Favors

Chapter One

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1296

There was a knock on the door, followed closely by the telltale creak of the door to your apartment. You used your feet to push your desk chair away from the desk and out into the main room, where you had a clear view of the front door. Josh was standing there, looking around a bit confusedly.

It was a normal occurrence for Josh to come barging into your apartment on a near daily basis. You had been friends for nearly four years now, ever since the day that you moved into the apartment next to his, fresh out of college. You had been working at a nearby café ever since, steadily working on what would hopefully be your breakout novel. Last year, his best friend Tyler had moved in with him too, and you had become best friends. They were like the brothers you never had.

"What if I had been changing?" you asked, leaning casually onto the armrest of your chair.

His eyes stopped moving and rested on you, "You only ever change in your room," he retorted.

You shrugged, "You never know, but that's beside the point. Why are you here, anyway?"

"I need a huge favor from you."

"Define huge," you narrowed your eyes.

"I need you to come to Ohio with me and pretend to be my girlfriend at my cousin's wedding," he said quickly.

"Josh...that's-" you started to say.

"Please, Y/N, I need you to do this for me."

You closed your eyes and sighed, "When is this?"

"We would leave tomorrow and come back on Monday."

"That's five days!" you exclaimed. "Why do you need a date to this thing so bad, anyway?"

He shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the ground. You pulled your legs up under you so that you were now cross-legged in the chair.

"I-uh-I've been telling my family that I have a girlfriend so that they get off my case," he explained, "And I've been saying that she's busy a lot of the time so she hasn't been able to visit."

"And how long have you been dating said girlfriend?" you crossed your arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

"A year?" he smiled innocently.

You sighed and brought a hand down your face.

"Let me call the café and see what I can do."

A smile broke out on Josh's face and he walked over to you, pulling you into a large hug and lifting you out of the chair.

"You're the best," he smiled.

"Yeah, I know," you managed to say from his tight grip. "But it's not a definite yes, so don't get your hopes up..."

He set you down and curtly nodded, "Right."
You walked back into the office and grabbed your phone from the desk. Josh sat patiently on the couch as you dialed up your boss and held the phone to your ear.

"Hello?" Mrs. Henry's voice carried through the phone.

"Hi, Mrs. Henry! This is Y/N, one of the employees from your cafe."

Her memory had been getting worse lately and she had never been good with technology, so you found it was best to tell her who you were every time you had to call.

"Oh! Hello, dear!" you could practically see her pearly smile through the phone.

"Hi! I was calling in regards to my shifts. I know this is extremely short notice, but a family event came up and I have to leave town and won't be able to work until Tuesday. Is there any way that someone can cover my shifts?" you asked sweetly.

She was quiet for a moment.

"Yes, I think that will work."

"Ok, thank you so much."

"Of course, dear."

"Bye, Mrs. Henry."

"Goodbye."

You ended the call and Josh looked up at you hopefully.

"Looks like we have a wedding to go to."

Josh jumped up from the couch, "You don't understand how much this means to me," he smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, save it for the wedding," you waved a hand at him.

"Our flight leaves at one in the afternoon tomorrow," he announced.

"Perfect. Now, if we're going to be dating, we have to get our story straight," you laughed.

Josh groaned, "All the nitty gritty details?"

"Every last one. I mean, you do want this to be believable, don't you?"

He rolled his eyes, "Yes."

"Well, if we're leaving tomorrow, I have to start packing."

Much to your surprise, Josh followed you as you walked off to your room. He sat down on your bed and you walked towards the closet. Your suitcase was sitting dauntingly on the top shelf.

"Josh," you said.

"Yeah?" he twisted around to face you.

"Mind giving me a hand?"

Josh got up and expertly got the suitcase down from the top shelf. He barely had to get on his toes to reach it.

"Thanks," you smiled as he handed it to you.

He kicked off his shoes and relaxed on the bed. Meanwhile, you set your suitcase on the bench at the end of your bed and started to make a list on your phone of all the clothes you would need.

"So how did we meet, darling?" Josh asked, putting on his sweetest smile.

You looked over to him and raised your eyebrows, the smallest hint of a smile on your lips.

"Well," you started in a cheesy voice, "it all started one fateful day when I decided to move into this apartment I found on Eighth Street," you smiled. "You see, my neighbor was terribly loud, and I was always stomping around the apartment and grumbling about how impossibly annoying the drumming next door was. Then one day, as I was stomping around, someone knocked on my door. Much to my surprise, it was the annoying boy from next door who also so happened to be amazingly attractive. I still remember exactly what he said, 'Is my drumming bothering you? Because I can totally stop if you need me to...' with that cute smile on your face like you have right now," you laughed, suddenly breaking the flow of the story. "Anyway, then the impossibly cute boy and I started talking to each other more until he finally became one of my best friends."

"Seems about right," Josh laughed.

"So, Dun, where did you take me on our first date?" you asked as you neatly folded some shirts into your suitcase.

"You see, as I got to know the amazing girl from the apartment next door, I quickly learned that she loved the sky, so I drove her up on a hill that overlooked the city and together we sat on the roof of my car and watched as the sun sank lower in the sky. It was the same night that I learned she loved space and having deep conversations about life. We also shared a passionate first kiss," he smirked.

You balled up the jeans that you had in your hand and lobbed them at him, to which he quickly caught.

"And here I was thinking you were being cute," you crinkled up your nose.

He tossed you the jeans and you quickly refolded them before sticking them back into your suitcase.

Josh stayed the entire time that you spent packing. By the time you had everything, you had a solid story formulated. The sun had pretty much set in the sky, casting dark shadows onto the walls.

"See you tomorrow at ten?" Josh asked, his hand resting lightly on the door handle.

You nodded. He gave you one final smile before disappearing out the door. You turned on your heel and headed for the kitchen. In less than 24 hours, you would be in Columbus, Ohio, pretending to be someone you weren't.