Shadows (A Sara Bareilles fanfic)

Upper Hand

I heard Josh come in and walked up, hugging him from behind.

"What the fuck?" he said. He turned to look at me. "Sara?"

I giggled. "Yes?"

"How'd you get in?"

"You gave me a key a long time ago... Remember? You weren't home when I got here, so I used that key."

Josh shook his head. "Always something with you," he joked. He looked me up and down. "Those Golden Girls pajamas though."

I laughed. "I know, right? I have shorts with cheesecake on them too. It's beautiful."

"Totally. Wait, did you spend the night last night?" Josh asked. 

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. You didn't even know." 

"I probably wouldn't have. You've hidden in my cabinet for an hour before."

"That's not original anymore. You would figure it out," I said. 

"You're something else."

I smiled innocently. "I know. Soooo whatcha been up to?" I asked.

"Just went to look at drum stuff. Why didn't you come over yesterday?"

I shrugged. "It was a shitty day. Sorryyy."

"No, it's fine. What happened?"

"It's not a big deal. I don't wanna talk about it."

"You know you can, right?"

"Yeah. I'm in a pretty good mood. Don't fuck it up," I laughed.

My phone rang. I picked it up and smiled. "Hey, babe."

"Hey," Derek said. "What's up?"

"I'm at Josh's."

"Oh, cool."

 "I miss you," I stated.

"Come back." 

"I am. Soon." 

"Soon like how? Soon-soon, or Sara-soon?"

"Soon-soon. You're the worst!" I joked. 

Derek laughed. "Just break up with me then."

"Ew, no."

"God, you're hot," he said. 

"Believe me, I know."

"I miss kissing you."

"I miss trying to avoid your kisses."

"Damn, y'all are hot and heavy today," Josh cut in.

I laughed and smacked his arm. "Go away!"

"Me?" Derek asked.

"No, not you! Josh! He's a fucking pest."

Josh frowned. "Seera's being mean to me," he yelled into the phone.

"Surprise, surprise," Derek stated. "Am I on speaker?"

"No..." I said. I fiddled with the volume buttons on my phone, turning it down. "But the sound was all the way up. Oops."

"Nice one. So when is soon-soon?"

I grinned. It felt nice to know someone was so eager to see me. "Next day or two," I answered.

"Don't be cranky when you get off the plane."

"Why do you expect so much out of me?" I asked. 

"Ugh, just come back. It's so boring here."

I laughed. "We live in New York City. There's a million things to do. Go do one of them."

"Well, I really would only wanna do you, but..."

I burst into laughter. "Shut the fuck up or I'm never leaving."

"Ya know, maybe that's not such a tragedy."

"You know you miss me," I said.

"Duh, that was literally the point of this call. But you know you miss me, too."

"Yeah, I do, sadly. A lot."

"Oh, shit, my break's over. I gotta go. Call me later. Love you, Satan."

I laughed. "Love you too."

I turned to Josh. "Hot and heavy. Seera's being mean to me. Thanks so much."

He laughed. "I'm your best friend. It's my job to embarrass you."

"You deserve higher pay," I said.

"Oh, totally. How's he treat you?" Josh asked.

"Well, I would assume pretty damn well, considering the phone call we just made."

"Seriously."

"Really, really good. There's nothing wrong. He's great." I felt myself beaming.

"Good, because I don't wanna end up hating him, too," Josh said.

"Too?"

"I mean, I don't really talk to Javi anymore. Neither do Dan or Phil."

"What? Why?"

"Why would we? He treated his girlfriend like shit and he's just changed," Josh said.

"Yeah, he has... But don't hate him. Damn."

"I'm not- you know what I mean."

I nodded. "Yeah, definitely. Last night was..."

"What the hell happened?"

"We met up and talked. It was stupid."

"Why'd you go?"

"I don't know. I shouldn't have," I said. 

"You should've called me, Sara," Josh said.

"I went to Holly's. It was two A.M."

"It doesn't matter. I would've came and talked to you."

I smiled. "I know. It's fine. I'm trying to chill about it. He's stupid." In a weird way, I felt like I was betraying Javier or something by saying that, but it was true. And it felt so good to finally have the upper hand, even if it made me confused as hell. 

Josh laughed. "Yeah. I think so, too."

"I noticed."

"Sorry, he's just... I don't go for it."

"Don't apologize. I was kidding. But yeah, me niether. Whatever. So I'm gonna go and change and stuff," I said. "See you later?" 

"Sure, Seera."