The Truth Is a Terrible Thing

Josh pulled his hand away from the door knob. His palms sweaty and his finger tips tingled as he closed his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

His best friend and some stranger to her were locked inside her room. Laying on the bed that Josh and Amelia had shared hours ago. Josh had held her close to him, more intimately than he ever had but not like this. Not like how Jaime held her.

Josh didn't know what to do. He didn't know whether to run or stay where he was. He tried to run but his feet wouldn't move. Josh closed his eyes again and squeezed them tightly. He felt a single tear escape past his eyes and fall down his cheek.

He began to shake, violently at that. His hands clenched into fists and in a sudden fit of rage he made his way make downstairs and toward the door but not before sending his fist into the door frame.

&&

When Amelia woke up the next morning the sun was filling the large room. There were no clothes on the floor and no sign of anybody else in the big room. She rubs her eyes and throws herself off the bed before tossing her hair up into a curly pony tail as she walked down stairs.

The flat was silent. Gabby was already at work, as always, and the lads weren't there to annoy her. Which was nice for once, she liked having the flat to herself. She could sing loudly if she wanted too and not be told to stop.

She made her way into the kitchen to make some tea when she saw a cute envelope leaning against the toaster with a yellow sticky note attached to it.

Found this in the post :)- Gabby

She gently removed the sticky note and tossed it to the side and eyed the envelope.

Amelia & Josh

It read in her mothers perfect cursive. She smiled and flipped the small envelope in her hands and popped open the flap in the back. She pulled out a small card and read it over.

The pleasure of your company is requested
at the vow renewal ceremony of
Dave and Elaine Howell
at The Sapri Wedding Beach,
Sapri, Italy
on Saturday, the second of August
at 1:00 pm

Amelia smiled. It was exactly where she wanted to go. She put the card back into the envelope and set it back down on the counter before she headed back upstairs to shower.

&&

Amelia walked down the busy streets of Weybridge. It was a warm day today, not as hot as it had been but still warmer than usual. She hummed a little tune as she made her way down the familiar streets. With the envelope in her hands she pulled open the front door of the flat building and walk in.

She jumped into the lift and hit 'six' without looking. She had been inside this lift a thousand times she didn't need to look. She waited patiently as the lift went up to the sixth floor before the doors opened and she slid out, making her way down the hall way.

She knocked on the door she stood in front of, waiting for the door to be answered. A few moments passed and the door didn't open so she knocked again and waited. Still no answer. With a sigh, she turned the knob, hoping the door was unlocked and stuck her head in.

"Josh?" She calls. She doesn't hear anything. She walked into the small flat and closed the door behind her, making her way to the bedroom in the back. The flat was a mess. There were clothes everywhere, and dishes were piled up in the kitchen.

She knocked a few times on the bedroom door before she opened it and popped her head in. She sighed in relief to see Hanna wasn't there. She pushed open the door and tip toed her way towards the bed. Kneeling down besides the bed, she rubbed her finger down Josh's nose a few times. Josh stirred but he didn't wake.

"Josh," she sang, still rubbing his nose. He opened an eye and looked at her before closing it again. "Joshy, wake up. I've got exciting news."

"If it's about you and Jaime I couldn't care less," he snaps.

Amelia grunts and stands up. "Wake the fuck up, Joshua James," she yells.

Josh let's out a yell and sits up in bed. "What Amelia? Huh, what the fuck is so important that you have to come all this way to wake me up and tell me?" he yells.

Amelia bites her lip and tosses the envelope onto Josh's chest and crosses her arms. "This was for the both of us," she says quietly. "Get dressed and come out when you want. Your flat's a mess by the way."

Josh looked down at the envelope and took it off his chest as Amelia walked out of his room. He probably shouldn't have snapped at her like that. He was just pissed that she had slept with Jaime.

Then again why should he care who she sleeps with. He had Hanna, right? Either way, Josh was a little more than upset but he didn't want Amelia to know. He'll just fake his happiness for now until one of them snaps.

&&

Amelia stood in the kitchen washing the dishes as she waited for Josh to calm down and come talk to her.

"Italy, huh? That should be nice," she hears. She looks over at Josh who stood in the doorway holding the invitation in his hands.

"Yeah," Amelia agrees looking back down at the dishes. She sniffles and wipes her nose on her hand. She didn't want Josh to know she was crying. "It should be really nice."

"In two weeks? That's a bit short notice to send out invitations."

Amelia nods. "Yeah, mum said I should have gotten the invitation a month ago but you know me. I never check the post. Guess that's just one of the many things I'm bad at," she says quietly as she begins to cry a little harder.

"Hey," Josh says noticing her tears. He tosses the invitation down and walks over to Amelia, wrapping her tight in his arms. "Don't be like that, babe. There's nothing you aren't good at."

"I'm a bad friend," she says into his shoulder.

"No you're not. What makes you think that?" he asks, worriedly.

She takes a step away from him and wipes at her eyes. "I've done something to hurt you, I know I have, you've been so pissy at me lately. I had to have done something wrong."

Josh felt like shit now. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Fuck, Amelia. I'm sorry. You're not a bad friend, that's all my fault. You know I'm a massive twat when I'm a diva," he smiles, she smiles back. "I shouldn't be taking my frustrations out on you, that only makes things worse. I love you, okay."

Amelia nods. "But-"

"No buts," Josh cuts off. "You keep doing what you're doing and I'll go out and get us breakfast okay?" Amelia nods once before Josh kisses her forehead and leaves the kitchen to change.

&&

As Josh walks down the street, he feels a weight in his pocket, like when there's something in there you have to touch or pull out.

This had been bothering him since he left the flat. This weight. The weight of his phone in his pocket weighed him down, making Josh feel like it was taking him twice the effort to make it to the bakery down the street. He was tempted he pull his phone, to send the text he's been dying to send. To find out the truth and make sure that what he heard wasn't an illusion.

With a grunt Josh pulled out his phone, letting temptation win and quickly sent out a text to Jaime.

Hey man, how was the party last night?

Good ;)

Josh sighs and rubs his forehead as he enters the bakery, the smell of freshly baked breads and cakes hitting his nose as soon as he steps in. Josh hesitated typing the next text as he waited in line.His finger tips tingled again, like they did last night. They seem to tingle whenever Josh doesn't want to come to terms with the truth.

Did you get any, mate?

He sends the text and instantly regrets it. He doesn't want to know, he should leave it alone. He can just go off what he heard until Amelia says something but knowing Amelia, she probably won't say a word.

"What can I get for you?" The old lady behind the counter asked.

Josh shook his head and put his phone in his pocket, coming back to reality. "Two chocolate chip muffins and two coffees," he says quickly. The lady nods and Josh hands her a twenty. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket as he grabbed the bag of muffins, and coffee tray. He pulls it out and reads the text as he backs his way out of the bakery.

Sure did, party was fun, after party was even better ;) I should hang out with your friends more often. Never met a girl so wild in bed before. Next party, let me know.

Josh clenched his jaw and angrily shoved the phone back in his pocket. He quickened his pace as he made his way back to his flat. The anger Josh felt last night when he punched the wall was back only twice as bad. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs for all of England to hear. He wanted to punch something. He wanted to punch Jaime.

There was no way Josh would let himself believe that Amelia would do something like that sober, with a guy like Jaime. Amelia, innocent Amelia. The girl who would rather read Jane Eyre or a John Green novel than drink and party with friends. Sweet, innocent Amelia. A girl who could break your heart just as fast as she stole it.

Stop, Josh told himself. Stop before you do sometime stupid

Josh shook his head. He was right though, he needed to stop before he flipped out at Amelia again. These fights will only break them. He can't keep doing this to her, act like everything is fine then flip out at her a few seconds later. He just had to play it cool and forget about it. For now.

He gently eased up on his anger, letting it fade away as he approached his flat building. He took a few deep breaths as he enter the lift and heads up to his floor. Walking down the hallway to his flat he sees his neighbor Mrs. Webber, an old widow who spent her days going for walks around town and spending time with her many grandchildren. She was a sweet old lady who brought over sweets for Josh every Sunday.

"Morning, Mrs. Webber," Josh smiles at the old lady.

"Oh good morning Josh! How have you been, love? Haven't seen you around lately," she says, locking her door.

"I've been well, I was staying with a friend," Josh smiles.

"Does this have anything to do with Hanna? I saw her storm off the other day."

Josh rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah, we got into an argument, sorry if ya heard anything," he apologized.

"I heard it all but that's okay, I won't say a word to anybody. I never really liked that girl anyways." she says quietly, patting Josh's shoulder.

"Sorry again Mrs. Webber, I should get back to my flat and help my friend pick up, it was nice seeing you."

"Nice to see you too, love." she says, she begins to walk away but quickly turns around as if to continue the conversation. "And Josh, whoever is in your flat has the sweetest voice I've heard in a while. I've been listening to it through the vent all morning. Such beauty! Tell her she can sing whenever she wants!"

Josh looked at the old women, confused. Amelia? Singing? Josh never would have thought but he smiled at the women anyways. "I'll let her know," he says before waving and heading towards his flat.

He put his ear against the door to try to hear what Mrs. Webber was talking about but when he did, he didn't hear anything. The only thing he could hear was his heart beat. He slowly opened the door and took a step inside. He could faintly hear the sounds of a soft singing voice coming from a room in the back.

He tip toed towards the bedroom, noticing that all the dishes were washed and the clothes in the living room were no longer there. He set the coffee and muffins down on the counter and continued towards the bedroom. When he poked his head in, he saw Amelia standing with her back to him, a laundry basket hung off her hip as she picked up Josh's dirty clothes. Some were clean but Hanna had thrown them on the floor during their fight.

Josh smiled and leaned against the door frame as he listened to his friend sing. He closed his eyes and listened to her sing one of his songs. A song he wrote for her but she was convinced he had written it for Hanna. The only songs he wrote for Hanna were ones about shitty relationships because that's what their relationship was, shitty.

He opened his eyes and listened to Amelia sing the song he worked so hard on.

"That night I slept,
On your side of the bed so,
It was ready when you got home,
We're like noughts and crosses in that
Opposites always attract,"

She sang to herself. Josh had never heard her sing before in the nineteen years they had known each other. She never even showed any signs of having a vocal talent. She was always really good at instruments. She could play piano, guitar, and drums better than the lads in the band half the time. Singing though, Josh never would have guessed it.

"Nice song," Josh says. Amelia jumps, letting out a yelp as she drops the laundry basket onto the floor. She looks back at Josh who only smiled. "Who wrote that?"

"Some proper big twat," Amelia jokes as she picks up the laundry basket, putting the clothes back in. "You know you scared me half to death."

Josh rolls his eyes. "Why didn't tell me you could sing?" he asks.

Amelia stands up, balancing the basket on her hips again. "Did you get breakfast?" she asks,walking past him.

Josh turns around and follows her out into the living room. "Come on Amelia, why didn't you tell me you were that good?" he asks, tossing himself onto the couch.

"Because," Amelia sighs. "Since we were little, singing was always your thing, not mine," she says. She sets the basket down on the floor and sits on Josh's lap, resting her head on his shoulder. "I knew that if you found out I sang, something would start turning in your head."

Josh sighs, resting his head on hers. "You know who that song was written for right?" he asks.

Amelia nods. "Hanna, of course."

"No-" he begins.

"Where is Hanna?" Amelia asks, pulling away from Josh. She had just realized that there was no sign of Hanna at all. She wasn't calling, she wasn't texting. Her clothes weren't even in the wardrobe.

"She's on holiday in America with her family," Josh says. Amelia nods once, understanding. Maybe that was why Josh wanted to come back to his flat. He would now have a free bed and flat to himself for the first time in a while.

Amelia bites her lip gently and stares at Josh. He looks at her lips, then back into her eyes. He licks his lips and leans in closer to her. He can smell the mint of her toothpaste as he breathes in and out of his nose. In that moment Josh had forgotten everything. Dan, Jaime, Hanna, everything. He saw what he wanted and he would do anything to get it.

He puts a hand on her check and brushes his nose against hers, their lips so close they were almost touching. Josh leans in to close the gap. To press his lips against her soft pink ones. His best friends lips.

Amelia pulls away before Josh can do anything. "We should probably go eat," she says.

Josh clears his throat and looks down, embarrassed and a little dissapointed. "Yeah," he says quietly. "We should."