The Weight of my Dreams

Chapter 10: Safe Haven

"Hey, we're here," Josh said as he opened my car door. He reached over me, unbuckled my seatbelt, and grabbed my hand, helping me out of the car. "How long have I been asleep for?" I asked. He held my hand and had our bags in the other. "Like 2 hours, I think," he replied. I was finally awake enough to see that we had arrived at this little wooden cabin in the middle of the woods. It was dark outside, except for a few lights outside the house and the moon, lighting up parts of the sky. It was beautiful even in the dark. "Whose place is this?" I asked, taking in the place. "The band and I come out here sometimes. It's like a home away from home for us."

We made our way inside, and it was beautiful; it was rustic but had touches of modern furniture placed around the front room. It was open, and I could hear the crickets chirping from outside. "Surprise!" Josh said, setting our bags down on the couch. "This place is beautiful. How did you know that I didn't have work?" I laughed slightly. " I had Jake ask Venus what your schedule was for the next couple of days. I wanted to do something special for you. I hope you like it." I was in shock that he had gone through this much trouble to make me happy, " are you kidding me? Of course, I love it." I said, wrapping him up in a tight hug. "Thank you so much, Josh. This place is truly amazing." He kissed the top of my head and led me to the room to put our things away for the stay. The room was huge. Elegant paintings covered the walls, and a large white rug was spread across the floor. A king sized bed was placed in the middle of the back wall, and it was just as incredible as the rest of the room. I set my bag down on the bed sitting beside it, looking around in amazement as Josh caught my eye. He was in the bathroom getting changed, and he didn't bother to close the door. I clearly hadn't thought to wear something warm here, even though Josh had reminded me repeatedly just hours before. He adjusted his grey joggers around his hips and threw on a random national geographic tee. He turned around and stared at me for a moment before I realized that I zoned out on him. I blushed and stood up. I started rummaging through my bag, looking for some comfortable pants and a sports bra to change into. He left the room without me asking him to so that I could change.

I undressed and got into the clothes I had chosen, but I realized that I had forgotten to bring a comfy shirt to sleep in. I put on my sports bra and went to ask Josh if I could borrow one of his shirts for the night. He didn't seem to be too surprised that I came out without a shirt on. He nodded his head, signaling that I could, and got up to get it for me. Josh entered the room and grabbed his bag off the floor, placing it on the bed next to mine. After a few seconds, he pulled out a black Church of Rock shirt, which made sense. I laughed to myself. He handed it to me and sat on the bed, waiting for me to put it on like he was checking if it would fit. It did.

We made our way to the kitchen, and Josh started making us a late dinner. I could tell that he loved to cook, and it made me happy because I really only liked to bake. He made some homemade pasta with pesto and freshly grated parmesan cheese. We went outside with our plates of food and some wine and sat down. Josh got up a few seconds after we got settled to start the fire. It was funny watching him get excited about something as simple as lighting a small fire. Once the logs he placed inside the fire pit ignited, he did a little happy dance and took his place next to me. 

We ate our food in silence for the most part and sipped on our wine occasionally. It was so peaceful. Once we were almost done eating, the conversation picked up a little more, but nothing too deep. It was nice to talk carelessly and not having the weight of problems taint our perfect evening. "So, what do you think of this place, love? He asked. I assumed to fill the silence that was starting to grow. "I love it, Josh. It's beautiful. It feels like a little safe haven." He smiled and placed his hand on my legs, pulling them up onto his lap. "I'm glad that you love it. I remember when we met, you said you missed being able to go camping, so I thought this was the next best thing." I leaned in and kissed him on his cheek lingering just a little before I spoke. "I really do love it, thank you, Joshua" He pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head a few times before he tickled my sides a little bit. I let out a shriek and wiggled out of his grasp, giving him a side-eye trying to hide the smile that was growing on my face. "Excuse me, sir, that was rude," I said, laughing and resuming my spot by his side. "Sorry, I just had to," he said, teasing me. I looked up at him, analyzing his face as I had done before. I noticed new things this time; He had a tiny scar on his jawline, and I was absorbed by the structure of his face, not having put too much thought into it before.

I met his gaze, and we stared deep into each other's eyes. His eyes were so pretty. They were a milk chocolate brown and had flecks of gold sprinkled around his iris'. He cupped my cheek holding me close, and he spoke, " I really like you, y/n. And I'm so happy that you are here with me. There has been a lot of stress with the band lately and stuff with doing shows, but all of that disappears when I'm with you." I waited until he was done talking before I grabbed his face planting a kiss softly on his lips. I think I might have caught him off guard because, for a second, he froze. He quickly returned the passion as he grabbed my waist, partially sitting me on his lap. The passion grew as I parted my lips just slightly, letting his tongue slip into my mouth. I rubbed the back of his neck, trying to pull him closer to me even though we were about as close as we could get. I put my hand up a bit of bit, intertwining my fingers in his curly hair. After a few minutes, I pulled away, and I could feel the noticeable blush staining my cheeks.

We stayed the for about an hour, but he could tell that I was starting to get cold as goosebumps would come across my skin every once in a while. He moved slightly, signaling that he was going to get up, so I got off of his lap and started walking to the house. Before I knew it, he had grabbed my wrist, spinning me around pecking my lips. I smiled as he kissed me and looked at him again, taking in the moment.

I sat down on the couch, and Josh went into the bedroom, I'm assuming to get something. He came out with a small baggie and a blanket. He walked up to me and grabbed my hand, taking me out of the porch swing at the front of the cabin. We sat there for only a second before he opened the bag and pulled out a joint. "You don't mind, do you?" I laughed a little knowing that I smoke pretty frequently with Vee. I took the joint out of his hand taking the lighter with it, and took a deep drag off of it before giving it back to him. He laughed a little bit, taking it back between his index and middle finger, repeating what I just did. "Alrighty, message received" I giggled and leaned against him. The blanket he had brought out found its way around the two of us, enclosing the heat that was between us. We passed the blunt back and forth until there was pretty much nothing left, but by that point, we were feeling the effects of the herb. Out of nowhere, we started laughing, and I spoke, "You know what's funny?" "what?" he said, laughing still. "I don't want to be too forward, but I like you, like a lot. I guess that's not funny, but it's true." I said, getting caught up in the waves that my brain was moving in. With that, I could feel him stroking my arm as if it was in slow motion. "Where did you get this stuff?" I asked, feeling higher than I usually did. "My brother Sam bought it," he said, leaning back "it's good stuff, huh?" I laughed a little "it is, and I have a friend named Sam. He's in a band too. That's crazy." I laughed, trying not to get too caught up in the thought. "That is crazy," he said, starting to giggle a little bit, and with that, we were both engulfed in waves of laughter. We sat out for what seemed like hours, but it had only been 35 minutes when I checked my phone. I started to get cold again, even with the blanket in me, so we walked into the house and went straight to the room. By this point, it was about 1 am and we were stoned and tired from the long drive we had just a few hours before. I made myself comfortable in the bed while Josh fiddled with the Tv, trying to get it to work. He connected his phone to it and turned on Just Go With It, just like the first night we spent together. He crawled into bed beside me, taking his shirt off and making himself comfortable. With that, I scooted closer, laying my head on his shoulder and placing my arm across his chest. Within minutes I fell into a deep sleep holding the man that I was starting to fall for.