the moon and its stars~ joshua bassett

3//fault

   Our eyes met. We stared at each other for a long few seconds. I must admit, it was a nice few seconds. But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The timer rang, startling us both. He got off of me, sitting on the ground beside me.

'Sorry.' Joshua apologized.

    I didn't know why he apologized, I was the one who pulled him down with me. 'No, no, it's not your fault, it was mine.'

   'I shouldn't have left my skateboard there. It was stupid of me.' He stood up and held a hand out to me, helping me to my feet.

I wanted to smack him. 'It's not your fault, Joshua. It's my fault for being so damn clumsy.'

'No, but I-' He began.

   I clamped my hand against his mouth. 'Shut up, Joshua.' I insisted. I realized too late how close we were. His face was inches from mine. He stared at me, eyes wide. He clearly didn't expect me to do this. But neither did I. I felt my cheeks began to burn. What in the world was I doing?  And why was my heart beating so fast?

   I supposed I was too distracted to notice that the door opened, and someone stood in the doorway, staring at us. I quickly pulled my hand away from Joshua's mouth and backed away. I flushed in embarrassment.

   At the doorway, my mom gave me a knowingly look. 'Sorry, to disturb you two but we're about to go home.' She grinned at me. 'But you know, you could stay a little longer if you like, just-'

  'No need.' I responded quickly. I picked my phone up from the ground, 'I'm coming.' I felt his eyes on me. I turned to look at Joshua. 'Sorry, I got to go. Er, see you tonight?'

He nodded, 'No, don't worry about it, and yeah, see you tonight.' He smiled.

   I knew what was coming when I got home. 'Y/n dear, come help me make lunch.' My mom called from the kitchen.

'Don't ask, mom.' I stated, pulling the crate of eggs from the fridge.

'Oh, come on. What's going on between you and Josh?' She asked, with a smirk on her face.

'Nothing.' I replied, cracking the two eggs in the bowl.

   'I see the way he looks at you.' She replied, cutting the tomato into small slices. 'Are you sure nothing's going on?'

'Mom! We're just friends! Plus we just met!'

'Alright, alright. But what about you?' She asked.

'What about me?' I asked, stirring the eggs.

   'Joshua seems like a nice boy...' She began as she poured the sliced pieces of tomatoes into a small bowl. 'Do you like him?'

'What?! No! Ew!' I replied quickly.

   'Whatever you say, dear.' She smiled, clearly not believing me. To be honest, I wasn't sure myself. Did I like Joshua? No, not likely. Plus, we just met.

   That night, after dinner, I slouched down into my chair, my mom's words replaying in my head. I see the way he looks at you. No, I'm overthinking this. It's not likely he likes me, right?

   I looked up at the clock. Shit. It was ten forty-nine. I'm supposed to meet Joshua tonight. I smack my palm against my forehead. How could I be so stupid and forget? I hurried downstairs.

  'Woah, Woah, Woah, where do you think you're going this late at night?' My dad asked from the living room.

'Um- I realized I left my sweater at the hill yesterday.' I replied, quickly tying my shoelace.

'Alright.' He sighed, 'Just don't take too long, it's getting late. And be careful, it's dark out.'

'Ok!' I shouted, running out the front door.

   I ran all the way to the top of the grassy hill. I was relieved to find that Joshua was still there. But the feeling of guilt began to overcome me. 'Hey, sorry I'm a complete idiot, I forgot that we were going to-' I stopped talking when I realized Joshua had his head buried in his knees.

'Hey...Are you ok?' She sat down beside him. 

   He slowly lifted his head up. He brushed his tears away with his sleeves. He didn't respond, he just nodded.

'You want to talk about it?' I asked, softly.

He shook his head. 'No...not yet.' He replied, in a hushed tone.

'Is there something I can do for you?' I asked.

'Just stay with me.' He whispered.

'Of course.' I replied, scooting close to him.

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