Tyler opened his eyes for what felt like the first time in years and sat up. He immediately panicked. He was laying on a couch, next to a guy he didn't know, watching reruns of Supernatural, and he had no idea how he got into that situation.

Tyler winced when a shot of pain erupted in the back of his head. He tenderly touched his head and winced as soon as his fingers came into contact with an unknown injury. Tyler took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He had to figure what was going on.

He stood up and his vision immediately filled with black spots. He fell back onto the couch, waking up the mystery teenager beside him. The boy's eyes widened when he saw Tyler and he muttered something in a foreign language.

Tyler stumbled off the couch and gripped the wall for support. He made his way through the apartment, trying to find an exit before he passed out. The boy was following him, calling his name. How did he know his name?

Eventually, Tyler collapsed against the wall, his breathing uneven. His sight blurred and he tried to push himself up, only to fall straight back down. He let out a sob as the stranger crouched down in front of him.

"Tyler," the stranger said. "You have to calm down. Everything's okay, I promise. I'll explain it in a second, alright? Just try to take a deep breath."

"Who are you?" Tyler choked out. "W-why am I here? What's going on?"

The stranger looked around before speaking. "My name's Josh. I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? Did your parents tell you what's going on?"

Tyler shook his head, but not in denial. "I- oh my God. Oh my God. You're- oh, no. You- you're gonna get him to hurt me again, aren't you? Oh my God, I'm gonna die!"

"No," Josh protested. "No, that was a mistake. I'm-" he paused and took a deep breath. "I'm the Josh that you're... that you're marrying. And before you say anything, I don't want this either, okay? And I know it sucks, but I will literally be murdered if we don't do this. Which, honestly, would be better than forcing you into this, but it's not my decision. As soon as I can, I'll get you out of this, okay? I promise."

"You're the mafia kid, aren't you?" Tyler realised. "The- the cha-cha mafia or whatever. Wait, why aren't you Russian?"

Josh almost laughed. "The Chechen Mafia, yes. And I am Russian, but I figured that you would be more comfortable with an American accent."

Tyler's breathing had evened our considerably. "I am," he admitted.

Josh nodded and the two fell into an awkward silence for a while. Josh repositioned himself so he was against the wall, next to Tyler. He looked over at him while the younger boy looked ahead.

"What's going to happen?" Tyler asked after a while.

"We're going to sign some paperwork and you'll live here for a while," Josh explained. "You'll still see your family and stuff, but you need to be here in case we get any visitors from ICE or something. There might be certain dangers, but we'll be protected. You'll be protected. What happened before was... a warning, I guess, that I had no part in. And then..."

"...and then?"

Josh hesitated before he spoke. "I'll go to school with you and pretend I'm your cousin. You'll still be able to go home, to avoid suspicion, but you need to be here whenever necessary, which is most of the time. There'll be security with us 24/7, but it'll be discrete. We won't tell anyone why I'm really here, who I really am or what our... relationship is. My name will legally be change to 'Joshua Joseph', which will allow me to pass as your family member. The story is that my parents recently died and that I'm staying with you for the remainder of my senior year. I'll hide my Russian accent and your parents will be listed as my guardians."

Tyler leant his head back against the wall, barely processing what he just heard. "I don't wanna do this," he whispered.

Josh exhaled heavily. "Me either."