Theatre Is A Lie ~ Joshua Burrage

Chapter 9

"He did what?!"

Ami shrunk back in fear as Dan paced the room. She backed into the corner, shaking and ready for him to pull out a weapon of some sort or hit her. She bit her cheek to prevent the tears from spilling and the memories from returning from the back of her mind. Dan stopped, noticing the girl quivering in the corner, "I'm so sorry, Ami, I didn't mean to scare you."

Ami let the tears fall, Dan hugging her tightly. He whispered apologies to her as she sobbed into his shoulder.

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"She kissed back!?"

Sky and Ben looked at Josh with wide eyes, waiting for Josh to elaborate. Josh cleared his throat, picking at a thread on his pants nervously, "Well, yes. I'm not sure what was going on but... I just leaned in and kissed her and she kissed back."

Ben jumped up, "This must mean she likes you back! You should go ask her to be your girlfriend!" Sky smacked Ben's arm, "Keep it down, will ya? And it's not that simple. She's still technically dating Dan from what we know and he's probably found out about it. If anything Josh is most definitely screwed."

Josh glared at Sky, "Wow, thanks for the reassurance and optimism," he responded sarcastically. Sky raised his hands up in surrender, "Hey I'm just being honest!"

Josh stood up, pacing, "I just don't get it! Why would she kiss me back if she's dating Dan? She clearly likes me just as a friend." Sky shrugged, "Well maybe she doesn't and is dating Dan out of sympathy or something. It can happen, trust me."

Josh sat back down, slumping, "It's worthless. It was probably in the heat of the moment and she didn't know what to do. I might as well just give up while I still can and not be all heartbroken and on an ice cream only diet."

Suddenly Josh's phone buzzed. He looked down to see a text from Ami. He didn't even read it before jumping back up in a panic. He ran his hands through his hair, "It's Ami. She sent me a text. Do you think she's luring me over to her hotel room for Dan to beat me up?! Or maybe she's super mad at me and is going to beat me up herself! She's perfectly capable, she said she took some Kung Fu classes. Not to mention have you SEEN how high she can kick? She's short but could easily kick a 6 foot man in the fac—" Sky cut him off, "How about instead of worrying about the what ifs, you answer her message and see what's up?"

Josh nodded, wiping the sweat from his palms off on his pants before pulling out his phone. He opened it, slowly typing in the passcode and opening the messages app.

🙈Ames🙊
Hey can we talk...? You know. About the whole kiss thing backstage?

☀️Joshie☀️
Yeah... I'll come over to your room.

Josh let out a shaky sigh,  "I'm going over to her room.  Wish me luck..." Sky saluted and Ben waved. Josh smiled weakly and walked out the door, his anxiety building up with each step. He reached Ami's door, clenching his fists tightly. He took in a deep breath and raised his hand. He knocked gently on the door, only for it to be quickly opened and him dragged inside. He prepared for a punch from Dan or a kick from Ami but was met with the sound of the girl crying.

Ami looked up at him, her eyes showing the confusion of her feelings. Josh immediately melted, quickly leading her to her bed and sitting down next to her. She cried silently into his shoulder and he sat and rocked her back and forth. They stayed like this for a few minutes, Josh not minding the wet stains on his shirt.

Eventually Ami settled down, pulling away and sniffling. Josh rubbed her shoulder, still keeping an arm secure around her shoulders. He waited for her to fully calm down, handing her a few tissues every now and then. Eventually she stopped and looked up at him, sadness still evident in her eyes.

Josh smiled weakly, and she began speaking in a hoarse voice, "Dan broke up with me." Josh looked at her shocked, not sure how to respond. She blew her nose again and Josh finally summed up some courage to speak, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Ami snuggled into his side, the event that had happened only a mere half an hour ago still replaying over and over in her head. She blew her nose one last time before she began telling him what had happened, "Well...

Dan released her from the hug. He sat back, a sad smile on his face, "Listen, Ami, I know we had a pretty good thing going here, but...." Ami looked up at him, fearing the words that would soon be coming next. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and she felt as though soon they would overflow. She had began to breathe unevenly, allowing a few stray tears to betray her. Dan had noticed the few tears running down her face and quickly flicked them away with a brush of his thumb. He waited till her breathing settled again before continuing what he was going to say, "You see, Ami, I have noticed that... you seem a bit uncomfortable with our relationship. I've also noticed the way you and Josh share those... those looks. You have something in your eyes when you look at him that you never seem to have when you look at me." Ami sniffled, tilting her head slightly in confusion, "I don't understand...? What do you mean? I don't have any feelings for Josh, if that's what you're hinting at."

Dan chuckled slightly, "You may not realise it now... But Ami you and him share a special connection you never seemed to establish with anyone else in the cast. Not me, not Sky, not Ben, not anyone. You see, you're probably blind to it because, well, love is blind. Just give it time and eventually you'll realise it. And knowing that your destiny is truly with Josh, I can't hold back the train at my station. I'm merely a brief stop in that train. A small obstacle that you must dodge. That doesn't necessarily mean that all obstacles are bad! It's just.... they're not supposed to be there. Which is why I know I'm not supposed to be with you. There's another girl out there driving a train similar to mine that will, at some point, cross paths with my train. Until then though, I'd say you keep chugging along until you and Josh realise you're meant for each other."

Ami nodded, though she still didn't quite understand.

"... Josh..." Josh perked up a little at his name. Ami looked up at him, feeling butterflies in her stomach. Is this what Dan had meant? Was she really meant to be with Josh? She wasn't sure, but she definitely wanted to take it slow this time around in case her... "train"... realised he was an obstacle or... whatever it was Dan had said.

"Josh," Ami repeated, "I'm not sure if what Dan said is true... but I'll never know until I try but... I want to take it slow between us. I don't want to go super fast and suddenly be leaving tour to have kids like those silly wattpad fan fictions about you."

Josh laughed, "Wait are you reading fan fictions about me?" Ami's face turned red, "What?! No! I just so happened to stumble upon a few and was curious." Josh laughed, hugging her. They fell into a comfortable silence. And thanks to Dan, they were one step closer to each other.

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IM SO SORRY I WAS LIKE A GOOD 45 MINUTES LATE PLEASE FORGIVE ME BUT WE'RE ONE VIEW AWAY FROM 100 VIEWS THANK YALL SO MUCH! I made this a little extra long for you peeps! Thanks all of y'all!