About two years passed by before Josh gave up on being anything more than friends with Oli. He decided it was never going to happen and he would not keep wasting his time on that. Instead Josh turned the corner and found a beautiful girlfriend. Her name was Alicia; she had blonde hair that went down to her shoulders, plump lips, and a body that a body that most girls would kill for.
Josh had told her at the beginning of their relationship that he hadsome feelings for Oli, she understood but bowed to help him get rid of those feelings by the time they reached their one year anniversary. So far she’d been doing good, but there was no denying that whenever Josh saw Oli, he still felt his stomach drop.
Alicia noticed this but didn’t say anything. She did not want to start a fight over something that unimportant to her.
“James Vega is one hot piece of ass.” Alicia said, licking her lips. “Ten out of ten would bang.”
She was outside her house, waiting for Josh to pick her up. This summer they would be on tour together. Alicia had agreed to be YMAS’ merch girl because it would be a perfect opportunity to be close to Josh this summer.
A few minutes later, Josh was at her house. His smile was about ten miles wide. He was so glad to see his girlfriend, even though he’d seen her the night before.
“You ready to go?” Josh asked.
“Of course!” Alicia said. “I heard that Modern Day Escape is on Warped this year. Is that true?”
“Yeah.” Josh said, lifting Alicia’s luggage. “What you wanna meet them or what?”
“Oh my God, yes. I’ve been a big fan since before we even started dating.”
“Well my dear, you’ll get to meet them this summer.”
— — —
By the time Josh and Alicia got to the bus, everyone was already settled in. Max had taken the top bunk and Matt had taken the bunk under his. Chris had settled in the bunk underneath Matt’s and Dan across from Chris. The only bunks that were left vacant were the top and middle ones.
“So which one do you wanna take?” Josh asked. “We have to hurry because we’re leaving soon.”
“Let’s take the top bunk.” Alicia suggested.
“Sounds good.” Josh smiled. “We’ll I’ve got to go check if Sleeping With Sirens is here so we can head out. We’re road partners.”
“Ah okay. Don’t take too long.”
Josh nodded and headed out the bus. He had partially lied to his girlfriend; SWS were YMAS’ road partners but Josh wasn’t going to look for them. He was going to look for Bring Me The Horizon.
Even though he wasn’t going to talk to Oli unless he absolutely needed to, he felt the sudden urge to just be near the older male.
“Hello Josh.”
Josh knew that voice anywhere. He could feel chills going down his back, even though he had promised himself that he was almost over him.
“Hello Oliver.” Josh said coldly. “How are you?”
Bloody hell, so much for not caring.
“I’m great.” Oli said, crossing his arms in front of him. “I hear you’ve got a girlfriend now.”
“Yeah. Where’d you hear that?”
“Well…” Oli began. “Since you haven’t talked to me in over a year, I don’t know why, I had to find out through social networking.”
“Do you seriously not remember why?” Josh said, a little agitated.
“Listen the whole Amanda thing should not have been taken so seriously, okay? It was just a big misunderstanding. She was never my girlfriend nor will she ever be. She just started a rumor about me and her because she wanted to get with me and I rejected her.”
“Sure play that card again.” Josh laughed bitterly. “Is that the only thing you have to say about that? After all this time? Seriously?”
“Because that’s the only thing there is to say Joshua.” Oli said. “If she was my girlfriend, why would I hide it from my best friend? That makes absolutely no sense!”
“But you did… And that’s what hurts the most.”
“Josh, you’re over-reacting. I would never hide something from my best friend… Especially not one that I was in love with!”
“I-in love with?” Josh stuttered. “What do you mean?”
“I was in love with you Joshua. For fuck’s sake, I still am! I tried to push those feelings down to the back of my heart, but they were always there. Why in the bloody world do you think I rejected Amanda? Because I was straight and in love with another girl? No, it was because I’m in love with you.”
Josh’s eyes widened. Panic started to set in, he did not see another option but to run. His mind kept telling him to run but his feet seemed to be glued to the floor.
As Oli got closer to him, he finally ran. He did not look back nor did he say a word to Oli.
He was not prepared for that.
— — —
Later that day Oli began to regret what he said to Josh. He should not have held it in and just spit it back out in one instant.
I probably gave the poor kid a panic attack!
The older male crawled in his bunk and covered himself in his blankets. He should not have said that. The sudden outburst probably cost him whatever was left of his friendship with Josh.
“Hey mate, you alright?” Matt Nicholls, the guy in the band that was closest to Oli, asked. “I saw what happened out there earlier.”
“Oh fuck, so now you know.” Oli said, covering his face with his hands. “I- I was going to tell you eventually.”
“It’s alright mate, I knew it anyway.”
“Oh really? How?”
“The way you just wouldn’t shut up about the kid despite the fact that you said it had been like a year.”
“That obvious huh?” Oli laughed.
“Yes.”
