Zosh

(Chapter 1) True Love

       Last Thursday, Josh was acting strange. He asked Tyler to come over to his apartment, but when he arrived, Josh wasn't there. He knocked on the door several times, but there was no reply. After 2 minutes of waiting, Tyler frustratingly calls Josh, "Dude!" Josh responded calmly, "Hello?" Tyler rolled his eyes, "It's Tyler. You told me to come over! You're not home?" Josh got panic in his voice, "Oh my god, I'm sorry! There was a lot of traffic—"
"Why didn't you tell me to come over after you get home? I've been waiting for 2 minutes."
Josh sighed. He knew Tyler was really impatient, "I'm sorry, I freaked out. I needed to talk. It's really important. I just finished parking and I'll be there soon, okay?" Tyler groaned, "Fine, hurry up."

Josh hung up and sprinted to the lobby of the apartment, looking up at the chandelier on the way to the stairs. The elevator was occupied and there was about 10 people waiting for it. It was a lot of exercise since he was in such a rush and he had the 4th floor out of 6. Tyler can hear the quick patting of feet from the stairway and soon saw Josh who was gasping for breath after racing to his room. Tyler laughed at his exhausted friend, "Okay, so what was important that you have to tell me." Josh got his breath back and pulled Tyler into his apartment, "C'mon inside."

Josh and Tyler sat down on the couch. Josh turned his body towards Tyler to show his enthusiasm and attention, "I'm gonna ask Debby to marry me." Tyler's eyes widened and smiled, "No way!" Josh looked down smiling, wiping his hands on his pants, "Yeah, it's, uh, it's very scary though."
"How're you gonna bring up the question?"
"I'm taking her to a surprise date tomorrow, take her to the beach, probably. That's where I'll ask."
"Do you have the ring?"
"Yeah, that's where I was driving from just now. It's 10 karats."
"Dude, that's so sick. Have you told anyone other than me."
"Yeah. I told my mom before I picked up the ring. She was really thrilled."
Tyler got up and so did Josh, "I'm so happy for you, man. I hope everything goes well. I know how scary it is to propose."
Tyler patted his back and held on his shoulder, Josh was looking around the room and making nervous laughs, "I hope so too. She's the world to me."

Tyler and Josh talked for another hour until Tyler had to leave to go back home with Jenna, "Is it cool if I tell her the news?" Josh grinned, "Yeah, it's fine." They hugged and Tyler went. He told Jenna about Josh's plan to propose to his girlfriend. She was also really excited and they wished the best outcome.

On Friday, Josh woke up at around 11am. He was a nervous wreck. He showered and got dressed but had to change his shirt several times because of all the nervous sweat. All he had left to wear is his favorite NASA shirt. Right before Josh was going to get his phone, Debby was calling him. Josh hesitated the call but he picked up anyway, "D–Debby! Hey, I was just gonna call you." She made a soft laugh, "Yeah... I was wondering if you can come over. It's something important." Josh got a little scared and his voice became louder than it was before, "Oh! Really? I wanted to talk to you about something too."
"Okay, I guess we can tell each other when we see each other."
"I'll see you soon. I love you."
"Um... I–I love you too. Bye."

Josh put his phone in his pocket, got his car keys and the diamond ring from the nightstand. It's like he drove to Debby's place at the speed of sound and everything was going dark. Josh stumbled out of the car and walked towards Debby's house. She has one of the biggest, fanciest and guarded houses in her neighborhood. The gate was locked as always and required authorization from the householder. Josh went to the speaker by the gate and pressed the red button that buzzed. He could then hear Debby's voice from the other end, "Hello?"
Josh then pressed the white button that was below the red one, "Hey, it's me."
"Oh hey, Josh. Hold on, let me open the gate."
The gates automatically opened and Josh walked inside where Debby was waiting near the door. He smiled and she grinned as she waved, "Come on in." Josh sped-walked up the steps and into the house while Debby closed the door, "You look beautiful as always."
"Thanks."
"We both have something to say... you start first, though." Josh laughed nervously.

Debby sighed, "Take a seat." Josh sat down on the couch near by and Debby sat to his right, "There's something I need to tell you." Josh looked at Debby's body language and got concerned, "What's wrong?"
"Listen, you're an amazing guy and I love you. We've been at this relationship for a while now and have been dealing with all the long distance. As much as we've tried to keep this relationship stable... I don't think it's ever gonna work out. I want to break up, Josh."

Josh's face went cold, his heart had perished and he looked at Debby, "Oh..."
"I hope you understand."
"No, I–I do. I just– I, um, I was actually gonna tell you the same thing."
Debby sighed again, "I'm glad we're on the same page, then." She grinned a little and Josh grinned too, but he was really broken and hurt, "I'm glad too."
"I didn't want to tell you in text. It didn't seem mature to me."
"I get it."
They sat in silence for a few seconds and then Josh got up, "Well, I should be going now... Tyler and I are busy with the whole Quiet is Violent tour."
"Okay, thank you for stopping by."
"No problem."
Josh showed himself out and turned back to her before leaving.
"Bye, Debby."
She didn't respond and Josh left.

Tyler was at home with Jenna, watching Netflix and cuddling on the couch until he got a call from Josh. Tyler paused the show and picked up the phone, "He probably wants to tell us how the proposal went." He thought to himself. Jenna thought the same thing. He picked up the phone with a grin on his face, expecting his friend to be really happy, "Hello?"
"T-Tyler..." Josh's voice was shaky. He was crying, he had been crying for an hour and his breathing was erratic. Tyler sat up and his voice sounded concerned, "Josh? Are you okay?" Jenna was also worried, but she wanted to ask what was wrong after the phone call. Josh sniffed, "T-The proposal...it didn't go well."
"What happened?"
Josh sobbed and Tyler also nearly cried at the sound of his heart broken friend, "Everything will be okay."
"S-She broke up with me."
Tyler raised his eyebrows and his eyes widened, "Seriously?"
"She said things wouldn't work out. I couldn't ask her to-" Josh's words were interrupted with sobs and Tyler got up from the couch, "Just hold on, okay? We're coming over."
Josh was able to finally calm himself down. "Okay...b-bye."

       Tyler got his jacket and Jenna went up to him to put her arms around him, "What happened."
"Josh called. Debby broke up with him before he proposed. I think it's good that we stop by real' quick."
"Alright."
Jenna ran upstairs and grabbed her shawl while Tyler got the keys to the car and they left. Josh was in bed, looking out the nearby window. He laid there weeping, drifting to sleep and then waking himself up until he heard a knock. He was too lazy to get up, "Who is it?"
"It's me and Jenna."
"The door's open."
Tyler and Jenna let themselves inside and went across the living room to find Josh sitting up from his bed. Jenna sat down and held her arms out so they can hug, "I'm so sorry this happened, sweetie. What can we do to help?" Josh shrugged, "I don't know. Nothing, I guess. I can't think straight, I don't feel like doing anything right now."
Tyler walked closer to Josh and Jenna, "We're here for you. It's tough what happened and we want to help you in the best way possible. I care about you, we both do. If there's anything you need, you can ask us any time, okay?"
Josh sniffed and wiped his nose, "Okay."

       The two friends hugged and Josh finally has a grin on his face, "Thank you guys so much. This means a lot, it really means a lot." Jenna smiled, wiping Josh's tear-stained cheeks, "It's no problem at all. We have your back, no matter what." Josh smiled and it lightened up the mood a bit, "There's actually somewhere I'd like to go."

       Josh told Tyler and Jenna he wanted to go to the studio to drum for a while. He always did that to get his mind off of stress or when he gets depression. Tyler played a bit of piano while he drummed and they came up with new stuff as they played. Jenna was watching them play their music like she does in their shows, she loves watching her husband and his best friend perform.