𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑊𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑡 • • •𝐽𝑜𝑠ℎ 𝑅𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠

🌺𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆: 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝑻𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓🌺

        It was nearly 11:00 at night and María and Josh were still texting. Tomorrow was the second and last day of the meet and greet. María was so excited to see Josh again before she left for home; Josh was too. Josh had a small surprise for María. He knew it would make her day, or even week. The rest of her friends went to sleep so she sent Josh a goodnight text and went to bed.

——————*time skip to morning*—————

       María was getting ready as usual for the event. Her friends were talking about María's phone call quietly so she wouldn't hear. They were thinking that she had some secret boyfriend that they didn't know about; she technically did.
       There was a knock at their hotel room door. María checked the peephole and a tall boy stood there. She opened the door and there stood Josh, smiling. "Hey María!" Oh my gosh, Josh! How'd you get my room number?" "Remember, you sent it to me last night!" "Oh yeah, now I remember!" "Anyways, I have a little gift for you." Josh handed her a little, silver gift box with a white ribbon and an envelope. María decided to open the envelope first, "Oh my gosh, a backstage pass?! You're the best!" "Now we can hang out all day! Open the box, now." María slowly untied the white ribbon and opened the box. Inside was a silver necklace with a big beautiful diamond charm. "Wow! This is beautiful! You really shouldn't have." She hugged him and felt at home in his arms. "Of course, I had to! Put it on!!" Josh begged like a little kid. María put the gorgeous necklace on and it looked perfect on her. "It looks perfect on you!!!" "Really?!" "Of course! Everything looks perfect on you!" "Thank you so much!" María gave him another hug and Josh kissed her head. "MARÍA ELIZABETH LOPEZ!!! WHY IS JOSH RICHARDS AT OUR DOOR, WHY ARE YOU HUGGING HIM, AND WHY DID HE JUST KISS YOU?!?!" Alexandria practically screamed when she saw them. "Umm well," María shyly stuttered. "We're dating now." Josh blurted our really loudly. María grabbed his hand and smiled the happiest smile she has probably ever in her life. Josh beamed from ear to ear. The rest of the girls rushed to see and their mouths dropped to the floor. "So, I'll take her with me to get ready for the show. See you guys later!" "Bye girls!" María and Josh called out before they went out of the room.

       María and Josh walked hand in hand down the hallway to the 8th floor elevators. Josh pressed the button and they waited for an elevator. In about 15 seconds, an empty elevator opened up and they went inside. María pushed all the buttons to buy them some time, Josh and María laughed. "So, I know we technically have only been dating for 5 minutes but..." María stopped him mid sentence with a tender kiss. He kissed back with the same type of energy and love. "That was exactly what I was gonna ask about." They both laughed and Josh decided to take an Instagram pic of them in the elevator together. In the picture, Josh has his arm over María protective while her head rested in his shoulder; both smiling big, goofy smiles. They took a few more photos in different positions; some silly some kinda serious. They decided on two photos; the first picture they took, and a silly one where María was getting a piggy back ride from him. María was hesitant to post them at first, knowing that she would probably get hate from all of the crazy fan girls, but Josh assured her that she looked beautiful and it would be ok.

        They finally arrived in the hotel lobby after 15 minutes of being stuck in the elevator. Josh checked his phone and saw that thousands of comments flooded in about María. María saw that she gained about a few hundred new followers on her instagram. Payton Moormeier even commented "Who is she? You didn't tell us you had a secret girlfriend!" They ignored all the comments and went to find somewhere to eat. María told Josh that he could pick, he found a semi-fancy burger place about a block from where the meet and greet was being held. They split a giant burger and talked about everything really. They talked about their families, interests, dreams, and plans for life. María introduced him to some music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s that he surprisingly loved. They both payed the bill and headed out to the meet and greet. It was a short walk so they didn't need to get an Uber. They talked more and María was mentally preparing to get judged by more than 1,000 people. She was visibly nervous, enough that Josh could sense that. "Hey beautiful, everything is going to be fine. You don't need to go on stage with me, you just need to meet my friends. By all means you can stand with me while I'm at my booth, but you don't have to." María smiled, she felt reassured and safe knowing that Josh was going to be with her all day. "Ok, I'll stay with you at your booth and meet your friends, but I'm not ready to go on stage yet." "Great!"

      They arrived backstage and Josh headed in front of María. "Hey guys," he called out "I'd like you to meet someone!" He said with that same lovesick, goofy smile that he always has when he mentions and sees María. "Is it the girl in the pic?" Chase Hudson called out. "Yep, guys I'd love for you to meet María." María walked out from behind Josh and shook all of the guys' hands. "Nice to meet you all." She felt a little intimidated and grabbed Josh's hand for comfort. "So are you guys like actually dating or what?" Jayden Hossler asked with a sarcastic tone and stone cold face. "Yes, we're actually dating." Josh told them while he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "You guys look so cute together!!!" Noen shouted from the back of the room. "Thanks, Noen!" Josh yelled back and María smiled at him. A worker shouted to them saying that they needed to get to their booths because the doors are opening in 10 minutes. They all walked to their respective booths and waited for the door to open. María decided to text her friends a pic of her and Josh to let them know she was okay. They all responded within seconds with either "❤️" or "😍" They we're both grateful that their friends supported their relationship. Yes, it may have been really sudden but they knew that they were endgame.

The doors opened and thousands of fans flooded in. Josh grabbed her hand and kissed her forehead, sensing that she was nervous. María stood off to the side away from where the pictures would be taken. Fans started gathering at Josh's booth and started taking pictures with him. Most asked him who the girl in his recent pic was, to that he responded by pulling María to his side, but not before asking if she was ok with it. Some fans even asked if she could be in the picture. Of course María agreed! Some fans showed obvious jealousy and gave her dirty looks but she shrugged it off; who cares, she was with the love of her life! The meet and greet was coming to an end, the closing event was with all of them onstage together. María decided that she wanted to be on stage with Josh, but she was still super nervous. They found some place backstage to hang out before the show started. Josh found a couch to sit on. María sat next to him and he draped his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder. "Hey, María? I know this is really soon but, I love you." Josh looked into her eyes lovingly, taking in all of her beautiful face. "Yes it's early, but I love you too Josh." Their lips met and they shared a deep kiss. They felt safe in each other's arms, they fit together like a puzzle. They kissed for what felt like days until, "Jesus you two, stop playing tonsil hockey cause we're on in like a minute." Chase said to them. "Good idea. Thanks Chase!" María said with a laugh. They both smiled and María got nervous again. "You'll be ok my love, hold my hand if you need to." Josh said to her. "Thanks, I'll take advantage of that." María giggled. They walked on stage and the crowd cheered. María spotted her friends and waved to them. They smiled and waved back. The show was quick and wrapped up in about 5 minutes. María wanted to see her friends because Josh invited her back to his hotel room. She said that she would be back in the morning before their drive back and walked away with Josh.

          María and Josh walked hand in hand back to his hotel room. It was a short walk and they spent the time by María showing him some more music. She played for him Queen, The Beatles, Elton John, and Paul Anka; which were her favorite artists/bands. Josh couldn't get enough of Paul Anka's "Tonight My Love Tonight". He said that it describes his feelings toward María. He also loved Queen's "Bring Back That Leroy Brown", which was a surprise to María.

They arrived at Josh's hotel room and just laid on the bed and enjoyed each other's company. Josh had an idea that they could make a dance to his new favorite song "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners, and post it on TikTok. María agreed because it was her favorite too. So they spent at least 30 minutes creating choreography to the song and laughing about it. The final product was kind of a mess but they looked adorable together. They posted it without hesitation and the caption was "I've found my new favorite song thanks to this one." Hundreds of comments flooded in; mostly positive, some were hateful but those were ignored. They talked some more and decided to go to sleep. María borrowed a hoodie and sweatpants from Josh because she didn't have a change of clothes with her and fell asleep in Josh's arms.

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Omg this was a longer chapter and thanks for reading!!! I'll try to update regularly for you guys. Word count is 1,772 words. Have a great day! 🌺