“I’m calling Security,” Josh repeated shoving the girl off his chest. “Maybe if you run fast enough they won’t be able to catch you.” He picked up the room phone pleased to hear the dial tone before it abruptly cut off. He looked over and saw the girl in question holding the phone cord she had ripped from the wall. “You are paying for that too! How on Earth did you rip that out of the wall?”
“You can’t call Security. This is my one chance,” she begged her hands clasped together in front of her. “Please just hear me out.”
“No,” Josh cooly replied as he searched his room for his cell phone. Where had he set it?
“Wow,” he heard the girl say. “Do you just sit around and take selfies of yourself with your shirt off all day? Maybe you should take a breather and take a pic of a tree or something. That kind of obsession with your abs isn’t healthy.” He whirled around to see her scrolling through his phone.
“Where did you get that, and how did you get past the passcode?” he growled.
“I’m a Directioner,” she replied rolling her eyes. “They haven’t yet found a passcode we can’t break.”
“Just give me back my phone and leave whoever you are. I’m not in the mood to deal with the lad’s crazy fans.” Faith sighed and handed over the phone pouting.
“I was hoping falling on you was a sign that you could be the one to help me,” she grumbled slowly pacing to the door outside. “I guess I was hoping for too much. My name is Faith by the way.” Josh grimaced doing his best to squash the guilt churning in his gut. She had invaded his space after all. He didn’t owe her anything.
“Please just go.” Faith nodded opening the door. Josh sighed sitting on the bed thrilled he finally would just be able to relax. Then all of his muscles went on alert when he heard the familiar little voice.
“Who are you?” Joanie called out from the door. “Are you a friend of Unca Joshie?” Josh shot up from the bed racing for the door.
“Joanie,” Josh said seeing the little stunner inspecting the crazy Faith woman. “What are you doing wandering around? You should be with your mommy or daddy.”
“I found dwums!” she gleefully cried out. “Will you come play them with me Unca Joshie?”
“Do your parents know where you are?” Faith asked politely. She was behaving almost normally. Like she hadn’t just fallen through the air duct in his room.
“Course they do,” Joanie replied with a toothy grin. “Dada says he always carries me in his heart.”
“You know what she meant Joanie,” Josh scolded. Joanie looked down.
“No,” the girl softly mumbled. “But I wanna pway dwums!”
“You know better. I’m sure your mum and dad are freaking out looking for you,” Josh replied. At that exact moment his phone started ringing showing Niall’s number. “See?” He answered the phone quickly. “I’ve got her Niall. Thanks.”
“Is dada mad?” Joanie asked after he hung up.
“He’s not mad,” Josh assured her. “But he is disappointed you ran off on your own.”
“Ouch,” Faith said. “That sucks. Don’t say things like that to her. She didn’t mean to worry anyone. Did you precious?”
“Of course not,” Joanie replied smiling up at Faith. “My name is Joanie, not precious.”
“Awww, but I want to call you precious because you just are. Pretty please?”
“Okay! But only you—“
“Faith. My name is Faith.”
“You are pwetty Faith.” Josh rolled his eyes at their mutual admiration society going on here. Where was Niall or Clara to get their daughter? He just wanted some peace and quiet. “Are you dating Unca Joshie?”
“Jojo don’t ask those questions,” Josh replied scolding his pseudo-niece once more. Faith sighed exiting to the bathroom. A few minutes later she returned dressed in jeans and a t-shirt her housekeeping dress discarded. He had to admit that Faith looked much nicer in some normal clothes instead of that stupid disguise.
“Unca Joshie?” Joanie called out forcing him to realize that he had been staring a little too long at the woman in front of him. “It’s not nice to stare at someone like that.” Faith blushed and Josh suddenly noticed her eyes. They were the same light blue as Joanie’s and captivated him.
“She’s right,” Clara called out walking up behind her daughter. “And yet you don’t stop. This is so cute! You are just like Niall and I as newlyweds!”
“That was so long ago,” Niall said picking up his daughter and idly tickling her. “Remember what it was like to be starting in love babe?”
“You both got married at the courthouse two months ago,” Josh grumbled. “You are both still newlyweds. Stop talking like you have been married for twenty years.” Niall and Clara just laughed at his obvious discomfort. “Can everyone please get out of my room?”
“Not until I find out who this lovely young lady is,” Clara replied holding her hand out to Faith. “I’m Clara Horan. Wife to this crazy Irish mofo and mother to the adorable little runaway Joanie.”
“Um…Faith,” Faith stuttered out shaking Clara’s hand. She appeared to be frozen at the sight of one of her idols and his family.
“And how do you know Josh?” Clara asked not at all ashamed to pry. Faith glanced over at him panicked. Would he tell them she was a trespasser? Would he march her to Security? She couldn’t go to jail when she was this close.
“She’s Unca Joshie’s date!” Joanie cried out clapping her hands.
“Now Jojo,” Josh started when she flung those pretty blues on him rendering him helpless. “Um…yes. She’s my date for the wedding. It’s a new relationship so I didn’t want to say anything just yet.”
“Josh is in love!” Niall cried out happily. “I knew you couldn’t resist the pull of true love. You really are a romantic at heart. How did you two meet?” Again Faith looked at him as if he had all the answers.
“We—um—just met at a bar, and I asked her out. Now we are dating here and there. Completely normal.”
“Oh,” Niall frowned. “That’s not very romantic. It’s so normal.” He turned to address Faith. “Clara and I met because she was stuck in an elevator. I heroically talked to her until help could arrive.”
“You always fail to mention that you were only there because you got lost looking for a soup kitchen,” Clara pointed out making her husband blush. Faith smiled and Josh felt his entire body tremble. Wow. How did a stalker fan get such a dazzling smile?
“What a romantic story,” Faith calmly replied. How could she just act as if she had never heard these stories? If she was an uber fan he didn’t doubt she knew every detail. “You can tell by the smile in your voices how much that meeting means to you both. A little unconventional, but still lots of fun.”
“See this is what I was trying to explain to you last week Josh,” Niall grinned. “Sure, some of us have these crazy stories where we fall in love in unconventional ways, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true love. Sometimes love makes you into a cheesy fool.”
“Not now Niall,” Josh groaned. For some reason the concerned look Faith sent him was upsetting. He didn’t want her to hear his views on these crazy love matches “Faith and I need to get ready for the evening.”
“Of course,” Clara replied. “We are going to set Joanie down for a nap before we all meet up for a bonfire. Don’t forget your t-shirt from Gio. I’ll make sure another one gets to your room for Faith.” Josh wished them all well as they walked out the door before he slammed it behind them.
“Shirt?” Faith asked with a raised eyebrow.
“The uniform for tonight,” Josh replied pulling out the mentioned t-shirt for her to view. Faith studied it carefully. It looked like those fan made t-shirts that girls had at concerts. It included a big heart photo with Harry and Giovanna’s picture and names inside. The back declared the event to be “the ultimate One Direction wedding.” Faith erupted in giggles making Josh smile. “Gio’s states she is Harry’s number one fan. His says she can fangirl all over him every day.”
“That is the goofiest thing I have ever seen!” Faith continued to giggle. “I had no idea they were so silly and normal.” Normal? Josh looked at her in confusion. How was any of this normal? Harry and Giovanna met because Harry pretended to be her boyfriend as a front for her pushy father. Then somehow they ended up together. It wasn’t normal at all. “Umm…Josh are you okay?”
“W—what?” Josh asked finally coming back to reality.
“It’s just you kind of blanked out there for a minute. And then you were grinding your teeth. It’s me isn’t it? I just made everything worse for you. I’m so sorry. I’ll just leave,” Faith rushed out grabbing her small bag and heading for the door. What had she been thinking coming here? Was she really some insane, obsessed fan? Who climbs through air ducts? After seeing Niall and Clara with their little girl she knew she was intruding where she shouldn’t be. She didn’t belong here in their personal lives. She was just a fan.
“Don’t leave,” Josh called out, and she felt a tug on her wrist. She looked down to see that Josh was holding tight to her wrist and looking at her endearingly.
“I’m just a stupid, crazy fan. Feel free to tell them anything if they ask you. Just say I lost my mind and ran off or something.” Josh winced feeling bad for being so harsh towards her when they first met. But was he really ready to be that guy? To be like his friends? To fall in love with some girl who fell on him from an air duct shaft? To have that unconventional love story?
Wait.
Why was he contemplating love? She was just some fan who wanted to meet her idols. This wasn’t his crazy love story. It wasn’t what he wanted at all. He just wanted to meet a nice girl, go on a few dates, and then maybe one day take it further. This wasn’t some crazy Hallmark movie.
“Don’t leave,” Josh whispered taking Faith’s breath away. “I—I mean you worked so hard to get here—to go after what you want. Let me give you a chance to live your dream.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I have already gotten to live my dream playing drums for them,” Josh smiled. He had a nice smile. “Plus you will get everyone off my back tonight during the wedding events.”
“Wedding events?” Faith choked out as she wondered about Josh’s true motive. “What on Earth are wedding events?”
“I have no idea,” Josh replied. “I just know Martzia planned it all, and I have to wear this stupid shirt.” He frowned again at the shirt. Could his friends get any cheesier?
“I think the shirt is cute.”
“That’s because you don’t have to wear one,” Josh frowned when they heard a knock at the door before it swung wide open.
“Dang it,” Mar called out frowning. “I was hoping to catch them kissing or something.”
“That door automatically locks,” Josh raged. “How the hell did you just swing it open?”
“I had keys made for all the rooms,” Mar proudly replied as Louis smiled from his spot next to her. “Had to make sure no one ducked out from the wedding festivities.”
“This is my room!” Josh practically shouted. “You have no right to take advantage of my privacy and—“
“Josh relax,” Faith replied taking his hand in her own. He cut off suddenly relaxed and less stressed. “She didn’t mean to be pushy. I’m sure of that. She doesn’t seem like that kind of person.”
“It’s still my room,” Josh pouted.
“I know,” Faith replied tugging him closer to the other couple. “May I see that key Martzia?” Mar handed it over stunned by sudden calmness Faith instilled in Josh. When Clara had called her to request one more t-shirt she had been over the moon about the sweet girl Josh had hidden from everyone. So Mar had grabbed her boyfriend who had been napping on the bed in their room and dragged him over. “Thank you so much.” Faith smiled as she stuck the key card in her back pocket. “Now that I’m here you don’t have to worry about Josh not making it to the events.”
“B—but I was going to—“ Mar was cut off by Louis whose hand curled on his girlfriend’s shoulders.
“Honey, I think they are fine,” Louis chuckled. “Hand over the shirt so we can go get ready.”
“But Lou Bear,” Mar pouted. Louis pulled the t-shirt from her hands gently placing it in Faith’s arms.
“Thank you,” Faith smiled cradling the shirt. “We will see you both very soon.” Martzia continued to protest as Louis led her out the door. Josh and Faith both couldn’t stop giggling when they heard Louis scolding his girlfriend for being more concerned with the love lives of others and not her own.
“You handled her really well,” Josh said admiringly. “Maybe this won’t be so bad.”
“I think we need to set boundaries,” Faith replied. “Just lay everything on the table. It’s been such a whirlwind, and I don’t want to somehow upset you.”
“I—I guess that’s fair.” Faith took in a deep breath and smiled.
“Maybe I should start off with proper introductions. My name is Faith Evans. My best friend is Phil Stricker, who might now be in jail thanks to me. Oh, and I love One Direction.”
“Your best friend is in jail?!?” Josh asked.
“Well, I think he’s in jail. He was in the janitor’s closet with me when we broke in, but he took the fall for me. My guess is they arrested him. But his folks are really nice so he is probably bailed out already. I should text him.”
“You’re insane.” Faith looked at Josh wondering if he meant to insult her, but he had a wide smile on his face. He was complimenting her?
“He might not be arrested. I’m not totally sure,” Faith pouted.
“It’s okay,” Josh assured her. “Really. Focus back on me. You know who I am.”
“Your name is Joshua John Devine. You were born in Bournemouth, England on July 9th, 1991. You have a brother named Ben, and you picked up drumming for the first time when you were three years old. You are also the set drummer for One Direction when on tour and are close to all the boys, especially Niall.” Josh opened and closed his mouth like a fish. She had just basically recited his bio like it was nothing. “Sorry, I was going into crazy fan mode again wasn’t I?” Josh merely nodded. “I need some kind of signal from you when I’m going too far. I have a tendency to go overboard.”
“A signal?” Josh croaked out.
“Yes,” Faith said stripping off her shirt all sense of modesty gone. Josh was momentarily stunned as he caught sight of her bra before she slid on the t-shirt Martzia had brought for her. She tied the extra shirt material into a knot at the small of her back continuing on talking as if she hadn’t stripped half naked in front of him. “Some way to tell me when I’m going overboard. I take it you don’t want your friends to think you are in a new relationship with a crazy girl. Plus I won’t be around after this wedding weekend. Wait…I have an idea.”
“An idea?” Josh croaked out trying to push the distracting images of her from his mind. “I don’t know. Maybe we should just scrap this whole thing.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. I’ll just go.” And there it was. Josh couldn’t let her just go. He couldn’t break her heart. The torment in her cornflower blue eyes pulled him right back in.
“No. Stay,” Josh said pulling her closer. “I need you to be my fake girlfriend. The guys have been on me about falling in love and all that. They are even worse at this wedding.”
“But Zayn is single too.”
“Sure he is, but he keeps disappearing places so no one can bug him. They all bug me with this cheesy love stuff and dramatic love stories. If I could just get them to leave me alone for one weekend it would be perfect.” Faith nodded sure she had a great idea now.
“Then listen to my idea,” she smiled holding his hand in hers. “I play your stand in girlfriend for the whole wedding weekend. But I don’t want you to have to give this big long explanation at the end of the weekend about how we broke up so I’ll make it easier.”
“Easier?”
“As the weekend goes on I will get even more annoyingly fan girl-ish towards the boys. I will annoy their wives and girlfriends. That way when you say we broke up they will totally understand, but you need to signal me when I go too far. It has to be gradual.”
“How do I signal you?”
“It has to be something natural. Oh you could scratch your nose!”
“I have a feeling I will be scratching my nose a lot then.” Faith smacked his arm and thrust his shirt at him. “Can I get a little privacy?”
“Please with all your topless selfies on your phone I saw more than enough. Besides you aren’t even my favorite.”
“Who is your favorite?”
“Harry.”
“He’s getting married!” Josh felt a surge of jealousy.
“I don’t care,” Faith smugly replied. “I just want to be able to see and meet him.” Josh grumbled putting on the shirt and grabbing her hand tugging her from the room. He made a mental note to keep her as far away from Harry as possible this weekend. For Harry’s sake of course. It’s not like he had any feelings for the insane fangirl who fell out of his air duct and onto his bed. He wasn’t about to be a part of some crazy love story like his friends. He was just here to get through this weekend.
[AN: This story is fun to write. It’s entertaining to make Josh and Faith bicker. This may happen even more.]