semi-automatic ; j.d

four ; robot backpack

after they finish their food, josh tells her that he wants to go somewhere else before taking her back to her apartment. he won't tell her where, though, not that she's worried.

the sun's almost completely melted into the horizon when josh stops the car in an empty parking lot of an abandoned hospital building. it's pretty much surrounded by nothing.

mia turns to look at him with a confused expression. "uh, josh?"

"yeah?" he replies casually, meeting her glance.

"why did you take me to the parking lot of the abandoned hospital?"

"well, two reasons," he starts, sitting up a bit in his seat and unbuckling the seatbelt that's around his waist. "one, you said that you liked stars and stuff, and in a few minutes it'll be dark," says josh. "you can see them really good from out here."

"and the second reason?"

he grins a bit before continuing on. "oh, this place is kinda terrifying so i figured it would give me an excuse to hold your hand."

she can't deny that it's incredibly cute, but also very strange. "so you brought me to a creepy abandoned hospital parking lot so that you could hold my hand?"

"and look at the stars," he adds, nodding.

"how are you even real?" mia laughs, because that's probably one of the cutest things she's ever heard before.

josh sighs like he's getting ready to tell her a long story. "see, mia, when a mommy and daddy love each other very much-"

"no, we are not having the 'where do babies come from' discussion," she insists with a soft laugh leaving her lips.

he grins at the sound of her laughter. "well you never know, i could be a robot or something. with like...a laser. and a sick backpack. with robot stuff in it."

"a fucking robot backpack?"

"yeah, y'know, it's a practical idea. that way i could keep all my robot-y things in there."

"that'd be sick," she tells him.

he nods, like he's actually getting into the idea of being a robot. "i know, right? it could be never ending, too, like the grandma's bag in halloweentown."

"what's with you and disney movies?" she asks with an amused laugh.

josh shrugs a bit. "i dunno, disney movies are the best."

mia doesn't even try to say anything after that, she just shakes her head with amusement and glances back out the window.

they sit inside josh's car for a few minutes, humming along to the fall out boy some playing on the radio. once it's sufficiently dark, josh opens his car door.

"come on, princess mia," he muses and get out of the car. she follows suit and watches him climb up onto the roof of the car.

noticing that she's just standing there looking at him, josh grins and pats the spot next to him.

with a reluctant sigh, the five-foot-one girl climbs up onto the roof next to josh and looks over at him expectantly.

"you're so short, oh my god," he grins, shaking his head a bit.

mia tsks a bit under her breath and swats at his arm. "i'm not that short."

still laughing, josh shrugs his shoulders. "eh, you kinda are. but it's really, really cute."

"whatever, yoshua," she says and finally cracks a grin, just because watching him smile makes it almost impossible for her to not smile back.

his lips twitch upwards because he knew he won. he kinda sorta likes how they go back and forth, like they have their own flow. with a content sigh he lays back, his arms folding underneath his head.

mia watches him, noticing how his shirt rises just a bit to reveal the bottom of his toned abdomen. yep, definitely sculpted by the gods, she decides.

"quit staring at me, you creep," muses josh, nudging her with his foot.

"i wasn't staring," she defends and lays down beside him. "i was just observing."

"still equally as creepy."

"shut up."

"can do," he replies and glances up towards the sky. besides the chilly weather, it's actually really nice out. josh spends a lot of time just looking at the stars when him and tyler are on tour, because no matter where they are it's still the same sky. and to him that's beautiful, in a way.

out of the corner of his eyes he see's mia's hands moving, her left pointer finger drawing out shapes on top of her right hand. he grins a bit, just subtly watching her until he finally asks. "whatcha doin over there?"

"huh?" she asks, her eyes flickering away from the stars to glance at josh, and then she realizes what he's talking about and she looks away self consciously. "oh, i was tracing the constellations. which isn't a thing, by the way, it's just a habit."

"ah, gotcha," says josh as he nods a bit. "are all your habits that cute?"

"no, but they're all as weird," she insists, because she's never thought about her anxious habits as being cute, but she's also not about to toss away a compliment from josh. she likes the feeling she gets when he says stuff like that.

"whats your favorite constellation?"

"cassiopeia," she says without much thought.

josh, who's determined to find out as much as he can about her, inquires, "how come?"

mia pulls her bottom lip between her teeth a bit anxious because she's having a great time and doesn't wanna kill their mood. "i uh, i had a friend named cassie who i grew up with and went to school with," she starts, her hands fiddling together. "she actually died of brain cancer during sophomore year, so it was kind of something i used to cope, with her death and some other stuff, y'know."

"oh," josh says, nodding his head slowly. he can tell it's not really something she wants to talk about so he offers her a small smile. "wanna know mine?"

"absolutely."

"the big dipper," he tells her with a broad grin.

mia laughs at this, and begins talking. "josh-"

"wait, just wait i have a good reason," he chuckles, holding up a hand. "i'm not really home a lot, in columbus, i mean. ty and i have been touring nonstop for a while, which is great, i'm not complaining about it, but there's times where i just miss home. i like the big dipper because i can always find it. most of the time, anyways. so whenever i'm especially homesick i'll just look up and find it and it makes me feel a bit better about not being in columbus."

she's quiet for a moment. "hey josh?"

"yeah?"

"i don't kiss on the first date," she says, which makes his smile falter.

now he's bummed, because he felt like he was doing so well and he was kinda hoping she would let him kiss her. "oh, okay."

"but i'll make an exception for a cute drummer with nice arms a robot backpack," she continues.

"you think i have nice arms?" he asks, a cheeky grin falling on his lips.

mia rolls her eyes at him, though he doesn't miss the amused smile that dances across her plump lips. "you're such a fucking dork," she states and turns so she's facing him, and then she closes off the distance between them with her lips.