Long Live Us

*Josh POV*

It was Thursday lunchtime, and Josh was sat with Max and Dan waiting for Rian, Jack and Alex to appear. Josh was eating a pizza slice, complaining to himself about how stupidly over priced the canteen was.
"Do you think something's up with Jack and Alex?" Max asked the other two, who nodded slowly.
"Yeah, there's a weird tension in the air. And Alex always looks at Jack like he wants to ask a question." Josh said, remembering how the new boy and been watching Jack intently with his big, sad eyes.
"Mhm, yeah and Jack refuses to look at him. Like he doesn't want a question to be asked." Dan added, pointing his fork at Josh and Max and raising his eyebrows for emphasis. "Hasn't Jack told you anything?"
"Nope, he doesn't seem himself though. I don't want to ask in case it's bad, ya'know?" Josh replied, shrugging, as Dan nodded slowly, and Max let an 'mmm' escape his mouth. Shaking his head, Josh took another bite.
'I guess it's not our business.' he told himself, deciding not to voice his opinion as Rian and Alex joined them. How Alex looked worried Josh. His eyes had dark circles underneath, and his shoulders were dropped. He looked defeated, like children do if they didn't understand what they had done wrong after being told off. Josh wished he could help him, but he was no good at the whole supportive friend role, and didn't really know Alex well enough for him to open up to him. When the boy sat next to him, Josh gently placed a hand on his knee, causing Alex's head to flick up. Giving his leg a small squeeze, and offering a small smile, Josh helped that his actions spoke loud enough.
"Joshua, phone." Max poked his side, nodding his head towards the phone on the table. Josh hastily answered it.
"Hello?"
'Joshieeee!' A smile broke across his face.
"Abi! You're back!"
'Yes, just wanted to hear your voice. I won't keep you though. Ima see you Saturday, okay?'
"Yes defo, can't wait. How are you? How did it go? How long have you been back? Was your flight okay?" He heard the girl chucked at the end of the line, but happiness was overwhelming him.
'Me neither, right I'll dash. You can question me later, okay? Call me when you get home from school! I love you.'
"I love you too gorgeous."
Josh smiled like an idiot to himself. Abi was his girlfriend, and they'd been dating for three years now. She was trying to get into the modelling industry, and was always traveling and going abroad in search of opportunities. The boys hadn't met her, even after three years, because dates never worked out. But she had said she would be at home for half term, which Josh couldn't wait for. Looking back up, Josh noticed everyone was looking at him, causing him to blush.
"Oh likkle Josh is all embarrassed!" Dan cooed, causing ripples of laughter from the rest of the group. Josh scowled at him, before laughing himself.
"Oo guys! My parents said I can have a halloween party! Finally!" Rian announced, smiling brightly. There was a chorus of cheers from Josh, Dan, Max and Alex.
"Who's on the guest list?" Max asked.
Rian shrugged. "Anyone. I'm allowed 50 people so yeah... Whoever."
"I bet Cass is at the top of the list, eh?" Jack had finally come over, pulled up a chair and nudged Rian. Everybody knew that Rian and Cassadee liked each other, but Rian always refused to make the first move.
"Shut up Jack. Nah whoever can come I don't care as long as my house isn't destroyed." The short haired boy continued with a shrug.
"Hey! We can finally meet Abi!" Jack yelled, causing a few people to turn around on other tables. Josh rolled his eyes, but liked the plan.
"That's the first good idea too come out of your mouth in a long time Jack." Josh told the taller boy, who responded by pouting. The group then descended into a group discussion about the party, and eventually Alex began to join in, but Josh noticed he would never speak directly to Jack. There was definitely something weird going on, and he hoped they would sort it out, because it was blindingly obvious that they needed one another.

"Naah I've gotta go to music and sort out the backing track for mine and Dan's performance shit for January in case its needed." Josh told Max, in reply to an invite over. Max shrugged and said goodbye, before they parted ways. Running his hand through his hair, Josh wandered into the music block, internally groaning at how he had been stuck to do this. Because he was singing and Dan was a drummer, they needed to put the rest of the music on a disk to play for their performance, so they decided to get started early, because they had a feeling it would take them ages. Josh wasn't the best guitar player, his fingers would never move fast enough, or he would lose concentration. He would often watch Jack play, and envy the way he made it look so effortless. Wishing he was good at guitar, he pushed on the door to Mr Martin's room and greeted the teacher. He was a youngish man - about thirty - probably considered cool because he rode a motorbike and was often caught smoking at the bus stop. He had light brown hair that he wore spiked up, and had large brown eyes and small lips. Josh thought he was a little bit odd looking, but the girls loved him, so what did he know? Sitting down at one of the fancy Apple Mac computers and keyboards they had, Josh wondered how the hell he was going to do this. He debated whether to actually play the guitar, or just set the keyboard to guitar and play it that way. After five minutes of his mind going for a walk, he just decided to grab the guitar. When walking over to the front of the room, he noticed a boy sitting in the furthest corner, his long hair in a pony tail, his back to the world. Josh frowned, trying to remember the boys name.
'Charlie? Ciaran? Chris? Yeah Chris!' He smiled to himself for getting it right, before grabbing the guitar and skipping back over to his chosen spot in his usual light hearted manner. "Lookin' good Josh!" He heard the teacher say. There were rumours that he way gay, but not many people cared enough to make a deal out of it. Josh replied by wiggling his hips, laughing to himself. The light haired boy was always weirded out if someone paid him a compliment - even if they were joking. He could never imagine someone actually looking at him and thinking 'wow' - he still couldn't believe Abi even after years. He just couldn't comprehend it. 'Why would anyone be interested in me?'
Quickly tuning guitar, he focused again on the task at hand. The computer screen in front of him lit up, and he clicked on song booth, plugged in the recording mic so everything was ready. He took out his phone, propping it up by the key board and opening the lyrics and music. Their slow song of choice was one Josh had written when him and Abi had gone on a 'break' and he'd called it 'Fireworks.' Taking a deep breath in, he started putting fingers to the chords and working out what the stupid notes all meant.

"Oh for fuck's sake I hate music!" Josh growled, clutching his hair roughly. He'd been sitting in the same spot for an hour, and still hadn't recorded anything that sounded good.
'Why doesn't it sound right? Why can't this just work?!' He asked himself over and over, getting more and more frustrated by the second. Hitting his fist onto the desk, he stood up and paced up and down the room for a while, trying to burn off some of the angry energy. Sir had left half an hour ago, but Chris was still hunched up, silent in the back corner. Josh forgot he was there, as he calmed himself down. After a good few minutes, he felt he was okay to try again. He flicked over the notes on his phone again, eyebrows furrowed together as he tried to work out where the problem lay.
"The octave? Too high? Nah, low? Maybe the wrong key.." he mumbled to himself, his mind running over everything that could possibly be wrong. He quickly ran out of ideas, and sighed loudly. Thinking about quitting and calling it a day, he lent back in his chair and just stared at his phone. Once again his mind wandered to anywhere except music, and he found himself wondering what he should plan to do with Abi tomorrow. 'Or would she prefer a quiet evening?' He wondered, once again clueless about something. Josh was snapped from his thoughts when he thought he heard his name, but when he glanced up at the door nobody was there, so he ignored it. Moments later he heard his name again, louder and behind him. "Josh?" He turned around to see Chris, bright red with embarrassment, his sleeves covering his hands and his eyes down as he addressed him.
"Sup bud, Chris right?" Josh replied lightly, with a toothy smile. The long haired boy nodded quickly, smiling slightly.
"I erm, can I, erm, would it, erm, can I see if I can help you?" He stuttered, his voice full of fear and hesitation.
"Oh my god please do!" Josh replied instantly, pulling up a chair and patting it, telling Chris to come over. He did, quickly walking with his head down and hands in pockets, slowly sitting down when he reached Josh. "Go for it." Chris slowly looked at what was on the screen of Josh's phone, his eyes scanning the lyrics and music. After a few minutes, he turned to Josh. "What key do you sing in?"
"Not a clue." He replied with a shrug.
"Sing me the first bit please." Chris told him, seemingly coming out of his protective bubble. Josh handed him the guitar, and sang the first section.
"So this is the end, of you and me, we had a good run, now I'm setting you free, too do as you want, too do as you please, without me." He frowned by the end, as Chris nodded slowly and began numbering to himself, fiddling with the phone - evidently changing the music to what he thought would fit. Within minutes he was seemingly finished, and nodded for Josh to sing again. As he started, he was stopped instantly.
"No no no. Needs an intro. Come in onn... when I nod." Josh was taken aback by how 'in the zone' Chris was. Everyone perceived him as the shy boy that sat at the back, when in reality he could be out there and in control. He started playing, and Josh started singing when he nodded and was amazed. It was perfect. Bang on what he wanted to achieve with the song. The two boys played the song the whole way through, Chris effortlessly playing something he'd written barely minutes before. When they'd finish, Josh could only stare in awe at the boy sat in front of him.
"Holy crap you're good." Was all he could muster up, he had genuinely been rendered speechless. Chris was now blushing a raging red, trying to hide his gave from Josh. "You wouldn't happen to be able to play it once more so I could record it would you?" He asked, smiling hopefully at Chris. "Thank you thank you thank you!" He burst out when Chris nodded, smiling as well. The pair quickly recorded the music, before spending ten minutes talking about random things and getting to know each other. Josh actually quite liked the guy, he was cool and laid back when he was relaxed, and was ridiculously funny. It was heading towards half four, and both boys knew they should be getting home, so packed up and walked to the gate together.
"Hey Chris, you should totally come sit with us at lunch on Monday. You'd fit in perfect." Josh loved how the boys' eyes lit up, it made him feel like he'd helped someone. Chris nodded, a massive smile plastered across his face, as he told Josh he'd like that. And with that, the two boys went their separate ways, both feeling like they'd made a friend in that half hour.

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"He scores when he wants, he scores when he was, oh Matty B, he scores when he wants!"
"Shut the fuck up Josh!" It was Saturday, and the team had just finished their match. A match Matt wouldn't live down in Josh's head - shooting seven times and not scoring a single goal. Matt was a light hearted guy, and joined in the banter, shaking his head and laughing and Josh pranced about in front of him chanting. The two boys were smeared with mud, Matt's dark hair sticking out at all angles, whilst Josh's just flopped over his eyes. The rest of the team had already left, so it was just the two friends in the small, smelly changing room, quickly removing their muddy kit and replacing it with joggers and the team's jumper. Their kit was similar to that of Arsenal or Man United back in England - red with white font. Josh loved "Franceschi' written on the back, it made him look all posh and exotic. Matt's "Barnes" was a lot more simple, and never mispronounced. Josh had met Matt through this football team, and they'd clicked instantly, forming a friendship through their shared love of music as well as football.
"Anyway, your better half's back today isn't she?" Josh nodded, rolling his eyes at Matt's comment. "What cha got planned?"
"Special dinner. Gonna throw out some of the famous Franceschi charm too woo the lady. Got everyone out the house, gonna tidy up, cook, do the cliche shit with candles and rose petals and music in the background."
"Holy shit you're gonna TIDY UP? You must be in love Josh!"
"Fuck you!" Josh gently shoved Matt, causing him to rub his arm and pout. Everyone knew Josh didn't clean, his room was always a complete mess - shoes, clothes, books and games were always covering the floor of his room.
"Send me a picture when your house is tidy, I want to see evidence! I've gotta shoot, have fun lover boy." Matt swiftly ruffled Josh's hair before running out the room. Following soon after, Josh grabbed his bag and went to meet his mum who was waiting in the car park for him. They both clambered into the car, quickly drove home so Josh could get the house ready. When they got into the house, Josh's mum fumbled about with the washing machine to wash the boy's football kit, whilst he showered. As he stood under the warm water, he began to get nervous.
'Can I really pull off tonight? What if she met someone better than me?' Various worries ran through his head as he lathered his hair with his favourite coconut shampoo which he knew Abi liked. The rhythmic falling of the water calmed him, so he got out, and wrapped a towel round his waist. Pulling the door open, he was greeted by Elissa. Her dark brown hair fell straight down over her shoulders, her arms crossed, and she was looking at Josh liked she meant business. "Sup Lis?"
"You need a girls touch. I've set up the dining table for you, done the lights in the room an everything and what not. Music is sorted. Now I need to sort you out. Clothes." Josh shook his head and rolled his eyes. Reluctantly, he followed his older sister into his room, where his sister was filing through all his clothes, humming and murmuring to herself. It seemed that their parents had already left to go on their own romantic weekend, and Josh assumed Elissa would be leaving for her friends house soon. He rummaged through his underwear drawer, finding a nice pair of boxers, and set them on his bed and waited for Elissa to finish deciding what he was going to wear. Leaning on his door, he remained silent, wise from lessons he'd learnt before when he had tried to intervene. A few minutes later, she seemed content with her choice, and handed Josh his brown shirt, a plain black vest to put on underneath and his dark denim jeans.
"Put that on, with your black trainers. Do your hair pretty. Instructions for food is on the side. Go smash it lil' bro." She ordered, swiftly kissing his cheek and dancing out of the room and down the stairs.
"That's Elissa!" He called as she shut the door. He put the clothes on, dried his hair and ruffled it to the style he liked, then went down stairs. He his his bag away in the cupboard, and checked him phone.
From:Abi <3
can't wait too see you gorgeous, see you soon! Xx
Josh smiled, quickly replying, before starting on the cooking. He thanked Elissa again for her precise, minute by minute instructions, as he frowned, running around the kitchen like a maniac.
"Spaghetti and sauce...grate cheese... Where the hell's the grater?" He asked himself - out loud, like he often did. That was an odd habit he'd managed to obtain, and he decided he desperately needed a pet too talk too so he wouldn't look as weird. 'Maybe me and Abi will have that one day...'

The timer Josh had running was on thirty minutes when the doorbell went. Smiling like an idiot, he bolted to the door and opened it, his heart warming as he took in the girl standing at his door. She was wearing a short, pale pink dress, covered in glitter, her long hair flowing down past her shoulders, making her green-brown eyes glow. Sighing contently, Josh grinned as she smiled back, stepping into the house and looping her arms around Josh's neck. He spun them around, closing the door with his bum and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I've missed you." He whispered, keeping the intimacy there.
"I've missed you too, handsome." Smiling, he closed the distance between them and place a long, slow, passionate kiss on her lips.
'Fucking hell I've missed this.' he thought, as he felt his heart beat a mile a minute and the butterflies erupt in his stomach like it was his first kiss. Abi always made him feel like this, he could only dream if he made her feel the same. Pulling away, he rested their foreheads together, gazing into her eyes.
"Let me take your coat ma'am, and could I interest you in a beverage?" Josh offered, over exaggerating everything so he could play 'handsome-flirty-gentlemanly waiter' for the night. "Why thank you, good sir." She replied, hand Josh her her coat and giggling as he put it over the banister. He grabbed her hand and led her through to the dining room, excited to show her. Lis had done a great job, the lamps were on, leaving the room in dim light, pink and red candles were sat in the middle of the table gently flickering away. Rose petals were also on the table, a paper throw with hearts on it across the middle. Abi gasped, and Josh's heart stopped as he waited for a reaction.
"This is beautiful..." They smiled each other, and Josh stole another kiss before leading her over to her seat.
"Look what else I did earlier, even if we don't go up whatever I did it anyway." He said proudly, getting out his phone and showing the picture of his spotless room that he'd had to send to Matt. An amazing smile broke across Abi's face as she laughed at Josh, telling him how proud she was. The couple sat down, and caught up on how her trip had gone, whilst she asked for all the gossip. Josh served up their spaghetti, sat down and they tucked in. "Wow honey this is good!"
"Thaaaanks." He grinned.
"How's the new guy settling in?"
"Alex? Yeah he's good I think, he's super cool. You'll prob meet him when you meet the rest of them if that's still cool?" She nodded quickly.
"Of course! I think it's about time."
"Me too! No Alex it's a good lad. There's something going on with him and Jack though..." He frowned, telling her about the tension between them all of a sudden.
"Maybe they like each other?"
"Urm, maybe but ima go with no." He laughed, changing the subject - really not wanting to talk about them on his date night. After about an hour of talking about everything and anything, the two went and cuddled up on the couch, eating ice cream and semi-watching a dodgey movie.
"Hey, what happened with that record company?" Abi asked, giving Josh a questioning look.
"Yeah I need to talk to you about that. You know, we need a lead guitarist, but I may have met someone - as long as he gets on with everyone," Josh said, remembering Chris, "dunno, when I sent them that video of me singing, they told me I'd have to move back to England - which I'm all for, I just need you and the boys on board.." His eyes were glowing as he remembered that they were so close to possibly having a record deal. He'd found this website that said submit videos of you playing/singing and if they liked you they'd get back to you. And they got back to them. The catch was that they were a British record label, so they would all have to move over there - making it ironic Josh moved over in the first place. The deal was epic though. The company set you all up at a college for your last year, and then signed you for two years. It was what they all dreamed of doing, what they all wanted. All they needed to find was a fitting lead guitarist. And then for everyone to agree it was what they wanted to do.
"Well, you know I'll support you whatever decision you make. I'll stand by your side, you're mine." Abi told him, kissing his nose and smiling at him. Tonight was perfect for the boy, and he liked it being just them two, happy in their own private bubble, able to do whatever they liked. He ran his hand up her cheek and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
"I love you, Abigail." He whispered, getting lost in her round eyes.
"I love you too, Joshua." She whispered back, closing the distance between then and pressing her lips too his. To Josh, this was perfection.

Notes

wooo so this is a bit of a change to show you more about Josh and co, hopefully you all like it :3