The Truth Is a Terrible Thing

The flat was awfully loud when Amelia had woken up the next morning; louder than normal. She looked up from her spot on the bed to see Josh still sleeping. His mouth slightly open as his breath entered and left past his lips. Amelia smiled slightly as she rubbed her eyes and got out of bed to see who was making all the noise outside the door.

She shuffled down the hall way to see Max and Matt laughing and yelling in the living room. "Who the hell let you guys in here?" Amelia asked as she ran a hand through her tangled curly hair.

The lads looked up at her and Max smiled brightly before hurling himself over the sofa and into her. "Amelia!" he screamed loudly, wrapping his arms around her.

"Shh, Max, you'll wake Josh up," she says quietly. Max made a face to show he could care less about whether or not he woke Josh up. "Again, I ask, who let you in?"

Max let go and looked directly into Amelia's eyes. Amelia loved that about Max, he was only an inch or so taller than her which made her feel more comfortable around him. He was easy to talk to, hug, and look at. When she was around Josh she had to stand on the tips of her toes to be at eye level with him and even then it was still difficult. "Gabby let us in on her way to work," Max said with a shrug before walking back over to the sofa.

Amelia rolled her eyes and joined Max on the sofa. She pulled her feet up onto the sofa and wrapped her arms around them. "What are you two doing here anyways?" she asked.

"We thought you needed a day away from Josh," Matt smiled.

"Really now?" she asked.

"Yeah," Max answered. "He's keeping you all to himself and we think it's time he knows how it feels," Max smiled.

Amelia laughed at the two lads in her living room. "I'm not just gonna up and leave him here without warning," she says. "Besides I'm not ready."

Matt rolled his eyes. "We can wait a little while," he says, his eyes traveling to Max whose leg was bouncing up and down with impatience. "Well I don't know about Max over here but i'll keep him busy. You have and hour not a minute more."

Amelia stood up and laughed. "Do you honestly think I need a full hour. I'll be done in thirty tops," she bet.

Matt chuckled, standing up and crossing his arms at the girl in front of him. "You're joking right? You're a girl, there is no way in hell that a girl can be showered and ready in thirty minutes."

"I bet you lunch that I can," she says her hands on her waist.

"You're so on," he smiles. "You better watch yourself there, mate. By the way, it's hot as hell outside so where something……summer-y."

Amelia laughed slightly and walked to the wash room to shower, quickly jumping in the shower. With a towel wrapped around her body she blow dried her hair, watching as her curls began to form. After putting on a very small amount of makeup Amelia smacked her forehead; she had forgot to get her clothes ready causing her to have to walk back to her room, naked. She tightened the towel around her body and opened the door slowly. Peeking her head past the frame she looked at the two boys on her sofa, their backs to her. She tiptoed down the hall slowly, trying not to catch their attention.

She made it safely to her bedroom to find Josh on his stomach, spread eagle across the bed. She let out a breathy laugh before walking over to the wardrobe and pulling out the things she needed. She walked over to Josh to make sure he was fully asleep, poking his cheek a few times. When he didn't move Amelia figured he was either fast asleep or dead. She went to make her way back to the door when there was a soft knock.

"15 more minutes, love. You better be ready," she heard Matt say from the other side.

Shit. She thought to herself. Now that Matt was out there she couldn't make it back to the bathroom safely without one of them seeing her in nothing but a towel. She gave an uneasy look at Josh's sleeping body before looking back at the door. She tiptoed to a corner of the room, facing the wall; she dropped the towel. She quickly slipped on her panties and bra, occasionally looking back at Josh to make sure he wasn't secretly awake and watching the whole show.

Just as she had put on her dress she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She jumped, clenching her chest as she turned around. "What are you doing?" Josh asked, lifting his head up from the bed.

"Just go back to sleep," she whispered as she crossed the room to get her flats. "I'll be home in a few hours, just sleep."

Josh nodded before dropping his head back onto the bed. Amelia rolled her eyes and slipped her flats on before slowly leaving the room. Matt and Max stood against the wall across from the bedroom; looking at Amelia curiously. Matt gave her a crooked smile whilst Max was practically shaking. "Took you long enough!" Max said.

Amelia scoff before flashing Matt a cocky smile. "I'm done and ready with 2 minutes to spare, I think you owe me lunch," she said.

Matt crossed his arms as Amelia turned towards the entry way of the hall; walking away. "I'm amazed you actually did it," he said. He looked at Max who's eyes darted around the room, waiting to leave. "Come on mate, you ought'a be hungry, yeah?" Max just nodded and followed the two out of the flat.

&&

"Josh is gonna be so mad at us," Amelia said before taking a sip of her drink. Matt had decided that even though Amelia had one the bet he got to pick the restaurant; his choice being Nandos.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Oh whatever, Josh will never know unless you tell him."

Amelia laughed and took another sip of her drink. "Speaking of Josh," she says looking at Max whilst he drank from his water. "Did you get a chance to talk to him yet, you know, about the fight?"

Max choked a little as she asked him, stiffening. He put his cup down and looked at Matt; looking for some help. Matt just shrugged. "Uh," he stuttered. "Yeah, I did. He said that him and Hanna just had a small argument, and then he came over. Nothing he said made it sound like he was lying. I don't know why you ever thought he was lying," he said looking down at his hands under the table.

Amelia raised an eyebrow and looked at Matt who only shrugged again, acting like he didn't know what was going on but he did. Max had let it slip one night when he was drunk at Matts flat. That was the problem with Max, he was bad at keeping secrets, bad at lying, and very bad at staying silent. "Max," Amelia said, narrowing her eyes. "You're lying to me aren't you?" she asked. Max shook his head. "Come on Max, you know you can tell me what happened, I won't tell anyone."

"I'm not lying," he said quietly, not looking up at Amelia.

Amelia laughed. "You so are, you're not looking at me, you're looking at your hands, you're lying about something."

"Just tell her mate," Matt said to Max.

Max's head shot up, looking at Matt. "You tell her!"

Amelia sighed. "Will one of you just tell me what the hell is going on!" she yelled a little loudly earning glares from a few people in the restaurant.

Matt smiled and looked at Max. "Yeah, Maximus. Wanna tell us what the hells going on?"

Max glared at Matt for a few seconds before looking at Amelia. He dropped his head; looking at his cup of water as he spoke. "Josh and Hanna didn't have a normal fight. Things were said, things that I can't tell you but all I know is Josh finally told her something that had been on his mind for years now, " he looked up. "Josh didn't want to tell you because he's not ready to say anything-"

"But he's ready to tell you?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

Max rolled his eyes. "Thats different1"

"How?" she asked, getting a little frustrated. She was a mixture of several different emotions; ecstatic she was right that Josh was hiding something from her, sad that Josh was hiding something, and pissed that he was able to tell Max but not her. "How am I any different from you or Matt or anyone else?"

"Amelia, you know he would tell you if he could-"

"Then why can't he?"

Max sighed rubbing his face. "Amelia," Matt cut in. "You have to realize that Josh isn't telling you for a reason. There are- things that were said that he isn't sure how to tell you. He hasn't said anything to us, only Max because he squeezed it out of him. When he's ready he'll tell you. Just don't push it."

Amelia nodded looking at Matt. He always knew what to say. She never really saw him get angry or worked up. If someone didn't understand something he would sit and explain it to you in the best way he could. Max on the other hand had very little patience for people and got annoyed all to easily even though he was one of the most annoying people Amelia had ever come across. "Will you at least tell me hat it was about, the fight I mean. What caused it?"

Matt went to ope his mouth but Max quickly stood up, grabbing his coat. With an angry sigh he pointed at Amelia. "You really want to know what the fight was about?" Amelia nodded. "It was about you."

Amelia's jaw dropped as she turned to look at Matt. "What?" she began to ask.

"Don't mind Max," Matt reassured. "He just really wants to tell you what happened but Josh won't let him. You didn't cause the fight, trust me. It had nothing to do with you, Max is just a little frustrated."

"And I'm not?" she asked. Her eyes wondering over Matt's face. He looked sympathetically at her. He just wanted to reassure her that she had ever right to be frustrated and mad at Josh, hell he was even mad at Josh. He was mad that he was hiding things from Amelia, things that he are better if said aloud, not kept locked away. "Matt," she said more calmly. "I don't understand what I did to make Josh not trust me and hiding things from me. Did I do something to him?"

Matt shook his head, reaching a hand out and touching Amelia's soft one. "You did nothing wrong. Josh is just going through some things with Hanna that he needs to sort out himself. He didn't want to tell you because he's scared too."

Amelia's eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly. She was shocked by what Matt was saying. "He's scared? What is he scared of?"

"He's scared of what you might think," he said quietly. "Just do me a favour. Don't try to pry it out of him and don't expect him to tell you cause he more than likely won't."

Amelia nodded as she dropped her gaze to her lap, letting her hand slip from underneath Matts and off the table. "He and Hanna didn't break up did they?" she asked remembering Desiree mentioning that possibility the other day. "Is that the reason why he's stayed at my house for so long?"

Matt chuckled. "They didn't break up, they're are just taking a break from each other. Plus shouldn't you be happy he's been spending so much time with you? He normally is off with Hanna some where."

Amelia nodded, figuring that Matt was right. "You're right. Come on," she said looking at her phone. "We should probably make sure Josh hasn't burned my flat down."

Matt laughed, and threw down some money onto the table before getting up and following amelia out of nandos.