The Kind of Hoax That Leaves a Lump in Your Throat

“Are you sure we need all this stuff?” josh asked as we packed things into boxes.

“Well yeah, I mean I don’t want it to go to waste. You paid for all this shit, you don’t just wanna chuck it away and we’ve got plenty of room at ours” I answered, closing up the last box. “You want me to call Zahra now to come pick us up?” he nodded so I did just that before falling on the couch next to him. “She said she’ll be here in about half an hour” I smiled and he kissed me on the cheek.

“So we ha a bit of time to ourselves yeah?” he winked as his hands began to slide around my waist, pulling me further on top of him.

“Oh yeah you, I knew I had to tell you something” I said and he looked worriedly at me. “Zahra informed me today that the walls are thin and she kinda heard us last night” I mumbled, burring my head into his shoulder. I could feel him chuckling under me and my head shot up. “Its not funny josh”

“You have to admit, it is kinds of funny” he smiled and kissed my cheek. “You know, Zahra’s not gonna be here for a while, we could make all the nose we want” he whispered seductively in my ear. I had to bite down on my lip to stop any noise coming out.

“Is it me or have we spent more time under the covers since you’ve been back than just being with each other”

“I am a man, and I have needs. Plus if you wanna get technical that is spending time together.” I giggled and sat up, placing my hands on josh’s chest. “I just want to be as close to you as I can physically get” he spoke against my lips before leaving a trail of kisses along my jaw and then down my neck. “You understand?” he breathed but I didn’t trust my own voice so I nodded.

But then just like that he switched. He let go of me and stood, walking over to one of the boxes. “I do understand what you mean though” he mused as he inspected one of the boxes for goodness knows what.

This was his plan I could tell. Get me all hot and bothered and then just drop it and leave me wanting more. Well I wasn’t going to give in. I stood my ground and sat there watching him dawdle around his now half empty flat. But as the seconds went by I could feel my reserve slipping away until I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted, no needed him.

I jumped off the sofa and grabbed his arm pulling him into his room that had just the bed frame and mattress on. No sheets, no duvet, no nothing. I slammed the door and watched that triumphant smile grow on his perfect face.

When Zahra knocked on the door I had just finished buttoning my jeans up and josh was still pulling on his shirt. I quickly ran to the door and opened it up for Zahra, forgetting how the rest of me looked. When she saw me her eyebrows shot up.

“Wow, awesome sex hair” she smiled and then laughed at my feeble attempt to flatten it down. She then popped her head back out the door and looked down the hallway. “Yo Oakley in here” she screamed and then walked right in to where josh had now appeared. “Hey josh” she smiled

“Hey zee, thanks for doing this”

“Aint no thing but a chicken wing” she sung in an awful fake American accent and josh just laughed.

“Hey” Oakley said as he walked in and left a kiss on my cheek before going to speak to josh. “So is this all we’re taking?”

“For now, I don’t really know what to do with the rest of my stuff” josh smiled and they both bent down and picked up a box each. Zahra and I then both grabbed one and we all stuffed it inside her car.

“Ok so here’s the plan” Zahra said as we fitted the boxes in somehow. “I think we’ll be able to get another 4 or so boxes in here. Then Oakley and I will take them back to the house, and then we’ll come back and put the rest in and hopefully we’ll all fit. That sound ok?” she smiled and we all nodded before grabbing a few more boxes and stuffing them inside. “Ok, we’ll be back in about 45 minutes. Don’t do anything we wouldn’t” she winked and then they sped off leaving josh and I with guilty smiles on our faces.

“Come on you, im starved” he smiled and we went back up into his semi empty flat.

“Wow it looks really sad in here” I noted. “Are you sad about leaving?” I asked wrapping my arms around his waist from behind him as he searched the cupboards for food.

“I don’t know. I mean ive lived here for about 2 years so yeah it kinda is like home and im sad to leave. But then again I get to be with you more by moving out so Im happy about that” he said turning in my arms and kissing the end of my nose. He was just about to say something else when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He kept one arm around me and I rested my head on his chest trying to listen in to what the person on the other end of the line was saying but not really picking it up.

“Hello?... oh hey… um I don’t know, like early yesterday morning… well ive been a little busy” and with that he looked down at me and winked. “I know im sorry… tomorrow?... I don’t know I promised to pick the boys up in the morning and then I’ll probably be busy for the rest of the day.” The person on the other end seemed to be talking for a while and josh just huffed and shut his eyes until they eventually stopped. “Fine I’ll be there. Actually mum do you mind if I bring someone?... no you don’t know them… well you’ll see when we get there… alright, bye mum… yeah, yeah, love you too” he sighed and ended the call with a small laugh. “Don’t make any plans for dinner tomorrow, my mum wants us to go round if that’s ok”

So first impressions really were not my thing. And the fact it was josh’s parents made the whole thing about 10x more terrifying. Josh clearly caught on to the look of pure worry on my face because he held me to him even tighter.

“Hey I tried to get out of it, but she did the whole guilt trip thing, kept asking what I was doing that was so important I hadn’t come and seen her yet. And I didn’t wanna say you” he chuckled and I hit his arm playfully. “Listen, if they love you even half as much as I do then your in. and I don’t see why they would love you only half anyway, I’m sure they’ll love you just as much. Plus they need to used to having you around. You’re family now”

But that wasn’t the only thing I was worried about. Hanna had been josh’s girlfriend since forever and im guessing she knew his family very well. I didn’t want to come on the scene and make it look like I’d stolen josh away from her. Was it worth even mentioning?

“Hey Vi, there’s something else I can tell, what’s up?” josh said. Damn I hate the way he could read me. Might as well go for it since he asked.

“Did they um. Did they like Hanna?”

Josh seemed to think about that one for a bit before answering, making me wish I had never even asked.

“They did like her yeah. But they also knew we weren’t right for each other. Well not in the end anyway. I guess I ranted about her to much and they saw how unhappy she made me around when we broke up, but you know, they’re my rents, I guess they’re just looking out for me” he smiled and I nodded which hopefully he took as understanding.

“I would introduce you to my parents, but we’d have to go to Australia and it’s a bit of a long trip”

“Yeah maybe another day.” He smiled. “Oh we might be playing sound wave this year. Maybe I could take you with and we could go see them?”

“I mean if you really want too we can”

“Love, any part of your life I want to be a part of.” He said reaching for my hand and running his finger over the promise ring that decorated my finger. “Plus parents love me” he smiled looking rather cocky.

“Oh is that so?”

“Yeah it kind of is. If you haven’t noticed, it’s pretty hard to resist my charm.”

“Yeah I noticed” I laughed and kissed him.

Whilst we waited for Zahra and Oakley to get back, josh told me more stories about tour, and then some more up coming shows that were booked. Zahra and Oakley eventually turned up and we packed the rest of the stuff in the car.

On the way back I had to sit in the middle pressed right up next to josh, not that I minded one little bit. When we got back we sorted out the boxes into what room they needed to be before calling it a night. It had been a pretty long day to say the least.

Josh and I collapsed onto our bed and I cuddled up close to his chest.

“Home sweet home” he whispered in my ear before we both fell into a deep sleep.