Lullaby

Scarlett perched herself on top of her kitchen counter, her legs dangling off the edge. Beside her, the teapot was heating up some water on top of the stove. "I slept with Josh," was the only thought running through her mind as she stared off into oblivion. When she had woken up next to him in her bed that morning, she initially thought that they had had one of their harmless sleepovers after a night of drinking. It wasn't until she looked beneath the sheets to see that neither of them were clothed when she realized it wasn't one of their friendly sleepovers at all. She could feel her heart rate pick up as the memories of last night came flooding back. She was remembering every kiss, every touch, every feeling she had when she was with him. Scarlett wouldn't label herself as promiscuous, but she had hooked up with a guy or two in the past. However, this instance felt different from the others. There were no second thoughts or feelings tied into previous hookups. The next morning, things went back to normal and Scarlett wouldn't think of the guy again. How could she compare this experience to the others when Josh wasn't some random guy she had just met? She didn't want to start thinking about how he felt about it. As her anxiety increased, she began counting the tiles on the wall one by one.

"Oi! Are you deaf?!" Josh's voice pulled Scarlett out of her trance. Her gaze moved from the wall to a sleepy, messy haired Josh emerging from the bedroom, hi boxers clinging to his hips. Her heart fluttered at the sight of him. She was so absorbed in the tiles on the wall, she hadn't noticed that the tea kettle had been whistling loudly for who knows how long.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry!" She quickly hopped down from the counter and reached over the stove to switch off the burner. As she pulled her hand back, the side of her arm hit the teapot, leaving a burning sensation on her skin. "Ow! Fucking hell." This was really not her morning. Her eyes filled with tears, stinging her eyes. She gripped her arm tightly in an attempt to stop the throbbing pain.

"The trick is to stay away from the hot kettle," Josh explained as he rushed towards her. "Let me see, Clumsy." Scarlett looked away and removed her hand from the burn, wincing as the air breezed over it. He gingerly took her arm in his hands and examined it. "It's nothing to get upset over."

Scarlett shot him an evil glare. "How about we hit your arm on the teapot and see how well you feel," she spit at him. The second the words left her lips, she felt bad for saying them. The pain in her arm wasn't anyone's fault but her own, she had no right to take it out on Josh. Unless it was the teapot's for getting in her way. "Damn that teapot," she thought to herself.

"Now why would I do that when I have you to do it for me?" Josh replied with a chuckle. He had the ability to make light of a situation without disregarding it. Scarlett was the opposite of him, she could easily get upset over spilt milk on a bad day. "Up you go." He placed his callused hands on her sides and lifted her onto the counter. Cold water spewed from the kitchen sink as Josh held a small towel beneath it. He switched the faucet off, then gently tended to her sore arm. "You know, this wouldn't have happened if you stayed in bed with me."

Scarlett's breath hitched in her throat. The dreaded subject. If it were up to her, she would have avoided the awkward morning after conversation all together. That would have been easy to accomplish if Josh was merely a stranger to her, but that wasn't the case in the slightest. She was at a loss for words. Instead of thinking about last night and facing her feelings, she had distracted herself by counting tiles. Why couldn't he have asked how many tiles there were in her kitchen? "Your snoring isn't a catchy tune. I needed a new song." Her eyebrows wiggled at him. Shooting jabs at people was Scarlett's go to way to avoid unpleasant conversations.

Josh glanced up from her arm and looked at the strawberry blonde sitting on the counter before him. The expression on his scruffy face reminded her that he wasn't a fool. On account of being acquainted with her for a couple of years now, he knew her and her sly tricks quite well. Scarlett's gaze dropped down to white and black checkered linoleum that covered the kitchen floor.

"And a screaming tea kettle was your song of choice?" Thankfully, he sensed her apprehension and didn't speak another word about last night. "I haven't compared the two in quite some time, but I like to think my snoring could sell a lot more records than that horrid whistling," he argued and Scarlett let out a hearty laugh.

The pain in her arm was subsiding. Josh offered to pour her some tea while she changed from her pajamas bottoms and t-shirt to something more presentable. She sat down on the edge of the bed and slid on a pair of skinny jeans. A familiar scent floated under her nose, causing her stomach to do a few flips. She rose from the mattress to pull up her pants and noticed she was sitting on Josh's side of the bed. Scarlett groaned and buried her face in her hands. Josh had stayed at her apartment after so many drunken nights, he even left an extra toothbrush in her bathroom. It wasn't until now these unwanted feelings presented themselves.

"You alright, love?" Scarlett lifted her head to see Josh's head peeking through the doorway.

She sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm just…stressed." It wasn't a complete lie. She had a lot on her plate at the moment, between work and school and now these feelings for her best friend had pranced into her life with no warning. She picked up a random hoodie from her bedroom floor and threw it on.

When her head emerged from the black abyss inside of her hoodie, Josh was standing before her. "You're not fibbing, are you?" His eyebrows raised as he stared down at her, seeing as he was a good six inches taller than she was.

There he was giving her another opportunity to talk about last night. She could have spilled all of her feelings out to him right then and there. Out of fear of potentially giving him the scare of his life, or worse, ruining their friendship, Scarlett withheld herself from telling him the truth. She simply shook her head and smiled. "No, I'm fine." She swore she felt her nose grow an inch.

Josh gave a single nod, then walked away from her and towards the bed. "I have to meet up with the guys," he explained while he gathered his clothes that were scattered among the room. "Your tea's waiting for you on the table." His words were frosty and short. It didn't take a genius to figure out why he was acting that way towards her.

Scarlett thanked him for making her tea before wandering out of the bedroom. She had the urge to punch herself in the face. If Josh wasn't in the other room, ten to one, she would have done so. As much as he probably hated her right now, he couldn't possibly hate her as much as she hated herself, no one could. All she had to do was tell him how she felt, like she always did. But she couldn't. She was a thickheaded coward. To avoid an uncomfortable confrontation with Josh, Scarlett stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower, refusing to come out until she heard her front door close.