Let's Recelebrate (a Joshler story) (Celebrate ALTERNATE version)

⭒ C ⭒

"Th-thank you", Josh cleared his throat right after, as his voice cracked when he got the words out. "Of course, J", Dustin smiled. "C'mon, let's get some lunch. You didn't have lunch already, did you?" He asked as he opened the door, and Josh didn't have a choice but to follow him. "I... I could eat", Josh said softly. "Awesome!" Dustin replied as they went inside.

Josh felt his chest was tight. He never had issues with food, he just didn't feel very comfortable eating in front of people he wasn't a hundred percent certain of just yet. He didn't know how he'd get out of this situation, though, so he'd have to hope for the best.

//

Against Josh's expectations, he actually had... a really good time. Dustin was sweet to him, he was gentle and a lot more low-key than the people around him had actually made him out to be. He wasn't the loud, all-over-the-place person that he seemed to be around his friends. Josh thought he was kind, and he'd made him laugh, and somehow he felt pretty comfortable. He'd gotten to know Dustin a lot better than before when it came to interests, and had quite some in common, and all of that resulted into Josh not breaking things off. He felt like he actually liked him, and he could actually like him in the future. He was good-looking, sweet to Josh, already made big gestures like the date and the flowers.

Josh wasn't gonna break things off, at least not yet. He was gonna wait and see for a while longer, until he knew better what he truly wanted. 'Cause right now, he just had no idea.

Dustin drove Josh and himself back to campus, and Josh pecked his lips before he got out of the car, the flowers in his hand as he made his way to his dorm. As he got there, Fred wasn't in their dorm room, which Josh was kind of grateful for. He didn't know what to tell Fred about the flowers and the date just yet - he needed some more time to think about it - and he didn't really want Fred to make him doubt everything he had just experienced with Dustin just because he looks gorgeous and has nice, sweet lips.

Josh's plan to hang out with Fred that day weren't off the table - he just needed to fix something first. He needed to see Colin.

Josh checked his job's schedule and saw that Colin should have the day off, so he went outside and to Colin's building. He saw Sebastian in the hallway and they said hi to each other, before Josh got to Colin's dorm.

He was about to knock on the door, when it opened, revealing Colin's roommate Santosh. "Oh hey Josh, I was just on my way out. Colin's here though", he said.

"Josh?!" He heard Colin gasp loudly, then footsteps running up to the door, and the door opened wider, now revealing Colin as well, as Santosh stepped past Josh to go wherever he was going.

"Josh!" Colin gasped again as he got confirmation now that he looked directly at him. "I've been looking all over for you! I've called you and texted you a million times! I- I know I did something wrong, and I'm sorry, I really am Josh. I know I overstepped boundaries and I went too far and I shouldn't have reacted like that and-" Colin rambled.

Josh just stepped closer and he wrapped his arms around Colin's waist, resting his head on his chest, which shut Colin up.

"Hi."

Colin's arms went around Josh now too. "Hi Joshie", he replied softly. Josh kept his eyes shut as he hugged him, both quiet as they held each other.

"You didn't do anything wrong", Josh told him then. "You're... you're my best friend. You didn't do anything wrong", Josh repeated. "I just... I was scared that I was disappointing you and I didn't- I didn't know what to do, so I just... avoided you. I'm sorry C", Josh said softly.

"Let's talk about it, hm? Can we do that?" Colin asked and Josh nodded. "Please", he replied. Colin closed the door and he and Josh sat down on his bed by the window.