The Bachelors: a tiktok story

104: Family Dysfunctions

Later that night you had made it through the most awkward dinner in history. It was clear something was going on with your parents because no one really spoke the entire meal. Your phone rang and you felt instant relief for the interruption:
"Hello?"

Josh: "Hey, baby. Is it still cool that I come by tonight?"

You: "That sounds perfect."

Josh laughed:
"Good because I'm a block away."

You: "Okay, I'll see you in a few."

When you hung up and turned back around, both of your parents seemed to be hanging off of and analyzing your every word. You hadn't mentioned inviting him over but your mom had already said he was always welcome. You took one look at the disappointment on your mom's face and knew you should have at least mentioned it but to be honest, you'd spent most of the meal scared to be the first to speak.

Your mom sounded sad as she asked:
"Oh, are you leaving to go back to Josh's?"

You: "Nah. I promised I'd be home tonight but he was gonna stop by on his way home from work to see me if that's okay."

Your dad sighed as he rolled his eyes, making it clear to everyone in the room that he was annoyed. You felt bad for your mom and offered:
"Do you want to watch a movie with Josh and me? I don't mind staying down here with you."

That perked her right up as she excitedly rushed off to pop some corn. You queued up a movie and rushed to answer the door as soon as you saw Josh's headlights in the driveway, leaving your dad to pout at the table.

You swung the door open as Josh lifted you up off the ground in his arms. He kissed you slowly as he lowered you back down to your tiptoes. Your dad cleared his throat behind you:
"This must be Joshua."

Josh reached his hand out:
"Yes, sir. Josh Richards. Nice to meet you."

Your father, rudely just stood there looking at Josh's hand as if he was sizing up the intentions behind every move the poor boy made. Your mom came around the corner with a bowl and a huge grin:
"Hi, Josh! My daughter says you are here for family movie night. I hope you like popcorn!!"

Josh's uncomfortable smile turned genuine with your mom putting him at ease and he made himself comfortable on the couch next to you:
"Yes, ma'am."

As your mom pushed play, you whispered for only him to hear:
"Sorry I didn't warn you but thank you so much for staying."

Josh placed a quick kiss on your cheek before whispering back:
"There's not much I wouldn't do for you."

You snuggled back into his arms as he wrapped them around you. He seemed nervous at first about where was a parent-friendly place to rest his hands so you grasped them and laced your fingers into his. His stiff stance relaxed and you settled into what you hoped would be a good night.

Your dad had spent the first 15 minutes of the movie buried in his phone before getting up without a word and heading towards the kitchen. After 20 minutes of what sounded like banging and cursing, your mom smiled and excused herself to check on him. You and Josh sat there, awkwardly as you overheard your Mom and your dad arguing in the backyard. It was embarrassing for sure but mostly you were just afraid that your newfound family dysfunction would chase Josh away.

You apologized, nervously:
"I'm sorry."

Josh pulled you closer:
"Baby, it's okay. I promise. We all have families and I know sometimes they are complicated. Mine are going through a divorce too, remember?"

You couldn't formulate a response because up until he'd said the words, it hadn't occurred to you that your parents could ever have been in the 50% statistic of marriages that ended.

They used to be so happy and disgustingly in love when you were a kid. You don't really remember when it all changed but the most drastic difference seemed to happen while you were away at college. Your dad had waited until you graduated high school to take over a much bigger position at his firm. This position required him to travel a lot. They'd always talked about how now that you were grown up, your mom could travel with him but at some point that just stopped.

It made you really sad to think of some day your parents no longer being what you remembered them to be. Josh took notice of that mood shift and leaned back to look over his shoulder where he could see the back sliding door. He sat back up and pulled you closer for a kiss.

You found it nearly impossible to stop but you mustered enough strength to pause and ask him:
"Wait, what if my parents come back in here?"

Josh: "They are busy arguing about some chair. We have a few minutes."

You smiled against his lips as you returned to his embrace, completely getting lost in his arms for a moment. Something about knowing they could walk back in any moment felt like such a rush. You moved more onto his lap but were quickly pulled back to reality when your phone went off. It was a call from Chase so you silenced it and went back to the kiss. You knew you needed to talk to him eventually but you knew that conversation wouldn't go anywhere if you had to filter what you said in front of Josh.

Josh stopped you for a moment to ask:
"Everything okay? Why are you ignoring his calls? Isn't he your best friend?"

You knocked the phone to the ground as you pulled him by the collar back to you:
"He'll understand why I'll just call him back, promise."

Josh kissed you for a moment but it was obvious he was bothered by the way you'd blown off Chase. You knew he wasn't even remotely invested in the friendship so some other insecurity must have been growing in his mind.

Chase has to find out about Josh eventually... how about tonight?