Hart ♡ Joshua Matthews #wattys2016

12. Wonderland

a/n: this chapter is dedicated to the absolute babe maxrussos who recently had my back and let me know when 'Hart' had been plagiarized. The plagiarized copy had been up for months on quotev before being drawn to my attention and has since been removed, along with the account being deleted. however it'd still be up gaining reads if she hadn't messaged me and I'm so, so grateful for that. thanks again, honestly you're so sweet and I love you

"Is your shift over yet?" Josh asked, sitting at the cafe counter with his head in his arms. The messy haired boy had been at Topanga's cafe for an hour waiting for Bianca to finish and he was very quickly growing bored.

"Almost, I have about 10 minutes left." Bianca replied, glancing up at the clock as he lifted his head, showing Bianca his boyish grin.

"Finally! Come on, finish early. Topanga isn't going to mind, I'm dying of boredom here."

"I'm not finishing early, I only have 10 minutes. Surely you can stick it out till then?"

"I really don't know that I can, I'm sorry Hart."

"Here, have this muffin. It's on the house so long as you stop annoying me and let me finish my shift in peace, deal?" Bianca tempted, presenting Josh with a triple choc muffin; his favourite.

"Deal, definitely deal." He rushed, barely waiting for Bianca to slide it across to him before reaching over and snatching it from the plate. "You sure know the way to a man's heart."

"Nuh uh, you have to stop annoying me for 10 minutes; that means no talking." Bianca smirked, laughing as he playfully glared at her. Deciding she had wasted enough of her shift entertaining Josh, Bianca approached a young woman wearing a beanie. "Hi, can I get you anything?"

"Just a coffee thanks, no sugar and skim milk please." She replied, nodding politely at the Hart girl before glancing back down at her phone.

"Sure thing," Bianca smiled, walking over to her mother who was working the coffee machine. "One skim milk coffee with no sugar please,"

"Coming right up. I'll look after her and you can finish early, you're boyfriend looks like he'll die if he is made to wait any longer." Her mother, Katy, said, giving her oldest daughter a knowing smile.

"Mum, for the last time, he's not my boyfriend! Just a friend who happens to be a boy." Bianca explained, while rolling her eyes.

"Who waited an hour to take you to the movies?" Katy pressed, raising an eyebrow at her daughter.

"Yes." Bianca nodded, "because we're friends, we are going to the movies as friends." She added, putting extra emphasis on the word 'friend'.

"Just get out of here." Her mum laughed, shaking her head at her daughter's determination to convince her they weren't an item. Bianca glanced back at Josh who had finished his muffin and was staring eagerly at the clock before answering.

"Okay, yeah. Thanks, mum! I'll see you later," B smiled, taking her apron off and placing it under the counter before walking over to Josh with a cheeky grin on her face. "Ugh, are you ready yet?" Bianca playfully groaned, tapping his shoulder.

"Yes! Yes, I'm beyond ready! Let's go." Josh answered, springing up from his seat and practically pulling the girl out of Topanga's cafe as she just laughed.

"Okay, okay! What are we going to see anyway?"

"'Alice Through the Looking Glass'?" Josh suggested, casually throwing his arm around the blonde girl by his side. Honestly he wasn't really into fairy tales, but the little Bianca he used to know was crazy for them and by the look on her face, she still was.

"Yes! Oh my gosh, I've been wanting to see that for ages, I just haven't had the time. Although I didn't think it'd be your type of movie?"

"No, the trailer looks really good. Should be alright," Josh lied, unable to fight the smile that stretched across his face as he noticed hers light up. It was then, in that exact moment, that Josh realised Bianca was his biggest weakness. He was convinced he would do anything for her.

--

"That was amazing!" Bianca exclaimed as they left the cinema, her infectious grin causing Josh to smile as well. To be honest, he thought the movie was terrible, but he really didn't care. He would go through it all again just to sit beside Bianca and watch her become completely immersed in a film. The way she got so lost in the story amazed him, it was like she was there in Wonderland with the characters and he couldn't get over how adorable that was.

"Yeah, it wasn't awful." Josh replied, shrugging as it dawned on him that he didn't even pay enough attention to the movie to know what actually happened. However, the parts he had bothered to watch were not parts he even remotely liked.

"Did you hate it?" Bianca asked, looking at him sympathetically as she noticed his lack of enthusiasm. She loved every minute of it, but she was a child at heart and Josh really didn't strike her as the type to lose themselves in a Disney movie.

"What? No, no, it was fine. You seemed to really enjoy it and I liked that." Josh shrugged, nervously reaching for her hand and breathing a sigh of relief when she didn't pull away. He intertwined their hands as Bianca simply smiled shyly at him, the butterflies erupting in her stomach matching the ones fluttering around in Josh's.

Mindless small talk filled their walk home, neither of them wanting to draw attention to their swinging hands and the fact that the feelings buzzing throughout them weren't just friendly anymore. Something changed in Bianca, she saw how much he cared and woke up to how much this boy had really done for her. She didn't know if she wanted a relationship just yet, but this- whatever this is- was perfect and she couldn't ask for anything more.

Josh on the other hand, he was dying for more. He had been falling fast for Bianca ever since he bumped into her in the New York streets. She was constantly running through his mind and she was all he wanted. He didn't care about college, he just wanted to be with her as much as possible, but he knew Bianca and he knew how scared of trusting she was. He knew he still had a lot of work to do before he could imagine calling her his and he would do it all without question.