Bandom Bingo

Gossip Magazine

Pairing: Josh Dun x Reader

Word Count: 1044

Warnings: Angst

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this one :)

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You stared at the magazine sitting in front of you. Pictures of Josh cozied up with a girl were all across the cover, paired with catchy headlines about how this was the first relationship the drummer had seen since his public breakup with an actress a few years ago.

If only they knew.

You sighed and tossed the magazine into one of the coffee table's drawers where it would be out of sight. There was no point in running your mind in circles over this right now; Josh was on his way over and he would be able to answer all of those questions for you. That is, if you two could even get past the argument about the seriousness of... whatever was going on between the two of you in the first place.

Josh showed up five minutes later. He was smiling as you opened the door, immediately throwing his arms around you and pulling you into his chest. You returned the gesture. A small part of you was happy to finally be back in his arms after he had been away on tour, although you couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling that this could be the last time.

"I've missed you," he whispered.

"I've missed you too."

You were the first one to pull away from the hug, using the excuse that you needed to close the front door. Josh smiled and pulled off his jacket, revealing the gray sweater you had helped him pick out on one of your outings together. He knew that you loved that shirt on him, you could tell by the way he was smiling to himself as he set his jacket over the back of one of your chairs.

It's like he was trying to make this as hard as possible.

"Did you want anything to drink?"

"I think I'm ok," Josh said as he settled himself on the couch.

"Ok."

You grabbed yourself a glass of water before joining him in the living room. He seemed relaxed as he sat on the couch, with one arm slung over the back and one leg crossed over the other. His eyebrows furrowed when you took a seat on the opposite end of the couch.

"What are you doing all the way over there? You're usually so cuddly when I get back."

"Josh, we need to talk about something."

His relaxed posture was gone in an instant. He scooted closer and rested a hand just above your knee, rubbing his thumb in small circles. You set your water down on the table and began to nervously rub at your palm, hoping to alleviate some of the nerves you were feeling.

"What's going on?"

"I need to know what this is between us. I know we've avoided putting a label on it up until this point because it was easier, but I think you and I both fell a lot harder than we meant to and this whole 'only acting like a couple when you're in town' act just isn't cutting it anymore."

Josh bit down on his lip, letting it slowly release from between his teeth. "I know what you mean, and I don't know that I have an answer for you."

"What do you want us to be?"

His thumb stilled on your leg. You watched his expression shift as he continued to play with his bottom lip, thinking over an answer. Each moment that he stayed quiet was making you more nervous.

"I want us to be together. All the time, not just when I'm in Ohio."

"How long have you felt that way?"

"A long time."

"Then how do you explain this, Josh?"

You reached forward and pulled open the drawer of the coffee table, grabbing the gossip magazine that you had tossed in there earlier. His face immediately fell as you dropped it on the couch in between you.

"There's a reasonable explanation, Y/N. I swear."

"Then I want to hear it, because I don't understand how you can claim to be in love with me and then run around with other people the moment that you're no longer in the same town as me. I put off this conversation for a long time because we never really put a title on our relationship, but it hurts, Josh. A lot."

He swallowed hard before he began to speak. "Like you said, we both fell a lot harder than we meant to, but there was still a part of me that was convinced you only wanted to keep things casual. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to call you when I was away and tell you that I loved you, but I didn't want to scare you off, so I turned to other people to distract me. Nothing was ever serious and it never got past a date or two because my mind never stopped running back to you."

Your mind tuned out the second that the words "I loved you" escaped Josh's lips. Despite the countless hours you two had spent together, neither of you had ever dared to say those words out loud. Hearing them now had your heart pounding in your chest.

"You love me?"

Josh's eyes went wide as he realized what he said. He started to backtrack, but you stopped him by resting a hand on his cheek and turning his face towards you.

"Ok, yeah, I do," he sighed. "I know, that's probably too much but-"

"Josh. I love you too."

"You what?"

"I love you too."

"Really?"

You nodded, giving Josh enough time to pull you towards him in a kiss. It was far from the first time it had happened, but knowing that Josh shared your feelings - your true feelings - made it feel like the first time all over again.

"I'm sorry I ever made you doubt how I felt about you," he whispered. His nose was still pressed against yours, his lips still nearly brushing against yours when he spoke. "I should have told you how I felt from the beginning."

"It's ok. You were scared and so was I. We just wanted to hold onto what we had."

"But now we don't need to worry about losing it," he smiled.

"Not anymore."