HOOLIGANS ➳ JOSH DUN

「TWENTY FOUR」

ANNIE
r e a l  l i f e

"I can't believe you're making me do this."

Annie laughed at Josh, who was stood hesitant at the end of her bed, with chest bare and cheeks red with embarrassment. 

"C'mon, you need to change your underwear else you'll get some toxic yeast infection or something." She stuttered, holding back her laughter as she flung a pair of her laciest panties at him. 

Josh let out an uneasy laugh, and Annie laid back against the bed in amusement. 

"Go on!"

A smile crept onto Josh's face, a wave of confidence rushing over him. He's turned to the side, and started to slowly unbuckle his jeans with a playful but teasing smirk.

He glanced at Annie, who had her lip between her teeth, the action making his core feel warm. He quickly let his jeans fall to his ankles.

To Josh's surprise, Annie burst of laughter, hand over mouth, eyes as wide as saucers. Josh stopped with a frown.

"What are you laughing at?"

Annie pointed at his crotch, and Josh looked straight down to find a huge tent in his boxers.  With a yelp he fell to the floor, in a desperate attempt to hide it from the laughing girl. 

"Oh gosh, " He cursed, wrapping a blanket around his waist.

He shyly stood up, confidently covered, and perched on the bed with a pouted lip. 

"That's embarrassing,"

Annie giggled, scooching over to the blushing boy.

"Aw baby it's okay, I know you love a bit of lace," she smiled innocently, making Josh laugh. 

Josh caught Annie's eye, and the room fell silent.

"Annabel Carling, you really are crazy." he sighed, his eyes darting across her face.

Annie chuckled, leaning back into Josh, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Dunno what parent I get that from." she replied joking, but her face dropped.

Josh thought for a second, debating whether or not to bring up the subject, but he was curious.

"Did you know your parents?" He inquired quietly, regretting it as soon as Annie fell silent. 

"Sorry, you don't need to talk about it, I just-"

"They had gone out for the night." Annie interrupted.

"They went to a fancy restaurant, dressed in fancy clothes, drank fancy wine. Missy got a text from my mom saying they were on their way home. But it started to get late, "

Annie sniffed, her voice trembling as the memories of that night came flooding back.

"Next thing we know, Missy gets a phone call,  and she answers it in the hope it's our mom or dad saying they broke down, or that they got stuck in traffic, but it was the police station-"

Annie closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"They were hit by a drunk driver, I was 9, but God bless Missy for taking care of us all this time- she was only 18. She gave up college for us."

Josh instantly wrapped his arm tighter around the girl, his eyes threatening to tear up himself.

"I just remember my mom being so beautiful, she was a lawyer with good money, and my dad was so clever and smart. And look how I've followed that?"

Annie looked up at Josh, one single tear escaping down her cheek.

"I'm a dirty tramp, I steal, I curse, I'm not as graceful as my mother and damn right not as beautiful as her."

With a squeeze of her shoulder, Josh interrupted her flustered speech.

"That's not true. Annie, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on, and you are definitely twice the worth."

Josh sounded surprised to hear himself say it, but nothing could compare to the shocked expression Annie wore. 

She was suddenly aware of how close they were sitting. The thought brought a hot flush to Annie's cheeks, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from him.

Her eyes swept over the soft red waves that fell across his forehead, curling around his ears, to his mocha eyes, and lingered on his lips.  She felt feverish with the immense restraint to keep her hands in her lap, she felt as though she was burning from the inside out. 

Josh must have felt the same, for his eyes never left hers as he leaned in closer.  Pushing the weight of her hair over her shoulder, his hand lifted to cup the side of her neck.  His thumb stroked her burning cheek as he slowly closed the distance between them, before brushing his lips against hers. 

Josh kissed her gently at first, then with greater pressure. Annie wrapped her arms around his neck, ignoring the pain in her ribs as she wound her fingers through the silky waves that curled against his neck. With a ragged gasp, his hand went around the small of her back, pulling her tightly against him. Annie could feel his heart racing, flush against her own, as he reached up with his other hand to pull the small tie at the neck of her blouse. She gave a small cry of surprise against his mouth as he brushed his hand across her collarbone, running his finger softly along the small indentation above it.

Then, without warning, a sharp rap sounded on the door, and Annie broke away, startled. Josh kept her in the crook of his arm, his chest rising and falling rapidly against her own as his eyes burned into hers. Slowly, he unwound his arm from her waist, and sat straight beside her.

"Annie?" Missy called from outside her room. 

"y-yeah?" she choked out, flustered.

"Come order pizza. Is Josh staying the night?"

Annie and Josh glanced at each other with huge smiles. 

"He sure is."

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