so we'll have to do a lot of pretending to convince them." My eyes widened as he finished talking.

That was going to happen again? And not just one more time, but multiple times?

My face was still bright red from this and it was going to happen again and again and again and oh my gosh! I can't do this.

"Oh, crap! I'm so sorry!" Josh's voice dragged me away from my thoughts and j turned to look at him. My eyes were large with fright as I looked at him.

What happened? What was wrong?

"It was an accident! I swear I didn't mean to do that." Josh exclaimed, blushing as he fumbled over his apologies. Finally, with a confused look, I brought my eyes down to look at myself and noticed the small red mark on the space between my neck and right shoulder.

A hickey. My first hickey.

I didn't know what to say as I stared at it, face growing warm and my throat going dry. Josh just gave me a hickey...

A FREAKING HICKEY!

Sure I said he was hot and he seems nice so far and he is helping me get out of here but I don't know him that well and it didn't mean anything and it's a freaking hickey and why, oh why does my life refuse to be fair?

Finally, I managed to find the ability to speak. "I... It's okay." I squeaked after a long moment of silence. My voice wavered and shot up an entire octave.

Good going Melanie. You already look like a freak, now you sound like one too.

"No, it's not okay. I feel really terrible. You're really young and I basically stole your neck virginity. Ugh, this is already off to a bad start." He muttered, burying his face in his hands.

I felt worry and concern fill me, my eyes widening as I rushed to assure him that he didn't do anything wrong. "Josh, don't worry! I swear, it's okay. It doesn't matter."

He shook his head and I frowned, not liking that he was so upset over me. We just met, why does he already care so much?

I exhaled a deep breath and removed his hands from over his face, taking them in mine.

"Okay, I'm not going to lie, things are going to be pretty awkward, but it's okay. You did what you had to do and as long as you're getting me out of here and this is all just for the plan, I don't mind."

"But I'm not going to actually have sex with you so don't get any ideas." I added on quickly.

He laughed slightly and I smiled again. Looks like he's not too upset anymore.

"You don't have to be concerned about that. I wouldn't lie and use the plan as an excuse to take advantage of you."

"Good, because if you did I would have to kill you." I joke, laughing with him.

After a moment of the two of us just sharing laughter, it fell silent. But not awkward silence, it was actually comfortable.

We just held each other's gaze and smiled at each other, not ever looking away.

My cheeks grew warm and I bit my lip shyly. I almost forgot that I was still holding his hand.

I looked down at our intertwined fingers and felt a hot blush creeping onto my cheeks, slowly peeling my hand away from his. He looked a little confused at the sudden movement before he looked down and realized that we were still holding hands.

He pulled his hand back awkwardly as we looked back up at each other. Josh sent me a sheepish smile that I returned and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Neither of us said anything for a while and it had probably been ages of us just staring at each other before we heard another knock at the door.

I jumped and started blushing as I remembered what happened the last time someone knocked on the door.

A guard walked in and had the most bored look ever on his face. "Food is in the mess hall. If you wanna starve just stay here, but if you don't then come down. I honestly don't care." He said before walking away and slamming the door behind him.

"Okay, rude." I say, glaring at the door he just walked through.

"Tell me about it." Josh agreed, shaking his head. "We should probably head over though. Maybe we can meet up with Brendon and Tyler so we can work out the details for the plan."

I nodded my head and turned to walk to the door. Josh wasn't following so I turned my head to ask why, immediately wishing that I hadn't.

He still hadn't put his shirt back on...

He was looking around for a second to find his shirt when his eyes finally landed on it. It was laying in the opposite corner of the room in a heap.

My face turned red and I whipped around before he could notice, opening the door and walking out as he slipped it back on.

Josh's P.O.V.

Melanie and I walked out the room and to the mess hall together in silence. She kept her eyes trained firmly ahead of her and didn't look me in the eye.

I probably freaked her out with the whole hickey thing. Ugh, why didn't I think it through? I could've simply kissed her very easily. But for some reason, I didn't.

Maybe I was... scared? I don't know but whatever it was, I blame it for this problem I have right now.

"Josh! Josh, over here!" I heard Brendon shout and looked over to where I'd heard the voice.

He was sitting up and waving his arms so I would notice him. He succeeded with gaining my attention.

As well as everyone else's who was in the room.

Tyler and Patrick were with him along with Jenna, Halsey, and Sarah. They looked calm and somewhat relieved. The guys have probably told them about the plan.

I bet they didn't panic and give the girls hickeys...

Quickly, I shook the thought away and nudged Melanie's shoulder. She turned to me with a slightly red face and I gestured towards the others. She nodded and followed me to the table, sitting down next to me.

"Finally! It took you long enough." Brendon sighed, taking a seat. I rolled my eyes as I sat next to Melanie across from him.

"Yeah, what took so long? The guards came to our rooms at least like ten minutes ago. We've been waiting for you guys." Patrick commented, giving us a look of question.

Melanie looked down and I started blushing a little. "T-he guard um, he c-came to our room a little late." Hopefully, they didn't notice my flushed face and vocal blunder.

They accepted this answer until Jenna looked up to say something. Her eyes narrowed in confusion as she stared at Melanie for a while.

"Is that a hickey?"

~•~

Yes I am aware this is a bad ending but you guys have been asking for it. And I felt bad for how long it was taking.

It's here now and I'll start working on the next chapter right away!

If you guys haven't already, please check out my Suicide Squad Band Edition and Joshanie one-shots collection.

Vote, comment, share and never forget to...

*le inhales deeply*

PANIC! AT CRYBABY'S TWENTY ØNE FALL OUTS!

*le exhales*

Luv ya all! PEACE OUT RAINBOW TROUTS!