Don't Leave Me Alone | TØP

Chapter 18 // Josh

"I'm pretty sure you will love this, Josh." Mark mutters with a smile, carrying something with him.

I raise my head and focus my gaze on him. I haven't seen him since we both were at the cafe, or should I call it the pre-fight, so I'm kinda surprised and relieved to see him again.

But on the other hand, Mark's bright smile fades into a horrified gesture as he observes my face. Well, I would be terrified too if I saw a guy who looks almost as lifeless as the comatose person in the next room.

"Dude, are you okay?" He points at my bandaged nose. "Were you in a fight or something?"

I choke on a small chuckle and shoot a look at Jenna, who's slowly falling sleep in the seat next to me. She opens one eye to see what's going on, and when she sees Mark she quickly stands up.

"Uh, Mark! I'm so glad you're here!" She awkwardly hugs the newcomer. "Where are the other?"

"In the hotel, I guess." Mark gives us a bewildered look. "You two look terrible. What happened to you guys?"

I give Jenna a nervous smirk and let her talk, she's better at keeping herself together than me.

"We - I mean, Josh - had a little affair with Zack, but it was nothing important." Jenna chuckles. "Did you bring why I asked you to?"

Mark nods, the nervous look still glued to his face. He hands me the mysterious thing that he had in his hands when he arrived, and after a few seconds I realize the thing was for me. I take it into my hands, realizing that what I just received was a wrapped burrito from Chipotle.

Mark had brought food for me, and worse, Jenna had asked him to bring me food. Was I supposed to feel better or worse?

"Uh... thank you." I force the words to come out casually with a smile. "You really did not have to, guys, but thank you so much."

Jenna gives both us a bright smile, and for the first time in forever I noticed she was proud of herself. I also caught Mark rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, Josh," Jenna says, still smiling. "I thought it will be much healthier if you took a break from all this mess and just, you know, hook out with Mark and the crew for a while, just until things get lighter. So I asked Mark to bring you something just to distract you for a while."

Jenna elbows Mark and the newcomer smiled too. I felt sick for a moment but I don't say anything. If not complaining made Mark and Jenna happy then I preferred to keep my mouth shut.

"Oh! Also, Josh," I can feel how tense Mark was. " you should open the burrito. There's something else inside."

I open the burrito, raising an eyebrow. In the package there was a blurry message waiting to be read. The words were carefully written but 80% of it was impossible to understand. It took me a moment to read the whole thing:

DEAR JOSH:

We miss you bro, you should spend some time with us!

Love, the crew :) 

P.S: We aren't responsable if the burrito arrives cold.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Jenna says, also reading the message. "You guys did not tell me about this."

"I thought it was a good idea." Mark mutters, still smiling.

I gulp, reading each word again. Whatever Jenna and Mark were trying to do was not going to work. My butt is already glued to this seat, and it refuses to leave. I refuse to leave Tyler. I did it once, I'm not doing it again.