The Long Game ✅

16. Christmas

I'm woken up the next morning by someone kissing my neck. I smile knowing its Josh but suddenly I remember that I'm in Riley's bed and she's still asleep next to me. I look over and notice that the bed is empty.

Josh laughs, "She's already downstairs, Topanga sent me up here to get you. A bad choice really" he says leaning down to kiss me. I kiss him back and pull him down on top of me. I smile as I continue to kiss Josh, ecstatic that I'm finally being able to make out with my boyfriend since his return yesterday. Sadly we're interrupted when the door opens.

"Well, at least the two of you are finally using a bed. But could you maybe get your own" Riley teases, standing in the doorway.

Josh and I pull apart and he stands up walking over to his niece as I climb out of bed. "Sorry Riles" he apologizes.

I walk over to join Riley and Josh and we start to walk downstairs. I feel Josh's arm go around mine and I lean into him momentarily until I remember that Cory doesn't know about the two of us yet, so I pull away. I can tell that he's a little hurt by my action but I can't risk it.

We walk into the living room and Cory and Topanga are sitting in the bay window while Auggie is sitting on the floor in front of the tree. Riley sits down on the floor beside her little brother and Josh and I grab the chair that usually sits near the front door. Josh sits on the cushion and I take a seat on the arm of the chair. Luckily, the tree blocks most of us from Matthews' line of sight so when Josh reaches up to grab my hand I let him take it.

We all watch Riley and Auggie open their presents and afterwards Topanga brings the leftover cookies over to the group. Without thinking she takes the lid off and sitting right on top is the one that Josh made me.

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I'm not sure how long it takes Cory to put the pieces together but I'm sure that the fact that me and Josh were still holding hands sped up the process and to make matters worse this is the exact same moment that my parents walk through the door.

I know that I should let go of Josh's hand but at this point I'm pretty sure it's the only thing anchoring me in reality so instead I squeeze tighter.

"Merry Christmas Everyone" my dad exclaims. "What've we missed?" He asks oblivious to the answer that his best friend is about to give him and as if this wasn't enough before Cory is able to answer him Josh's parents walk through the door.

I've met Josh's parents before but we never actually talked and I wasn't sure how they were going to react to Josh and I's relationship.

"Sorry we're late. Traffic was awful, you're lucky you're staying here" Alan says putting a hand on Josh's shoulder.

"What did we miss?" Amy asks mirroring my dad's exact same question.

"Well for starters apparently Josh and Maya are dating" Cory says causing the room to explode.

Topanga and my mom stand around quietly while everyone else shouts around us. My dad looks confused while Cory looks shocked, and Amy just looks plain upset. I steal a look at Riley and she shoots me a sympathetic smile. After a few seconds silence falls on the room and surprisingly Josh is the one who breaks it as he lets go of me and stands up in the middle of all the chaos.

"Look, we were going to tell you guys, we were just waiting for the right time-." He starts but he's suddenly cut off by my dad.

"How long has this been going on?" He shouts looking between the two of us confused. This time it's my turn to say something. I stand up and join everyone in the middle of the room. Josh looks down at me sensing my nervousness as he wraps his arm around my back comfortingly. My heart beat starts to slow with my boyfriend next to me.