This is the rest of what the original chapter 22 was (well, most of it. The beginning of the next chapter [only a small bit of it] is the whole thing). I just thought all this together was too long
Yet another long author's note at the end (bit of an essay😅). PLEASE READ. It addresses what happened last week
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Olivia
"Ethan!" I shout. His head whips around, and he starts walking towards me.
"Hey, baby," he says, kissing my temple. "What are we doing?"
"Are you ok with joining us at Yellowfinn? It's a sushi place Sofia found."
"Yeah, sounds good. I haven't eaten in hours."
"That's all you ever do," I tease.
"Well excuse me for enjoying food."
"How long are you here for?"
"Until Sunday." Today was Friday.
"Really? You're leaving the 17th," I whine.
"I'm sorry. It was the only way I could work around my schedule." At least he tried.
Joshua
*Yellowfinn*
I just texted Clarie because I need someone else to complain to. Olivia is great and so easy to talk to, but I don't want to burden her too much.
"There's the happy couple," Sofia said... I think. I wasn't really paying attention.
I can hear Ethan and Olivia sit next to me (Olivia in between us), but I'm too focused on my phone to pay any attention.
C'mon, Clarie, answer.
"Josh!"
I look up and see Matt and Joe staring at me. "What?"
"We've been saying your name for the last thirty seconds. What do you want to eat?"
"Uhh... just get me anything. I'm not picky."
I set my phone on the table facing up and just stared at it for at least five minutes.
*Ten Minutes of Staring Later*
"Josh! Josh!!"
"Here, let me do it." I can see Frankie in my peripheral vision get out of his chair, but I'm not focusing on that right now.
About ten seconds later, something hits me in the face. "Dude!" I say loud enough for just our table to hear. "What was that for?" I was rubbing my eyes while looking around. Frankie's standing next to me with his napkin at his side.
"The food's been here for ten minutes, and you haven't even glanced at it," he says.
"Oh, sorry." I take some of the sushi and put it on my plate. I really need to get what happened earlier off my chest to someone who's used to my drama.
I start eating and completely zone out. Somehow that cafeteria scene triggered something. I've been doing fine for a little over a year with everything. Yes, I went through the wringer with her. But I haven't had anything that bad happen in a while.
The main reason I really need Clarie to answer (or anyone from home really) is so I don't completely drown Olivia with my problems. She's been extremely helpful and understanding with it all, but I'm not her responsibility. She's not obligated to make sure I'm ok. It isn't fair for me to continue to dump my shit storm on her.
I take a look around the table I'm at and see smiling faces and happy conversations. I know that just being around them will improve how I've been feeling solely because of how positive they are.
I wasn't paying attention to their conversations, just watching their moods. I managed to block out my phone so much that I almost fell out of my chair when it finally rang.
I read the caller ID, drop my food, and go for the exit. "Josh, where are you going?" someone asks.
I quickly turn around and say, "Don't worry, I'll be back."
I find a nearby bench and answer.
(Clarie | Joshua)
"Hey, you said it was urgent."
"Uh, yeah. It happened again, and I don't know why, how, or what to do."
"What happened?"
"It happened."
"Really? I thought you were over it. When was the last time?"
"I thought I was too. It's been months since the last one. The one today wasn't as extreme, but it still happened."
"When did this happen?"
"After we were done filming a scene. I don't know, but it was triggered by something. I can't have this happen every time we film something."
"Ok, what was the scene."
I quickly explain the whole scene to her while trying not to break down. All of a sudden many memories, new and old, come flooding back at once.
"Yikes, talk about deja vu."
"Not helping!"
"Ok, ok. I'll try my best, but it's hard to help when you're in Utah."
"I know, but I need someone to rant to."
"That's fine."
Matt
*20 Minutes Later*
"Hey, I'm gonna go check on him," I say, getting out of my chair. Josh's been out there for a while. All of us are either close or done eating.
"Josh?" I look into the parking lot and see his car's still here. Ok, so he hasn't left. "Josh?" I go around the corner and see him sitting on a bench, on his phone, and looking at the ground. His hair is messier than it was when we first got here, and his face is a light red. His eyes are redder than his face. He looks almost sleep deprived.
I was about to approach him when he said, "Yeah, you're right. I still have his number, so I'll call Dr. Nicky tomorrow."
Doctor!? Is he ok? He hangs up, and I pretend I haven't heard anything. "Hey." He jumps a little when I talk.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long," I lie. "Are, um... are you ok?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?" he says nonchalantly. His voice sounds perfectly normal. It almost convinces me there's nothing wrong, but his face says otherwise.
"Uh, cause you've been out here while the rest of us have been eating. We're pretty much done, and we've already paid the bill."
"Sorry, um... I'll just get a to-go box and eat it later." He starts to stand up but almost instantly falls over.
"Woah, Josh?" His eyes were half-open, and most of the color was drained from his face.
"I'm... I'm fine. Let's just go back inside." He tries to stand up, but I don't let him.
"Hell no, you're not going anywhere by yourself. Where are your keys? We're going back to the apartments."
"I don't want you to do that. I'll take myself." I look at him like he just grew ten heads.
"Are you crazy!? You are in no condition to drive!" I whisper yell.
"Joe, I said I'm fine. Can you just grab my food and keys from off the table?"
"Ok, the fact that you just called me Joe says enough. We're going home." I loop my arm around his waist and try to pull him off the bench. He groans the moment he's kind of on his feet, so I put him back down.
"I feel so tired and drained right now," he mumbles.
"Yeah, no shit. I'm going to get more people to help."
"No!" he immediately says. Oh, so he can register when I say I'm getting help but can't recognize my face?
"What do you mean 'no'!? You need help, and I need help getting you out of here!" I whisper yell.
"No, I..." He can barely speak and thinks he can drive! "I don't want... anyone else... involved."
"Josh, I don't think they'll care to help you."
"Just please don't get anyone else."
"Has this ever happened before?"
"No, not... not to this extreme. Olivia already helped me get through something today."
"Fine, then I'll just get her." I start walking away, but he stops me.
"No! I'm not her... her responsibility. She's already helped me enough for the day. I'm not gonna... gonna bother her anymore."
He's laying on his side, looking like he's about to pass out. I bend down to his eye level before speaking again. "Let's get a few things straight. One: you aren't my responsibility either, but I'm gonna help you out. Two: I won't tell anyone else about this, not until you want it to be heard. And three: you're too weak to stop me; I'm going to get her." I walk off, ignoring him when he tells me to stop.
I go back inside and walk as fast as I can to our table. "Hey, is Josh ok?" Larry asks.
"Hmm?" I respond while packing up his food and looking for his car keys.
"Where's Josh?" Joe asks, looking over my shoulder.
"He's fine. We're just gonna go to the apartments early." I finally found his keys.
"But you two are our rides," Sofia says.
"Oh, right." I get my own keys out of my pocket. "You can take my car. Who's driving?"
"Matt, not all of us can fit in just your car," Dara adds. I ignore her and the weird looks they're giving me.
"Liv?" I say, a little too cheery.
"Yeah?" she responds looking up at me.
"Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Uh, sure," she says in a questioning tone. I can tell by her face she's confused.
"Over there." I tilt my head towards the door.
"Oh... kay." She gets out of her chair and follows me to the door.
Ethan
Hmm...
3rd POV
(Olivia | Matt)
Once they're out of earshot, Matt tells her what's happening. "So... basicallyJoshisdying." He says that last part in one breath.
"What!?" she whispers yells.
"Well, not actually dying. He just looks like he's dying."
"What do you mean he's dying!?" she quietly yells.
"Just- just c'mon." He goes outside and she follows. The others were watching, but they couldn't hear. They go around the corner and find him sitting upright. That's an improvement.
"Oh my god!" Olivia immediately goes to his side and puts her hand on his forehead.
"I thought I said not to get anyone else," he says.
"Hey, you're talking better," Matt says, slowly pulling him off the bench.
"Don't avoid the question."
"I know what you said but oh well."
"What happened to you!?" Olivia asked. They both had one of his arms over their shoulders.
"Nothing," he mumbles. Joshua is struggling to make out who is carrying him but kind of recognizes the voices.
"Nothing my foot! You look like you've been dumped in bleach, hit by a truck, and haven't slept in weeks!" she says.
"Let's go around the back of the building. He doesn't want anyone else knowing what's happened," Matt explains.
They make it to his car and help him in the back seat. Once he's in, Joshua lays on his side and looks like he's knocking on death's door.
"I'm gonna take him back to the apartments. Keep the others occupied until I get back. I'll try to come up with an excuse before I get back," Matt says.
"Are you sure? I mean, look at him." Yeah... he definitely wasn't in the best of shape.
"Yeah, I think I can handle it. I'll text you when we've made it."
Olivia nods her head and reluctantly goes back to Yellowfinn. I have a feeling something else is up. But what?
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I just want to say this now before anyone gets mad.
I WILL BE CONTINUING THIS BOOK
I know the inappropriate and invasive video last week was awful, but I want to address that I am aware that this book surrounds the lives of real people (even though they are being used as characters here because this is a fanfic). I just wanted to get that out of the way before anyone thinks I'm being insensitive by continuing to update and write this book. I have tons of future plans and motivation for this and don't want to throw it all away. I have seen a few authors end their Jolivia books in the middle of the story or have an abrupt/rushed ending because readers think it's weird to 'ship' real people, or the authors believe they are somehow contributing to the toxicity of the fandom by doing Jolivia instead of Rini (even if they're not doing any harm whatsoever). I've seen people on here and YouTube be called 'Jolivia freaks' because they're 'shipping' real people, despite these same authors putting shipping disclaimers in their descriptions or at the beginning of their stories (as in they say they're using them as characters, not actors [which is what I'm doing]).
If you are in the dark about what's happening, my Nonsense chapter (News...) has the video there (it's not the most recent chapter, but it's near the bottom). The chapter is not designed to exploit their private lives for reads but to be informative. That's all that book is anyway, a collection of quick reads about anything and everything for anyone who would be interested (I think it's just garbage, but people seem to enjoy it).
I understand if anyone loses interest in this book because I'm using Olivia and Joshua instead of Nini and Ricky. Just know that I'm not trying to take advantage of their lives in any way. Everyone has their own preferences.
⚠️🚨PLEASE RESPECT HOW JOSHUA AND OLIVIA DECIDE TO LIVE THEIR LIVES. NO HATE TO ANYONE, ESPECIALLY SABRINA🚨⚠️
This is a FAKE story. This is what's real: the characters (or people in this instance), setting, some events (which I always point out if they're based on real-life or not [for example, part of chapter 17 is based on the girls' Instagram live]), and that they're filming a TV show. The drama I use to make this an interesting story is FAKE.
🚨THIS IS A FANFIC🚨
Again, I just didn't want to accidentally come across as rude because I wanted to continue writing this story.
I mentioned the drama surrounding the video in an announcement last week (and probably ranted about it for thirty minutes) but not the book information. It was obviously more fitting to put the book info in the book.
Now that the just-in-case apology has been made, my other two books (A New Friend & 3 Years) are Rini instead of Jolivia if that's what you prefer.
Finally, NO HATE TO ANYONE. RESPECT THEIR DECISIONS. THESE ARE PEOPLE, NOT PUPPETS CREATED FOR OUR ENTERTAINMENT