No One Does It Better

Josh’s P.O.V

“No, it needs to be…blast, I'm brain dead tonight.” I threw my hands up in surrender, watching my new band mates snicker at my actions.

“Givin’ up already, Josh?” Oli’s thick northern accent cut threw the air as took a seat next to me, snatching the note book from my hands and studying the words.

“Why not start off with the guitar rift, then add the rest as the beat picks up?” he pursed his lips, eying everyone for there opinions.

“I think that could work, wanna give it a go?” I clapped my hands together, rubbing them back in forth. It was about 10pm, we had been practicing at Max’s for a little over 4 hours, the lads in bring me ended up accompanying us. We were currently working like mad on a song I wanted to kick start our band with, Reckless, as it was deemed. Everyone agreed, taking their spots next to their instruments and waiting for my signal, I awkwardly cleared my throat.

“Ready?” I inquired, spinning on my heel to face them, they gave me thumbs up. I reluctantly spun around again, my eyes locking on those of Oli’s who sat on the couch watching us contently. Matt and Lee were nodding their heads when the guitar started up, and Jona and Kean talked over some venue they wanted to play. I gulped before launching myself into my words, trying my best to channel the part of me that once withered off and died. It was hard to not wanna do silly things my manager informed me were ‘crowd pleasers’, but a few minutes in, I let the kick drum become my step. Bouncing around every time it reverberated through out the room,

“You never…” I drug the last note out, bowing my head in an almost nervous fashion, I hadn’t once glanced at the men in front of us, not until I heard a small round of applause.

“Fuck meh, you all didn’t sound ‘alf bad, your actually ‘retty good!” Matty’s voice boomed over the dying off claps that emitted from his band mates, I blushed.

“Ya think?” I asked in all seriousness, this was the first time we had ever played a song through, and it was really our first practice as a band.

“ ‘twas good, a few mishaps along the way, but absolutely brilliant for a first run through.” Oli chimed, giving me a small smile and a nod of his head. I turned to face my band mates who were all grinning like mad,

“Josh, you truly complete us.” Dan chided from behind his kit,

“How very cliché of ya, I think we sounded good though!” I giggled, wiping the sweat from my forehead. I had just taken a shower at Jona’s place, I guess my house too, but I was definitely seeing another one in the near future.

“Well I agree, wanna call it a night lads? Maybe we could all grab dinner tomorrow night? On me!” Max exclaimed, setting down his instrument and turning the amps off,

“Sounds good to me. Everyone?” after a short round of agreements we finished cleaning up, and said a few quick goodbyes. Oli and I slipped our coats on, telling his band mates goodnight.

“See you at the house.” Jona waved as Oli and I settled inside the van, he started the engine.

“You did a good job tonight,” he stated as he backed out of the drive, before pulling towards the main roads, I felt my cheeks turn red.

“Thank you, Ols.” I whispered in response, he shot me a crooked smile.

“Well, you deserve the praise, you’ve done good for yourself. Down but definitely not out, right?” he asked,

“You heard that part, huh?” I inquired, recalling how I had sung that song at the park a few nights ago, he snickered.

“Yeah, I really liked that song by the way. It was beautiful, you have an amazing voice.” I could have sworn I saw his cheeks tint a few shades darker, causing mine to go blood red.

“T-thank yo-you.” I stuttered out, suddenly feeling at a loss for words, he always…baffled me. My heart was fluttering like a humming bird in my chest, I visibly tensed as he laid a hand on my knee.

“You alright?” he turned to face me when we came to a red light, my eyes locked on his and I once again, came to a loss for words. I tried to speak but couldn’t form a logical word in my mind, he raised an eyebrow before turning back to driving.

Way to go Josh, you definitely ruined that exchange. But what was I supposed to say? Oh no Oli, actually I'm not okay, you make my brain fuzzy and make me want to kiss you? Like that would be the right thing to say. What are you doing to my head Oli?

“Huh?” his voice shocked me back into reality, I went wide eyed as I noticed we were parked out side of Jona’s house, and he was staring at me curiously.

“What?” I choked out, scratching the back of my head nervously as he chuckled.

“You said ‘What are you doing to my head, Oli?’” he crossed his arms as he shut the engine off, a smug smirk on his lips. I inhaled sharply, fuck had I said that aloud?

“Yeah and you did it again.”

Fuck. I adverted my eyes from his, staring in my lap and silently hoping the car cushion would swallow me up whole; the urge to disappear had never been so great. I felt him scoot closer to me, sighing, before laying his hand on my cheek, I looked up at him.

“Josh…” he began, but I cut him off, without thinking I stupidly leaned forward, attaching my lips to his. Sparks immediately went off in my head like fireworks, but one thing ruined the moment, he was as still as a board. I quickly pulled back, he was staring at me with a shocked expression on his face.

“I…uh…” I quickly unlatched the door, jumping out and running as fast as my legs could carry me away from him. I continued to run long until I was down the streets, and until I reached the park that I had come to the night before, falling to my knees and gasping for air. I could have been running for hours, I really wouldn’t have known, anger and embarrassment clouded my judgment.

“God dammit!” I cursed, punching the ground angrily, before collapsing onto the freezing earth, trying to catch my breath. Why had I done that? Everything was going so well, and I had to go off and ruin it. I felt my skin begin to tingle around my wrist, I bit my tongue to try to push the urges away but it became to much. I lashed out, rolling over until I laid on the concrete walkway, before hitting it over and over again. If there was any form of pain, I didn’t feel it. I eventually stopped, as a sob over took my body, I glanced down through my tears to see a small pool of red forming on the sidewalk as blood oozed from the wounds on my hand.

“Josh!”

A shrill call of my name rung out through the park, but in my current state it didn’t faze me. I rolled onto my side, cradling my hand to my chest and mumbling “I'm sorry.” Over, and over, again through the cries that escaped my lips.

“What’ve you done to yourself?” the soft voice shook me to my core, I felt warm hands lift my head and lay it on their lap, as the now free hands traveled to mine. I glanced up, barely able to make out the image of the person, who was still without a doubt, Oli. He examined my hand, making a grunt of disapproval, before lying it gently back on my chest; he stroked my hair back.

“What am I going to do with you?” he breathed out, wiping tears from my cheeks as soon as they fell, I shrugged.

“You don’t have to do anything, just leave me here to rot.” I sputtered the words out, wiping my nose with my sleeve, real classy like.

“Like I’d do that,” he chuckled, still toying with my hair, my hand was beginning to throb.

“Why would you? I fucked up, big time.” I spat out, trying to sit myself up right, but he held me in place.

“Nonsense, just wasn’t expecting that.” He offered, I shot I'm a glance, trying to decipher what he was saying.

“So? It wasn’t like it meant anything to you,” I retorted, rolling my head so I could look up at him,

“Did I say that, now?” he asked, before leaning his head down so our faces were only inches apart,

“Oli…” I whispered, before he did something I never thought he would, he pressed his lips to mine. Not in heated fashion like some would expect, but in a delicate and passionate way, I quickly regained my composure, allowing my lips to dance in time with his, as my one good hand reached back and lay on his neck. After a few moments he pulled back, staring down at me as he took a sharp breath.

“Wanna go home and get your hand cleaned up?” he asked in a hushed tone, I nodded my head, the chill of the winter air was wafting into my bones, not to mention, my hand was on fire. I was just too tired to try to make sense of what was going on,

“Let’s get you up,” he gently laid my head down, before offering me a hand, I grasped it with my good one as he helped hoist me off the ground. After that he wrapped his arm around my waist, and I slid my arm around his shoulders, still clutching the wounded one to my chest. We quietly made our way to the van, where he helped me inside before starting the journey back to Jona’s.

“You told me you wouldn’t do this anymore though, lovely.” He stated with a frown, as we made It down the twisting back roads of Sheffield, I watched a cloud of smoke roll off a steel factory.

“I know, I'm sorry…Oli?” I turned to face him, he hummed in acknowledgement,

“How…exactly do you…feel…about me?” I bit my lip as the words flew out of my mouth in a broken up question, he shrugged.

“I honestly don’t know, I don’t wanna say the wrong thing, cause I don’t even know how you feel.” He replied calmly,

“Well…I kind of…have a little…crush…on you.” I admitted with a sly smile, little was an understatement, I was starting to fall head over heels in love with the kid, which was terrifying considering I hadn’t even known him that long. I watched his eyes glance over at me before returning to the road, a playful smile on his lips.

“I feel the same; I say we just see how it plays out before we decide anything? I don’t want to ruin our friendship either,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair, before offering it to me, I took it without question.

“Agreed. Oli?” I asked again, which earned a small grunt this time, I chuckled.

“I’m glad you don’t hate me anymore,” he stopped the van as we pulled into the small driveway, he glanced over at me.

“Why you say that? Was my opinion that important to you?”

“Well yeah…if it wasn’t for what you said to me, I still would be trapped in hell. You’re a godsend.”I shot him a smile, which he eagerly returned before reaching over and pecking me on the lips.

“C’mon, lets go fix up your hand, and finish putting our things up. Jona will be livid if we leave it a mess,” he took my hand in his again before pulling us out of the van and into the small house. Despite the fact that today had gone from shit to perfect to shit, it ended…perfectly. That was something I could say without a doubt.