My Brother's Best Friend: a Josh Richards FanFiction -complete-

Part 2: Breakup

Don't you dare get your hopes up. "It will all be okay, Josh."
"I know. That's why I'm out here. Bryce says you're pretty good at making people feel better after a breakup."
I nodded. "It's kind of my specialty. My friends would call crying, and I had them laughing in mere hours."
"Then what the hell are we still doing out here?" he joked.

I chuckled and led him out front. "Get your keys, goofy. We're going shopping."
Josh groaned. "Shopping?"
"Not for clothes, for breakup party supplies. C'mon, we're burning daylight." I got in his car, sitting patiently while I waited for him to come back with the keys.

The drive was silent. I snuck a peek at him as he focused on the road. God, he was so cute. Focus, Bailey. Comfort him. Don't try to make a move.
We pulled into the Target parking lot. "Alright. You're the master. Teach me," he said, turning to look at me.
I nodded. "Quick question: do you trust me?"
Josh looked confused. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"
"Good, let's go," I responded avoiding his question.

When we walked into the store, Josh was immediately distracted. "Come on, Joshua," I said, pulling on his hand. As we walked, he didn't let go. "Pick some snacks," I said, gesturing at the aisle in front of us. "One sweet, one salty."
I grabbed a box of microwave popcorn and a family size bag of peanut M&Ms and turned to see him carefully weighing his options. "It's not that serious, my guy." He chuckled, grabbing a bag of nacho cheese Doritos and a bag of sour gummy worms. "Perfect. Next stop, your favorite drink. Get something that always makes you feel better." I watched as he walked down the aisle slowly before choosing a case of blue Gatorade.

"Nice choice. Now, this is the most important part of the trip: we have to make a fool out of ourselves before we leave. Laughing at yourself is bound to make anyone feel better," I said, setting my phone up on the shelf in front of us.
"What are you doing?" he asked, clearly confused.
"You're a TikToker, aren't you?"
He laughed as he began to understand. "Say less."
We filmed almost a dozen TikToks before an employee asked us to pay for our items and leave.

"See? Wasn't that fun?" I asked, pulling out my debit card to pay.
Josh laughed. "It was. The look on that lady's face was priceless. I got this, though. It's the least I can do."
I shook my head. "You don't pay for your own breakup party. It's against breakup party rules."

We got back in the car. I expected the ride back to the house to be silent, but Josh turned the radio down and glanced at me.
"Bails, can we talk for a second?"
"Sure, what about?" I replied nervously.
"Bryce gave us all a warning before you got here."
I laughed. "A warning about what?"
"He doesn't want anyone to try to get with you."
I laughed again. "The only truly single people in the house are Kio and Griffin. Well, and you, now. Why is he so worried about it?"
I could sense the tension as the words left my mouth. "I may have told Bryce some things, when we came to see you in Maryland."
I sighed. "Like what, Josh?"
"Nessa and I had just broken up the first time. I was hurt and confused."
"Josh, what in the actual fuck are you talking about?" I asked, irritated that he was beating around the bush like this.
It was his turn to sigh. "You were funny, and smart, and kind, and so beautiful. I wasn't thinking straight, you know? After that visit, I realized it was weird. I mean, you're like my little sister. My very attractive little sister, but my little sister nonetheless."
"So, what exactly are you saying, Josh? Because I'm not quite sure that I understand what it is you're getting at."
"I like you, Bails. I know it's wrong. When I found out you were moving in, I told Nessa. That's what we fought about. I told her that nothing was going to happen because you aren't interested anyway, and she insisted, and she just kept insisting. I tried to tell her, but she didn't care," he replied, barely pausing to take a breath.

I interjected before he could say anything else. "You broke up with Nessa because of me?"
By now, we had pulled into the driveway. "Not because of you. Because I didn't like the way she talked about you. Like it was your fault that I'm in love with you."
"You-you're in love with me?" I asked, shaking.
"Shit, I just ruined our entire friendship. I'm sorry, Bailey," he said, getting out of the car and avoiding eye contact.
I met him in the front of the car and grabbed his hand as he tried to walk away from me.
"Did you mean everything that you just said?" I whispered, afraid that this was all some stupid joke.
He sighed and nodded. "Bryce made me promise not to tell you. He said-"
I cut him off, kissing him gently. I smiled as I pulled away. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

I didn't wait for an answer as I walked into the house. Jaden was waiting at the front door when I opened it. "I'm not going to tell Bryce, but I saw that," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Play dumb or admit it? "I don't know what you're talking about. We just went to the store. We're having a breakup party. You can join us if you want."
"Oh, yeah? Do breakup parties include sneaking kisses with your brother's best friend?"
Shit. "It wasn't what it looked like, Jaden. Why are you getting defensive over it?" I asked.
"Bryce specifically said that you were off limits. He didn't want to be put in a position to choose between his friends and his little sister. Besides that, he knows how all of us are. We're not bad people, but we all pretty much suck at relationships," he replied, his expression softening slightly.
"It's not like that," I sighed. "It was a one time thing. A mistake, honestly."

"A mistake? Wow, Bailey," Josh said behind me.
"Josh, wait! That's not what I meant!" It didn't matter what I had to say. He was already up the stairs, the door slamming shut behind him as he went into his room. I turned to face Jaden.
"Are you happy now? I just hurt the one person I love because you just couldn't let it go!" I sank to the ground, tears streaming down my face.

Blake turned the corner just then. "I heard everything. You really love Josh?"
I nodded. "When we met, he and Nessa had just broken up. We spent a lot of time together in Maryland. Bryce spent a lot of time catching up with friends from high school, and Josh didn't want to meet a whole bunch of people he would never see again. I fell for him, but I didn't know about him and Nessa breaking up. I kind of just told myself that I would get over it eventually."
Blake sat down next to me. "Did you tell him?"
"No," I began, wiping a tear from my face, "I didn't. He was going on and on in the car, talking about how telling me was ruining our friendship, and I kissed him. When I came inside, someone had to question me, and I panicked. He heard me, and now, he probably hates me."

Jaden sat down on the other side of me. "That was never my intention. I just don't want to see anyone get hurt."
"Yeah, well, it's a little late for that, isn't it?"