I grabbed a fistful of blankets and pulled them over my eyes. The sun beaming into the room through the red curtains was too much for my head to handle. Wait a second...red curtains? Where am I? I squinted, the room was blurry but I could tell I haven't seen it before. The throbbing in my head was getting worse. I kept scanning my surroundings until things began to come a little more clear. I saw a hotel suite, with big couches, a tv, and something gold.... oh my god.
There on the floor, kicked into a tiny ball was my dress. I was almost afraid to look, but I peaked to the right of me. Amongst the fluffy duvet there was a messy ball of brunette bed-head.
"Shit,"I swung the covers up in the air and looked underneath. I was wearing an oversized grey t-shirt over my underwear.
Small groans came from beside me. Josh rolled over and his eyes slowly fluttered open. He was shirtless. A feeling like stage fright churned in my stomach.
"Morning," he yawned.
I pulled the blankets closer to my chin, I tried to speak but I didn't know what to say. My temples pounded with each breath I took.
"M-m-orning," I stuttered.
Josh pushed himself up with his elbow and rested his cheek on his hand. "Are you okay, Jen?"
I bit my bottom lip, afraid to know the answer to the question I was about to ask. "Did we....?"
His eyebrows shot up, and his other hand grabbed mine. "Don't worry, nothing happened," he assured. "You don't remember a thing do you?"A wide grin spread across his face.
A flood of relief swept through my body and I finally felt like I could breathe again. I slumped over sideways, falling into Josh's chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. Together we smelt like the inside of a brewery.
"The last thing I remember is arriving to the party," I whined.
His chest began to shake and he stroked my tangled hair. "You're a mess."
"Tell me about it," my stomach was doing somersaults. "I'm glad it was you that took me back to your hotel, and not some stranger."
A smirk crept over his lips. "I know, you told me last night. Now that I think of it, you said a lot of things."
I wiggled out of his arms to sit up. "Oh no."
He reached for his phone that was on the night stand beside him, and scrolled through his photo album. "I've got some great black mail videos."
I watched myself on the screen and my jaw dropped to the floor. I was wearing the same grey shirt that I am now that's only covering me by so much, and held the TV remote in my hand. My hair was messily sitting in a bun on the top of my head. I covered my mouth with my hand and watched.
"Tell me what you want to sing again, Jen." Josh had the camera facing him with a wide grin across his face, pointing to me in the background.
"Cher, duh!" He changed the camera's view so it was facing only me. I jumped onto the couch and bounced up and down.
Do you believe in life after love?
I can feel something inside me say
I really don't think you're strong enough, no
I sang to his phone, and he sang in the background. I bowed at my performance and jumped off the couch cushions.
"I love you, Joshy." Then the video stops.
I looked over at him. "And what did you say after that?"
He shrugged and smiled. "You'll just have to remember."
My stomach did a backflip, growling obnoxiously. I don't know whether I should blame that on the butterflies or from too much to drink. I felt an instant heat flush my cheeks, and jumped up from the bed towards the bathroom.
Never drinking again, I thought leaning over the toilet and emptying all that was left of the alcohol.
There was a soft knock at the bathroom door, and then it cracked open.
"I brought you a glass of water." Josh changed into a sweater with the hood pulled over his head, and athletic shorts.
"Just leave me to die," I mumbled against the cool tile floor.
He crawled down to my level, lying on his stomach. "Nope, you're stuck with me!"
While I was trying to re-swallow my stomach, Josh seemed fine. Little dark circles were rimming the bottom of his eyes, but he was in no way feeling like I was. "How come you aren't sick? You took shots too," I asked.
"About three!" He reached out his hand to tuck my hair behind my ears. "I didn't see you without a drink in your hand the whole night," he chuckled.
I thought about what I could remember, and shuttered. "I'm an idiot."
"Oh come on, don't be so hard on yourself." Josh bounced to his feet and tucked his arms underneath my limp body, picking me up. "The best cure for a hangover is a bed, Netflix, and bacon."
Josh checked into this hotel prepared. I was planning on just going home after the party was finished, but he had the suite all ready and stocked with the best greasy food. I wonder if he planned on coming home alone, or if he was expecting company the whole time? Bacon sizzled in the pan, while I snuggled up in bed with a warm coffee in my hands. I scanned the Netflix selection looking for the perfect TV series to binge watch.
"Josh hurry up I know what we're going to watch!"
"If I guess it right you have to kiss me," he said with two plates with breakfast sandwiches on them.
I looked away and played with the edges of the duvet."We can't do that anymore, you know that."
"That didn't stop us last night did it?"
Blurry memories began to flashback."Well that was just at the party, this is different."
"You don't remember the whole night," he grinned. "How do you know we stopped once we got back here?"
I blushed, but covered it with my hands. "Just shut up and guess!"
"The Real Housewives," he said and was right.
I heaved a sigh and crawled to the edge of the bed, pushing myself up to my knees. I was now on the same level as Josh who was still standing. His hazel eyes sparkled, begging for my lips to come closer. My forehead rested against his, breathing in rhythm with each other. "Put down the plates," I said barely whispering.
He gently set down our breakfast on the bed beside me without moving his forehead from mine. "Now close your eyes."
His eyes slowly closed, and I took a minute to scan his face. He had a faint amount of stubble around his jawline that I traced with my hand. His muscles clenched, showing the strong outline that it made. I moved my hand towards his lips, lightly brushing them with my fingers. They were warm and soft, just like they always have been. Seeing Josh in this light made me wonder how I ever saw him differently, and not noticed how attractive he actually was.
I replaced my fingers on his lips with mine and let them linger. It was a simple kiss, but the sparks were still flying with a passion. I pulled away slightly while still touching his lips. "Now pick the plates back up and let's eat."
The dimples on his cheeks grew as he smiled and got the plates from the bed, handing me mine. We shut the lights off and snuggled back up in bed, forgetting that the real world existed. No cameras, no paparazzi, no nothing. We almost finished six episodes when a noise caught our attention.
Buzz
Josh's phone lit up beside me with a text. I didn't read it on purpose, but I clearly saw what it said.
Abby: Hi Josh! I missed you last night, why did you take off so soon? I'm in the neighbourhood and I'm assuming you're still at your hotel, so see you in a few!
He looked at me with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry, I forgot I told her where I was staying," he said.
"What am I going to do? I can't leave here wearing your clothes or worse...my dress from last night!
We scrambled to clean the place up, so it was just enough mess for one person. I grabbed my dress off the floor and shoved it in an empty plastic bag. Josh was going to run down the stairs to meet her in the front lobby, but a loud knock was at the door. I heard her high pitched voice screech through the wood.
I ducked into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I took my phone and pressed it up to my ear, pressing the contact of someone I knew would always answer.
"Hello?" Thank God he picked up.
"Liam! I need you to do a favor for me, no questions asked," I whispered.
"Jen, is that you? I can't hear you can you speak up?"
I cupped the speaker with my palm. "Can you hear me now?"
"Yes, what's going on?"
I walked to the furthest corner of the bathroom so I couldn't be heard."I need you to go to my house and get me some clothes, okay?"
I heard him choke on whatever he was eating or drinking."What the hell, Jen! Where are you?"
"I'm at the hotel beside the theatre. Please just go get me clothes I'll explain everything when you get here."
"Who are you with? I need to know if you're in trouble before I hang up."
I rubbed my temple with my other hand, my headache was quickly returning."Liam I'm fine, I promise. But I won't be fine if you don't bring me what I asked."
"I'll be right there!"
"Thank you. It's suite 900."
I tip toed to the door and listened. Josh was showing her around. I heard her ask why The Real Housewives was on his TV and I forced myself not to laugh. Finally, they stopped in front of the door so I could hear them clearly.
"What do you say we go grab some breakfast?"Josh asked.
"Didn't you already eat? There was two dirty plates by the sink."
Crap...
"A man can never have too much breakfast," he snorted.
She giggled the same way I remember that she did at the party. It just oozed flirty. "That sounds wonderful, let's go!"
I held my breath as I heard their footsteps leave the room, and the door click behind them. I slid down the back of the bathroom door to the floor, and waited for Liam. My phone made a noise for a text and I quickly looked to see if he was here.
You can keep the shirt ;)
And with that, the butterflies returned.