real people - j.k.

twelve

"Eat it, or I will." I said. "I put my blood, sweat, and tears into it."

"Oh, I'm sure you did." He laughed. "But, thank you for cooking for me."

"No problem." I smiled, digging into my own plate. "I really like waking up and cooking, it's fun."

"I like waking up to the food cooking." He said. "I think this is our best idea yet, it works so well."

"It does." I smiled. "When are we gonna do it next?"

"Mhm...I'm not sure." He said. "We'll figure it out, let's enjoy the food while it's still warm."

I laughed and agreed, continuing with the breakfast. We talked some, but for the most part enjoying the comfortable silence. He kept smiling to me, making me feel flustered each time. It sounded silly, but I felt like I could see into whatever future we had. I could imagine waking up next to him, the slower mornings. I never wished for anything more than to experience this all the time.

We finished up, but we stayed at the table for a bit. We talked, Josh telling me little things. He always had the most random bits of knowledge, and they applied to the oddest situations. I enjoyed listening to him, I learned something new everyday.

I picked up our dishes, despite Josh's objections. He still helped me clean up the counters, put away the food. I was in the process of organizing when there was a knock at my door.

"I'll get it for you." Josh chimed, already heading towards the door. I was wondering who would be coming over, Frankie should be at work right now.

"Who are you?" I heard from the door, I felt all the blood in my body drop to my toes.

"Uh...I'm Josh, who are — "

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, rushing to the door. "You weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow."

"We told you, we moved our flight up so we didn't get that bad weather." My mom answered, my fathers eyes still on Josh.

"No, you did not tell me that." I said, trying to remain calm. This was not what I wanted to happen.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie, we must've forgot." My mom said. "I think we told your brother then."

I looked to Josh standing beside me, a bewildered and apologetic look on his face.

"Who's is this, Lynna?" My dad asked, making me want to hurl myself off a cliff.

"This is Josh, he lives in the complex." I said. "We just ate breakfast."

"It's uh...it's nice to meet you guys." Josh said awkwardly. I hated every moment of this. They were never going to like him, especially if they think I am doing 'it' with him.

"Where's your shirt?" My dad asked, did I mention he has no boundaries?

"I accidentally spilled the milk on him, he got it on his shirt, so it's in the dryer." I explained quickly.

"I'm gonna go get it." Josh nodded, already making his way down the hall.

"What have I taught you about having men over?" My dad asked.

"Dad, we didn't do anything. He's my friend, he comes over all the time because we're close." I said. "Stop jumping to conclusions."

"I am not jumping to conclusions! How do you expect me to react when a random shirtless guy answers your door?"

"Be happy for me, I don't know?" I said, not wanting to deal with this now.

"Hey, uh, I need to get back to Jake." Josh said, his shoes in his hands, and his shirt on now. "I'll call you later, Lynn."