hømetøwn

• : / thirty / : •

He ended up staying much longer than either of us had planned. We shuffled the boxes around. I flicked through the countless dusty vinyls and he hovered over my shoulder. As we searched, we talked.

"So confession time. Promise you won't kill me."

I pulled out a vinyl, surveyed it for a moment, then put it back. "No promises."

"Okay, I'm telling you anyways. Are you ready?"

"Sure."

He took a deep breath. "I thought Pete Wentz was the lead singer of Fall Out Boy."

"WHAT?"

"I KNOW PLEASE DON'T KILL ME."

Giggles grew in the back of my throat. I choked them down. "When --- when did you realize...?"

"Freshman year."

"Oh my God!"

"I know!"

I burst out laughing, and once I started, I couldn't stop. He shot me a mock glare. That just made me laugh harder.

"Oh my God, you idiot."

He wrinkled his nose. "You're the one working in a record store in 2015."

"Touche." I pulled out another vinyl. "Aha!"

There was no denying the scrawled writing on the front. I glanced at Josh, alight in triumph.

"The Black Parade, by My Chemical Romance. Here it is."

I held it out to him. He looked at me for a second longer, then his eyes fell onto the vinyl.

"Oh, thanks."

He reached down to take it. His hand brushed against my wrist, lingering there for an instant too long before he pulled away, surveying the vinyl. A sudden heat filled the room.

"Um," I said, taking a step backwards. "Um. I should get back to work."

"Oh. Oh, yeah, totally. Sorry for keeping you." He took a step back too. "Do you need any help?"

"No, that's okay. It's just painting."

"Painting?"

"Yeah. I thought you picked up on that when you made me trip into the bucket. Ruined my shoes, butthead."

He laughed. When he smiled, his entire face burst into light. It was like watching stars collide.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I almost forgot about that to be honest. But look, the least I can do is help you clean that up."

"I..."

"I'll go to the bathroom and grab some paper towels, okay? And I guess I owe you a new pair of shoes, too. When do you get off work?"

"An hour," I said, dazed.

"Okay, I'll be right back."

I guess in hindsight, it really was my fault. I never told him to leave.

The rest of work that day went fast. Every moment hung heavy, drenched in future nostalgia. Does that make sense? Like, it was the type of afternoon that you knew you would miss someday. Josh cleaned up the paint. He gave my shoes a haphazard swipe with a paper towel. Then, when I went back to painting, he lay on his back and talked about music. As he spoke he gestured to the ceiling. He filled the quiet with his deep voice and philosophical ramblings, and when he paused, I would say, "Yeah?" and he would keep going. And as he lay there and talked to me -- as I painted and waited for him to pause so I could say, "Yeah?" -- as his words tickled in my eardrums and gathered like storm clouds at the ceiling, I wondered how these things even happened. How they started to happen. And why they happened. Because I've never been the type of person who attracted friendships. Especially unexpected friendships forged in the back rooms of record shops. But maybe people like Josh can't smell the smoke on my skin.

Or maybe they do. But they don't know associating with fire means getting burnt.

My hand slipped, smearing paint the wrong way. Shit. My hand trembled. I tried to blink away the darkness.

Josh paused.

"Yeah?" I said.

I shook the thoughts and painted over the error. The song on the radio switched to an old One Direction song. Josh giggled.

"How much longer?"

I sighed, setting down the paintbrush. "I've done enough today, I think. I'll have to talk to Mr. Chester."

Josh jumped to his feet. Literally jumped. Like, without using his arms at all. He just flipped up onto his feet, the muscles in his legs rippling. I blinked. He looked down, a shy smile crossing his face before he approached me.

"Hey, so, um, I'm guessing you have a phone, right?"

It blazed in my pocket. I took it out, cradling it at the edges of my fingers. I kept it an arm's length away, like it was going to grow teeth and bite me. 

"Yeah," I said.

"Can I see it? Just so I can stick my number in it real fast?"

I handed it to him. He swiped around on it for a minute then gave it back.

"Oh, and, um, hey -- you apparently have some messages from a guy named Connor." There was a strange edge to his voice.

A nauseous feeling plummeted down my chest. "Oh. Oh, God."

"What?" Concern filled his features. "Is he your ex?"

"God, no," I said. I shoved the phone back into his hands. "I don't want to read them. God. God, will you -- this is so stupid. Will you just look out into the main area of the shop real quick? And make sure there's no -- no red haired guy hanging around out there?"

He didn't ask any questions. He just slid my phone into his pocket, nodded once, and left the room. My heart thundered. I wiped my palms on my jeans and tried not to feel too pathetic. Connor was getting to me. I didn't like the control he had over me. He didn't deserve that. I didn't deserve that. Muffled voices rumbled through the wall. Then footsteps and Josh came back.

"No guys with red hair," he said. "A guy with dark hair was hanging around, though."

Brendon. Relief washed over me.

"Awesome," I said. I stuck my hand out. "It was nice meeting you, Josh."

"You're not rid of me yet," he said. "I owe you a pair of shoes."

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the back room. I started to protest but he was too strong and there was no point really -- no point until I came stumbling out with my hand in Josh's, and Brendon froze at the sight of us.

Then I could feel my entire world crashing down around me.

-----------------------------

freaking lake

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 5K OH MY GOD WOW

that was a whole thousand reads since my last update? so like? a thousand reads in seven days? holy pete wentz? you guys are incredible. and i hope you liked this update

your comments and votes mean the world

and so do your silent lurkings, honestly i don't mind as long as you're reading and hopefully enjoying

if you're sad just know the NEW PANIC ALBUM IS SO FREAKING CLOSE OH MY GOD

ok sorry

i love you

bye for now

xxkelsey