Crash (Josh Franceschi fanfiction)

Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

It had been a week.

I'd spent all of my supposed 'wedding day' drinking at home because Tyler couldn't drink with me and alcohol wasn't permitted in the hospital anyway. I'd been drinking a fair bit all week, actually. How else was I to take the news, grinning and laughing?

'I'm not sure they like drunk people in here,' Tyler chuckled as he got out of bed and walked over to the window. He looked out at the rooftops that spread miles into the distance.

'You can see our house from here. Looks like a tiny brown dot.'

'Don't worry, I'm calmer when I'm drunk so I won't yell at any of them this time.' Tyler laughed and then sighed.

'I hate this. I mean, you're a mess at the moment and it's because of me.'

I walked over to him, gripping his shoulder.

'No, Tyler. None of this is your fault. You're kind and nice and you know, its not your fault. Its just unfair you're the one who was diagnosed.'

Tyler ran a hand slowly through his hair, before turning to me. They'd let him wear his own clothes instead of those awful smocks that have a hole where your arse is. He was currently just wearing jogger bottoms and a DBNO t-shirt.

He smiled briefly, before his face returned to that anxious, pained expression. He took my face in his hands and kissed lightly along my jaw, then tilted my head so our lips met.

'What's the time?' He mumbled against my lips. I pulled away, glancing at the wall clock behind him.

'Six-forty.'

'Go get some dinner, go on. I'm fine here. I'll call tonight if I haven't been drugged up with that sleeping crap again.'

Once I got out onto the street I realised the next bus wasn't until half-seven. Being the impatient one, I decided to get a ride instead of waiting. I pulled out my phone and clicked on Dan's number; we'd become fairly good friends.

'Hello?' It was noisy on his end of the line, so Dan had to yell.

'Hey, Dan!' I replied.

'Kirsty? Whats up?' He sounded worried.

'Don't worry, no one's dead. I just need a ride home from seeing Ty.'

'Oh. Well I would give you one if I had a car...'

'I forgot about that,' I laughed. 'Ill ring someone else.'

'No, no. We've just finished band practice and are just about to get a taxi to the pub, I'm sure we can get the cabby to swing along and drop you on the way.'

'Actually, pub sounds good. I'll come to the pub, if you don't mind.'

'Sure,' Dan chuckled, 'Just hold tight, we'll be about ten minutes.'

I slid my phone back into my pocket after he hung up, and stared at the curb until a little black cab pulled up. I climbed into the back, tripping over all the multiple legs in the small area.

I took a seat between Max and Dan, sitting opposite Matt, Chris and Josh, who squinted curiously at me.

'Are you drunk, Kirsty?'

'Not so much anymore, the vodka's wearing off,' I fake pouted.

'Well, do you know the best way to not get hungover?' Max added.

'KEEP DRINKING!' Matt yelled in excitement.

Our cabby was chuckling at our antics as he pulled up outside the pub. Everyone looked to Chris, who sighed and pulled out his credit card to pay. We all cheered and got out the cab. We found a table for 6 and took a seat.

'I'm starving. I could eat a horse!' Josh said as we looked at menus.

'Well unfortunately, they don't serve those here,' I smirked. He growled playfully before ordering a hamburger instead. Once we'd ordered, Chris and Matt went up to the bar to get us all pints.

We ate our basic and greasy pub meals, and ordered another round of pints.

'We are splitting the bill for all this shit. I'm too broke to pay for everyone,' I said. The others all laughed and Dan grinned smugly.

'We're totally rock'n'roll, why should you pay? I'm so rock'n'roll in fact, that I'll pay the whole bill!'

'Not gonna argue with free food and beer,' I shrugged.

A few more pints later, and we were all up and dancing to non-existent music. Josh grabbed my hand and spun me towards him.

'Care for a dance, me lady?'

'Oh, why of course, kind sir.'

I wrapped my arms around his neck as he placed his around my waist and we attempted to waltz at high speed around the tables. There wasn't many people in the pub that night, but those who were there were judging us silently. I didn't care though, I was too intoxicated to be worried about what people thought of my actions.

Josh tried to do the fancy move where you twirl the other person around, but it failed and we ended up a giggling heap on the floor. This was the first time I'd properly laughed in more than a week.

I looked down and realised I was straddling Josh, and blushed a little bit. Josh had realised too, but didn't seem to mind as he grinned at me. He leaned in towards me, slowly brushing his lips over mine, as if seeing how I'd react. I stayed still as he pressed his mouth to mine properly.

I kissed back as my mind was filled with a feeling that was more like a memory; it was so familiar. Josh never deepened the kiss, but it didn't disappoint me.

I was drunk, but even so, I knew this was one of the nicest kisses I had ever experienced. There was something about it that made me feel beautiful. It made me believe that I was really, truly attractive and I had never properly felt that before.

Josh pulled away and smiled at the ground for a moment before whispering;

'Sorry. You just looked so perfect right then, I had to.'

We stood up and I was relieved to see that the others had not seen out little moment. They were still dancing around like idiots. I smiled to myself as I collected my purse before calling out to everyone.

'Seeya, lads. I'm gonna go home now.'

They waved and yelled their goodbyes and I went out onto the street to hail a taxi. I was just opening the car's door when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

'I'm gonna get home too, mind if I share a cab?' Josh whispered. I nodded, and he slided in beside me while I told the driver my address, followed by Josh's.

We soon pulled up at my house and I paid my fare, reaching for the door handle. Josh reached for the handle on his side too, and I sent him a curious glance.

'I'll walk you to the door, it's only what any decent guy would do.'

'Too right,' our cabby called out from the front of the car, 'I'll wait for ya, son.'

I was confused as Josh followed me up my front path; he was acting as if this was a date and he needed to be all proper gentleman like. I hadn't been walked to my door for about 2 years, because I obviously hadn't been on dates with anyone but Tyler, who lived with me.

Shit. Tyler.

I reminded myself that this hadn't been a date, that Josh was just acting strange. We were both drunk as hell, and I had nothing to be feeling guilty about.

Except the kiss.

We reached my front door and I hugged Josh awkwardly, then stood there waiting for him to turn around and go home, but he stayed put. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and I could see his eyes staring at me in the dark.

'What are you doing?' I giggled, as he kept standing there looking at me. Josh kept his gaze on me, his eyes sparkling. The dim streetlight illuminated the outlines of his figure; his tall frame, broad shoulders, messy hair, stubbled jawline. He finally parted his pink lips, his words coming out husky and slurred.

'Can I come inside?'

[A/N: cliffhanger ooooo :3

I'm such a bitch I'm sorry. Guess you'll just have to read on!]