piece by piece~j.d

~50~

Aubrey met Bailey at the airport, she had decided that she would go pick him up and they could spend another drive together as they had for their whole life. As usual, Bailey had already called dibs on playing the music.

"Good game Baz, killed it out there." Aubrey smiled as he jumped into the passenger seat, having chucked his bag in the back seat. "Welcome home."

"Thanks Aubby." Bailey said reaching over to ruffle his sisters hair. "You looked like you had a good time with all of the girls."

"It was very entertaining, always makes for a better day when you guys are winning instead of losing." Aubrey smiled. "I've dragged Eb into the group now, so get used to seeing her around more and more."

"Might have to get a boy to latch onto her, some of them are helplessly lonely." Aubrey laughed at her brothers words. "None more then Dunks, unless you still care who he dates." Bailey wriggled his eyebrows as Aubrey started to drive out of the carpark.

"I guess you haven't been told, I'm planning on talking to him and trying to get us out of the mess that we dragged ourselves into. I'm not ready to let what we had go just yet, if he's on the same page that is." Aubrey admitted, glancing at her brother quickly to monitor his reaction.

"Fucking finally, I've been waiting for this one. When are you going to talk to him?" Aubrey paused at Bailey's question, she had been putting off the thought since he was away and realised that she could have instead been using the time to plan what she should have said. "You better think quick or you'll end up overthinking everything and will back out without giving yourself a chance."

"I will, tomorrow. Today I bet he's tired and just wants to rest but maybe tomorrow after school I can drop by his house." Aubrey said, hitting her head on her steering wheel as they pulled up at a red light. "Boys are way too stressful, I hope you know that."

"Not me, I'm an angel."

"Sure you are."

~~~

Aubrey had been too busy all of the day on monday, conducting some tests and being kept on her toes, too busy to think about what she wanted to say to Josh, she realised fairly early on when she was driving on her way home that Bailey was right in not giving herself too much to think it all through, that was a familiar recipe for disaster, one that she very much wanted to avoid.

She waited, getting changed and keeping her mind busy by marking some of the kids maths tests, waiting for a text from Baz to let her know that she could start on her journey to Josh's house. The wait felt like it went for eternity but when she finally got the text at eleven past four, she hurried to the car, ready to swallow her pride and figure out what had been muddled up a long time ago.

Pulling up to the house released a splash of memories that had been pushed into the depths of her mind as to not cause excessive amounts of pain, they all hit her at once, but for the first time in a long time she felt optimistic about the future between her and Josh.

She braved it out and walked to the front door, timidly knocking and closing her eyes to compose herself. Part of her was hoping that either Kyle or Lara would open the door and she could turn around if she wanted to.

"Aubrey, what're you doing here?" Adam asked, there was nothing that suggested he didn't want the girl to be there, just genuine surprise. "Josh didn't tell me we were expecting you and we're the only ones home."

"That's because he didn't know I was coming." Aubrey said smiling shyly as Adam's eyes widened in realisation. "Where exactly is he in the house?"

"He's just in the kitchen making us a snack, I told him I'd get the door so he didn't have to be distracted but it seems he will be in a minute. Just let him know that he can call me later but I went home." Aubrey nodded at the words, she knew it would be easier if Josh's side hoe wasn't around. "Oh and Aubs, good luck."

"Thanks Ads, I'll catch you later." Aubrey said, Adam hugged her and then waved as he left. Aubrey closed the door behind her and took in more familiar surroundings. Quietly making her way into the kitchen, she ignored the weird feeling in her stomach and instead focused on remembering the first time that she came over for dinner and met Lara and Kyle for the first time, remembering how easy it had been at that point in time.

"Was it anyone important Ads?" Josh's voice called, his back was to Aubrey so he didn't realise that it was her, only having heard the footsteps getting louder, had he really been paying attention he would have been able to tell that they were hers. "Adam?"

"Not quite." Aubrey replied hesitantly, watching in anticipation as Josh turned around and looked at her blankly for a minute before rubbing his eyes a couple times to see if it was really happening and she was really there. "He said that you could call him later if you want to talk to him."

"I think I'm more interested in us talking right now." Josh said honestly. "Should we go sit down?"

"Yes please." Aubrey agreed and they both made their way into the lounge room, sitting on opposite ends of the same couch, the couch that they had previously lay wrapped in the arms of one another. "This might seem out of the blue but, I think we should put some of the stuff that happened behind us." Aubrey averted eye contact with Josh, it was simply easier for her to apologise to the wall then to see the ever so overwhelming eyes of Josh's that always seemed to convert exactly what he was feeling if one only cared to look.

"Talk to me not away from me Aubs," his voice was both hoarce and hushed as he placed a hand on her knee, removing it as he remembered where they currently stood with one another.

"Sorry," Aubrey paused and allowed herself to get dragged into the oceans that were Josh Dunkley's eyes. "There were a lot of things that we said and did that wouldn't have happened in a different t context. I'm sorry that Wil and I had a friendship where the boundaries weren't properly outlined and I'm sorry that you saw what you saw that night, I'm not sorry for standing up for myself though."

"You shouldn't be, I'm sorry that I didn't let you explain and then wanted to make everything about me. I know that I'm not going to be able to slip back into your life as seamlessly as I did at the start and I know that this time around it's going to be that much more difficult, but what I feel when I'm with you. I'm not willing to let that go just yet. I hope you aren't either." Josh said, this time when he placed his hand on her knee he let it rest there, resting the waters. He would completely understand if she knocked it off and told him that she just wanted them to be friends and ignore their history, only it didn't happen like that.

"I can't let you go, trust me Dunks, I've tried with ever little part of me. I don't want to lose you when you made me feel so happy with myself, when you made me see the world through a different lense. I want you back by my side and I'm willing to fight for it." Aubrey moved her hands so that they were resting on top of his. "I missed you."

" I missed you too." In that moment when they shared an embrace, the feeling of Josh's arms around her body just felt like enough. Her happy place was back and even if it had been shattered to pieces, she knew that she'd build it back up until it was more beautiful then it had ever been, every tiny scratch would be fixed. Piece by piece they would fix it.

roll the credits?
definitely not, much more to come🤪