Odd Socks

The one thing that Josh disliked the most about being on tour was the lack of clean clothes. He cherished the moments when they would stop off at a hotel for the night and that hotel had a washing machine (and even better if it had a tumble dryer for quicker use). To Josh, nothing felt better than slipping on a fresh shirt and a clean pair of jeans that were tight from the wash.

Another thing that annoyed Josh to no extent was non-matching socks. He was just about able to deal with other people wearing odd socks (although to him it looked unsightly) but having to wear them himself was completely out of the question. He felt a mess and muddled up if one sock was from a completely different pair to the other. It made him cringe in ways that he just couldn’t deal with. So wearing odd socks was just out of the question for Josh.

This morning Josh woke up with such a dilemma. He was sure that he had one more pair of socks in his suitcase, but he could only find one of them. He had sure that there had been two, because he remembered taking them all out and making sure that he had enough to last him until today so that he could wash them all when he reached the hotel tonight. He just knew it.

He was standing there with his last clean sock in hand, as an exasperated sigh left his lips. His suitcase was emptied all over his bunk and still no sight of the sock. He even checked the pockets of all of his trousers and shirts for goodness sake and still no sign.

He would rather go sockless than to have to wear only one sock or one clean sock and one dirty sock or two dirty matching socks. Josh cringed at the thought of it. Once he’d worn a pair of socks for a day, that was it, he was not putting them back on until they had been washed. He could just feel that they had lost that sense of crisp freshness. No, no way was he going to be putting dirty socks on his feet.

His only option then was to go sockless. But it was freezing outside and even a bit nippy on the tour bus, despite all of the heaters being turned up to their full power. He was distressed. He sighed once again as he ran a hand through his brown locks, pulling on them slightly in frustration before dropping his hands helplessly to his sides.

He cleared up his bunk, packing all of his belongings back into his case and then spotting the last clean sock he had left on his pillow. It was so fresh and clean and it was calling his name, but it was missing its partner in crime, its other half. With one last deep breath he grabbed the sock, holding it between his fingers and made his way into the lounge.

“Excuse me, has anyone seen my other sock?” he asked, waving his sock around in the air.

“Not again...” sighed Dan. So yeah, it was a known fact that Josh got wound up when he couldn’t find his clean clothes. And yes, this had happened with his socks before. In fact, I suppose you could say his fellow band members were kind of used to it in a way. Well they didn’t get surprised as much anymore if that counted?

“You know I don’t like to put on dirty socks, and this was my last clean pair,” he held up the single sock to illustrate. “And I know I’m not going crazy, because I counted them individually twice and counted them after packing them too.”

“And that doesn’t qualify as crazy?” Dan asked, causing the curly haired boy to pout. He wasn’t crazy, he was just...organised. “Well you don’t have to wear socks you know.”

“But it’s so cold today,” he whined.

“Why don’t you just wear these?” he looked over at Matt in the small kitchen area and saw that he was holding up two plastic bags.

“Plastic bags?” the singer asked with utter disgust. “I am not putting plastic bags on my feet.”

“Why not?” he asked inspecting the bags as if he was considering the idea himself. “Look, they’ve even got holes in the bottom to give your feet air,” he thrust the bags practically into Josh’s face. Josh tore the bags away, practically fuming. He took deep breaths.

In...Out...in...Out.

He was really not in the mood for this today. His feet were cold, he was sockless and he was hungry. Also he was really tired anyway and this wasn’t helping. This wasn’t helping at all.

Without another word, Josh stormed off back to his bunk, swiftly drawing his curtain shut behind him. He was not in a good mood. He knew he was acting like a complete child, but it was one of those days when he was just in a stroppy mood.

He heard the curtain being pulled back quietly and he opened his eyes to see Dan and Matt looking more than concerned.

“Hey Josh, are you all right?” Matt asked, his voice softening as Dan gently sat down by Josh’s feet.

“Yeah, Joshy, you don’t look too good. Did you sleep alright?” Josh shook his head, no. He slept terribly, and he just wanted the ground to swallow him up right now, because he felt like shit. Not to mention the fact that he was acting like a complete and utter wanker right now, storming off like that.

“I think you should get some sleep,” Matt suggested. “We’ll wake you up later, yeah?” Josh just nodded as Matt and Dan tucked him in and drew the curtain closed for him.

As the brunette fell back to sleep, the two boys who scurried back to the kitchen and Matt quickly pulled out his phone.

After the 3rd ring, Max answered with a “S’up brah.”

“We have a problem. It’s Josh.”

“Is he okay?” Max spluttered out, he’d be lying through his teeth if he said he wasn’t rather protective of Josh. A little overprotective. He cared for him like the others sure, but there was just something else about the beautiful singer that caught Max’s attention. He didn’t have a crush on Josh, no. His heart just sped up whenever he heard the mention of his name and he loved it when Josh would pull him into his arms and hug him and he couldn’t get those beautiful steel blue eyes of Josh’s out of his head. But no...He didn’t have a crush on him.

Did he? No, surely not. They were friends...Just friends.

Yeah, Max wasn’t convincing himself either. He had more or less fallen for the singer and he honestly wasn’t ashamed of it at all. Josh was perfect.

“Don’t worry Max, he’s fine. Sorta.”

“Sorta? He’s not hurt is he?”

“No, he’s just in one of his moods.”

“Why? What happened?”

“He’s tired and he can’t find one of his socks.”

“Oh,” Max said in an understanding tone. His heart slowed its erratic pace as he realized that his baby boy Josh wasn’t hurt. “I’ll buy him some socks; we’re off to find some clothes now anyway aren’t we Chris.” Matt heard a mumble of agreement on the other end coming from Chris. “We’ll be back just before the bus takes off for the hotel okay?”

***

Max and Chris climbed onto the bus and sat down next to Matt and Dan having the usual chat with them. Max however was itching to know about Josh and what state he was in as he was currently nowhere in sight.

“So, where is he?” Max asked.

“Oh, Sleeping Beauty’s in his bunk,” Dan replied, as Max got up and made his way to the back of the bus and to Josh’s bunk. He gently pulled the curtain away and sighed at the sight of the sleeping boy before him. He was flawless. Before Max could stop his hand, he felt it reaching out slowly and stroking Josh’s cheek gently. That’s when Josh’s eyes snapped open.

“Hey Joshzilla,” smiled Max, a grin spread across his face at the sight of the beautiful eyes that never left his mind before him. Josh smiled weakly up at the boy, still a little tired. He couldn’t deny the fact that his heart was racing in his chest, seeing the smaller boy there, that cheeky grin on his face.

“Hi Maxy.”

“So I heard that my damsel was in distress?” he smirked at the darker haired boy. Josh turned noticeably pinker in his cheeks as he realized that Dan and Matt must have filled Max and Chris in. Max pulled a small package out from his pocket and handed it to Josh. Josh looked at Max, a little confused as to what to do next. “Well open it,” he prodded Josh gently in his side, making a wider smile crack out on his face.

Josh carefully opened the paper, not wanting to rip the delicate patterns. He pulled out its contents to find a pair of socks, but not just any socks, a lovely purple pair with his name embroidered into this top.

“Do you like them?” Max asked, hoping with everything inside of him that he would.

“They’re amazing,” this time Josh couldn’t hide the huge grin and all of his pearly whites on show; a big contrast to his red cheeks. “I love them so much!”

“Do you love enough to give me a hug?”

“Of course,” Josh said opening his arms as Max lay down next to him and snuggled into his warm embrace. Josh realized that only Max was capable of bringing him out of one of his terrible moods in such a record time. In the past everyone else had sat down and tried for hours to cheer him up and nothing had worked. But every time Max would come along and he had him feeling about 1000 times better in under 10 minutes.

“So, let’s get you up hey Princess. You can’t stay in your bunk all day. We can’t really go anywhere as we’re about to head off to the hotel, so we’ll be stuck on here for a couple of hours. But how about we watch a movie or something?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Josh answered, quite liking the idea of snuggling up to Max on the sofa until they pulled up to the hotel. Josh sat up and put his new socks on, his feet feeling instantly warmer. Max grabbed his hands and pulled him up and into the lounge area. He sat Josh down and left him to get comfortable, while he made his way to the DVD cupboard to pick out a good film. Max grinned at Josh as he slipped the DVD into the player, picked up the remote and jumped onto the sofa next to him.

The movie began and Josh smiled down at the older boy who was sitting close to him but not as close as Josh wanted. The words Finding Nemo flickered across the screen and Josh felt his heart instantly warming up. He adored watching movies like this, especially with Max.

Max loved watching them too...not because he always ended up in the darker haired boy’s arms, no...Yes. Okay, he did like that probably more than he should, but he loved how cute they were and how they managed to make him feel so many emotions even though it was just a cartoon as most of his other friends would say. But Josh understood. He knew how these movies appealed to his innocent, childish side. The other three boys had gone off to their bunks to play cards or something as they didn’t really want to watch the movie. So it was just Josh and Max. Max and Josh.

Within the first ten minutes of the movie, Josh felt Max slowly sliding closer to him. Whether it was intentional or not, he wasn’t sure, but he was fond of the feeling that began to stir in his tummy as the smaller boy brushed up against him. He gave in and wrapped his arm around Max, pulling him closer to his side as Max gladly accepted, resting his head on Josh’s shoulder.

The two young boys sat there smiling contently. At some point during the movie, Max had ended up in Josh’s lap, his arms wrapped around the Josh’s necks and Josh’s around Max’s waist. The eldest of the two had his head peeking out from the crook of the singer’s neck watching Nemo’s adventure unfolding on the screen in front of him for about the thousandth time.

Max’s warm breath was hitting Josh’s neck and sending the occasional shiver down his spine. Max wasn’t really sure what he was doing, but before he could consider exactly what he was doing, he gently pressed a soft kiss to Josh’s neck.

It was light and barely noticeable, but Josh noticed it; Josh noticed everything that Max did. He let out a slight gasp that sent Max’s heart into overdrive. What had he just done?

“D-did you just...” Josh trailed off, not sure if he could end the sentence in case had just been imagining the chills of excitement that had been sent shooting down his spine.

“Y-yeah, I guess I did,” Max replied, coming to the conclusion that there was no point in denying it now. Josh was sure that the adorable boy in his arms must be able to hear how hard and fast his heart was beating now.

But before any more words could be uttered, Chris came tumbling through the door. “We’re at the hotel!” He sang, just as happy as the others that they would be sleeping in a proper bed that was spacious and warm and soft.

Max climbed down from Josh’s lap and they both went to collect their overnight bags and made their way with the others into the lobby where their manager was waiting with their keys.

“We’ve had a bit of a mix up with the room guys. I’m afraid that two of you will have to share.” Matt, Chris and Dan all did that stupid “turn around touch the ground not me” shit and that left the two that had previously been snuggled up on the sofa. Not that either of them particularly minded sharing a room. But what if it was awkward after, you know...?

“Looks like you two are stuck with each other,” the manager announced handing Max the keycard as the three boys behind him started giggling at their victory. Max wasn’t going to let them thought that they had won though.

Instead he just smiled and said, “Well, that’s good. I’d rather share a room with Joshzilla than be all by myself when I heard that this hotel is...haunted.” He whispered the last word, leaving the three boys standing with their mouths agape in shock. It probably didn’t help that they had stayed up late the night before watching terrifyingly scary movies. “Sweet dreams.” He span on his heel, grabbing Josh’s hand as he did so. “Come along Josh, we have a nice safe room to get to.” With that both boys skipped off hand in hand pulling their suitcases along behind them.

Max swiped the keycard in a ninja like fashion and after almost 2 minutes of trying and failing, Josh grabbed the card giggling and opened the door on his first try.

“And that, Maximus Helyer, is how to open a door.” They stumbled into the room, chuckling like hyenas. Both boys were relieved that what happened earlier didn’t seem to make anything awkward at all. Almost as if it had been forgotten. But what if a small part of each of them didn’t want to forget the special moment that they had shared? But maybe it was best?

They both stood at the foot of the bed. The double bed. Josh’s heart began to race as Max’s breath caught in his throat.

It’s not like they both hadn’t slept in the same bed before, because they had many times when they were all crashing at someone’s house, but then there had been other people in the room as well. Also they hadn’t previously had a moment about 15 minutes before.

Max looked up at Josh, “do you want to shower first?” Josh nodded, smiling at the precious boy in front of him. He grabbed what he needed from his bag and stepped into the bathroom.

Around 20 minutes later, Josh stepped out of the shower, fresh boxers on and his hair freshly shampooed and sticking up in all directions due to the hair dryer. Max looked up from his Nintendo and instantly forgot about saving the princess in Zelda. His princess was standing right in front of him.

Josh looked at Max sprawled out on the bed and smiled as he took in the scene. His eyes trailed over the smaller boy’s body. Then he stopped.

“Is that my sock?”

Max tried to give Josh an innocent smile, but it wasn’t working. Josh pounced on Max, instantly knocking him backwards. He didn’t really know what he planned to do when he jumped on Max, but they started wrestling playfully. Before Josh knew exactly what was happening, the guitarist lips were pressed against his own. He gasped as he felt his mind blurring and tingles overtaking his body. There was no other way as describing the feeling but...magical.

As they pulled their lips away after what felt like an eternity, they both had the goofiest smiles on their faces. Neither could hide the content that they felt.

“Am I forgiven?” Max asked, batting his eyelashes adorably. How could Josh possibly deny Max while he looked like that? How could he deny him at all? He always gave into Max; it was inevitable. And the fact that Max’s hands had also found their way into his hair didn’t help either. The way that they were gently pulling on his hair was so delightful.

“I suppose so,” Josh replied, looking down at Max’s feet, and then looking back up into his beautiful eyes. “But you know, you could have at least worn both of them. Now that means one sock has been once more than the other.”

“Well if you’d like, I could wear the other one for you tomorrow,” he winked. “You know, just to balance things out.” Josh hit him gently. “Hey! And to think I sorted your washing out for you while you were in the shower.”

“You did?” Josh asked.

“Of course! I know how much you like your clean clothes.” And Josh’s heart melted. This small, beautiful, pineapple loving boy with hair resembling a hedgehog was just so perfect. He looked out for him and was always there when he was in a dilemma or a in a rotten mood. Just one look from those warm brown eyes and Josh’s heart was racing and a smile was instantly plastered across his face.

“Thank you Max,” the singer snuggled up into the smaller boys arm, kissing his lips gently. “For everything.”

“Anything for you Joshy,” he muttered. “Anything for you.”