If You're Looking for a Happy Love Story, This Isn't It.

//two

a/n- this is more of a filler chapter than anything. i hope you enjoy anyways! i will try to update more often. thanks for reading :)

I had know Josh for literally my whole life. Our moms had been best friends since they were in middle school and ended up moving to the same neighbourhood. Growing up, there really was never a time where either Josh had a crush on me or I had a crush on him. It seemed like it was always at opposite times though. It wasn't until I was seventeen and he was twenty one that we finally became a couple.

We both met Tyler on the same night. Around a year before we became "official," Josh took me to see one of our favourite bands. It was a small, local band that we were always listening to. I was intrigued with their lyrics and what they stood for. There was maybe a little under 100 people in the audience that night, so we decided to stick around afterwards and meet the group. Who could have guessed that a few years later Josh would become half of that band?

After befriending him, our families soon became close with Tyler's family. It was so weird how similar they were to us. It wasn't hard for them to merge with our families. As cliché as it sounds, we eventually became one big family.

It was kind of cool growing up with the guy that's now my boyfriend. We never had to go through that awkward stage of trying to act impressive while getting to know the other person. It seemed like I knew everything about Josh; but sometimes when I wasn't expecting it, I'd learn something new.

"You know, you're really bad at taking pictures," I laughed. I wanted Josh to take pictures of everything so I could feel like I was there with him. He wanted me to do the same.

He leaned over to see which picture I was talking about. "Hey! That's a great one!"

"Tyler's forehead and half of his eyebrows are cropped out!"

"Yeah.. BUT. His chin looks extra sweet in that picture." I just rolled my eyes and clicked to the next. It was a very blurry picture of a tree. I gave Josh a look. "What?! Not everyone is a professional photographer like you!"

"I wouldn't say that I'm a professional," I mumbled. He just chuckled and kissed the side of my head.

"Well, you're my professional." I rolled my eyes again and snuggled closer to Josh. We continued to look at his pictures for a few minutes until the sound of a car door shutting brought us back to the present. "That's mom," Josh said without hesitation.

"How do you know?"

"I'd recognize the sound of her car anywhere. Plus, she's well over due to be home." He slid down into the couch.

"What are you-"

"I'm improvising," He whispered as I heard Laura call my name from the other room.

"Lacey? Honey?" She must have seen my car in the drive way. It was probably the most recognizable car in Columbus. It was older than I was and the ugliest color of yellow imaginable.

"Yeah!" I got up from the couch and ran to meet her at the front door. I gave her a hug after she took her shoes off.

"What are you doing here?"

"We, uh. We were out of orange juice."

"You're an awful liar. I know you had to work tonight." She crossed her arms and gave me a look. I had no idea what Josh's plans were, so I tried to come up with a different lie. I was too slow though because after a few seconds she figured it out. "Where is he?! JOSHUA!"

She pushed past me and walked towards the family room. Excitement filled my heart again as I quickly followed her. Laura walked around the couch, and as soon as she saw Josh, he jumped up and tackled her in a bear hug.

"You weren't supposed to be home until tomorrow night!"

"We came home early to surprise everyone! Where's dad?"

"He's in Cleveland for work." Josh's face instantly dropped. "He'll be home for the show tomorrow. Don't worry."

Josh spent the next few hours telling his mom all about the tour. I had already heard these stories, but I was perfectly content listening to the again. He had both of his calloused hands wrapped around one of mine. Occasionally as he spoke, he would lightly tap a rhythm with with his thumb on the back of my hand. Eventually, Laura went to bed leaving us in a comfortable silence.

"How are you feeling," Josh asked breaking the silence. I never liked talking about my illnesses. Anytime I thought about it, I felt like a burden. Even though I knew that wasn't true, that thought seemed to echo in my head. Regardless of what I wanted, Josh was always asking about it. He never wanted to see me too worn down or uncomfortable. He always wanted me to be okay. I was almost never "okay," only I never had the heart to tell him that.

"Yeah, I'm good." I didn't have to tell him that I was on day two with no sleep. I also didn't have to tell him that every inch of my body ached. But despite how I felt, I could feel so much worse. So I guess it wasn't a lie that I was feeling good. "Why?"

"Tyler, Jenna, and Mark are heading to Taco Bell. Wanna go?"

"It's literally..." I looked at my watch. "12:43 in the morning."

"Great! That means if I drive your car we'll get there by 12:51!" I laughed and followed him to the door to put my shoes on.

"Why can't I drive my car?"

"You drive too slow. Plus my car probably has no gas and hasn't been driven in, like, two months." The second that my shoe was tied, he grabbed my hand. "Come oooon!"