BF(F?): A Josh Richards Fanfiction *completed*

22

-Back to Haley's POV-

"Hey! I didn't know that you were gonna be here!" I heard a girl yell from behind me. 
"Who the fuck is that?" I mumbled, turning around. "Olivia! What are you doing here? Your mom is gonna kill you!" I said, wrapping her tightly in a hug. 
"She knows, goofy," Olivia laughed, hugging me back. "Are you here with anyone? You're way too drunk to be here alone." 
"I came with your big brother," I replied. "Speaking of, I haven't seen him since he asked me if I had seen Nessa. Have you seen him? I really want some pancakes right now, and he's kind of my ride."
She shook her head. "Didn't even know that he was here. I'm gonna go back to dancing. Care to join me?" 

I danced with her to what can only be described as the shittiest party playlist in the world, and I was shocked when I felt a hand grip my upper arm. 
"Hey, asshole!" I yelled, ripping my arm out of the grip and turning to face whoever it was. I was definitely more than ready to start a fight. 
"Okay, tough stuff. Settle down," Josh replied. I couldn't quite read his expression, but I knew that it wasn't good. "We're leaving." 
"But!" I whined. "I just found Olivia, and we're dancing, and I'm having fun. Don't be a party pooper."
"I said that we're leaving," he replied, his tone sterner. 

I groaned, following him towards the front door. 
"Shots!" someone yelled, distracting me from the task at hand. I turned towards the noise, nimbly finding my way through the throng of people to the guy holding a bottle of Tito's in the front of the living room. 
I took the cup from his outstretched hand, downing the shot quicker than it had been poured. "Another," I requested, handing him back the shot glass. 

I felt Josh's hand on my arm again, and I groaned. "Coming, Dad! We've only been here for like forty minutes! You're the one who wanted to come here."
Realizing that having me walk behind me was probably a lost cause, he picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder. 
"Oh, I don't like it up here,  Josh. Everything is spinny," I said as he walked out of the front door. 
"Do you need to throw up?" he asked, letting out a long and exasperated sigh. 
I nodded as though he could see me, but his pace never slowed. "Yes," I finally replied, gagging. 

He set me down, and I heaved, throwing up what I could only hope was the entire contents of my stomach. "Better?" he asked. 
I sat on the ground, wiping my mouth off with the back of my hand. "Mhm. Much better. Why did we have to leave in such a hurry? Where's Nessa?" 
He sighed again. "Get in the car, please. You probably won't even remember any of this tomorrow morning."

Reluctantly, I pulled myself into the car, buckling my seatbelt. We rode in silence for several minutes, and I turned to look at a stony-faced Josh. "Where's Nessa?" I asked quietly. 
"Damn it, Haley! Can you just listen to me and not ask questions one fucking time?" he shouted. 
I shrunk back in my seat. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I was just curious. Sorry," I apologized profusely. 

Josh pulled into his driveway, turning the key in the ignition and leaning his head back against the headrest. "I'm sorry that I yelled," he apologized. 
I was still a little scared over his outburst, but I would never tell him that. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed."
He sighed again, turning to look at me. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Haley. Did you know that?"
"And you're the best thing that's ever happened to me," I repeated back to him. "What's going on? Are you okay?" 

We sat in silence for a few seconds, and I reached over to grab his hand. He squeezed it tightly, still not speaking. 
"Josh, I need you to talk to me," I whispered, gently prying. 
"You're not even gonna remember what I have to say to you tonight, so why would I bother when I'll just have to fill you in all over again tomorrow when you're sober?" he snapped. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you." 
Whatever was bothering him was big. "You can tell me now, and we can talk about it, and you can write it down for me to take home with me. I'll read it in the morning, and we can talk about it again." 

He caressed my hand with his thumb, not speaking again. Even in the darkness, I could see the tears that threatened to escape from his eyes. Rather than push, I continued to sit in silence with him, letting him process whatever event had caused him so many emotions. 
"I love you, Haley. I think that it, uh, might be time to get you into your bed," he finally said, breaking the silence. 
"I thought that we were going to talk about this," I protested. 
As if it was his only way of expressing his emotion, he let out another sigh. "I don't want to relive it right now. Can we please just get you into bed? We'll talk tomorrow."

We went into my house, and I pulled him down onto the couch next to me, laying my head on his shoulder. "Just sit here with me for a little while," I pleaded.
He held my hand, and we sat in silence again. That was the one thing that was completely normal for us tonight. 
I felt my eyelids grow heavy. "I'm sleepy. I love you, Josh. We'll talk tomorrow."

"I walked in on Jaden and Nessa. They were so close. This wasn't the first time. This wasn't new. God, I'm so fucking stupid. How could I have been that stupid?" he finally blurted out, a harsh, angry look falling over his face. 
Well, that sobered me up fairly quickly.