JOSH DUN VS THE WORLD ✓

CHAPTER SIX: DOES THAT MEAN WE CAN MAKE OUT?

SAVING...

SAVING...

SAVING...

SAVING FAILED.

The desert in his dreams is blanketed in white.

White sand, white sky, even the sun is pearly white instead of yellow. The exceptions are the cacti littered around. Josh, who's standing, drops to his knees, looking around desperately. There's nothing for miles and miles in every direction.

"Oh god," he says, slumping forward, "so alone."

"You're not alone."

Someone shoots past Josh, blinding him with upturned sand. Josh rubs his eyes and squints to see the man zooming by on his roller skates, carrying a package tucked under his arm. Clouds of bleach blonde dust is all that's left in his wake. His figure glows in the hot beating sun, and for a moment he looks like an angel.

"What'd you say?"

He skids to a stop and looks back with the most dazzling smile Josh has ever seen. His heart stops in his ribcage, and Josh grabs at his chest. "I said, you're not alone, dummy."

"Does that mean we can make out?" Josh calls out just as the dreams fades and he wakes up.

Josh jerks up in his bed, gasping. His body's covered in a shiny layer of sweat and he's naked for some reason, but all he can think about is the man from his dream. He blinks, feeling his heart hammering against his chest. "I saw him."

Jon sits up as well, groaning. "Saw who? Halsey?"

"Was this a Rebel related dream?" Hayley asks, not looking up from her phone.

For some ungodly reason, she's sitting on their dining table. Not in one of the dining chairs that surround her, but directly in the middle of the table with her feet propped on the table's legs. She's like a cat, Josh thinks. Always angry yet craving attention. How she got into their apartment without a key was beyond him, but not an uncommon occurrence.

"Play nice," Jon scolds, stretching his legs. "We don't use the R-word in this household."

"No, no. It was someone new."

Josh throws the covers off of him, and Hayley shouts in disgust, covering her eyes with her phone. "At least cover your dick with a lady present."

"You're a lady?"

"Haha. Funny."

Josh doesn't remember anything from the night before- blacking out after drinking was one of the reasons he stopped drinking in the first place- but he's sore and sticky and too scared to ask Jon what happened the night before. It doesn't cross his mind again, because Jon probably didn't remember anyways. He sees an empty bottle of vodka and grimaces, knowing he was the reason it was empty. "I feel disgusting. I'm going to take a shower."

"You already took one last night," Jon says bitterly.

His frown catches Josh off guard. "Did I?" He asks.

Jon doesn't answer, only pulling the covers over him and falling back asleep in record time. Josh glances up at Hayley, who just shrugs and resumes tapping on her phone.

The only reason Josh can tell that night before didn't end well because Max and Young Ryan walk in with Cracker Barrel waffles. Max only brings waffles from his job when they've been in a fight and Josh is too chickenshit to apologize first. He wishes he hadn't drunk that vodka last night. Two years sober down the drain.

Max sets the waffles on the kitchen counter without a word. Young Ryan is frozen at the door, looking anywhere but at Josh's dick.

"Josh."

"Yes?"

"Where are your pants?"

Josh doesn't know. "In the laundry. Can you get me some underwear?"

Young Ryan nods, staring at the ceiling as he walks to a small closet where all of Josh's and Jon's clothes are. He grabs a pair of Iron Man boxers and throws them in Josh's direction, who catches them in the air.

Max still hasn't moved from the kitchen, he just rummages through their fridge and pulls out a couple apple juice boxes.

Josh ignores the unsettled feeling in his stomach and steps into the bathroom, locking the door behind him so nobody walks in on him this time. As soon as the lock slides shut, he can hear his friends talking in hushed voices.

"He doesn't remember last night," Jon whispers. "I don't expect him to, anyways. Not after being sober for two years."

"Do you think he's pretending not to remember so he doesn't feel bad?" Young Ryan asks.

Max is the one who answers him. "Who knows with Josh. He can be an asshole sometimes, especially when it comes down to his sexuality, but that's just how he is. His upbringing wasn't the best."

"We all had shitty childhoods. That doesn't mean he can do that when he has a girlfriend. It was a thing before, we knew, but he's in a relationship."

"But if he really doesn't remember anything, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know and I don't care. Look, I love that narcissistic prick as much as you guys, but I'm not going to be involved in this. Whatever he ends up being, gay, bi, own, whatever, I'm not going to stick around long enough to watch him wallow in his own ocean gay misery." Hayley ends her mini speech bluntly, and judging by the sound of their front door opening slamming shut, she leaves.

Josh turns the water on and steps underneath the hot stream. He doesn't want to know what happened the night before if it meant holding something else in his already guilty conscience.

When he finishes showering and walks out in his underwear, Max and Young Ryan are eating on the dining table and Jon is still asleep. Josh, avoiding looking at the others, pulls out a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt.

He gets dressed in the middle of the living room, which isn't new but suddenly uncomfortable because he can feel them staring. The doorbell rings as Josh finds a mismatching pair of socks from the nightstand drawer in the closet.

"Anyone going to check the door?" Josh asks.

"It's not for us, buddy," Max speaks for the first time since he came in.

Halsey's at the door, dressed in all black except for her bright pink beanie that reads SEX BO-BOMB in black stitching. "Joshie!" She jumps into his arms, nearly knocking him over in surprise.

"Halsey, hey," Josh greets her back, looking at Max for backup. He shoves a mouthful of waffle and gestures for him to leave. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Well, I wasn't going to, but you were supposed to meet me at the bus stop and never did."

"How could I forget?" Josh smiles, and the worry creases on her forehead leave.

He'd completely forgotten.

Almost like a punishment for the sins he couldn't remember committing, Josh suggests heading to the library with Halsey now as he'd promised her the day before. He looks helplessly at his friends and grabs his coat, walking down the street to the bus stop with his girlfriend's hand clasped to his.