Until Dawn| Saving Josh

Chapter 4| Joshing Around

"You just love me," he says, hugging me from behind.

The more I focus on not blushing, the more I feel all the heat running to my cheeks and ears.

"Happy now that I'm a-" he glances down at the shirt to read it, "a 'Cali Chick'?"

"It's chic," I correct, unfurling my sleeping bag and unzipping it.

"Either way, I was pretty stoked about starting a nudist colony," he protests.

"Climb in," I order.

He raises an eyebrow at me before complying. "I was going to call it the, uh, the Naked Cavemen." After a pause in which I lay his clothes by the fire to warm and dry, he asks. "So, just one sleeping bag, huh?"

"Don't get too excited," I say.

He laughs.

I take my coat and boots off and set them by the fire also. "Scoot over, I'm climbing in."

He laughs teasingly. "Tight fit."

"I'll manage," I reply, zipping the bag up again.

"No, no, you were supposed to say, 'That's what she said.'"

"Oh shut up." It is a tight fit, but I spoon him and rub his arms, trying to warm him up. After a few minutes of silence, I ask seriously, "What happened?"

He pauses to think for awhile. "I don't know. I remember not feeling as satisfied as I wanted, even though everything went according to plan."

"Sorry," I murmur, not sure what I should say. A few more minutes pass before Josh's breathing changes, signaling that he fell asleep. My arm rests easily over his waist, and I trace small circles on his stomach. My shirt is too small for him, pulling up to reveal soft flesh. I lift my head and whisper in his ear, "I missed you. I was so worried." Then I press my lips to his ear.

"Did- did you just kiss me?" he asks.

I stumble over my words. "What? No, I, uh, weren't you asleep?"

"I was, but you woke me up," he says, twisting to look back at me. "Something about being so worried?"

I gape, trying to find a way to justify my actions. "You must have been dreaming," I lie.

"Nope, definitely not a dream. Why did you kiss me?"

I'm so glad that Josh is back to normal, but I didn't miss his relentless teasing, anything to make somebody squirm, which is exactly what I'm doing. "I just missed you."

"How much?"

"Will you shut up? You need to rest and get warm; it'll be about three hours to get back to the entrance."

"Oh, I can think of a good way to get warm, I think you'll like it."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," I mutter in frustration.

He laughs and turns over in the bag, facing me, our noses almost touching. "You can kiss me again," he whispers, his breath tickling my chin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, my turn to raise my eyebrows.

"Can you imagine a more romantic scenario? I was lost in a labyrinth of tunnels, when this beautiful girl comes in, strips me of my clothes, and gets me into her bed."

"Beautiful, huh?"

He shrugs. "Sure."

My breath catches. I thought we were just fooling around and teasing each other, I didn't mean to end up here. Sure, I like Josh- big eyes, crooked smile, golden skin- but, well, I-

I think long and hard for an argument for not liking Josh or a reason to not be with him, but I can't think of anything good enough.

"Thanks," I mutter after way too much time has passed.

He smiles at me, and then says softly, "I don't mean to alarm you, but I don't think I can feel my toes."

It takes me a moment to understand what he said, it was so random. "Oh, uh, right, sit on top of the bag." I climb out, and the cold latches onto me.

He slips out and sits on the bag. I hand him my coat which he holds to his nose and inhales deeply. Creep.

I set one of his feet in my lap and start massaging it, trying to get the blood to circulate through his limbs.

He sighs. "This is nice. We should do this more often."

"Shut up."

"You keep using that word," he says in a terrible Latino accent. "I do not think it means what you think it means."

"No, I'm pretty confident it means exactly what I think it means, André."

He stares at me. "That was Inigo Montoya, not Fezzik." He sounds so disappointed.

"I was totally just testing you, making sure you're still movie producer material."

"Uh-huh," he grunts, not remotely convinced.

"How are the toes now?" I ask.

He curls them and spreads them. "Good, I guess. Still attached, that's a good sign."

"Yes, that is a good sign, usually."

We climb back into the sleeping bag, this time I act as the little spoon, but something is pressing on my butt.

"Hey, Josh," I start.

"I'm cold, give me a break."

"Is that how it works? Because I thought-"

"Shut up. I've been wandering alone in these caves for- I don't even know how long- and you are the first person I see, and now we're sleeping together, and I'm not quite sure if-"

"Please stop. It was already weird, now it's just awful. How old are you again?"

"Whoa, now. That's like me asking if you're PMSing."

"I'm not, if you would like to know."

"Yah, I figured, girls are usually horny during their periods."

"What? That's not true."

"Totally true."

"No it's not."

"Yah-huh."

"If anything I'm less, uh, you know-"

"Horny?"

"Yes, thank you, Josh, I'm less so because I'm freaking out the entire time in public if blood is-"

"Okay, I don't want to know about that," he interrupts.

"There seems to be a lot that tonight."

"Tonight? What time is it?" he asks.

I press a button on my watch to light up the display. "About 5pm."

"Shouldn't we, like, you know, leave?"

"Are you sure you're ready to leave? It'll be a couple hours of walking."

He thinks for a moment then says, "We can wait until later, I suppose."