Fame || LRH

Chapter Fifty-Two

Josie's P.O.V.
It didn't matter how long it was, or what happened. But I was back in his arms, feeling his stubble resting on the top of my head. We were surrounded by silence, but a comfortable silence. This hotel room didn't feel like home, he did. It was his warmth, his smell, his presence that lifted everything off me. The stress I had from the album, from the fans, for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel any of it. The second my album release drops this week, is the second that I can finally be with him completely. Right now we were just savoring the time we finally had.
"We should go out," He abruptly suggested making me turn over to face him
"Are you kidding?" I questioned
"We were supposed to see the world together, remember? This is a part of that world,"
"There's nothing to see within miles of here," I reasoned trying to come up with an excuse to stay in
"There's always a pretty amazing view as long as you're with me," He shrugged nonchalantly while I laughed at how cheesy he was
"God I missed you," I shook my head
Ashton's P.O.V.
It actually felt like everyone could finally breath for a while. There was no tension in any room we walked in, no reason for anyone to be angry. At least not because of Josie. Although Julia and I were on fairly decent terms, there was never any closure. She still doesn't know how I really feel about her, but now that Luke is okay, I finally have the chance to tell her. All I have to do now is get her alone, but Mike and Cal were still beaming from the warming reunion everyone had just a few hours ago.
"We should celebrate, do something really fun with Josie again," Calum suggested with his dimples embedded into his smile as he spoke
"Today? Her and Luke are probably sexing it up in his hotel room, we can't interrupt that," Michael shot him down trying to be considerate
"Then tomorrow so they'll be done with their sexual escapades and we can party like we all used to," Calum restated receiving a big approval from Mike But throughout the happiness that the boys were radiating, I could still spot Julia's unusual quietness from next to me.
"Are you alright?" I questioned placing a hand on hers as she flinched a little in response. I immediately took my hand back thinking that I startled her in the worst way, but she reassured me.
"Sorry I was just thinking," she tried saying sincerely while I nodded before paying back attention to Mike and Cal conversing before us. This time, I was the one caught off guard when she abruptly vocalized her thoughts cutting into the rest of the boys.
"How am I going to tell Luke about everything?" She questioned as we all looked at her
"What do you mean?" Michael asked
"My job here is done, I can't just keep lying to him," she explained
"I wouldn't say that you're lying," Calum tried offering
"But it's not the truth either," she retorted
"Julia, you can't tell him," I said
"If I don't tell him, one of you guys will. Neither of you can keep this big of a secret from your best friend no matter how hard you try and you all know that," she said resulting in silence within all of us. We knew she was right, but we couldn't admit it.
None of this was expected, Luke was supposed to get over Josie but it ended up working out for the better. He's happy, Josie's happy, Calum and Mike are happy, but now here's Julia, drowning in the guilt that I put onto her.
"Mike, Cal, can you guys give us a minute?" I asked them as they nodded and left the room. Once we were alone, I couldn't even collect my own thoughts to figure out what I was going to say, so I just threw out whatever came to my head.
"I'm sorry." I blurted out making her look up at me
"Ashton, don't be," she tried to make me feel better. This is what she always did.
"No, I am. I put you in this situation, I'm the one who is making you feel so shitty about yourself. It is my fault and I'm so sorry for doing it," I let out
After I said that, she took stepped a little closer to my placing a hand on my shoulder as a quiet reassurance. We used to be so capable of understanding each other in the past even when we were both dead silent, but over the past few months since I've been making her do what she has been doing, our connection had been lost. I hadn't realized just how deeply our friendship together had fallen out, but I could finally feel it piecing back together now.
Her hand was resting on my shoulder as she gently squeezed the blade letting her thumb slowly move into the spot right next to my neck that gave me chills down my spine because of how sensitive it was there.
"Still gives you goosebumps huh?" She questioned even though she knew the answer already, she knew everything about me from my physical actions to my mental, it was a talent of hers really
"You're still you," I let out in a quiet breath as if it vocally slipped out of my mind
"Of course, I am," she shrugged placing her hand back to her side, but before it fell, I latched onto it with mine resulting in a puzzled look from her
"You didn't have to do this whole scheme, but you still did. After a year of not talking, you acted as if I hadn't been a complete asshole to you, as if everything were still okay. I don't know why you do it, but I love you so much for it, Julia," I thanked her in complete gratitude as she stared up at me
"I do it because we're still best friends, Ash. No matter what," she said giving me the slightest amount of confidence that I needed
"No matter what?" I asked
"No matter what." She smiled
And with that, I took a quick step forward before lowering my lips to hers.
There was such a slight hesitation, letting our lips brush against each other's for a second as I placed her hand on my neck and held her delicate fingers against my skin. I moved in first not being able to control myself for long. I had kissed her only once before and I missed how soft her lips were, how smooth her skin was, how kissing her made my stomach flutter even more than it did right before I went on stage to perform. Kissing her was nothing I could ever replicate, it was an experience each time our lips moved together, it was like I was on a high when I tasted her, and I never wanted to come down from it.
But then the door opened.