The Truth Is a Terrible Thing

The kitchen wasn't as packed as the living room had been when Amelia and Jaime entered the room. Actually there wasn't anyone there except for Amelia, Jaime and the lovely Mike. It was nice not being in a room so packed with people.

The door swung closed behind the two of them as they entered, once again the music was muffled behind the door. "Amelia!" Mike yelled. "…and Jaime. Gettin' it in bro."

Amelia rolled her eyes and smiled sarcastically at the tall and lanky man that stood behind the counter. "Mike, as charming as ever, I see," she says before jumping onto the counter, letting her feet dangle over the side.

"We've only just met and it feels like we've known each other forever doesn't it?" he questions.

"An eternity," Amelia says.

Jaime walks over to stand across from Mike, his upper body resting against the marble countertop. His red cup was now in one of Mikes hands and a bottle of rum in the other. "Are you here for another drink Amelia?" Mike asks. Amelia nods once. "Would you like another one of everything?" he smirks as he pours coke into Jaime's cup.

"I don't think she will be needing another one of those," she hears. She looked over to see Josh standing in front of the kitchen door. A cup in one hand and a jean pocket holding his other one. Amelia was startled by his sudden appearance, jumping and nearly falling off of the counter.

"Josh," Jaime said walking over to the tall British boy. "How's it been? Haven't seen you since warped. Hows everything going?"

Josh shrugs moving closer to the Amelia. "Same old same old. Been writing a new record with the lads-"

"Partying," Amelia adds.

"Yes, and that," adds Josh. He turns to look at Amelia, letting the hand in his pocket come out and land on one of Amelia's knee. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He asks. His eyes wide, pleading for Amelia to say yes.

"Maybe later, yeah?" Amelia asks, putting her hand on Josh's.

"Amelia-"

"Later Josh, please. Go have fun for a few before you bring in a serous conversation because I know you're working up a speech in your head, I can tell," she smiles sweetly. "Text me in a little bit okay? I'll meet you out front." Josh nods and Amelia kisses his cheek gently.

"I'll catch up with you lot later, yeah?" Josh waves as he walks out of the kitchen.

"Are you and Josh really close?" Jaime asks.

Amelia nods, grabbing a bottle of water that Mike handed to her. "I've known him for practically my whole life," she smiles at the memory. "He's my better half even if we do bicker like an old married couple."

Jaime laughs. "Josh is a nice kid, seems like he means well but you probably know him better than we do."

Amelia laughs. "I know him better than anyone," she says but was that the truth? Did she really know everything about Josh because lately she felt like she barely knew him. The secrets, the sudden outbursts of anger, Max saying there was something Josh wasn't ready to tell her. Sometimes she questioned if she really knew the man who was sleeping in her bed for the past few weeks. "Honestly though, the past few weeks he's been acting weird."

Jaime raised an eyebrow out of curiosity and moved closer to Amelia, leaning his back against the island across from her. "How so?"

Amelia looked over at Mike, raising both her eyebrows. Mike took the hint and said, "I'm going outside for a smoke, watch my station, and Jaime."

"Yeah?"

"No glove no love bro," he smiles before exiting the Kitchen.

Amelia rolled her eyes and laughed. "He's such a twat," she says.

Jaime nods in agreement. "Yeah he is, but tell me about whats going on with Josh."

"I don't want to overwhelm you with my petty problems when we only just met, aren't we suppose to be getting to know each other?"

"It's fine," shrugged Jaime. "We have time to get to know each other later, obviously this thing with Josh is bothering you and you need to talk about it and I'm here to listen so spill."

With a sigh, Amelia began at the beginning of her story. "Josh has this girlfriend Hanna and their relationship isn't exactly the best one in England but it's a relationship, you know? They're always breaking up and every time they do Josh spends a few days at my flat before she calls and they get back together. Josh has been staying longer than normal and every time I ask him about what happened he flips. Then today he was suddenly all 'I'm goin' back ta muh flat layta to be wif hunna'," she says mimicking Josh's voice. Jaime lets out a small chuckle. "Josh still won't tell me what's going on and it's driving me mental!"

"Maybe he's just confused himself," Jaime suggests.

"I hope so," she says. "But enough about Josh being a drama queen, tell me about yourself."

"Well, what would you like to know?" he asks, leaning closer to her.

"I don't know," Amelia shrugs. "Start off by introducing yourself, isn't that how most people would start a conversation?"

Jaime laughed. "You don't get out very much do you?" he asks. Amelia looked around the room, and nodded with a laugh causing Jaime to laugh a little more. "Alright well, My name is Jaime Preciado, I'm from San Diego, California and I'm 26 years old, now it's your turn."

"Okay uhm my name is Amelia Howell, I'm originally from North London but I've lived in Weybridge since forever, I just turned 21 and yeah. That's all I've got."

"See talking to people isn't that hard," he jokes.

Amelia smacks his arm with a laugh. "Oh shut up! I'm not that bad at talking to people am I?" she asks now feeling a little self conscious.

Jaime lets a small smile play at the corner of his lips, watching her as she pulls the sleeves of her jumper over her hands and begins to pick at her nails. She lets a few small looks at Jaime slip. She was a little worried what he may be thinking of her. Did he think she was a social outcast or did he think she was a worry wart who always thought to hard about the way people perceived her. Her constant worrying at the moment wasn't helping either.

Jaime didn't think these things though, he thought she was the opposite. He found her interesting. Not interesting like a science experiment you would do in primary school but interesting like how televisions work. She was different and seemed a little complex but Jaime was okay with that. He just wanted to get to know her better because much like Amelia, he too was looking for someone at the party to take home.

"I think you're doing a good job so far," he smiles.

Amelia went to respond but the sound of her phone going off in her pocket stopped her. She pulled it out to see a text from Chris.

Where are you? Josh is going crazy out here, he really wants to talk to you about something

Amelia apologized to Jaime before quickly replying. I'm in the kitchen with Jaime, tell Josh to meet me on the pavement out front

"Is everything okay?" Jaime asks.

"Yeah," Amelia nods jumping off the counter and sliding her phone in to her pocket. "I'm really sorry but I have to go do something quickly, I'll be back in a few minutes," she says. Jaime nods a farewell Amelia's way as she slides out of the kitchen and out the front door. The sun was almost set in the horizon as she made her way down the long pathway that led to the pavement. She saw that Josh wasn't there yet so she sat down on the edge of the pavement letting her elbows rest on her knees. She looked towards the sky, it was a deep blue farthest away from the sun and a mixture of pink and orange closest to the brightness of the sunset.

She felt a presence sit next to her on the pavement, guessing it was Josh she turned her head to look at him. "You wanted to talk to me?" She asks.

Josh nods. Amelia turns her body around to look at him, crossing her legs and resting her hands in her lap. "I just- I know what you're doing, Amelia, and it's not smart," he begins.

"What do you mean?" Amelia asks.

"You're lonely, Amelia, I get that. You need someone to love you. Someone you can fall asleep next to and wake up next to every day. You want the feeling of someone's lips against yours, the sensation of being held in a romantic way while you sleep. I get it all, Amelia. I know you better than anybody in there, I can read you like a book and I know what you're doing with Jaime. I think Jaime is a good kid, I really do but he's in a band. He's a band guy and you know the reputations of band boys."

"You don't have a reputation," Amelia cuts him off.

"I'm not talking about me. Bands tour and when they tour they're away from their girlfriends and around hundreds of other women. Men have needs, Amelia. Jaime is just one of those guys. Jaime becomes a different person when he drinks, he does things he wouldn't normally do. He gets so fucked he blanks and it always happens when they're touring. At warped tour he had a rep of sleeping with a different girl at every venue all while he had a girlfriend. I just don't wanna see you get hurt, Amelia. I think if you're in need of someone, look for someone else just please don't go for Jaime."

Amelia shook her head as she listened to Josh, she couldn't believe what he was saying. "Who else should I go for, Josh? Who else would actually be interested in someone like me? I'm anti-social, I'm awkward, I hate parties and drinking. I like reading and spending days with my best friend in our pajamas watching stupid movies that I let him pick rather than go out to a club or a pub. Who else would be interested in someone like me?" she asks, her eyes looking down at her hands.

Josh took his hand and placed it gently under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "You don't understand how special you are, Amelia. You're the most beautiful person I've ever met, both inside and out. Someone as amazing and special as you doesn't deserve to be hurt by someone like Jaime."

"I'm not looking for a relationship per say I'm just looking for something to get my mind off of things," she says.

"Off of what things?"

"You," she says. "You and Hanna, the fight that you won't tell me about, the sudden decision to go back to your flat with her. Just everything."

"This isn't you, M, you don't just sleep around with people," Josh says, his voice quiet. He just wanted to get it through her head that she shouldn't leave the party with Jaime.

She couldn't.

"Maybe thats just it Josh, maybe I need to change my life up a bit, live a little."

"No you don't," Josh shakes his head. "You're life is fine the way it is, please Amelia. Please don't leave with Jaime. For me, don't fucking leave with him. Please."

Amelia closed her eyes to try not to crying. Josh's voice was shaky as he begged Amelia. She couldn't look him straight in the eye, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. His voice was enough to make her feel the intensity behind his words. "Why is this so important to you? Why does it matter who I bring home, whether it's Jaime or someone else. You're going back to Hanna anyways so why should you care?"

"Because I care about you. You're my best friend, I would drop everything to be by your side. I wouldn't be going to Hanna's if I had a choice-"

Amelia's head shot up, she leaned into Josh, her hands on his legs. "You have a choice, Josh, you can come home with me. I'll forget about Jaime, I'll forget about everything. Just forget about Hanna and come home with me. We can sit down and watch a movie, we can argue like the old married couple we are," she smiles. "You're my best friend, you're the closest thing I will probably ever have to a relationship. I can die without a husband as long as I know that you're there with me, Josh. All you have to do is stay at my flat with me."

Josh shook his head. "I can't, Amelia. I'm so sorry but I can't."

Amelia sighed, wiping a tear away with the sleeve of her jumper as it fell down her cheek. She leaned closer to Josh and kissed his cheek gently before resting her forehead against his. "I'll see you tomorrow," she says before standing up and leaving Josh alone on the pavement.