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12

Aria's POV

I blinked my eyes open, the light piercing through my eyes.

"Hey."

I jumped up to see who was in the room, only to see it was Abbi.

"It's only me." She said, smiling.

"Why did I fall asleep?" I lightly smacked my forehead.

"Why not?"

"It messes my whole sleep schedule up." I said. "What time is it?"

"Uh," Abbi checked her phone. "5:00."

Before I could say anything, Josh poked his head through the door.

"Are you guys okay?" He asked, entering the room. He said on the middle of the bed, and I moved to sit beside him.

Abbi nodded, and Josh turned to me.

"I think so." I said.

"Good." Josh smiled. "Hey listen, Aria, I think we're gonna go back to Tyler and Jenna's tonight. Mom made us all dinner to take back, and she's put it in bags and containers and has gone way too far. Anyway, just thought I'd give you the heads up. I'm just gonna say goodbye to everyone, come and find me."

I nodded and he got up, leaving the room.

"You have fun with Tyler and Jenna then."
Abbi came over to me to give me a hug.

"I will," I smiled. I went to get out of the bed but after I felt the cold air, I hid right back under the covers. "It's cold!"

Abbi laughed. "Come on you."

Somehow, I must've fallen asleep again in the car, because the next thing I saw when I woke up was the TV, and Josh and Tyler playing Mario Kart.

I was curled up into Josh's chest, a fluffy blanket thrown over me.

"JoSH!" A scream came from behind me. Tyler. I flinched, only for Josh to pause the game and look down at me.

"You okay?"
I nodded.

"You must sleep pretty deeply if you slept through the yelling before Aria." Jenna laughed. "You wanna come with me? You can go back to sleep if you want, or we can go out and get some food?"

"Uh," I didn't want to upset Jenna, but I felt safe with Josh in that moment, and I didn't really want to leave him. "I'm not feeling all too well," I began. "I think I might just stay here. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be sorry Aria, it's fine. I just wasn't sure whether you wanted to be left with these two for at least an hour." Jenna smirked.

"Hey!" Tyler turned back to look at Jenna, giving Josh the chance to overtake Tyler.

"What — Josh! You — Agh!"

The boys had now resumed their game of Mario Kart, making Jenna roll her eyes with a chuckle.

"See you guys. I'll be back soon."

Jenna grabbed her keys and waved, to which I responded with a small tired smile.

"You don't feel well?" Josh asked as he crossed the finish line, laughing when Tyler reacted by walking out of the room, with a simple; "Dip crap."

It was true, I didn't feel quite as good as I would have liked. I felt quite jittery and on edge, and my heat was racing for no apparent reason.

"I don't feel like myself." I replied.

"How so?" Josh adjusted the blanket so it was covering his legs as well as my body.

I told him how I was feeling. In response, he wrapped me in a hug and replied with three words.

"I'm right here."

Josh had a comforting scent. He smelt like peppermint, and his strong hold was warm.

It was calming.

He was calming.

"What do you think about a movie night? Nice and relaxing." Josh asked.

"Sounds nice." I replied quietly.

"Tyler! Get Jenna to pick up some movies while she's out." Josh called softly.

I heard an "okay" from Tyler, as Josh pulled the blanket further over my shoulders.

"Josh?"

"Mm?"

"Didn't your mom give us food to eat tonight?"

"Oh yeah."

"Looks like we're having Taco Bell tonight then."

"Looks like it."