Wrong Number - A Josh Richards Fanfic

What Comes Next?

Maddie's POV: 

There is a long pause as I stare up at him, my eyes tearing up after his beautiful speech. I look around, realizing he did this for me. 
He still cares for me. 

"J-Josh, you did this for... me?" I ask in disbelief and he nods, still waiting for my response. I run into his arms, dropping the flowers as his arms wrap around me. "I've missed this..." I mumble into his chest. 

"Me too..." He whispers into my hair. We stand like this for a long time before he speaks up. "So... what comes next?" I think this over. 
What does come next?

"I... I don't know... I'm just not sure I'm ready to get back together-" He lets out a disappointed sigh, but I continue on. "But I am willing to start slow... I can forgive you, but I can't forget that easily. We can be friends and hang out again, but I'm not ready to jump right back into our relationship. Don't get me wrong, I totally still lo- care about you and there hasn't been a day you haven't crossed my mind, but I'm not sure if I have the same level of trust for you and I don't want to be hurt again." I reason and he nods in understanding as we finally pull apart. 

"Of course. I'm willing to go as slow as you would like and I will do whatever it takes to re-gain your trust. You really are amazing and I don't know what I've ever done to deserve you." He says sincerely, looking me straight in the eyes. I flush and look down. 

"Want to go for a walk?" He asks me, grabbing my hand. I tense and pull away rapidly, not ready for that yet. He looks a little hurt, but soon covers it with a smile and I smile back. 

"Yea, lets go loser!" 

Time Skip, Two Hours Later:

I smile at Josh one last time before getting out of the car. 

"You sure you don't want me to come walk you in? And god, I can't believe you joined the Hype House... gross..." He says and I laugh. 

"I'm sure. I don't think you want to be showing your face in there just yet anyways. And I don't think I'll be in the house for much longer..." I say winking, and with that, I turn and break into a run up the hill a little to the door. I enter, a little out of breath, and close the door behind me. I'm met with Chase of all people. 

"Where were you? The girls came back hours ago! We were all really worried!" He exclaims, checking to make sure I'm not hurt. 

"I'm fine. I was just hanging out with a friend." I say, before starting to walk up the stairs.

"Which friend?" He calls after me. I act like I didn't hear and continue walking up the stairs. I throw open the door to my room to be met with the girls all sitting on my bed, eagerly awaiting my return.

"Hi...?" I ask, unsurely, throwing my two shopping bags onto the couch. Charli stands up.

"How was it? What happened? Was it sweet? Are you guys together again? What did he say? How did h-" Charli starts, bombarding me with questions. 

"Char, relax. Let her breathe. Anyways, what happened?!" Avani says, coming to my aid once again. By now I had inferred they were in on it, based off of them leaving me alone on the beach. 

"Uh... basically, we're friends again," I see the look on Addison's face. "Nothing more!" I add, her smug face slightly annoying me.
She knows I want to be more...
"We are going to be friends until I can learn to trust him again." The girls all squeal. "Oh and guys... I have something else to tell you..." I start and they automatically sober up, seeing the serious expression on my face. They all stare at me, waiting for me to continue. "I think I might leave the house sometime soon..." I state, and they all stare at me blankly for a second before they start...
Laughing?
I look at them confused why this is funny to them. 

"We knew it wouldn't be long before you and Josh made up and you left. We didn't expect you to stay long. We knew you just joined to spite Josh." Avani says, and all the other girls nod in agreement. I sigh in relief, knowing they aren't angry. Charli suddenly stops laughing.

"The problem is, who is going to break the news to Tony? He won't be as knowing or happy about this..." She says quietly and we all stop laughing, realizing she's right. Tony definitely won't like this, and I don't want to hurt him, but I'm not truly happy around here. 
Oh well, just another obstacle on the road to happiness. 

(A/N: AHHHH Bryce and Jaden got arrested wowwww. Never did I think Jaden, maybe Bryce, but Jaden?! And I heard (which I'm not sure is true) that Bryce actually took the fall for JOSH, meaning Bryce was... innocent, I guess? I guess Jaden wanted to make "riding in a cop car" true and they also wanted to make the mugshot trend real... Anyways, wow, the Sway Boys have once again, broke the internet and idk how to feel, what are your thoughts on this situation? Anyways, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! K, bye bby's💖✌🏻)