I wrote this FOREVER ago and never posted it because I didn't like how I ended it. I just kept writing and writing and didn't know where to end. I decided to publish it anyways since people have been asking me to post more. Soooo here it goes, lol.
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Having had your music channel open on you-tube for 4 or 5 years now, you had made quite a few friends that you would occasionally do covers with or even write originals with.
One of your long distance besties was Conor Maynard. Just last week, Conor had convinced you to come stay with him in London for a month. You two had never met in person and he wanted you two to bank as many cover videos as you could. Thankful for in-flight wifi, you text Conor that you would be landing within the hour.
*text*
Conor - *YES!! We'll meet you at baggage claim!*
You - *Meet you there! We?*
Conor - *Anna wouldn't let me pick you up without her. Prepare to be Koala'd like you've never been Koala'd before.*
Conor -*By Anna, not me...Maybe both...........okay me too.*
You - *Hahaha, ANNA! I cannot wait to finally meet her in person. I adore your sister.*
The overhead announcement to put your seat-belts back on was made and you started to get butterflies in your stomach.
You knew that Conor shared a place with his brother Jack and their friend Josh, so you would be meeting and spending time with quite a few new people. While your channel was more like Conor's, you still watched pretty much all of the buttercream videos. Joe and Josh were your favorites, but you were actually a little nervous to be around Josh for an entire month as you had developed a little crush on him.
You - *Just landed. Just waiting to get off the plane!*
As you made your way to the baggage claim area, you heard a squeal and then felt all of the air leave your body. Looking down, you saw Anna.
"ANNA!" You squealed squeezing her tight.
Conor walked up holding his phone up "I cannot believe I have to beeeee seen with these embarrassing nerds."
"Are you ever going to stop using the bee filter on snapchat??" Anna teased him.
"Yeah! Talk about embarrassing." You added, laughing.
Conor had been catching your conversation in snaps and turned the camera to him and faked some tears "do you see how they treat me?? So beeeelittleing"
You and Anna shared a look and then tackled him to the ground.
"I leave you alone for 5 minutes to find a parking spot and I find you rolling around on the ground in a public place. Shame on you, Conor." Josh walked up laughing.
Turning bright red, you quickly stood up. You helped Anna up and fixed your clothes. "Definitely all Conor's fault. I'm Y/n, nice to meet you." You reached to shake his hand.
"Oh, come on." Josh said, pulling you into a hug. "I know who you are. Are you kidding? Conor hasn't shut up about you since you agreed to come visit. I'm Josh, by the way."
"Lies, y/n. All lies." Conor said in his funny high pitched voice.
Laughing, you returned the hug. "I know who you are, too. You really thought you'd make it 60 hours?" You teased, walking to your luggage with Anna.
The car ride to their flat was awkward, but really funny. You and Anna sat in the back texting and giggling.
Anna - *Did you ever tell Conor you like Josh??*
You - *NO! Are you kidding me?? Neither of your brothers can keep a secret to save their lives.*
Anna laughed at my response making the guys up front ask what we were doing.
"Mind your business, Conor." She responded.
Anna - *He's going to figure it out. He's annoying, but he's smart, lol. Your face turned bright red when Josh walked in.*
You - *Fml, I know. SPEAKING OF JOSH, why didn't you warn me he was coming!? You brat!*
Anna - *Hahaha, I actually didn't know until we left, and then I thought I'd let him surprise you. Don't kill me.*
"Oh, I'm gonna get you back." You said out loud, laughing, causing Anna to laugh too.
"What the hell are you two on about?" Conor asked.
"Girl stuff." - Anna
"Periods." - You
"How often we wash our hair." - Anna
"Boys." - You
"Secrets." - Anna
"That's why her hair is so big.." - You
"It's full of secrets." You said in unison.
Josh and Conor went quiet and you and Anna started busting up laughing.
Josh joined in laughing a bit, but Conor just had a very confused look on his face. "You two are so fucking weird. How did I ever let you become friends?"
You - *Not a word about Josh. Promise??*
Anna - *Convince Conor to let me stay this week with you guys and your secret is safe with me ;)*
You - *Deal.*
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Once you guys picked up food, you headed back to the flat. You were supposed to be crashing on their couch, but that changed once you convinced Conor and their parents to let Anna stay with him for a few days. Conor decided that him and Josh would share Conor's bed and you and Anna would share Josh's bed. Neither of the guys wanted to share with Jack, teasing him about cuddling them in the middle of the night whenever they bunked together.
"Let me help you bring your bags to the room." Josh offered, grabbing your suitcase and Anna's bag. She shot you a knowing look before going to talk to Jack.
"Thank you. You didn't have to do that." You smiled, following him into his room.
"What kind of gentleman would I be if I made you carry them?" He smiled, putting the bags in front of the wardrobe. "The linens are newly washed and you guys can use anything you need in the bathroom. Towels are here." He said, pointing to a cabinet by the bathroom.
"Perfect. Thanks, again." You tried not to blush, but Josh was just being so damn cute. You realized you had been staring a few seconds too long and you knew your cheeks had to be red at this point.
"Let me know if you guys need anything else." He smiled and grabbed a few things to take to Conor's room.
Reprimanding yourself for being so awkward, you laughed, sighed, and fell back on the bed....and all of a sudden heard giggles.
"That bad, huh?" The very recognizable voice of Jack Maynard filled your ears.
"ANNNAAAA." You moaned, knowing she had just filled Jack in about your crush.
"I told you I wouldn't tell Conor, not Jack." She laughed. "Plus...he already knew."
Sitting straight up, you yelped "What?!"
"Come on, love. All it takes is a look through your Twitter likes. You've liked maybe 10 of my tweets, but at least every other tweet you like is Josh's. Even his stupid tweets that make no sense." He replied, laying down on one side of you while Anna laid on the other.
Laying back, you sighed. "Fuck my life."
Jack and Anna both laughed until Conor and Josh walked into the bedroom. "There you guys are. What's so funny?" Josh asked. You threw your hands over your face while the other two just laughed harder.
"Oh, God. Now Jack is in on it??" Conor whined.
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When you and Anna finally decided to turn in for the night, you talked for a few hours before actually getting in your pajamas and crawling into bed.
"I'm so glad Conor convinced you to fly all the way over here." Anna said.
"Me too. I'm beyond excited to work with your brother face to face and I'm so happy I finally got to meet you guys." You replied. "I really need to work on my poker face, though. I literally just stared at Josh when he was in here earlier. Awkward, much?"
She laughed in response. "You'll do fine. He really is a sweet guy."
"Thanks...and he is. I just hope I don't make a fool of myself in front of him." you laughed.
It wasn't long before you both fell asleep.
Late the next morning you were woken up by quiet mumbles and giggles. You and Anna had apparently cuddled close in the night and the boys were standing at the bottom of the bed laughing. Once you woke up, Jack threw himself on the bed, being obnoxious. "Wake up, lazy bones!"
"Fuck off, Jack." Anna mumbled.
"ANNA!" Conor and Jack scolded.
"Look who's talking!" you laughed.
After you guys all had lunch, you and Conor went to his studio area and started planning out your songs.
"So we have our list of covers, do you have any unfinished originals you want to work on?" Conor asked.
"Yes! Let me grab my song book. I have a lot of pieces started that I just can't do anything with." you replied, hopping up to grab your notebook.
When you returned, he was flipping through a notebook of his own. "Feel free to look through this. All of the finished pieces have a title at the top and the others are just one to a page." you said, handing him your book.
"Same." he switched notebooks with you. "I have to warn you, though. The last 10 or so unfinished songs in there are all depressing. Apparently my life goal is to bring back 2006 emo music." he laughed.
"Mine's not much better." you chuckled. "Most of the unfinished pieces in there are love songs."
After reading through each other's lyrics for about a half hour, Conor looked up with the weirdest look on his face. "Are you dating someone?" he asked.
"Nope! Single and actively avoiding mingling." you smirked at him.
He looked back down at the book only to look back up within a minute. "These are recent?"
"Yup. What's going on? Did I accidentally hand you my notebook filled with fan-fiction?" you joked. "I warned you they were all mush."
"They're just all about one person." Conor gave you a knowing look.
"How can you tell?" you stuttered. "I mean, what do you mean?"
"I knew it! They ARE all about one person. *Somebody's got a crush*" he sang the last part. "What dashing stranger has won the heart of the famous Y/n?" he said in one of his weird accents, continuing to read lyrics from your book.
When you didn't respond, he looked back up to find your cheek had gone bright red. "I'm just teasing you, love. Don't worry. I can keep a secret." he comforted you, looking back down at your notebook. All of a sudden his head flew back up. "Oh, god. It's not Jack, is it?"
The terrified look on his face sent you into a fit of laughter
"What would be so wrong with that?" Jack teased as he walked into the room with Josh and Anna. Jack sat on your lap, cheesin' it up. "Writing songs about me, love?"
"Oh, god." Conor let his head dramatically drop into his hands.
You were too busy laughing at the brothers to notice Josh's face drop, but Anna saw it. "Hey, we are going to the park to kick the ball around. You two in or are you still working in here?" she asked.
"I want to stay and work on some of these" you replied, smiling at her and Josh.
"Make sure you put a line in there about my muscles." Jack kissed your cheek, hopping off of your lap. "Come on, boys. I mean, boy and Anna." he said, marching out of the room.
"See you guys later." you called after them. Looking back up at Conor, he was still staring at you with wide eyes. "it's not Jack!" you finally put him out of his misery.
"Oh, thank god." he started laughing. "I was kidding, anyways. I know it's me." he struck a cheesy pose.
"Dream on, Maynard." you chuckled.
On the way to the park, Anna kept thinking about Josh looking bummed out when Jack sat on your lap. "Boys, we've got a long walk. We should play a game."
"What were you thinking?" Jack asked.
"Truth or dare?" Josh chimed in.
"No, I'm not doing anything stupid you guys dare me to do." Anna whined. "Never have I ever?"
"Yes!" Jack yelled. "I'll go first. Never have I ever crushed on one of my siblings friends." He looked straight at Anna.
"Ewwww, no!" She laughed. Josh laughed and shook his head no. "Never have I ever been caught by your parents with a person of the opposite sex." She added.
"I have" Josh and Jack said in unison. "I was really young, though. We didn't know we were doing anything wrong." Josh added.
"I wasn't." Jack laughed. "It was right before I moved out and a girl followed me from the bathroom to my bedroom and mom caught us and told us we had to come downstairs to play 'family games' just to embarrass me."
"That was why that girl played Uno with us? That was the most awkward thing I've ever experienced in my life." Anna laughed.
"Tell me about it." He replied.
They were almost to the park, so Anna decided to try for some info. "Never have I ever had a crush on one of my roommates friends." Anna asked, making eye contact with Jack.
"Not a crush, really, but Conor and Josh do have some beautiful friends." Jack answered. "You?" he asked Josh.
"Yeah." he very quietly answered trying to go into the next Never Have I Ever question.
"What was that?" Anna asked.
"Fuck. Fine. Yes. Yes, I have." Josh answered in a huff.
"Ooooh, touchy. Who?" Jack teased.
"That wasn't part of the question!" he replied. "Plus, I doubt she likes me."
"So this is a current crush?" Anna asked.
"Why are you guys so interested?" Josh's cheeks flushed.
"Well, if it's one of my friends I'd probably know if they like you." Jack said. "Plus, you're my mate. I'm a great wing-man."
"Nah, It's nothing serious." Josh responded, kicking the ball and chasing it into the park you finally arrived at.
"Do you think?" Anna asked Jack once Josh was out of earshot.
"I mean, it makes sense. He doesn't usually get this weird when I ask him about girls." said Jack.
"He looked proper sad when you sat on Y/n's lap. It's gotta be her." Anna ran after Josh.
"I guess we'll find out." Jack joined them in the park.
That night, when everyone had gone their separate ways, Josh and Conor were up in Conor's room just talking and hanging out. Conor had asked you to leave your book with him and he had a stack of post-it's to write more lyric Ideas down for a few of the songs he really liked. He was almost finished reading through your song ideas when he found a scrap page that had scribbles and doodles on it. Things like "Learn to play guitar better" and "fuck my life, what rhymes with 'strength'?" Conor laughed, being able to relate to the stresses of song writing.
At the bottom of the page were the letters "J.P." written out a few times in different swirly fonts. *Must be the guy she's writing about* he thought to himself. Turning the page, he saw the name Josh written out similarly and his head snapped up to stare at his roommate, sitting on his bed.
"How was the park?" he asked Josh.
"Good. We got rained out, but we played for a few hours." Josh replied. "By the way, I don't know how you deal with your siblings when they're together. They gang up on you."
"Don't I know it. What did they do to you?" Conor asked.
"We played Never Have I Ever on the way to the park and they were just relentless. Though I did find out that Anna has a boyfriend. Jack went mental." Josh laughed.
"I told her he'd freak out when he found out. She told me a few weeks ago. It's one of my mate's little brothers, so I'm not too worried." Conor tried to figure out how to ask Josh about anyone he liked. "What were they badgering you about?"
"Anna asked if either of us had crushed on a roommate's friend. Jack denied it, but I said yes." Josh reluctantly answered.
"Awwwwww." Conor teased. "Who do you like?!"
"Not you too." Josh huffed. "Come on, I don't want to say. I'm obviously not their type, so I'd rather just get over it."
"Don't say that. Loads of girls would go for you." Conor replied, feeling bad that he obviously struck a nerve. "I won't tease you. I promise. I was just genuinely curious."
"Thanks. I'm making Mikey and Jack go to the club with me tomorrow, if you want to join. I need a night out to clear my head." Josh invited Conor.
"After reading through a few of these songs, I think we're going to work really late tomorrow. I've felt pretty inspired the last few days to write and I don't want to lose it. I'll come pick you guys up after the club, though. That way you don't have to wait for an Uber." Conor answered.
"Sweet. Thanks. I'm going to call it a night." Josh started getting ready for sleep.
"Me too, actually. I think I'm too sidetracked to work on this tonight."
The next day was amazing. You and Conor had been shut up in his studio working on melodies and lyrics with Anna. She had started to show an interest in singing and music, so Conor let her sit in on the writing process. She actually helped a few times when you were too caught up on something to see the best answer. She would bring you snacks and drinks and finally around 8pm she made you guys take a break.
She put on Jurassic world and you all sat down on the couch under a blanket. About 40 minutes into the movie, Conor passed out and his head fell on your shoulder. Jack and Josh walked through the living room to catch an Uber with Mikey and Caspar and Josh saw you looking mighty comfortable with Conor.
"Have fun, boys!" you called out. "Remember to text us when you want to be picked up. We're getting ready to go back up to the studio soon, so we'll definitely still be up."
"Will do." Jack replied.
"Who knows? After tonight I may have to do the walk of shame tomorrow morning." Josh replied grabbing his jacket.
"Just let me know you're safe." You forced a smile as they left, making awkward eye contact with Josh.
Conor woke up when the door closed, popping up and yelling "I'm awake." leaving Anna and you in a fit of laughter.
You had left Anna to watch the rest of the movie and to wait for the food that was being delivered and you and Conor want back up to the studio.
"Love, you need to do something to clear your head. I would say take a shot, but we have to pick up the boys later." He laughed. "Ever since we came back up here your ideas have gotten more and more angsty."
"I'm sorry." you said, hanging your head.
"Don't apologize. I just want to help. What's going on up there?" he tapped you on the forehead.
"It's nothing. I think I'm just in a mood." you tried to laugh it off.
"What about?" He asked.
"Boys. Dumb, dumb boys." You were genuinely laughing at yourself, now. "We should take advantage of my angst and work on one of your emo songs." you joked.
Conor caught on that you didn't want to talk about it and decided to try to make you laugh. He stood up and starting singing lyrics to an old Hawthorne Heights song.
"Too emo! TOO EMO!" You were rolling laughing at this point.
Soon after that, Anna brought the food up and the rest of your night ended up back on track. You finished a song and had started another.
"Lets do another round!" Josh called to the boys.
"You're really in it to win it tonight, aren't you." Caspar replied, suggesting shots. "What's gotten into you?"
"He's caught up on a girl." Jack replied before Josh could answer. "He won't admit who it is, though."
"Is that why you wanted to go out tonight, mate?" Mikey asked. "Find yourself a distraction."
"Why don't I know about this?" Caspar asked, faking that he was hurt.
Josh just glared at Jack. "Because it doesn't matter."
"Go grab the next round, Josh." Jack handed him cash, watching him walk off to the bar.
"Who is it?" Caspar immediately asked. Mikey's face looking just as interested.
"I think it's Y/n, but he wouldn't say. He just said that they wouldn't like him back so he wants to get over it." Jack quickly said, trying to fill them in before Josh got back with shots.
"Awww, they would be cute together!" Caspar squee'd like a proud parent.
"I know! I just don't know how to get him to tell us that it is for sure her. I don't want to play match-maker and fuck things up if it's not." Jack saw Josh approaching their booth so he told the other guys to act normal.
"Yeah!" Mikey cheered when Josh put the drinks down. "To a good night out with the boys." he added, picking up his glass and tapping it to the other glasses.
"Amen, buddy." Josh replied, downing his 7th or 8th shot of the night.
2:30 A.M. and Conor finally got a text from the boys. "Either of you want to come with me to get those losers?"
"I'm in." You grabbed your sweatshirt, looking to Anna.
"May as well. I hate being here by myself." She joined you at the door.
Anna sat up front so she wouldn't have to share a seat with a drunk boy. "Hop in fellas!" she yelled to the boys once we arrived at the club.
Josh slid in next to you, with Jack following. Caspar and Mikey sat in the very back row. "Who is going where?" Conor called to the back of the car.
"If you don't mind, can you drop me off at my place?" Caspar asked.
"Not at all. We'll drop you off first." Conor replied.
"Did you guys have fun?" you asked.
"Yeah. Mostly just caught up with one another and drank. We drank a lot. I'm glad you guys picked us up because I don't think I could have worked my Uber app." Jack looked like he was half asleep already.
"How did your song writing go?" Josh suddenly asked, a drunk smile on his face.
"Good, actually. Thanks for asking." You smiled back at him. "Did you have a good night?"
"Yeah. Nothing special. Just hanging with the boys. Do we get to hear what you wrote?" Josh asked as we pulled up to Caspar's place.
Knowing that your first song was kind of inspired by the drunk boy sitting next to you, you were kind of nervous to have him listen to it. With blushing cheeks you responded, "Of course. Once it's finished."
"Bye guys. Thanks for the ride, Conor." Caspar called into the car. Jack joined Mikey in the back so that it was 2 to a row, and Josh laid down taking up the whole seat with his head in your lap.
"Too much to drink?" you asked him, chuckling.
"I can handle it." he mumbled.
You saw Anna look back and smile at the sight of you two. "Sure you can, buddy." She teased him.
Jack was giving Josh a hard time from the back seat. "Mate, you're gonna crush her. Or be sick. Whichever one comes first."
Josh attempted to sit up, but you put your arm over his side. "You're fine, hun. I'll wake you up when we get back to the flat."
Mikey jabbed Jack in the side, telling him to shut up.
You were totally fine with how the night ended up. Josh didn't go out with some random girl, you finished your song, and you were now running your fingers through his hair.
Your phone went off and you saw a picture Anna had just snapped of you two. You had to admit, it was quite cute.
When you pulled up to the flat, you rubbed your hand up and down Josh's side trying to wake him up. "Josh. Come on, love. You gotta wake up."
He sat up looking really confused. "Are we back?" he sleepily asked.
"Yes." you tried to keep a straight face. His hair was all over the place since you had been playing with it. "Lets get inside."
You tried to help him out, but he insisted on doing it himself. "I'm fine. I'm not that drunk." But when he practically fell out of the car, he admitted defeat.
"Come on." you laughed, putting your arm around his waist and pulling his over your shoulders. "I got you."
You and Anna decided to sleep on the couches, letting Josh sleep off his drunk in his own bed. You got him to the bed and started taking his shoes off. "Josh, do you need anything before you pass out?"
"I'm going to go get water in a minute" he replied with his eyes already shut.
"How about I grab you some water and some crackers and you stay here and change into some pajamas." You offered.
When you returned with some water, pain pills, and crackers he hadn't moved. "Josh, can you drink some of this before you fall asleep?" getting him to sit up for a second. "You don't want to sleep in your jeans, either."
He drank all of the water, but then he just laid back down. "Your phone is by your bed, okay? Can I get you anything else?"
He didn't respond, so you assumed he'd fallen asleep. Walking to the door, you heard him mumble something that truly sounded like "stay."
Turning around, you asked him. "What was that?", but the only response you got was a light snore. Feeling bad that he was going to be uncomfortable all night, you pulled his jeans off and left him to sleep in his T-shirt and Boxers. You tucked him in and made your way to the living room.
Anna had already fallen asleep on a couch, so you were free to write for a little bit. "Conor, can I grab my song book from you?"
"Of course. I'm actually going to write a bit tonight if you want to come up." He replied. He had actually been waiting for you two to be alone so he could question you about "J.P. and Josh".
"Perfect." you followed him up the stairs.
"Feeling inspired?" he asked, trying to keep a smirk off of his face as he handed you your book.
You blushed, feeling like he was trying to get information out of you. "Just don't think I'll be able to sleep, is all." You sat cross-legged on the floor and opened your notebook and it fell open on your trash page. When you realized that Conor had been through the whole thing and would have seen this page, your head shot up.
He had a full blown grin at this point. "Josh, huh?"
"Oh, fuck my life." you laughed, burying your face in your hands. "I cannot win with you guys."
"Awwwww, its true! Is that why you and Anna have been being so secretive??" he came to sit across from you on the floor.
"She told Jack, too!" you whined. "I just don't want to make things awkward. I'm in your flat for a month."
"It won't be awkward, love. Also, you two are fucking adorable. I saw the picture Anna took. You should tell him." he replied, opening his own songbook to find something to work on.
"NO! No way! Please don't tell him." you begged Conor.
"Hey, hey! Calm down, y/n. I would never break your trust like that. I just think it's really cute. He's a great guy." assuring you that your secret was safe.
"Thanks." you smiled back at him.
You guys wrote for another hour or so before finally crashing for the night.
The next morning, you and Anna were the first up. With it being almost noon, you decided to cook a full breakfast for the guys. Anna made toast and fried eggs while you made bacon, sausage, and hash browns. While the last pieces of toast were browning, you guys went to wake the boys.
You heard laughter coming from Jack's room and walked in to see Anna snap chatting Mikey and Jack spooning. You then went to wake Josh while Anna went to wake Conor.
"Josh?" You called, gently shaking his shoulder. "You have breakfast waiting for you in the kitchen."
Josh sat up, taking notice of what room he was in. "Why am I in my room? Where did you sleep?"
"You boys came home pretty drunk last night, so we figured you'd like to sleep in your own bed." You replied.
"But where did you and Anna sleep?" He groggily asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
At this point you realized he didn't remember anything from last night. "What do you mean? I slept in here, don't you remember?"
Josh's eyes shot open. "What?! I mean, uh. Oh...Did we, uh...what exactly um..."
"Nothing happened, Josh. What kind of girl do you think I am?" You went on. "You do talk in your sleep, though. Apparently it was confession hour for you." You teased.
"Oh, God. Y/n please tell me I didn't say anything embarrassing..." He went quiet for a second. "Oh, shit! Did I say anything about you?"
"Josh, I'm kidding! Anna and I slept on the couches. Don't freak out, hun. Your secrets are still safe." You laughed. "I am intrigued what you thought you said about me, though. Put your pants on and come eat." You smiled and left the room.
"You were in there a long time, y/n." Conor teased when you made your way back to the kitchen.
"Shut it." You scolded. "He can hear you!"
"Morning, ladies." Mikey said, joining you at the counter.
"Morning, Lp." You replied, handing him a plate.
"I feel like I'm dying" Josh said, finally walking out of his room. "I don't remember anything after falling asleep on Y/n's lap in the car. Sorry about that, by the way."
"Don't apologize for being adorable." You replied, making Josh smile.
"It WAS really cute." Anna added. "I even took a picture. I'll send it to you."
"You guys went pretty hard, last night." Conor said. "Make sure to drink lots of water."
"I have an empty glass by my bed, so I assume someone made me drink some last night. Thank you, whoever that was." Josh replied.
"That would be your pillow over here." Anna said, pointing her thumb at you.
"The food is delicious, girls." Jack said, stuffing bacon in his mouth. "Josh, please tell me you've changed your mind about going out again tonight."
"You're going out again?" Conor asked.
"No. It was a dumb idea." Josh said. "Learned my lesson."
"No more distractions?" Jack asked, sitting next to Josh.
Josh immediately punched him in the arm. "Shut up."
You and Anna shared a confused look. "Anyone have any plans for the day?" Anna asked.
"Well, I think Josh and I are filming at Caspar's later." Mikey replied.
"I'm supposed to be at Oli's in a few hours." Jack added.
"Looks like we're writing again today", you smiled at Anna and Conor. "Also, Anna, we should bake a cake."
"YES! Conor, can you drive us to the store?" She looked really excited.
"As long as you share." He bargained.
"Deal." She answered.
Josh eventually made his way to Caspar's with Mikey. Anna had text him the picture of you and him in the car and he kept unlocking his phone to look at it.
"You alright, buddy?" Caspar asked his best mate.
"Yeah. Of course." Josh locked his phone, setting it on the table. "What are we filming today?"
"I wanted to film a new game I ordered but it didn't come in time." Caspar complained. "We can do a QnA or a Would You Rather video?" He suggested, trying to come up with ideas.
"Let's do Would You Rather, but like Jack has been playing it. You have to actually do the one you pick." Josh replied.
"Oh, man. I already did this with Jack!" Mikey whined.
"Okay, why don't you read off the questions then." Caspar suggested. "Let's write down a few each. Then we'll make sure we have everything for the game."
Doing his intro, he mentioned Josh and Mikey and explained why they were doing this instead of the video he had planned. "Okay, I'll go first. Mikey?"
"Caspar, would you rather eat a spoonful of coffee grinds or retweet every tweet Joe has written in the last month. Including replies."
"Oh, fuck my life. I'm going to look like the biggest weirdo." He said, spending the next 5 minutes retweeting a months worth of tweets.
"I'm glad you got that one." Josh teased. "Lay it on me Mikey."
"Josh, would you rather let Caspar text anyone from your phone or tweet your YouTube crush asking them out on a date?" Mikey read the paper.
Josh felt really stuck. "I guess I'll have Caspar text off my phone." He said, reluctantly handing over his phone.
"Ooooooo, who should I text??" Caspar squealed. Opening Josh's phone, he saw it open on his text with Anna. The picture of Josh laying on your lap was the last text he had received. "Well I guess that makes it easy to pick." He held the phone up to Josh, showing him he had seen the picture.
"Please don't text her." Josh begged, getting flustered. "Caspar, don't." He grabbed his phone back, walking away from where they were filming.
"Hey, Josh. We'll start that round over." Trying to calm Josh down. They teased him a lot, but Caspar loved Josh. He knew when things had gone too far. "I do want you to talk about it, though. Jack thinks you like her."
Josh sat down on the couch, looking at the picture. "That's funny because it seems like she likes Jack."
"If she does, I don't think he knows it. He wanted to try to hook you two up." Caspar said, sitting next to Josh. "You should just talk to her."
"Nah, she's going to be here for a month staying in our flat. I don't want to fuck it up." He said. "Can we film later? I'm not really in the mood anymore."
"Of course. I'll do a QnA with Mikey and we'll film something else later." Caspar said, grabbing his phone. "Oh, fuck me, I need to delete all of these retweets."
That actually got Josh to laugh a bit. "I'll see you later." He said, leaving Mikey and Casper to do a QnA.
Conor, Anna, and you were in the grocery store shopping for baking supplies.
"What kind of cake should we make?" You asked Anna, looking at all of the options.
"Well...Josh's favorite is chocolate." Conor said, grabbing a tin of chocolate frosting.
"You told Conor?!" Anna shrieked.
"Calm down, he figured it out." You laughed.
"Yeah, she's written his name in her notebook about a dozen times." He teased.
"Stooooooop. It's hopeless, guys." You said, reaching for the vanilla cake mix.
"Fuck off." Conor said, swatting your hand away from the box and grabbing the chocolate mix instead. "You know you're not about to give up. One, you're actually way out of Josh's league. So you have that going for you." He laughed. "And two, you've literally been writing lyrics about that boy. I'm not letting you give up on your muse."
"Just put the cake mix in the cart and shut up." You said, laughing. "Also, where's the wine in this place?"
"That's my girl." Conor cheered.
When you got back to the flat, you noticed Josh's keys on the table by the door.
"Lets bake the cake now so it can cool." Anna suggested.
Grabbing all of the ingredients, you started looking through the drawers for the wine bottle opener. "Found it!" you called, pouring yourself a hardy glass of red. "Okay, where are the mixing bowls?"
You and Anna were halfway through adding your ingredients and you were about halfway through your glass. "Oooo, you grabbed chocolate chips too!" Anna sounded excited, throwing them in the batter.
"Did someone say chocolate?" Josh walked into the kitchen, sitting at the counter.
"We're baking a cake!" Anna cheered, sneaking sips of your wine.
"And underage drinking apparently?" Josh laughed.
"I have done no such thing." She replied, sneaking another sip.
"Girl, your brother is going to kill me." you poked her in the side, making her giggle. "Would you like some wine?" you asked Josh.
"Yes, actually. That sounds great." he smiled at you.
Grabbing a second glass, you filled his and re-filled yours. "Okay, we need to add the eggs." you said, reading the back of the box.
"I want to crack the eggs!" Anna ran to to grab the carton.
"I thought you were filming at Caspar's, today?" you asked, sipping some more of your wine, feeling it start to relax you.
Josh took a hardy drink from his glass and replied. "Filming got a little stressful, so he's just going to do a QnA instead."
"That's a bummer. On the other hand, we'll have cake in about an hour." you held up your glass to cheers him.
"Cake makes everything better." he laughed, clinking his glass to yours. "This wine is really good."
"Red is best. Jack is always drinking white wine." you replied.
"I'll have to remember that." he said, topping off his glass.
Anna cracked the eggs and finished the mix. Once the cake was in the oven, she said she had to ask Conor something and left the room.
"How do you set the timer on this?" you asked.
Josh walked up to stand behind you and pointed over your shoulder to the timer. "How long?" he asked.
Feeling him stand so close to you with this much wine in you had your head spinning a bit. "Um...thirty minutes should be fine."
"three zero zero zero." he read the numbers out as he punched them in. "It's good to go."
"Thank you." you said, turning to face him.
"No problem." he replied, stepping back to lean on the counter. "What are you guys doing for the rest of the day?"
"Conor and I will eventually hole up somewhere to write, but I think we're just going to hang out for a bit. I know Anna wants to watch Conjuring 2."
"Mind if I join you for that?" he asked. "I didn't get to catch it in the cinema."
"Of course! We should try to pull the blinds and drapes so that it gets dark in here. We can put the movie on after we pull the cake out to cool." you replied, finishing your second glass of wine.
"I'll fix the windows if you go grab blankets." he smiled, finishing his wine, as well.
"Perfect." you left the room, glad to have a moment to yourself. grabbing the extra blanket off of Josh's bed, you climbed the stairs to Conor's room.
"What are you two doing in here?" you asked, startling both of them.
"You scared the shit out of me." Conor said, covering his chest with his hand.
"Well, if a tipsy person walking up stairs scares you, I don't know how you're going to survive the movie." you said, laughing. "I need to steal your second blanket. We're getting the living room ready for Conjuring 2."
"YES! I'm going to go make popcorn." Anna said, running down the stairs.
"Tipsy, eh?" Conor asked, patting the chair next to him that Anna had just left.
"Wine does wonders for the nerves." you laughed.
"I really do need to take you out one night. It's totally different than in America." he added.
"I'm in. I haven't been out dancing in forever." you replied, looking at his computer screen. "Have you been working on our songs??" you asked excitedly.
"Yeah. I was just letting Anna listen through a couple of the backing tracks." he said. "We'll go over them later, though. Let's go watch the movie."
"I'm really excited to work on those. I feel like I was stuck in writing some of them, but they're turning into great songs." you said, smiling at Conor.
"That would have nothing to do with the giant ginger downstairs, though, right?" he teased.
"Oh, shut it. I think it's just being here. Finally getting to spend time with you and Anna. Leaving my routine. Visiting a new city. I just needed to not feel stuck. Thank you for making me come out here." you hugged him.
"I'm glad you came." he replied, hugging you back. You two talked a bit before going downstairs. "Come on, you lush. I'll grab the other blanket."
Walking downstairs, you heard the timer start to go off. "Anna, can you grab the cake?" you called.
"I got it." Josh said from the kitchen, shutting the timer off and grabbing pot-holders.
"Thank you." You smiled at him.
"This smells delicious." he replied, putting the cake tin on a cooling rack and turning off the oven "The movie is ready to go, too."
When you got to the couch, Anna and Conor had taken each end, leaving the two spaces in the middle open. You sat next to Anna, throwing the blanket over your laps. "Come on, Josh. We're starting it."
"Coming!" he called, grabbing something before he left the kitchen. He joined you on the couch and you saw that he had filled his wine glass again. "Have any of you seen this?" he asked.
"I did. It was terrifying." you answered, watching the opening scenes. As you all relaxed into the couch and got comfortable, you and Josh ended up a little closer, your thighs and shoulders touching.
About half an hour into the movie, it starts to get pretty scary. The lot of you jumping at certain scenes and ducking your head to avoid watching others. During one particular scene, you had practically yelped and the other three got quite a laugh out of it. "Don't tease me!" you laughed, too. "I forgot about that part!"
"We're just giving you a hard time." Josh said, throwing his arm around you to shake you a bit. "We've all jumped."
"Just wait. It gets scarier." you said, looking up at him, grabbing his glass from him and taking a sip.
"We'll see." he left his arm around you, letting it drape over your shoulder.
For as nervous as you had felt around Josh, you felt really safe tucked into his side. Anna, being the sneaky photographer again, snapped a picture of the two of you.
"That was way better than I thought it was going to be. Sequels normally suck." Conor said, stretching and getting off the couch to turn on the lights.
"I agree. I still wish I would have seen it while it was in the cinema. They're always scarier." Josh replied, his arm still securely around you.
"It smells like cake." you guys heard Jack say from the door.
"Oh yeah! We need to frost it." Anna said, getting up and going to the kitchen.
"You can frost it. I'm comfortable." you said, pulling the rest of the blanket over to now cover you and Josh.
"Awwww, finally." Jack said, seeing you next to Josh.
Your eyes flew open and Josh had a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?" Josh asked Jack.
"Nothing." you quickly replied. "He's just being an idiot." you stared at Jack, standing up and joining Anna in the kitchen.
"What was that about?" Josh asked Jack once you had left the room.
"I just mean that I was glad you two finally...you know...talked or whatever. You looked cute all cuddled together on the couch." Jack said.
"That would be the wine. They didn't actually talk." Conor laughed.
"Aahhhh, well lets open another bottle." Jack joked.
"I'm not going to break Y/n's trust, but I can guarantee you Jack will, so I'm going to leave the room and let you two get on the same page." Conor said, joining you and Anna in the kitchen.
"What is going on?" Josh asked.
"Well, a few things. Caspar already text me, so I know you like y/n." Jack said, holding his hands up telling Josh to stay sat down and listen. "Also, the reason I've been trying to find out who you like is because Y/n likes you. Like, she's told me and Anna and apparently Conor."
"What?" Josh said, relaxing back into the couch.
"Yeah, so stop being a moody child and do something about it." Jack replied.
"I wasn't that bad." Josh defended himself.
"You said you might go home with a girl from the club right in front of her." Jack scolded him.
"Ah, fuck. I'm an idiot." Josh replied, standing up. "I'll make it up to her." he said, walking to the kitchen with Jack.
Anna had finished icing the cake and Conor and you had gone up to his room to start working on the songs.
"So, we were right." Jack said, walking up to Anna and stealing the frosting spoon.
Looking at Josh, she asked, "What are you going to do about it?"
"I don't know yet. I just found out she likes me." Josh replied.
"Well...Why don't you post this?" Anna held up her phone, showing Josh the picture of you two cuddled together watching the movie.
"That's a big move." he replied, getting a bit nervous.
"Josh, you already know she likes you. I think it's perfect." Jack added.
Downing the last bit of wine, Josh agreed. "Fuck it. Send it to me."
"I need to start charging for all of these photo shoots." Anna teased, texting Josh the photo.
Josh posted the photo on his Instagram with the caption "I'm not above using a scary movie as an excuse to cuddle with a beautiful girl."
"Damn, son." Jack said, patting Josh on the back. "That's slick."
"Even better, Y/n's phone is right here. She won't see it right away." Anna said.
"Perfect. Now lets go get something to eat before Conor sees it. I've had too much wine and not enough food." Josh said, grabbing his wallet and ordering an Uber from his phone.
"Lets get Chinese." Anna said, writing a note and leaving it next to the cake. "Be back soon. Josh, Jack, and I went to get food. We'll bring you something back. - Anna"
You and Conor had been going through the backing tracks he had made, tweaking and refining them. Conor got the notification that Josh had posted a picture and clicked on it. "I'll be right back." Conor said, running down the stairs. Seeing the note and your phone, he ran back upstairs.
"Are you okay?" you laughed, seeing Conor out of breath and looking a bit crazy.
"Two things." He said, handing you the note.
"Okay, they'll be back in a bit. And?" you replied, really curious where this was going.
"You should check your phone." He said, now handing you your phone.
"Oh, god. What did he post? Did they get in trouble?" you asked, opening the notification.
Conor watched your face light up and your cheeks turn red when you read what Josh wrote. "I'm not above using a scary movie as an excuse to cuddle with a beautiful girl." You started typing a comment on his photo and Conor looked over your shoulder to read it. "I'm not above playing up how scary the movie is to cuddle with a handsome boy."
"You two are disgusting." Conor teased, walking back to the computer.
Waiting at the "to-go" counter of the restaurant, Josh unlocked his phone and saw your comment. "Oh, shit."
Grabbing Josh's phone, Jack saw what you wrote. "See! I told you, buddy."
"God, I'm so awkward. I feel like a teenager that's scared to ask a girl to the dance." Josh replied, rubbing his hand over his face.
"That's kind of perfect, though. You're both awkward. It works." Anna laughed, grabbing the bags of food from the counter.
When they made it back to the flat, they brought the food into the kitchen. "I'll go let them know we're back." Jack said, going upstairs. "Hey, you two." He said, walking to stand between you and Conor's chairs.
"What did you guys bring?" Conor asked, saving his project.
"Chinese. Anna wants to eat and play games downstairs, so join us whenever you're ready." Jack replied. He started back down the stairs singing "Josh and Y/n, sitting in a tree..."
You both laughed, but Conor knew you were nervous. "Come on, love. You'll do fine."
When you joined the rest downstairs, you grabbed your plates and made your way to the living room. "Tonight is my last night here and I want to play games." Anna said.
"Sounds fun to me." You said, sitting next to her. "what do you have in mind?"
"We have board games, but I also want to play charades." She said, digging into her food.
"I'll text Mikey so the teams are even." Jack replied.
The evening went by without a hitch. You had eaten your dinners, had some cake, opened a few more bottles of wine, played some games, and filmed the charades for Jack's channel. You were grateful that you and Josh never got brought up. When the evening was winding down, you decided to get some air and went to sit on the balcony. You sat cross-legged on the floor, flipping through your songbook and reading over some notes Conor had left you. "How are you doing out here?" Josh asked, walking out onto the balcony.
"Hey! I'm good. Just enjoying the night air." You smiled up at him, closing your book.
Seeing you flip your notebook closed, Josh apologized for interrupting you. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll leave you to it." He smiled and started walking back inside.
"Oh, no!" You replied. "I was just reading through what Conor had written. You're totally free to stay if you'd like."
"You don't mind?" He asked, hesitating at the door.
"Of course not, silly." You said, patting the spot next to you.
"Hold on." He said, ducking inside and coming back out with a blanket. "It gets quite chilly out here this late." Josh sat next to you and threw the blanket over your laps.
"Thank you." You said, leaning back against the wall.
After a few moments of comfortable silence, Josh blurted out "I'm sorry if I've been an ass."
Turning to look at him, you couldn't help but laugh. "What do you mean?"
"Let me explain." he said, leaning back against the wall. "I've had an innocent little YouTuber crush on your for a while. I never thought much of it until I actually met you in person." He paused, turning to face you for a moment before continuing. "When I realized I had actual feelings for you, I got a bit jealous of your relationships with Jack and Conor."
"Josh, they're friendships. And Jack flirts with everybody." you laughed.
Chuckling himself, Josh continued. "I know, but I was still jealous." He turned to face you again. "I really like you and I know you're probably way out of my league, but I'd really love to take you on a date."
"Josh, I'm not out of your league. And I've liked you for quite a while." you replied, opening your notebook to your trash page. "look."
Josh laughed, seeing his name and initials scribbled in your notebook. He started teasing you. "You really like me, you want to kiss me, you want to hug me...." he continued on, both of you laughing.
"Alright, alright. Give me a break." you replied, leaning on his shoulder. Josh put his arm around you and pulled you to snuggle into his side. "I vote we call this our first date. We've had wine, food, fun, and now we're cuddled up outside enjoying each others company in this beautiful weather."
"I think we can make that happen." he replied, pacing a kiss on top of your head.
You looked up at him and pulled him into a sweet and gentle kiss before snuggling back into his side. You both sat there in comfortable silence for about a half hour, just enjoying being together. When Jack walked out onto the porch, he hopped up on the wall and "awww"d the two of you, seeing you asleep tucked under Josh's arm. "Good job, buddy. Did you finally talk?"
"Yeah." He replied looking down at you. "I'm an idiot. I should have talked to her straight away."
"I tried to get you to talk!" Jack laughed. "I knew she really cared for you and I didn't want to try and hook you two up if you didn't feel the same."
"I definitely do. She's only here for a month and I feel like I've already wasted so much time." Josh replied, tucking your hair behind your ear.
"It's not like we don't travel all the time. You'll make it work, buddy." Jack encouraged Josh.
"I know." Josh smiled.
"Well Conor's gone to bed and Anna is asleep on the couch. You may want to wake sleeping beauty." Jack said, hopping down off of the wall.
Josh waited for Jack to go inside and then he tried to wake you up. "Y/n." He said, running his hand up and down your arm.
"Sorry." You said, sitting up and taking in your surroundings. "I'm exhausted."
"Anna and Conor are asleep and Jack's headed there. We should probably go inside." He said.
"I agree." You said, standing up. "Where did Anna crash?"
"Couch. You can have my bed. I'll go join Conor." He said, grabbing the blanket and following you inside.
"I can take the other couch. You don't need to give up your own bed." You replied, going up on your tip-toes to kiss Josh's cheek.
"No way. I'm not taking a bed if you have a couch." Josh argued.
"Well then, fancy a cuddle buddy?" You asked, tucking Anna in with the blanket.
You turned around to see a sleepy smiling Josh. "Sounds good to me." He replied, following you into his room. "I'll go change in the bathroom. You can get ready for bed in here."
When Josh returned, you went to wash your face and brush your teeth in the bathroom. Walking back into his room, you saw him laid down in the bed with his eyes closed. Worrying you would wake him, you gently crawled in on the other side and turned the lamp off.
"You're too far away" you heard Josh say before feeling his arms snake around your middle and pull you to him.
Giggling, you replied. "I thought you had fallen asleep."
"Just waiting for you, love." Josh kissed your hair and snuggled into the pillow behind you. "Sleep well."
"I definitely will." you replied, letting the rhythm of Josh's chest rising and falling lull you to sleep.
The next morning you woke up with Josh's head laying on your chest and his leg thrown over one of yours. You looked down and stared at the sleeping ginger and couldn't help but smile. Checking the time on your phone, you saw that it was almost noon. Clicking on a text notification, you saw it was from Anna. "I came in to say bye, but I didn't want to wake you. I'll make sure to come down from Brighton again before you leave. :) Or I'll make Conor and Jack bring you up. I'll leave you with this." Her text was followed by a picture of you and Josh cuddled together in his bed.
Running your fingers through his hair, you tried to wake Josh. "Josh, wake up." Josh just snuggled his face into your chest a bit and continued to sleep. Your laugh is what ended up waking him up. "Comfortable?" you asked.
Sleepily he looked up at you, realizing that he was laying on you. "Sorry." he said, starting to roll away.
"No you don't." you said, pulling him back to you. "You can stay." you started running your fingers through his hair again. "It's just almost noon and I'm starving."
"Mmmm, I am too, but you're so comfortable." Josh replied, practically purring as your drug your fingers through his hair.
"We can cuddle again after food." You said, your stomach growling.
"I'd love to be selfish, but your tummy is yelling at me." Josh laughed, rolling out of bed. "Let me go see if anyone else is awake."
Watching him walk out of the room, you couldn't help but have a moment of "this is real". You stayed laying in the bed with your eyes closed for a moment before standing up and changing into fresh clothes.
Josh walked back in without making any noise and caught you mid change. "Shit, I'm so sorry!" he said, turning back to the door.
Startled, you jumped and turned and then started laughing. "You scared the ever livin' out of me." you called after him. "Josh, you can come back in."
Shyly he crept back through the door. "I didn't mean to intrude." he said, watching you pull jeans and a sweater on.
"It's your room, nerd. You're good." you said, going up on your toes to kiss him. "Anyone else awake?"
Circling you in his arms, he responded. "They're both just waking up. I kind of want to leave the flat for food."
"Coffee shop down the street?" you suggested, leaning your head against his chest and slipping your arms around him.
"Perfect." He replied. "Let me get changed and we'll tell the boys to meet us there."
"I'll let them know." you said, kissing him and leaving the room.
After letting the guys know, you walked back towards Josh's room and heard him talking to someone.
"That's perfect, thank you. I'm going to wait to book a ticket back. I'm hoping the person I'm visiting will want me to stay a while." Josh said into the phone.
You peeked around the corner of his door frame and saw him blush when he realized you had heard him booking a ticket to visit you. He ended the call telling the customer service rep to have a nice day.
"Plan on visiting someone?" You asked with a smirk on your face.
"I mean. There's this beautiful girl in America I'm hoping won't mind sharing a bed with me for a while." He grinned, pulling you to sit in his lap on the bed.
"Well I hope she says yes." You pecked his lips with a chaste kiss.
"Me too." Josh said with an adoring look in his eyes. "Because I just can't accept that this ends when you fly home. I don't want to let this go."
"Don't worry, Josh." You smiled, putting your hand on his cheek. "You can share my bed anytime you want...even if you do snore."
"Hey!" Josh said, faking hurt. "I don't snore."
You got up laughing and walked out to where the guys were waiting. "Oh, you definitely snore."
"Looks like you two got on well last night." Conor said.
"We did." You replied, grabbing Josh's hand when he caught up. "Even tho this one snores like a mad man."
"I do not!" Josh retorted, leading you both out of the flat.
"I thought it was bad watching them pine over each other." Jack said sarcastically. "Now we have to live with the married couple for 3 more weeks."
Conor cracked up laughing. "Oh, you better prepare yourself. That's going to last a hell of a lot longer than 3 weeks."
"Yeah yeah." Jack laughed, following them out of the flat.