invisible string [ joshua bassett ]

fourteen

the fire was small, but mixed with the blanket and the warmth of joshua's body i felt no cold. we were sat in joshs garden, a small fire staring at us whilst we spoke. i had no idea what time it was, but we had definitely been out here for a few hours.

" okay, my turn. " he said, leaning over and placing his water bottle on the table next to him. for the last few hours we had been getting to know eachother even more, taking it in turns to ask questions. each one getting deeper and deeper.

" atlas? your family? " joshua asked, raising an eyebrow at me. i let a sigh out, shutting my eyes for a second.

" take your time. " he reached over, giving me hand a squeeze. just thinking about them drained me.

" when i told my family i was moving to new york, let's just say it didn't go down well. " i chuckled to myself. that was an understatement.

" they wanted me to stay home, work at the coffee shop. learn the family business. blah blah. all shit i didn't want to do. " the whole time joshua stared intensely at me, listening to each word that came out of my mouth.

" we had a huge fight and hardly spoke for the first two months i was here. it was mainly my mom, my dad just went along with whatever she said because he didn't want to upset her. " i loved my dad, i really did. but when he couldn't stick up for me even a little bit, it broke my heart.

" it all went really downhill when i broke up with atlas. " joshua nodded his head, letting me know that he was still listening.

" i had gone home to surprise him. i turned up at his house and when i knocked on the door, his ex answered. " my stomach churned as i relived those moments.

" turns out he had been cheating on me ever since i moved to new york. my parents knew, but they didn't say anything because of how much they loved atlas. " i shrugged as if it was the most simple thing in the world whilst joshua's jaw was nearly touching the floor.

" that explains why you don't want to go to the wedding. " he said after a few seconds.

" don't remind me. my brother inviting him is just the cherry on the cake. " i rolled my eyes, getting into a more comfortable position.

" anyway, my turn. " i gave josh a small smile.

" emily? " i asked, raising my eyebrow at joshua like he had done to me. he let out a long sigh, turning his body so he was facing me.

" honestly, pretty similar to you. " he shrugged his shoulders.

" she cheated on me with one of my best friends like, six months ago. my label made me stay with her until about three months ago whilst they thought of a reason they could tell everyone. " i cringed at the thought of it. i wouldn't of been able to stay with atlas for another three months after i heard about him cheating so i have no idea how joshua managed it.

" does she keep pestering you because she wants to her back together? " i asked, rubbing my thumb over the top of joshua's hand.

" yeah. i would never, i know i'm worth more then that. plus my label said i can't date anyone right now. " he said, giving me a sad smile. oh. i tried to brush it off as a passing comment, not giving it too much thought.

" you are worth more then that. " i said instantly, my face serious. it was crazy to me how someone could possibly cheat on joshua. they were insane.

" and so are you. " joshua added the second i stopped talking. we both smiled at eachother, neither of us realising how hard we were squeezing eachothers hand.

" i'd like it, if you would come to the wedding with me. only if you want to. it will be nice to know i have someone there with me that's on my side. " i whispered, glancing down for a second. joshua used his finger to gently push my face back up.

" i'd love to. i'll always be on your side, dottie. " he said in the same tone as i did. he looked at me so intensely my stomach started to do backflips. joshua's eyes began to flick between my eyes and my lips, which only made me smile harder.

no. i forced myself out of my trance and cleared my throat, sitting back and pulling my hand out of his. the cold instantly attacked me.

this was not what we were supposed to be doing. this was not how i was supposed to be feeling. this was not the agreement. we weren't supposed to sit here and spill our guts out to eachother so intimately.

" i should, uh. probably get going. " i stumbled on my words, standing up and brushing myself off. joshua seemed to be thinking the same to me as he did the same.

" yes. yeah. i'll walk you out. " he stuttered, quickly heading back inside with me hot on his tail. neither of us said a word as we walked out to my car. i clicked the lock and joshua opened the door for me, giving me a weak smile as we stood there.

" goodnight, aphrodite. "

" goodnight, joshua. "