Disclaimer: I own nothing pertaining to Being Human. I'd like to buy Josh though. Is that possible?

Unapologetically Us
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Last Edit: Thursday, February 10, 2011; 11:34PM

Series: North America's Being Human

Spoilers: Up to episode four.

Rating: T; for language.

Pairings: Aidan/Josh

Warnings: Fluff, angst, and my inability to follow the same tense all the way through.

After a couple odd centuries, life became pretty monotonous. The old saying 'same shit, different day' became more like, 'when the hell did deja vu become so persistent?'. Sad, but true.

Sure, there were little things that made all the difference. Things like trying to remain a vegan vampire. Sally's Twilight comment still pissed him off, not because of the reference, but because 'vegetarian' vampires didn't do it justice. He was a goddamn vegan, living off the tofu that was blood packets. The only reason he wasn't a shriveled of stick of a person was because, by all rights, he was already dead. Which still pissed him off, by the way.

But, he was digressing. And venting, but that becomes second nature after a couple dozen decades. Bottling it up just made you wind up madder, faster. And then the coven would lynch you.

The point was, you learned to expect everything. Not just the unexpected. Did he ever imagine he would be with a werewolf? Of course not. While maybe it didn't suit the tastes of any of the other vampires or werewolves, he took it in stride. It was a defining moment. He now had something to fight for. Someone who both gave him hell when he went out 'too late' and also when he accidentally killed a person. Who could be better right?

He honestly never thought either of them were crazy, straying from the norm definitely, but crazy? Not so much. At least, not until Josh decided to make him rethink that statement with a single sentence.

"There is-Voice, in-In my-Oh God, and its there and-shut up, shut up, shut up. Aidan he won't-Ngh." Josh cut himself off with a cringe and collapsed in the middle of the hallway clutching his head.

Perhaps he should make this situation clearer. The mind has a tendency to stray and wander from point to point, making it hard to concentrate, but when your friend-turned-apparent-boyfriend, was that what the hell they were now?, runs through the hallways of the hospital hollering about voices his head, there really was no way to take that in stride. Or prevent rumors. Interns, nurses, doctors and even patients were peering at Josh like he'd lost it.

And maybe he had. But hell, Josh was...Josh. And currently gripping himself in the fetal position, much like he did before his change. Gingerly scooping him up, and attempting to make it look harder than it really was for the humans around him, he attempted crowd control.

"Who in the hell decided that giving Josh an energy drink was a good idea? Maybe now," he emphasized exaggeratedly, "you'll understand my adamancy."

A short brunette with a pixie cut, her name escaped him and really wasn't that important anyway, looked horrified.

"Oh my God. He's told us before that he doesn't handle caffeine well, something about migraines, but I had no idea-Is he going to be okay?"

Bless Josh and his ability to spew random facts to random people at random times for perfect situations like this. Now he didn't look like he was covering up so much... hopefully.

"Yeah, he will. Couples hours of sleep in a dark room with an Excedrin will fix him. I'll just uh-clock out to take him home." When he was met with no resistance and only a chorus of well wishes, Aidan brusquely walked to the parking lot to his car. Normally, he would have just run to their house, but then people would want to know how he got home without a car.

Josh was still attempting to crush his own skull, and seemed to be muttering nonsense to seemingly no one, and despite himself, Aidan was worried.

Once home, he said fuck it to whoever saw, and rushed Josh inside on the couch. Thirty minutes, much consoling, a hot press, six ibuprofen because they were out of Excedrin and a glass of hot tea later, Josh spoke.

Or rather, he burst out crying.

"I'm insane, Aidan, insane!" He was laying out on the couch and let his head loll off the side. Aidan, ever considerate, shoved Josh's feet off the side as well to take a spot.

"Are not."

"I am so, and how would you know? How could you not know? You live with me!"

"I fuck you, too." He got a deadpan stare for that, and Aidan smirked.

"How nice for you, oh Ender of Celibacy."

"You're still welcome by the way."

"I hate you."

Josh got a nonchalant shrug.

"Nah, you don't actually. But I forgive you honey."

"Burn in hell."

"Oh, feisty."

All Aidan got for that was a frustrated sigh in return. Then, there was a moment of brief silence where both of them gathered their wits.

"-it's alive in me."

"-what riled you up?"

They paused. Stopped. And tried to figure out who was going to go first until Aidan registered what Josh had said.

"Wait, what?" He sat up staring at Josh down on the couch.

"The...werewolf. It's not me."

Even with Josh's tortured look, Aidan felt himself relax a bit. This was nothing new. Josh often had bouts of near severe depression over what he was. What he couldn't help. The boy was a major case of anxiety if he'd ever seen one. Aidan could deal with this.

"Well, yeah. You've said yourself that you don't have any recollection of anything its done so-"

"No, I mean, I knew it wasn't me, but apart of me, but it's not even that...it's different."

"Josh, you aren't making any sense."

The man in question sat up as well, pulling his knees to his chest and doing that doe-eyed thing that Aidan liked so much, and apparently made nurse ladies holler at him. Half the time, Aidan didn't even think Josh realized he was doing it. It made him look younger, more vulnerable and made the possessiveness in him spike.

Josh was not your typical man's man. Not really. He was rather dainty in stature, extremely introverted with new people, and had horrible self-esteem. Something about him though just screamed that he just needed some affection. And Aidan loved that about him. Protected it. He made his life on saving the innocent, and Josh was his innocent. Spending two centuries protecting people he didn't even know, he'd be damned if he didn't protect what he counted as his.

Josh's next words were muffled by his knees, but still rather audible.

"It's alive. In me. And it...talks."

The silence that followed that statement seemed to loom and swell and suffocate him till he realized he was dead anyway and didn't need to breath.

"So?"

Josh's retaliation was incredulous. And predictable. He already had his comeback prepared.

"So? I just told you there's a living creature in my head who want to go on a psychotic rampage and you say so!"

"Technically, you only said that it was alive and talked. Two things that normally go hand in hand."

If Josh didn't look half as amusing as he did, with his fist bunched up, his face the perfect picture of outrage, and sputtering for some sort of coherence, Aidan might have felt bad. But Josh looked damn adorable, like a squirrel whose acorn stash had been pilfered; that he really couldn't feel like anything but laughing.

"Excuse me?"

"Look, is the thing really wanting to kill stuff?"

Josh seemed to think on this.

"Not...really. He more like," Josh trailed off, "just won't shut up."

"Pulling at your hair probably won't make the entity inside you go away, Josh." Aidan said, gingerly pulling Josh's hands away from his scalp.

"He's hungry, and everything remotely living is food, and he's...apparently really excited that I can hear him."

"...I love you man, but that's really fucked up." Open mouth insert foot. Josh's watery gigantic brown eyes met his and Aidan could only stare at his friend as he fell apart in front of him.

"I know. Everything about me is. Why can't we be normal? The toilet was supposed to make us normal, but then the freaky blood sex with your undead not-so-ex-girlfriend, that you really didn't need to tell me about, and now the freak-who-talks-to-himself-thats-not-himself, that is me! I hate this. I hate it. I hate it, I really, really-"

Everything following that just became a slur of hate and sobbing, and Aidan really had gotten his quota of angst for the day. Not to mention, of all things for Josh to remember, the toilet was one of them. He couldn't help it. Maybe it was the nerves of not knowing what to do, the residual guilt of having Rebecca mentioned, or maybe it was just him going crazy too, but he laughed. And Josh stopped and stared. Obviously unable to comprehend why he was laughing, and too flabbergasted to know what to say.

"Since when have we been normal? Wait, don't answer that. Two years ago for you, but we, as in, you and I, we've never been normal. So, the entity that lives inside you finally has a voice to go along with its presence. Big deal."

"But Ray never mentioned-"

"Yeah well, Ray didn't mention a lot of things to you, I guarantee it. Not to mention, maybe that's why he's so fucked up."

Now Josh looked absolutely horror struck.

"So I'm going to turn into some crazy guy dressed like a douche was stalks random people in an attempt to make them his protégé?"

If Aidan could have cried, he would have, he laughed so hard.

"I hope not, it'd be a real turn off. Kind of like your pick-up lines."

"Shut up!"

"Who, me or the wolf?"

Josh startled for a moment at the change in their witty rapport, before a slow smile curled at his lips.

"So, just like that?" The younger man did that habitual head tilt bit, complete with the whole head scratch that made him look like a puppy going after fleas.

Aidan shrugged a little, trying not to let Josh know how cute he thought he was, flicking on the television.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I mean that it'll just fit in, like all the other weird things, with no hassle or questions or tests, no prob-"

Maybe it was the way Josh's face got all blotchy and completely unattractive when he cried, or that his voice was still hoarse, or that the brunette seemed torn between being relieved and hysterical, but Aidan couldn't help draw the guy near him. Resting his head on the others, he hummed a little as Sally discreetly materialized in like she hadn't been eavesdropping the whole time.

"Yes, I get what you mean. And we'll take it like we've taken everything else life's thrown our way. Something good will come of it, eventually. Good's come out of the rest, right?"

As sappy as it was, he dropped a kiss on the younger man's head and smiled when Josh leaned in closer.

Sally fidgeted in a way that let everyone know she was too excited to hold something in, even if the timing was inappropriate. Which it normally was.

"So what are we gonna name it, or what!"

Both males turned to her confused, but it was Josh who managed to rasp out a throaty: "What?"

"It's like a new puppy, right? You've gotta name it!"

Her eyes sparkled at how Josh huffed derisively before burying his face into Aidan's chest, and Aidan winked at her.

"See, told you. Something good, right?"