"I did good," Addison said, wrapping her arms around Bryce's waist as she admired her outfit choice.
"You look so good!" Amelie said, crossing the room to hug me.
Avani's jaw was dropped. "Your makeup, girl. I just- wow."
I chuckled softly. "You guys are entirely too nice to me. I'm really not that special."
It was Dixie's turn to chuckle. "We are the professional Sway hype women, so you better get used to it."
Cynthia stepped away from Quinton. "It feels like I haven't seen you in weeks!" she exclaimed, wrapping me in a hug.
"Jaden, did you find the shoes that you were looking for?" Mads inquired, coming out of the kitchen. "Holy shit. You look hot, girl."
"Alright, enough. Josh! We need to leave!" Bryce called up the stairs, obviously over the love fest that his sister was receiving.
Josh came down the stairs quickly. "You said that we weren't leaving until six-thirty. It's six-twenty."
Bryce shrugged. "Leaving early never hurt anyone."
"You hate leaving early," Griffin chuckled.
We split up into groups and got into our cars. Bryce, Addison, Josh, Kio, and I were in the first car. Noah, Dixie, Quinton, Cynthia, and Griffin were in the second car. Anthony, Avani, Jaden, Mads, Blake, and Amelie took the last car.
"Bet that we beat them all there," Bryce said from the driver's seat.
Addison shook her head. "Bet you drive the speed limit and don't do anything stupid to endanger the lives of everyone in this car."
I giggled softly. Bryce could pretend that he was big and bad, but when it came to Addison, he never questioned her. Bryce changed the subject quickly, fully aware that he showing all of us how much of a simp he was. "So, are you guys nervous?"
"Why would we be nervous?" Josh asked.
"Um, the video that came out today?" Addison reminded him, turning around in her seat to look at us.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that," Josh stated, laughing. "We'll be fine. We always are."
I watched as Noah's car passed us. Bryce sighed in frustration but didn't dare speed up to pass him. "Everything okay up there, Bryce?" Kio asked.
Bryce answered through clenched teeth. "Everything is just fine."
Addison and I shared a look before bursting into laughter. "We're all gonna eat at the same time, bubs. Why does it matter who gets there first?"
"I hate being last. I don't care if we're late. I just care if I'm the first to be late."
His excuse was flawed, but there was too much to unpack there, and honestly, I didn't care that much. "Okay, bubs. Just stay calm, maybe?"
Somehow, we arrived just before Noah. Bryce was handing his keys to the valet as they pulled up behind us. Bryce's whole demeanor had changed, and I had never been so grateful.
Bryce, Kio, and Josh greeted Noah, Quinton, and Griffin as though they hadn't just left the house together twenty minutes prior. Dixie, Addison, Cynthia, and I watched on, confused but not questioning it. The last car pulled up, and the rest of our friends piled out of the car.
I spotted Fletcher and quickly made my way to Josh's side. "Fletcher."
All it took was his name, and it was like Josh knew every emotion that I was feeling. "It's gonna be fine. You don't even have to talk if you don't want to."
Fletcher walked up. "The gang's all here, huh? It's been a while since I've seen you all out together."
Bryce chuckled. "You're right, man. We figured it was time for a little family dinner."
"The fans wanna know everything about all of you, but I really wanna know one thing," Fletcher began. "What's up with that video that you posted today, Josh? Yesterday, you and Bailey were just a couple of besties, and today, you guys have been together for six months. What's that all about?"
Everyone else had made their way to the entrance of BOA, so Josh and I were up close with Fletcher. "You know, man, sometimes you just have to keep things private until you're totally sure," Josh answered, pulling me close to him by my waist. "You never want to tell everyone that you're dating, and it only lasts a couple of weeks, you know what I'm saying?"
"Yeah, man. That makes sense. Why release it now, though?"
I took this as an opportunity to answer. "You know, everyone already assumed, and Josh and I talked about it, and we were comfortable with finally confirming it."
"Okay, well you guys enjoy your dinner. Thanks for talking with us."
We made our way to the table, where everyone was looking at us expectantly.
When we didn't say anything, Addison took that as a cue to ask. "How did it go?"
I shrugged. "It was a Holywood Fix interview. How do you think it went?"
Griffin laughed. He still got stopped frequently to be asked about Noah and Dixie, even though they had been broken up for months, and Griffin had made it clear that even if he did have an opinion, he wouldn't be sharing it.
"Don't laugh," Dixie said. "Now that he's busy with them, maybe he'll stop hitting you where it hurts and asking about me."
There was collective laughter around the table. It was nice to see that they had moved on to being able to joke with each other, even after everything that had happened. Maybe Nessa and I would get to that point one day, but she had all but outright avoided me since the party.
Our waitress came up to the table, greeting us. We ordered our drinks, and I looked around the table as everyone glanced over the menu. I had really been lucky that they had all welcomed me with open arms, and for the first time since I moved to LA six months ago, I felt truly happy.
"Bails, what are you staring at?" Amelie whispered next to me.
I sighed. "I'm just taking in how happy I am at this moment."
Amelie wrapped her arm around my shoulder, giving me a tight squeeze. "Get used to it, girl. We aren't going anywhere."
We rode home in silence. Fletcher had asked Bryce and Addison if they were officially back together, and Fletcher just wouldn't take no for an answer. I was proud of Bryce for keeping his cool at the restaurant, but the anger seeped out in the car.
When we walked in the door, I grabbed Josh's arm to get his attention. "Can we watch a movie? I'm not ready to sleep yet."
Josh nodded and led me up the stairs. "My room or yours?" he asked.
"Yours. Your bed is so much more comfortable."
Josh laughed, opening his bedroom door. "I'm gonna take a quick shower. Go ahead, and make yourself comfortable. I won't be long."
I pulled on a hoodie, wrapping myself in his comforter. As I scrolled through Netflix, his phone buzzed continuously. Josh and I had never had problems with being in each other's phones, so I picked it up to make sure that it wasn't an emergency.
When I saw the contact name, my heart dropped. As much as I wanted to snoop at that moment, I knew that our relationship had been built on our mutual trust of one another, so I set his phone back on the nightstand. I heard the shower shut off, and I rolled over, pretending to be asleep. I felt him settle in the bed next to me, turning the television off. It took everything that I had not to burst into tears.
I waited for his arms to wrap around me, pulling me closer to him, but they never came. I scooted over, feeling his back against mine. Hundreds of scenarios played through my head. Every night for the past six months, I had fallen asleep in his arms. What was so different about tonight that he wouldn't even touch me?
I rolled over, facing him. I heard his breathing steady, and I knew that he was asleep. Unable to control my emotions, I got out of bed and headed to my own room. As soon as I turned the knob to my own door, the tears flooded. I couldn't control what I was feeling.
There was a knock on my door. "Can I come in?" I heard Addison say on the other side. I crossed the room to open the door for her, throwing myself back on the bed as she shut the door behind her.
"Is everything okay, Bailey?"
"No," I mumbled, my face buried in a pillow.
"Turn over, and look at me, please," she demanded. I obeyed, rolling over. "What is wrong?"
"J-Josh was in the shower," I began, sniffling, "and his phone wouldn't stop ringing. I thought that maybe it was an emergency, so I picked it up to see. I-It was N-Nessa, Addi. Nessa was blowing his phone up, and they weren't angry messages."
Addison looked slightly confused. "Are you sure that she wasn't just mad that you guys confirmed your relationship today?"
I nodded. "His message preview is on. 'Can't wait to see you' doesn't exactly feel like anger to me."
Addison wrapped me in a hug. "Did you ask him about it?"
"No, I pretended to be asleep when he got out of the shower. He faced away from me when he laid down. He never does that. I left the room when I knew he was asleep."
"You need to talk to him. It could mean something else. You can't always jump to conclusions like that."
"Addi, how else is he supposed to spin that? I was a tool that he used to get more bustle around his name before he got back together with his ex. Do you know that he gained over a thousand new subscribers today? A thousand. Just because he posted that video with me. I thought that we had something real. God, I am so stupid."
Addison held me as I cried. "You are not stupid. Don't be so upset until you've talked to him. I would go wake him up right now. It's obvious that you aren't going to be getting any sleep anyway."
I thanked her and took her advice, opening the door slowly and shaking Josh awake.
"What's wrong?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"We need to talk. Right now."
He sat up, looking at me closely. "Have you been crying? What's wrong?" I calmly retold the story of seeing the messages on his phone. Josh's face fell as I spoke. "It's not what it looks like, Bailey. I promise you."
"Okay," I said, starting to get angry. "What is it then? Because I know what it looks like, and based on the context of those texts, I'm pretty confident that it is what it looks like."
Josh sighed, reaching over to grab his phone, showing me the texts. "Nessa is releasing a new song. She invited both of us to the single release party. I may not be in love with her anymore, but I'll still support her. The 'you' was both of us."
"Okay. We cuddle every night. What was different about tonight?" I asked, still not entirely convinced.
Josh sighed again. "What are you talking about? I got into bed, and you were asleep so I just laid down."
It was my turn to sigh. "Maybe I overreacted because of the whole Nessa thing. I'm sorry."
Josh pulled me into a hug. "I love you, and you are the only one for me. You don't ever, ever have to worry about me leaving you, because it's you and me against the world forever, girl."
The next morning, we came down the stairs together, and Addison smiled knowingly. I nodded at her, mouthing my thanks. My phone rang, and I excused myself to take the call.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Bailey. It's Nessa. I wanted to personally invite you to my single release party this weekend. I texted Josh last night to ask if you guys were interested."
I sighed in relief. "I would be honored, Nessa. Thank you so much for inviting me."
Nessa and I spoke briefly about the things that had happened in our lives in the last six months.
"Hey, before I hang up, congrats on you and Josh making it official. I'm really happy for you guys."
That was all the reassurance that I needed.