Radio Show Girl | Josh Kiszka

5

I hope everyone is enjoying the story :))) pls let me know what u think!!!!
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josh arrived fifteen minutes later, just like he promised. as jake and stella waited, stella could feel the booze slowly slipping out of her system. her head felt a lot clearer. she was just tired.

jake and stella didn't talk while they waited. instead, they sat in the same spot on the concrete by the road, stella's head on jake's shoulder and his arm around her waist.

the bright lights of josh's truck shown straight into stella's eyes and she closed them so she wouldn't be blinded. jake was not as polite.

"god fuck josh! turn them off you ass!" he yelled over the engine. josh put the car in park and turned the lights off, but get the engine going. he jumped out and walked over to where the two sat.

stella tried not to meet his eyes. but she couldn't help staring. she reasoned with herself that it was okay to look, it was definetly okay, because she hadn't seen him in so long.

"thanks josh." jake got up slowly, wobbled a little and headed to the car, apparently forgetting all about his partner in crime: stella. josh began to walk back to the car too, and stella couldn't help but feel angry. where was the common courtesy?

"guys wait-" she stood up too fast, became unbalanced, and toppled down to the ground, hands first. rough gravel scraped her palms and she couldn't stop the loud ooof that escaped her lips. a pair of legs came into view in front of her and two arms reached down to help her up. as she rose, she became face to face with the one and only josh kiszka.

he didn't remove his hands from the sides of her arms. he stared at her for a couple seconds.

"you good stella?" his voice was soft as he peered into her eyes. his grasp felt good. she had missed his face. especially his eyes, even though they were sleepy and tired. his round, hazel eyes looked into, what felt like, her soul. she began to breath again, even though she had no memory of stopping. and then she remembered how he had treated her the last time they saw eachother.

"uh huh. yep." she said with little emotion, removing herself from his grasp and heading to the car. he stood there and didn't say a word. like he always did. jake had fallen asleep in the backseat, which left the passenger for stella. just great she thought bitterly. she slid into the passanger seat, still slightly intoxicated so that she couldn't feel the cuts on her hands. josh got into the front seat after her, closed the door loudly, and turned the car on.

he didn't say anything when they got on the road, and stella didn't want him too. she stared straight ahead.

"you're going to want to clean those cuts, you know." josh's voice rang out in the silent car and it almost made her jump. his anger from the day before had diminished from his tone. stella knew it was still there, he was probably just too tired to continue the resentment. she looked down at her hands. dirt had made its way into some of the slits on her palms. he was right.

"yeah i know." stella said softly, staring deeply at her hands. she looked up at the road and realized she didn't know where they were.

"can you take me back home?" josh laughed slightly, a sound stella hadn't heard in seven years. she couldn't stop her heart from fluttering.

"too late for that. you and jake are crashing at my place. we're almost here anyways." he said casually.

"what do you mean? i want to go home-"

"stella." josh stopped her, his eyes locked into hers and for the first time since seeing him again, she allowed herself to fall in. "it's 2am, you both are drunk, and i have no fucking idea where you live. now help me wake jake up."

stella hadn't realized the truck had stopped. she detached her eyes from his stare even though she really did not want to. they had pulled into a large driveway which faced an even larger home. it was hard to make out the details, but stella could tell that josh's house was larger than her and and his family home's combined.

josh had already slipped out of the drivers seat and opened the backseat door where jake slept. he was jabbing him a little too hard on the shoulder. repeatedly.

"josh he's not going to wake up like that." stella huffed, climbing out her seat and joining josh by the open backseat door. she peered over his shoulder.

"god, fuck. what did he even drink?" josh moaned, and continued the jabbing. stella let a small giggle escape her lips before she could stop it. she quickly did.

"i have no idea. honestly." she said. josh turned to her. stella hadn't been this close to him in ages. she actually couldn't remember ever being this close to him. she could see all the little details of his face. the shadows beneath his nose. the pores on his cheeks. the slight shine on his chin. his curly bangs were plastered to his forehead and bits of hair stood up from his head, probably because he had been trying to sleep before he got jake's call. his mouth hung slightly open, and his eyes looked into hers. stella couldn't quite read his expression. it wasn't sadness. regret? it couldn't possibly be.

and then the moment was over.

"whatever let's just leave him here." he said with the same edge to his voice that he had in the interview, and pushed past her. stella stood in her spot but turned to watch as josh made his way to the front door and pushed it open. had she just been dreaming?

"he can't sleep in the car, josh." stella huffed, standing her ground. she looked over at jake. he did look very peaceful.

halfway through the door, josh looked back at her. "what do you mean. that's exactly what he's doing. come on, i don't have time for this stel." he stepped all the way into the house.

stella's heart leapt when he called her stel, the nickname he started calling her all the way back in the ninth grade. it had slipped off his tongue so effortlessly, that he probably hadn't noticed it at all. maybe jake was right. maybe josh would come around.

stella sighed, closed the truck door on the snoozing jake, and followed josh into the home. it was time to go to sleep.

———

ok finally josh is being a lil nicer... but I think it's just because he's tired.....