There's A Fine Line Between Love And Hate

Chapter Thirty Seven- It Is So Different From Yesterday

It didn't take long for Josh and I to get seated in the restaurant. It seemed fairly busy, with tables upon tables of families and small children running around everywhere. I couldn't help but to feel a little tug on the old heartstrings watching them. Josh followed my line of vision, twisting in his chair until he noticed a family with two toddlers and a tiny baby. The baby couldn't have been any older than about 2 weeks old.

“Ava, I'm sorry, I didn't think. Do you want to go elsewhere? We don't need to stay here if you don't want to...” Josh trailed off, looking as if he was upset with himself for coming here. I shook my head a little, reaching out across the table to hold his hand, squeezing it gently.

“It's not a problem, you know there could be a chance for us to have a family like that in the future. Just not right now. That doesn't mean forever, just we need to wait a little for the right time.” I tried to comfort Josh, but it didn't seem to be working too well. Things had been hard for both of us and we were still coming to terms with what had happened. “Besides, both you and Jordan have told me that this is your favourite restaurant, so let's have a good night and eat enough food for us to have to be rolled back home!”

Thankfully, that small comment seemed to raise the atmosphere and ease the tension a little. We split a plate of boneless chicken wings as Josh began to tell me stories about previous visits to this particular restaurant, passing the time quickly.

“So then my mom was mad because the whole family got asked to leave just because Jordan and I were pretending to be walruses!”

“Josh, you both put breadsticks up your noses, I can see why the waiter wasn't impressed!” I did have to admit, it was a humorous story. It was nice to hang out with Josh and not have to worry about what would happen next. I really had missed him and his company, even if it had only been for a little while.

We were about halfway through a large pizza, happily feeding each other the cheesiest slices we could and laughing as a bunch of the toppings landed in Josh's lap, when we noticed a couple of people staring at us.

Fair enough, we were acting like idiots and laughing too loudly, but the staring was dulling my appetite a little. I nudged Josh's leg with my foot, before glancing over at the group, trying not to turn my head too much. Being about as subtle as a brick to the face, Josh quickly turned and fully looked at the group, who let out a collective gasp before whispering amongst themselves.

“Smooth, real smooth baby.” I muttered, smirking at Josh.

“Hey, if subtlety was my strong point, we may never have ended up dating in the first place, my little cinnamon bun.” Cinnamon bun? That was a new nickname! “Anyway, you have sauce on your face! Let me get that for you.”

Josh leaned over the table a little, swiping his thumb across my cheek catching the sauce before sitting back in his seat and licking it off of his thumb.

“Gross, you just ate my germs!” I laughed a little at Josh's spontaneous reaction. He leaned closer once more and spoke in a voice so low that only I could hear.

“Baby, I've had more of you than just your germs in my mouth.” The little wink and heavy smirk across Josh's face as he said this caught me off guard. I could feel a familiar sensation in the pit of my stomach, almost like butterflies. Unfortunately, or maybe for me fortunately, the group from earlier approached the table.

“Hi, you're Josh Dun right? Can I get a photo please?” The girl didn't even wait for Josh to answer before stating her request. I tried hard not to frown or roll my eyes, we were in the middle of dinner so it was pretty rude to interrupt. However, Josh happily agreed, standing up so they could take the photo against the wall with a plain background.