piece by piece~j.d

~31~

Aubrey shielded herself slightly as she stood half a step behind Josh, trying her best not to draw too much attention to herself. There were a lot of people that she didn't know and it was all just a little bit overwhelming. Josh had taken note of this and kept his hand intertwined with hers, not so much giving her too much attention but enough to let her know that he was there. Finally, after an interview or too and lots and lots of photos they were able to make their way inside and towards the table that they would be sitting at for the count, though they still had about half an hour before it actually started.

"Sorry about all of that." Josh said as he pulled Aubrey in for a quick hug, one that both filled her stomach with butterflies yet calmed down her nerves at the same time.

"Don't worry about it, it was just a lot of people and I don't think I was fully ready for it."

"I don't understand how you're so camera shy at times and other times you're like me." Bailey said as he and Tara both made their way to the same table, he hugged his sister in greeting and shook Josh's hand again as they had all been separated for a fraction of time. Not before getting a group picture on the carpet though.

"Not like you, you're like me. Remember whos older?" Aubrey smiled at Bailey who opened his mouth to say something before being cut off, they all knew that the Smith siblings could bicker for hours on end and that definitely wasn't the plan.

"The place looks nice and cosy." Tiff said sarcastically. "Well it does look nice but probably not cosy, do you know how much it's going to suck not being able to drink to help get me through the night." They all laughed at the pregnant woman who just rolled her eyes.

"I think it'll be fun." Marcus said and smoothed back some of his hair with his hands. Before he could say anything else he was tapped on the shoulder by Jack Billings who was in his draft year and they broke into a small discussion.

"Shall we take a seat?" Josh asked, already having pulled out Aubrey's seat for her. She gladly sat down.

"Oh Dunks, would you be so kind and pull out my seat for me?" JJ asked in a high pitched voice. "You're just going to ignore me? Rude."

~~~

About midway through they all got up to stretch their legs during what would be the ad break, the boys were going and greeting some of the other friends that they had made for a few short minutes. The girls stayed at the table chatting between themselves as they always did, laughing and, for everyone but Tiff, drinking their champagne.

"Aubrey?" The blonde turned at the sound of her name and got up excitedly when she saw who it was. "You look stunning."

"You clean up well. Better then I thought you would anyways," Aubrey and Wil hugged each other, both grinning from ear to ear. "Having fun?"

"Very much so, our table is really funny. It'd be had not to enjoy the night." Wil said and Aubrey invited him to take a seat at the table, Logan was giving Aubrey a look that was very much the same as the one that she and Chloe had been giving in Queensland.

"Guys this is Wil, Wil this is Lou, Logan, Tara and Tiff." Aubrey pointed at each of the girls individually and they all said their individual greeting.

"I'll be honest with you though, I'm really tired." Wil complained as the chatter broke back out and they all chose to ignore both Wil and Aubrey who really didn't seem to mind too much. "I could deadass pass out right now." Wil's head moved so that it rested on Aubrey's shoulder and she giggled at the boy.

"You'll be right, if you do fall asleep they'll get it on camera and you won't be able to live it down for the rest of your career."

"Yeah but it would be worth it, I mean they say sleep is really important and I barely got any of it last night." Wil yawned, his head not moving from his position. He clearly didn't care too much about the state of his hair, the large majority of the pictures had already been taken.

"Aubs?" Aubrey turned her head slightly as to not disturb Wil too much and smiled as Josh made his way over, there was a lot of movement as the break was almost over and people were heading back to their seats. "Wil?"

"Hey Joshy, how was Kyle?" Aubrey questioned as Josh had gone to see his brother who was lucky enough to be invited by one of the other boys so he could enjoy the night.

"Yeah, good. He said he might come see you later. What's he doing here?" Josh not so politely pointed at Wil who had finally sat up and looked pretty awkward with the direction of the discussion.

"Just saying hi mate, no need to worry." Wil spoke and quickly stood up. "I'll catch you later Aubs." Aubrey waved goodbye and turned her attention to Josh who was frowning. Something that was incredibly unusual for Josh who was often smiling and looking at the lighthearted parts of every situation.

"Josh?" Aubrey asked and placed a hand on his that was resting on the table, unfortunately he quickly moved it away and shook his head. Josh turned away and started talking to Easton who was sitting beside him.

"Aubby, are you alright?" Logan asked quietly as the broadcast started again and the crowd talking seemingly halted but those at the front and the screen was creating enough noise to disguise their conversation.

"Logan, I didn't do anything." Aubrey sighed and Logan nodded rubbing her hand on Aubrey's arm in an attempt to calm her down, despite not agreeing with her. "I ruined his night."

"Don't let it get to you, after this we're going to go to the after party and just enjoy the night. Live it up if you know what I mean." Logan picked up her champagne glass and winked at Aubrey who smiled slightly at that.

"Promise me we'll have a good time?" Aubrey asked as she too took a drink from her own glass.

"We don't even have to remember that Johannisen and Dunkley exist. He basically got jealous over nothing anyway." Logan pointed out. Jason chuckled at the antics of his fiancé and her friend.

"Sorry for stealing your girl Jason." Aubrey smiled and he just shook his head. "I promise I'll return her in one piece."

"For some reason I just don't think that I should trust you on that one." Jason joked.

"We'll have a good time, I won't let your first brownlow be a bad one, maybe he's had a few too many drinks and isn't thinking straight." Logan suggested.

"First and last by the sounds of it."

okay so like the actual drama is happening not in this chapter because josh is just a jealous dude you know?