Holiday of a Lifetime (A Josh Cuthbert/Union J fan fiction)

Chapter 13

I jolted upright out of bed, confused as to what had just woke me up. That was when I heard it, a sharp tap at the huge sliding doors that led out onto the balcony from the apartment bedroom. I rubbed my eyes and slowly peeled back the curtain from the door, a tiny rock flew at the door again, making me jump backwards.

As my eyes adjusted to the dark outside I could just make out the outline of a person standing in the gardens, looking up at me. At first I was petrified and nearly screamed, but then I recognised who it was. "Josh" I whispered to myself. My heart felt like it was literally going to leap out of my chest and I quickly and silently unlocked the door and slid it open, careful not to wake my sister up.

"Lily, where are you going" I heard my sister whisper. I slowly turned back around and saw she was sat upright, looking at me with confusion.

"Josh is here" I answered, "lock the door behind me and go back to bed, ok?" I asked, pleading with her not to wake our parents.

She smiled, and joined me at the door. She looked out at Josh and waved out to him, he quickly waved back and she giggled.

"Have fun" she whispered to me, gesturing for me to go out, "don't worry I won't tell mum and dad" she promised.

"I owe you" I said, hugging her and slipping out of the door.

I heard it shut and lock behind me, and looked round to see her shutting the curtains again. Thankfully our room was on the ground floor so the balcony was at ground level. Josh came running up to me and helped me over the balcony, straight into his arms. I let out a huge sigh of relief to be back in his arms again and he squeezed me close, like he never wanted to let go.

"I couldn't wait till the morning to see you again" he whispered into my ear, kissing it lightly as he spoke.

"I'm so happy you are here" I replied, nestling into his body, his sweet smell overwhelming my senses and making me go light headed;  thankful he was holding me to keep me steady.

He kissed me quickly and took my hand, walking away from the balcony and back towards the apartment reception. We walked through reception, and I glanced at the giant clock hanging on the wall;

2:33 am

"Where are we going, Josh?" I asked, puzzled as to why we were walking towards the swimming pool.

"Fancy going for a swim?" he giggled, I laughed along with him until I realised he was being serious.

"I... I don't have my bikini on though" I stuttered, not knowing what else to say.

"No worries, we can just go in with our clothes, or no clothes, up to you" he winked at me, and I punched him in the arm, "come on it will be fun!" he laughed.

Before I could say anything he jumped in the pool, completely clothed, splashing me as he broke the surface of the water. I'm already wet now, I might as well I thought to myself. It's time to stop following all the rules, and before I could change my mind I jumped in after him.

The cool water hit me as soon as I hit the water. It was a lot less welcoming at night, when outside was nowhere near as warm as the day time. I came out stuttering from the cold water, but before I could worry about being cold, Josh's arms wrapped around me and cradled me close, warming me up instantly.

I stayed there for a minute, before taking a huge gulp of air and diving underwater, swimming away from him playfully. I saw him come underwater and follow behind me, chasing me in the moonlit water. I surfaced for air and quickly went back down again, turning to face him as he dived back underwater. I saw him smile at me, releasing bubbles of air as he did so; I swam close to him and took his face in my hands, pulling his head closer to mine and kissing him in the water. It was a strange feeling, underwater, but it was magical and perfect. We kissed for as long as we could, until we ran out of air and had to surface, giggling and cuddling like we always did.

When Josh caught his breath, he looked at me and took both my hands in his.

"Lily, earlier today I told you I loved you, and I meant it with all my heart. What I didn't do was ask you an important question. I was saving that till now." He took another breath, and looked into my eyes, "Lily, will you please be my girlfriend?"

I didn't even have to think about the answer, and I quickly threw my arms around his neck, "Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend, Josh."

He laughed and spun me around in the water, hugging and kissing me tightly, a huge smile spreading on his face as he did so.

We continued swimming around together, laughing and kissing, until we got tired and decided to sit in the shallows.

"I'm so happy, Josh" I said, as we sat down next to each other on the shallow ramp of the swimming pool, "You make me feel so safe, so happy, I am so lucky I have met you." I snuggled up next to him and he wrapped his arms around me.

"I wish you knew how much I love you, Lily" he replied, stroking my arm as he spoke. "When I see you, it's like my eyes literally light up, when I see you everything is bright, happy and good again. When I kiss you, your lips make all my worries go away, and my mind is filled with you. Everything about you is perfect. I don't think words are even enough to express how much you mean to me, I can just try and show you." With his words, he took my face and kissed me like he had never kissed me before, he was strong and passionate and it was enough to take my breath away. I kissed him back as fiercely as I could, pulling his head closer towards me and playing with his hair.

"JOSH... JOSH... JOSH!" shouted a group of people, running towards us, flashes going off all around us, blinding and scaring me. It was like the whole sky was exploding into light, I could hardly see Josh as he grabbed my hand, pulling me up out of the water and running into the bar area, with the men right on our heels. We shot through to the reception area, into a small room on the left.

"The paparazzi have found me" Josh whispered, catching his breath quickly, "Lily I have to run back to my room, you stay here and as soon as it's clear, go straight to your room. I will sort this out, don't worry." He kissed me quickly, and ran out of the room, shutting the door behind him before I could reply.

What had just happened

I couldn't believe it, the night had been perfect and it was ruined by those low life men with nothing better to do than take pictures of young couples.

Oh no

My heart went cold as I realised what they had got pictures of, me and Josh kissing in the swimming pool. Those pictures were going to be all over the newspapers and the internet by tomorrow. Everyone would know. I was not prepared for this, and I'm certain Josh wasn't either. I curled up into a ball on the floor and cried into my arms, what had been the most perfect evening had suddenly turned into a nightmare and I had no idea what to do.