amber smiled as she watched taylor, nick, jake, danny, sam and josh tackle each other into the waves. their laughter loud, something that amber has grown to love.
they had been here for over two hours, and amber was slowly starting to fade — the salt water and cool air sending her into a sleepy daze.
amber looked down to her phone and continued to scroll through her feed, soon seeing a post from a magazine with her and josh on the front cover.
'want all the fresh details about amberlynn thompson and josh kiszka? we have them.'
was what the caption of the post was.
amber scoffed.
they are never going to let this down, she thought to herself.
out of curiosity, amber tapped onto the link, and was instantly redirected to the article about her and josh.
'amber and josh can clearly be seen looking into each others eyes lovingly in this recent photoshoot. i mean, look at the chemistry!'
how many times do they have to say we have chemistry? amber asked herself.
'the pair were seen holding hands on multiple occasions.'
amber looked at the several photos in which paparazzi have snapped of them, each photo with her and josh's hands clasped together, fingers entwined.
'matching bracelets, how cute!'
the next photo was her and josh with their matching bracelets.
amber looked down to the bracelet on her wrist and smiled, remembering that day ever so vividly.
the article continued to elaborate on amber and josh, looking into their pasts and their possible futures with each other.
amber placed her phone down, and was consumed by her thoughts.
there was no denying that amber knew that josh was a great person, and she was certain straight from the start he'd most likely win her over with his looks and charm.
but with how close she has become with jake, she's conflicted.
amber knows that josh would be the best boyfriend and she'd love to be by his side. after all, he's already been such a great friend.
and she hopes that jake would be just as amazing, after all, they were twins, but unfortunately her thoughts were clouded when it came to him.
everything was so clear when it came to josh.
but with jake it seemed... uncertain.
with how the public has been 'shipping' amber and josh, it's encouraging her more to go josh's way, but each moment she has alone with jake makes her want to have more moments alone with him.
her and josh's relationship would be so open, and amber was afraid that with the public seeing so much of the two of them, maybe it'll break them apart?
but no one would know of her and jake's relationship, and it'd be nice to have something private in her life.
yet she knows that she'll just have to wait.
whoever makes a move first.
but who knows how long it'll take with those boys.
amber looked up to see josh approaching her.
"hey." she said with a smile.
"hi." josh said plainly.
right, he's still mad at me. amber thought to herself.
"okay, what did i do?" amber asked, looking to josh as he sat down on his towel beside her.
josh looked to amber, and back out to the ocean in-front of them.
"you never texted me back, amber. i got worried." josh explained, "and then i saw you all snuggled up with jake in his bunk and well... i don't know."
he shrugged his shoulders.
"i'm sorry, josh." amber said.
she then wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly.
josh hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, then settling into her embrace, feeling comforted as she held him so close.
"it's okay." josh said, forgiving her all too easily.
amber smiled to him as she pulled away, looking back out into the ocean.
"so are we cool now?" amber asked, looking over to him.
josh nodded, a small smile appearing on his face.
he could never stay mad at her for long, after all, if there's anyone he should be mad at, it would be jake.
amber then looked behind josh, seeing a walkway along the mountain on the edge of the ocean.
she quickly jumped up and held her hand out to josh, helping him up.
"where are we going?" he asked her, a smile plastered on his face.
"up there." amber said as she pointed to the mountain ahead of them.
josh and amber both pulled their clothes over their swimmers, chucked their towels over their shoulders, put their phones into their pockets and held their shoes in their hands as they began to walk to the trail.
they walked in a comfortable silence to the trail, sliding their shoes on as they reached the wooden boards.
eventually they reached a small bench that overlooked the ocean ahead of them, and they sat down, gazing out into the horizon.
"you excited for the show tomorrow?" amber asked, looking over to him, breaking the silence.
"always." josh said, "i always have this little rush in me before a show, and its released when i'm on stage."
amber smiled to him.
he's cute. she thought to herself.
"i don't think i'll ever get over how people sing our lyrics back to us." amber said, "it's wild."
josh agreed, nodding.
"i can't wait to play in my home town. my friends will be there, my family, and the fans who have been following us from the start." amber said.
"hometown shows are always the best." josh said, "i find that each year i play at our hometown, i recognise so many faces."
amber smiled over to him.
"you must have a good memory." amber said.
josh shrugged his shoulder as he smiled.
"my little sister, grace, will be stoked to see you guys. she's obsessed." amber said.
"do you have a picture of her?" josh asked, eager to put a face to a name.
amber nodded and pulled out her phone, then showing josh a photo of her, grace, their mother and their father.
"she's beautiful." josh said, "i can see it runs in the family."
amber blushed.
"is that your mum?" josh asked as he pointed to the woman above amber in the photo.
amber smiled, "it is."
"she looks like she's a punk rocker." josh said, making amber laugh slightly.
"she was."
josh smiled.
"and that's your dad?" josh asked, pointing to the man above her little sister.
amber nodded.
josh smiled, looking up to amber.
"i can't wait to meet them." josh said, hoping that when he does meet them, he'll be introduced as something a little different than a 'friend'.
"they'll love you." amber said as she pushed her phone into her pocket, looking back out into the sky.
amber felt josh's hand brush over hers, and she instantly wanted to grab ahold of his hand and entwine her fingers in his.
holding his hand was so comforting to her, and she didn't know why.
it just felt so... right.
amber then slipped her hand into his, hoping that it wasn't a stretch, but after all, they had held hands before.
josh looked to amber, smiling softly to her and she smiled to him too, then resting her head on his shoulder.
warmth.
josh pulled his hand away, and she felt him tense up slightly.
was i being too forward? she asked herself.
but then she felt his arm wrap around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him, making her feel comforted in his embrace.
security.
with his other hand, josh played with ambers hand, drawing circles until eventually he just held her hand in his.
josh wished that he could be this close to her all the time, but he just didn't know what she wanted.
he wanted to ask her, just to be sure, because for all he knew, she could mean all of this in friendly way.
as josh finally built up the courage to ask her, he was interrupted by the sound of a young pair of girls almost screaming.
"oh, my, god." one said as josh turned around.
josh quickly pulled both his hand and arm away from ambers and she lifted herself off his body, she scooted away from josh a little in the seat.
"you guys are so cute!" the other said, then she turned to her friend, "i knew that they were dating... i told you!"
"oh no, we're not dating." amber said, smiling to the two girls softly, "we're simply just friends, nothing more."
but it's not simple to me, josh thought to himself.
everything about this friendship to josh was far from simple because he has to hold himself back from confessing his feelings to her because he doesn't want to make a fool of himself and ruin what they have currently if she doesn't feel the same way.
"really?" one of the girls asked, "all of the news articles are saying you two are together."
"they're just trying to make a story out of nothing." josh said kindly.
"but you held hands... that's like, couple stuff!" the other stated.
"friends can hold hands." amber said.
both the girls nodded, deciding not to pry anymore. after all, it wasn't their place to know if they were in a relationship.
"can we have a picture?" one of the girls asked.
both amber and josh nodded, smiling to the two girls as they came over.
"we should get the ocean in the background." josh said, and the girls instantly agreed, smiling brightly.
amber and josh looked into the camera lens and smiled for the photo — the girl who was holding the phone taking a few before turning back to amber and josh.
"thank you so much." she said happily.
"it's alright." amber said with a smile.
"we're going to your show tomorrow night, we're really excited." one the other girl said.
"really? maybe i'll be able to spot you somewhere in the crowd." amber said, "actually, josh would be able to spot you better than me, he has a crazy memory." she added, looking over to him with a smile.
he playfully rolled his eyes while he had a smile clearly plastered on his face.
both the girls smiled to amber and josh, seeing how cute they truly were together.
eventually, the girls said their goodbyes and thanking the two again, then walking off the way they came, smiling to each other happily.
amber looked over to josh, "everyone seems to be buying what the news articles are saying about is... even my dad." she said.
josh frowned, "i wish they didn't stretch the story like that." he said.
"my manager said it'd be good for publicity, i'm pretty sure he's hinting at a fake relationship..." amber said.
or even a real one, amber thought to herself.
"my manager said that too. he said it'd benefit but... i don't know." josh said, "it really should just be about the music... but our team seems to just want more. to be honest, jake, sam, danny and i all agree that we just want it to be about the music, not the money... do you want to do it?" he then asked.
amber shrugged her shoulders, "i don't really mind. but my manager said that some men go to 'extreme lengths' to try and be with young famous women, and he just doesn't want anything to happen to me. so i guess it wouldn't be about the money, it'd be about my safety, and potentially even yours."
even though she said she would not do this, she couldn't help but think this could be an opportunity for her and josh to her closer, and perhaps even jake could leave her mind for good, because all that uncertainty with him leaves her feeling slightly stressed.
"we should bring it up with our managers tomorrow, see what they think, and if they are cool with it — which i say they will be — then we'll probably all meet together." josh said.
amber nodded.
"i'm just a little conflicted, fake relationships never end well." amber said.
"yeah, i am too. but i want you to be safe." josh said, grabbing ahold of her hand and squeezing it tight reassuringly before letting it go loosely.
"we don't have to do anything you don't want to do." josh added.
"let's just talk to our managers." amber said.
josh nodded.
the two began to walk back to the tour bus, their hands finding their way back together, like a magnet to a fridge, a dog to a bone, or a boy and his guitar.
and just like that, amber was beginning to think about jake, as much as she didn't want to.