My eyes were staring at the white, smooth wall standing right in front of me as I sat beside Jenna, who was tiredly leaning her body on me.
We had just finished picking up all of the napkins and cups, stuffing them inside plastic bags which were now resting beside us. It didn't take long cleaning everything up, unlike the mess in the living room that Josh and Tyler took care of. We would've helped them, but Jenna suddenly got tired and asked me to be her human pillow for the past few minutes.
"Ugh, man. I'm so tired," she murmered as she readjusted her head on my shoulder. "I want my bed."
"Don't we all," I muttered. "Why are you so tired, anyway? It's not even that late."
A yawn escaped the girl's mouth before she replied. "I thought it was a good idea to binge Stranger Things 2 at three in the morning."
A soft laugh escaped my lips as I heard the unsurprising news. After all, Jenna wasn't much of an all-nighter type of person, unlike Tyler and me. "Well, I'll tell Tyler he needs to take you home. How about that?"
Then suddenly, we heard a sound of the front door closing, or rather, being slammed shut. Jenna and I exchanged puzzled glances before she looked at the staircase. "We should probably go and check out what happened."
"We should..." I trailed off, zoning out before looking at the blonde beside me closing her sleepy blue eyes shut.
"Yeah, okay. That sounds good. I'll come down in a bit. Just give me five more minutes," she whispered.
"Like I'm gonna believe that. Come on, Jen." I managed to get her up after a minute of her protesting like a little kid. After that, we both picked up one of the plastic bags and walked downstairs.
Josh and Tyler seemed like they were done, looking at us curiously as we walked over to them.
"Hey, what's up?" Josh asked, stepping closer to us and placing his arm around my waist.
"We just finished cleaning upstairs, but Jenna got really tired. Tyler, you guys should go home. Jenna needs some rest," I stated, turning my head to Tyler, who was wrapping his arm around his wife.
"Alright. What about you guys?" he asked.
"Uh, I think we'll stick around for a few more minutes," I answered. "Make sure everything is in place."
Tyler nodded in understanding, then turned his head to look at Debby who had walked out of the kitchen, looking stressed and uneasy.
"Uh, hey. How are you, guys?" she asked.
"We're good, but, um, Jenna and I are about to leave," Tyler answered her.
"Oh, okay. Bye, you guys. Thank you so much for everything," she said as she gave both of them a hug.
"Bye," Jenna said tiredly, hugging her back and letting go soon after. She turned to her husband, eyes about to close. "Will you carry me?"
The brunet man looked at her, smiling, then picked her up bridal style. Josh opened the door for them, letting the singer carry his tired wife to their car.
We waved them goodbye before closing the door, leaving only Josh, Debby, and me.
"Hey, uh, [Name]? Can I talk to you in the kitchen, please?" Debby asked, shifting her eyes from Josh to me several times.
"Sure," I answered, looking at her with a puzzled expression.
"Okay, thanks. And, uh, Josh, the remote's on the couch. Feel free to watch anything you'd like," the brown-eyed girl said before leading us to the kitchen.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked once we got there, sitting down on a stool.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she responded, pushing her hair behind her ear, "but, um... can I ask you something?"
"Anything," I told her.
"Have you ever noticed Halsey acting... weird around you? Like, angry at you, or jealous, even?"
"What did she do now?" I asked, already knowing what this was about.
"She... talked to me," she replied. "Asked me weird questions."
"Like?"
"Like, what my first impression of you was, or if I've ever felt jealous of you." She sighed. "She tried to convince me to join her. I think she wanted me to help her to break you and Josh up or something."
"What?" I whispered out, wide-eyed. I shouldn't have been surprised about that, knowing how she was around me, but it was still really hard to process. "And what did you tell her?"
"I told her to forget it, obviously," she answered. "I could never do that to a person. Much less to you."
I pushed my lips together, remaining silent as I looked down at the marble table. My eyes went up to look at Debby's, who were concerned about me. "Thank you for telling me."
"It's no problem," she whispered, letting the room fill up with silence soon after. After a moment, though, she spoke up again. "Um, I know it's none of my business, but are you gonna tell Josh about this?"
I let out a sigh. "I don't know. Probably not. I don't wanna worry him with anything."
"Not that my opinion is important, but I really think you should. I mean, for all you know, he could be having some trouble with her and this would just make him, I don't know, ignore her or cut her off, maybe?" Debby suggested.
"You're right. I know they're not in the best of terms right now, and it's most likely because of me, so..." I paused for a moment. "I don't know. I'll just have to think about it, I guess."
"Okay." There was yet another pause, leaving us to think about the situation before Debby broke it. "Um, well, it's getting late, so-"
"Yeah. And, thank you, by the way," I told her, smiling at her. "You're a good friend, Debs."
"Well, what else was I supposed to do?" she said, smiling back at me as she enveloped me in a tight hug.
The hug lasted for a few seconds before Josh walked in and slowly neared us as he opened his arms and wrapped us both in his hug, causing us to laugh softly.
"Yes, we're leaving now, Josh," I chuckled before he let go of the both of us.
"Goodbye, guys," Debby said, smiling at us. "I'm so glad we got to see each other."
"Same here," both Josh and I said at the same time, making us grin at each other.
The three of us walked to the front door, not saying a single word on the way there. As we said goodbye to each other, we gave Debby one last hug before we walked to the car and drove home. The whole ride wasn't filled with many words. Instead, I kept debating in my head whether or not I should talk about what Debby told me earlier to Josh.
Unfortunately, I didn't make up my mind by the time we got back to our home. Instead, I just decided to stop thinking about it and talk about it if I felt like it. I wasn't really looking up to stressing out about something either way.
~*~
"Hey, is there some cereal left? I'm still kinda hungry," Josh admitted, walking inside.
"Why are you asking me?" I questioned, turning on the lights of our house. "I wouldn't know. I don't live here yet."
"[Name], you've brought your only toothbrush to this house. Stop lying," he responded playfully. "And I'm asking because you're the one who always steals my cereal."
I gasped dramatically. "I do not!" I defended, acting offended as I walked into the living room.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about the cereal monster that crawls out of our cupboards and eats half of the box in less than a day," he replied sarcastically. "My bad."
"You're mean." I smiled, rolling my eyes. "And I think there's still some of it left."
"Thank you. You're an angel," he responded and kissed me on the cheek before running to our kitchen, leaving smiling like an idiot.
Eventually, I entered the kitchen, watching him serve the cereal into a bowl full of milk. I made an effort so I wouldn't laugh at his weirdness, quietly tip-toeing up to him. As soon as I was close enough, I reached out my hands and pinched his sides.
Josh yelled in surprise, almost throwing the cereal box up in the air. He looked behind him with a panicked look and groaned. "One of these days, I'm gonna be prepared, and I will make sure you will never do that again. Ever."
"Aw, I'm sorry. If you want, I'll do it to Tyler next time. I'll even let you record it," I said, grinning while wrapping my arms around his waist.
"It better be the best you've ever done, or else you're getting tickled like never before," Josh jokingly threatened as he reached for his spoon and ate his cereal.
I chuckled, letting go of him and standing beside him in silence. As he ate, I kept thinking about Debby and Halsey, wondering if now was the right time to tell him, or if I'm just being paranoid and I should just-
"What is it?" Josh asked.
I turned to him with surprise. "Huh?"
"I know you, [Name]," he explained, eating some more of the cereal for a few seconds. "I know when something's bothering you."
"Oh, uh..." I struggled. I didn't know if it was the right time or if I should just wait.
"So?" he asked after moments of silence.
"Um, I... kinda wanted to talk to you about... something," I confessed quietly, immediately regretting my choice. "I've actually wanted to talk to you about this for a while."
"You know you can always talk to me about anything [Name]," he answered, now focusing on me, completely forgetting about the cereal sitting on top of the counter.
"Okay, um... Here goes, I guess." I sighed, building up the courage to tell him. "When we were at the party, Halsey talked to Debby. She told her that she wanted to break us up and wanted her to help her do it. Debby said no and told me after Halsey left."
"Wait, is that why Debby was acting weird after Halsey had left?" he asked, then covered his face with his hands in realization. "Oh, gosh. Why? Why does this have to happen?"
Scared, I hugged Josh tightly, rubbing his back in order to calm him down. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you more stressed than you already were. I should've kept it to myself."
"No, no. It's fine, [Name]. Really," he assured me, quickly wrapping his arms around me. "I'm glad you told me. I just don't get how Halsey could do something like this."
"Not that I approve of it, but maybe some people are just willing to do crazy stuff to be with who they love," I replied. "I guess she's one of them."
"Well, I love you, not her," he told me. "And I think that you're the one for me. Her doing crazy stuff for me doesn't make me want you any less."
I let go of him, smiling widely at him as he sighed. "Hey."
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
A smile instantly covered his face, replacing his stress and worry as a laugh left through his soft, pink lips. "I love you, too."
~Halsey's POV~
"She's not gonna help us," I informed as I walked through the door, stomping my feet on the wooden floor in anger.
"You're kidding." Nick sighed, closing his door as he followed me to his living room.
I flopped down on his couch, crossing my arms and puffing out some air to get rid of a strand of hair that landed on my face. "No. I told her about what was going on, but I guess it's just you and me."
There was a brief moment of silence that flooded the room. Nick eventually started muttering to himself. "Okay, so... since that didn't work... damn."
"What?" I asked in a confused tone.
"It's gonna be harder, but we can still do this, okay?" He walked over to me, kneeling just a few inches in front of me. "Listen, I know you really like this guy. You're gonna get him. If we both think and do things perfectly, you'll have the future with him that you've always wanted. It's all gonna be alright."
"I mean... don't you think we're trying too hard?" I asked, thinking about Debby's words earlier. I looked at my hands, fiddling with my thumbs as I spoke. "Maybe we shouldn't intervene... not until they're broken up, anyway."
Even though my eyes were looking down, I felt his expression darken, making me nervous and unsure.
"Halsey, I want you to listen to what I'm about to say. [Name] does not belong to Josh. Every moment they spend together, all the laughs they share... they're gonna go away. I don't know who's gonna do it, but I'm sure one of them is going to break the other one's heart," he explained. "Do you think Josh would wanna go out with you if his heart was broken by some random girl that never even loved him? Not really, anyway. Josh will be heartbroken, and it will all be because you didn't do something about it when you had the chance."
"But-"
"No. They're gonna break up sooner or later, and you have two choices. You can either help Josh, make him happy and live the life you both deserve, or you could let his heart be broken first and repair all the damage that you could've easily avoided in the first place." He stood up, towering over me with an inpatient stare. "What are you gonna choose?"
After that, he left the room, and soon enough, I heard the front door open and close. I was left alone. Left to think about what I was gonna do now.
Nick was right. His heart is bound to be broken at some point, so I could either help him of let him get crushed first. The last thing I want is for him to get hurt, but no one thinks about doing something.
I don't know if it's because I see something that no one else sees, or something else. I don't see Josh and [Name] working out, but everyone else thinks that they will. Everything is too complicated and I don't know what to do, but I know that Josh is not going to get hurt by some girl that just arrived in his life to cause nothing but pain.
I need to help Josh. I'm going to help Josh.
I just need to know how.
A/N: okay holy crap i haven't updated in forever so i'm just gonna let you guys kill me now i deserve it im sorry
freaking hiatus makin me sad n miserable n feeling uncreative because there's nothin goin on with the guys
and also just so you guys know i actually think halsey is a huge sweetheart and i love her so freaking much like
what a cutie
anyways that's all carry on with your lives
and seriously this took so long but i really wanna finish this story, even if there's gonna be reaally slow updates
thank you all so much for reading and take care. stay alive frens |-/