Back on campus, you really weren't feeling up for the drive to the airport. Charli offered to drive him.
Chase: "You should come too Jaden, so Charli doesn't have to drive back late alone."
Jaden smiled really big as he and Charli headed to the car. Josh grabbed the bag and offered to carry it down so you and Chase could say goodbye. You hugged him tighter than you ever have and he whispered: "No matter what's going on I'm only an hour flight or a 5 hour drive. Just call. Okay?"
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You: "I will. Just come visit sooner, okay?"
Chase: "Are you coming home for the summer?"
You: "Josh mentioned us going and staying in Canada for the summer because he misses his family, but I don't know where any of that stands."
*JOSH'S POV*
When Chase makes it to the car, Josh takes the chance to ask: "Is she okay?"
Chase debates just giving the standard response, but then decides to go for honesty: "Nope."
Josh: "I know I have been really busy lately, and it caused me to let her down with the whole court thing, but is it more than that?"
Chase: *taking a deep breath and going for it* "She saw that your ex was texting you."
Josh: "That's nothing? We're friends... kinda. Or at least she's friends with my family. She was just asking me questions about college and stuff."
Chase: "Well you want some advice? Stop hiding it, because trust me... not telling her upfront IS hiding it. Go upstairs and tell her everything because right now she's tearing herself apart wondering why you are keeping it from her more than the fact that you are texting her."
*END JOSH'S POV*
When you heard Josh come in, you tried to pretend you were asleep. You wondered if he would stay or leave you to go back to his room. You were so relieved when you felt him crawl in bed next to you. You were even more relieved when you felt him kiss your cheek and then whisper: "Baby, can we talk?"
You were scared to roll over and face him, but he felt you sigh and moved to face you himself: "Look, I know why you're upset. You saw that Mads texted me and you were probably feeling pretty awful about it because I didn't tell you... am I close?"
You were shocked. How did he just randomly guess that? CHASE! You didn't know whether to kill him or thank him.
Josh: *pulling your chin up to face him* "Look, you're my girlfriend and I don't ever want to keep anything from you. I didn't even mean to, it just felt like it was no big deal, but I can see now that I was an idiot for thinking that."
You: *with tears in your eyes* "You're my idiot still, right?"
Josh: *pulling you closer and reaching for his phone* "Here. Let's put your thumbprint in my phone. I meant it, no secrets. Next time my phone goes off, you can answer it for all I care."
Josh kissed you gently, but in a way that made you feel more loved than you had since Christmas in Canada. The kiss started to escalate and you couldn't help but roll to your back, pulling him onto you. He responded to your body, moving against it. You missed the feeling of his lips matching yours, and his weight holding you to the bed as your hands kneaded at the muscles in his back.
He pulled his shirt off and brought his skin back against yours and kept kissing you as you ran your hands through his hair and exhaled deeply against his lips. You didn't have any shyness left in you as you let him take your clothes and throw them to the side. You didn't even try to hide how much you needed this. To be close to him, to feel his skin against yours, to feel him fill you like his body was made just for yours.
After an hour of laying in each other's arms you felt his breathing return to the rhythm you recognized as him falling asleep. Suddenly you remembered that Charli would be back from the airport soon, and the last thing she needed to walk in on was you two asleep completely undressed. You shook Josh back awake, gently: "Baby, we need to get dressed before Charli comes back."
Josh: *in his sweet, sleepy voice* "Ugh. Okay, but I really need to shower before I go to bed anyway."
He kissed you on the forehead and jogged down the hall towards the shower. You laid in his spot, feeling the warmth he'd left behind, and drowning yourself in the smell of his cologne on your pillow. You looked over and saw he'd left his phone sitting on the nightstand and told yourself not to look. Eventually curiosity won over, and you unlocked the phone and went straight to the messages with Mads.
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As you sat in awe at the words on the screen you felt like someone had punched you in the stomach. She was HERE? You locked the screen and put the phone back, not sure how to process what you'd just read.
You rolled over and pretended to be asleep when Josh came back in and didn't budge when he wrapped his arms around you. He kissed the back of your neck and whispered into your hair: "God, I love you."
You felt so conflicted because he was everything you ever wanted and God knows you loved him too, but you couldn't bring yourself to say it back and just let him think you were asleep. He squeezed you tightly, one last time before falling fast asleep. It took you a while to drift off to sleep but the last thing you remember was Charli coming in and crawling into her bed, trying to be as quiet as possible but her phone lighting up the ceiling as she was obviously texting someone.
