Start Anew (A Greta Van Fleet Fanfic)

Three

"So, Anette, what brings you to the Greta Van Fleet tour bus anyway?" Josh gives me a curious glance. "Uh, if you're okay with sharing, I mean."

I grimace. "My aunt kicked Lucy and I out a couple weeks ago and we, uh, we've been living out of my car while I try to find a job that pays better than Starbucks. Danny found us in the grocery store, trying to deal with my aunt, and pretended to be my fiance to get her off my back. Lucy let it slip that we're homeless and now, here we are." The words seem to come out of my mouth so easily, like this isn't an entirely weird situation. I've never even heard of this band, yet here they are, taking Lucy and I in for no reason other than one of their members thinks I'm nice.

"Your aunt sounds like a bitch. I'm sorry, Anette."

"I mean, it was nice to have a roof over our heads, but," I shrug and force a laugh. "I mean, it was kinda inevitable." We reach my car and I fumble with the junk in my pockets for a moment before removing my keys and popping the trunk open.

"Inevitable? How so?" I see Josh's eyebrows pinch together out of the corner of my eye. He grabs hold of Lucy's suitcase and lugs it out of the trunk, setting it next to mine.

"Well, I mean, she never wanted kids; funny, considering that she's super old fashioned. But anyway, she really didn't want to take Lucy and I in, but she was kinda forced to, so she hated us. I always knew she was going to kick us out, it was just a matter of when."

Josh is silent, and simply stands beside me for a moment. I can't blame him, talking about my aunt always seems to make people feel awkward. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

"Hey, Josh-" I start, only to be cut off when he throws his arms around me. He's a bit shorter than me, but tall enough to lie his head on my shoulder, and he does.

"Annette, I'm really sorry," He says, words muffled in the fabric of my shirt. "You and Lucy didn't deserve to go through that."

I laugh weakly, "Thanks, Josh. Let's head back to the bus?" I reach for the handle of Lucy's suitcase, but Josh jerks it away.

"I'll get this one." He smiles. We start back to the bus and the conversation between us goes quiet. The wind kept the air between us from being entirely silent, leaving us instead in a comfortable quiet. It's died down a bit by now, so it's only slightly rustling my hair instead of whipping it around my face like it had done earlier.

Walking down the sidewalk beside Josh, I feel oddly calm. The quiet, the cool air, and the soft wind, it's all so nice right now. A small part of me wants to just stop time right here, now.

"Annette?"

"Huh?" I stop, realizing that Josh stopped a few feet back. I must've gotten lost in my own head.

"Are you alright?" Josh strides up to me and lies a hand on my shoulder. His brows are furrowed with worry and his lips have curled into a frown.

"Yeah, sorry. Living with my aunt and a little kid, I don't get a lot of quiet. Sort of trying to soak it in, you know?"

"Oh, yeah. I live with my twin and our little brother, I'm sure you can imagine how much quiet I get." Josh rolls his eyes and I laugh.

"Siblings can be obnoxious, but I can't imagine life without my Lucy."

"I can't imagine life without my brothers either- who else is gonna play guitar in my band?"

"You're terrible!" I shove Josh's shoulder, laughing. He giggles and I see his eyes light up. His warm brown eyes glimmer with a sort of mischievous glee, looking like a small child's.

"I like this side of you, Annette."

"This side of me?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I dunno, you seem a lot more open right now. Not so.. closed off and quiet, I guess," Josh shrugs and gives me a sheepish smile. "I like goofing around with you." I feel the tips of my ears heat up; I wish my hair wasn't pulled up in a ponytail so they were covered.

"Oh," I say. "Yeah, I uh, I don't do great around new people. I'm sorry, if I came off as cold."

"No, it's alright, I just mean that's it's nice to see you opening up and goofing around. It's no fun to be serious all the time, right?" Josh gives me a relaxed smile, crinkles forming in the corners of his eyes. I wish I could relax that easily, but having to take care of a six year old by yourself, with no house and little income, makes it pretty difficult.

"Yeah," I reply. Stressed as I am near twenty-four seven, I always try to put aside some energy, some silliness for Lucy. I can't let the little bit of joy she had left die out, I won't. "I couldn't do that to Lucy."

"You wouldn't want to do that to yourself either, would you?" Josh's smile drops, just a bit. "You have to take care of yourself, too."

"I know, I know." I chuckle softly. When did our conversation get so serious? I hate conversations like this, they make me feel so.. Well, I don't really know how to explain it, but I hate conversations where people tell me that I need to take care of myself; especially people like Josh. He's not responsible for an orphaned sibling like I am. He doesn't know what it's like to put aside all of your wants and needs to take care of a little kid.

I take a deep breath, and try to cast my annoyance away. Josh means well, at least he seems to, and I don't want to be annoyed with him for good intentions. He's right, aanyway. I should at least try to take care of myself; for Lucy.

"You're pretty good at spacing out, huh? We're here." Josh's laugh pulls me out of my head and I find that we're in front of the bus door. I really need to stop getting lost in my own head. 

"Sorry."

"Don't be! Come on, let's get inside and toss these somewhere, and then you and Lucy can pick from the remaining bunks!" Josh practically throws the bus door open, simultaneously making me jump and want to laugh. Lucy is going to love this guy, and I can't deny that I'm starting to warm up to him.

"Annie!" Lucy jumps up off the couch and wraps her arms around me. As she does, I notice she has something in her hand; a tambourine.

"Hey, Luc. Where'd you get that?" I hold my hand out and Lucy hands me the tambourine without question. I assume it belongs to a member of the band, but how could Lucy have gotten her hands on it?

"Oh, I gave it to her," Sam explains. "It's Josh's, but he has a bunch."

"It's no problem if she wants to play with it, Annette," Josh smiles at me, gently taking the tambourine out of my hands. "I could even teach her to play, if she wants!"

"That's sweet, Josh, but I don't have the money for-"

"Who said I want money for it? I'd love to teach her, free of cost."

"Seriously? Josh, that's so sweet. First though," I glance at my sister. "We need to change that shirt."

"Ugh, Annie!"