Just for a Moment

56 | Work

This... is... amazing.

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"Ok, so is this official?"

"Yeah... I think so."

"Are we sure?"

"I don't know! I think we should do it now before overthinking or second-guessing."

Olivia and Joshua are trying to decide which version of their song they want to send to Tim. After countless hours and what feels like trillions of ideas, they officially have three rough drafts. "So this is it? We've decided on the second one?" Joshua asks again.

"Y- Yeah..." Olivia says, letting out a shaky breath.

They had his laptop open with the file attached, ready to be sent to Tim. Every time they were about to hit send, something stopped them. Maybe it was doubt, anxiety, or second-guessing, but they just couldn't commit to it.

"Let's listen to it again," Joshua suggests.

"Ok," she agrees, even though they've listened to themselves sing this song about a thousand times now.

Joshua opens the file, and they just sit and listen. Every time they've done this, there's always a minuscule detail that they felt the need to change. Was it really necessary to fix? Probably not. Were they going to do it anyway? Yes, of course.

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Matt was sitting in his apartment, avoiding his phone. He just wanted to be by himself for the day; this would be his chance to unwind from whatever happened the night before.

If he thought about it for too long, he'd become anxious and wonder when the next attack would come. However, trying not to focus on it means he's thinking about it, so it was just this never-ending cycle of anxiety-ridden thoughts.

Maybe staying in the apartment all day isn't a good idea after all. Then again, inside means safe... physically at least. Matt started wondering if he would go insane if he stayed in here all day. It's not like he had anything special to do; just look over the script for the next episode and practice dancing.

That's it. That was his plan: just work on the next episode.

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"I think we need a change of scenery."

"Where would that be?"

Good news: their song was basically finished at this point.
Bad news: they were still very reluctant to send it.

"I think," Joshua continues, "that we just need to think about this in a place that isn't... here," he says, gesturing to his apartment with his hands.

"And, again, where would that be?" she repeats.

"Come on," he says, throwing his guitar over his shoulder.

"What? Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he said, grabbing her hand. Olivia wasn't going to admit how safe she felt while holding his hand.

They make the short turn to the elevator and Joshua presses the top floor. "What are you planning?" she questioned, pointing a finger at him.

He pushes her finger away and says, "Patience is key."

Eventually, the doors open, and Olivia fights the smile creeping onto her face as he drags her down the hall of their apartment building. "Josh, where are you taking me?" she asked.

"You'll see," he repeats.

They end up in front of a door that Joshua pushes open, showing some stairs that somehow lead higher into the building. "I want answers, Bassett!" Olivia yells, yet still allowing him to drag her hand along.

"Oh my god, what part of you'll see don't you understand?"

"The part about me seeing whatever it is you're talking about!" she counters.

Joshua stops abruptly, causing Olivia to crash into him. "Oh, shi-!" In the blink of an eye, he grabs her and pulls her to his chest, preventing her from falling down the stairs.

They stare intently at each other, catching their breaths from the instance that ended just as fast as it started. Olivia swallows and murmurs, "What, um... Why'd you stop?"

Joshua smiles a little and whispers, "I was gonna ask you a question, but I think I should start with are you ok?"

"Yeah," she nods and smiles, "yeah, I'm fine."

"Good." Joshua scans her face, trying to come up with something else to say. "Ready to keep going then?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course."

Olivia slowly takes her hands off his arms, and Joshua doesn't want to admit the comfortableness he feels, not just from simple touches but her presence in general.

"What were you going to ask?"

"Hmm?"

"Before we, uh... almost fell."

"Oh. I was just gonna ask... you trust me, right?" Joshua slows down a bit to hear her answer.

"Yes, of course."

"Then there's no reason to question this."

*Many Hours Later*
Sofia was on a FaceTime call with her parents when a very urgent and loud knock was coming from the other room. "One minute," she told them.

Sofia hops off her bed and walks through her apartment, trying to find the source of the sound. Since it sounded like a knock, she assumed it came from the front door, but nobody was there when she looked through the peephole. Uh... ok.

She begins walking back to her bedroom before hearing it again. It only lasted for a moment, but whoever's knocking sounded panicky and in a hurry. As she walked through the empty apartment, the source of the sound became clearer. Matt's place? She stepped closer toward the conjoining door, and the noise stopped. He must've answered it. She shrugs it off and goes back to her room.

"Hey, sorry about that," she tells her mom.

"It's no big deal. Anyway, I was-"

The knocking comes back. Sofia rolls her eyes slightly and grits her teeth. "Just... Just one more minute... hopefully." Sofia sets her phone down again and goes to investigate the ruckus. This better be worth it.

She goes to Matt's door first and repeatedly slams her fist on it. "Matt, answer your front door!!" she screams. The knocking comes back, but it wasn't from Matt's apartment. It was... hers? Huh?

She carefully approaches her front door and looks through the peephole. Larry? Sofia opens it and says, "Hey, wh-?"

He pushes past her in a hurry and goes to the adjoining door. "Matt?!" he screams. "Matt!!?! Open up!!"

"What's going on?" Sofia questions, wondering why he just busted into her apartment.

"I don't know; I just got this call. He didn't sound well at all," Larry said.

"Uh, Tim might have a spare key. If not, I- I don't know what to do."

Larry nods and runs down the hall to Tim's room. Meanwhile, Sofia begins repeatedly hitting the door. "Matt! Matt!!"

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I saw a comment that said SOUR is basically Ricky in the beginning of S1, and I couldn't agree more.