slow // joshua t bassett

SESENTA Y SIES

The events from the party seemed to slip away from Josephine's mind as she was too busy dying of anxiety about meeting Josh's family within the next 24 hours. She spent the day packing and unpacking things into her bags, worrying about what she needs to take with her. Josh had grown tired of watching her pack a pair of black jeans for the 13th time. When she placed the jeans in the duffel bag he thought this would be her final time, but she began to tap her foot, knowing she was overthinking her decision. Again.

Joey cried out, "what am I thinking? I don't even like these jeans! But...my ass does look great in them. But, I also don't want everyone to be distracted by my giant monster truck of an ass!" Josh had rolled over on her bed laughing his lungs out. She pouted at him, "I'm being so dead-ass serious right now." He placed his head in his hands and watched Jo's straight posture fall as she groaned.

"You're so goofy," he giggled. The dark-haired girl chuckled, looking back at him to catch his enamored smile. "Seriously, J, you need to stop worrying. My family already loves you, Claire won't shut up about you to them."

He scooted away from the side of the bed, leaving a space open for Joey. She plops herself on the bed, burying her head into Josh's neck. "Josephina Rosario Ortiz," Josh said, making Joey laugh.

"Not you butchering my name!" He gasps, "I practiced so hard! Your mom and I went over it for so long! How did I butcher it?" She looked up from her position to meet his puppy eyes. His stare made her melt, making her coo at his adorable expression, "I was just kidding. You did a really good job, buddy."

He chuckles, smiling as he stroked the hair by her neck, "as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted; Josephina Rosario Ortiz, you are literally the most perfect person I've ever known. Meeting my family is gonna be a piece of cake, especially since they already know everything about you."

The girl giggled softly, hiding her embarrassment by covering her face with Josh's sweatshirt. Once she collected herself she spoke, "okay well enough about me, cause I just now decided that you're gonna get your birthday gift right now because I'm so incredibly impatient and it's gonna kill me if you don't open it within the next 12 hours." Josh giggled as he watched her frantically reach for a bag in the back of her closet, tripping over a few things on the floor on her way.

He opens the small bag slowly, knowing it would annoy Joey. Reaching inside, he found a small canvas with a picture of him painted on it. The picture was one he had taken on Josephine's phone the night of the party when they had arrived back home. He took a minute to examine it. The painting was so realistic and sketched out beautifully, he almost couldn't tell that she had handmade it.

Josh let out a surprised chuckle, "I- Joey, this is just- I don't even know what to say. It's amazing, thank you." Her cheeks flushed a deep red, thankfully her tanned skin covered up a bit of the rose color that spread throughout her face. "Keep going," she ushered.

Once again, he reached inside the bag, this time pulling out a tiny box. Inside the box was a guitar pick with his initials engraved in gold. "I know we were gonna celebrate your birthday with your family tomorrow, but it was like last week when you were gone so I couldn't resist. Also, I hope you liked the Christmas gift I got you," Jo said. Josh smiled lovingly at her.

"I loved it, and I love this. Thank you so much, Joey. You really didn't have to do all of this. But look," he reached into his shirt and pulled out the necklace he was wearing, displaying it on his collarbone. "I'm still wearing the Christmas gift you got me." It was a simple silver chain with a small lavender pendant in the center. Joey explained that lavenders were one of her favorite flowers and she wanted him to wear them so he wouldn't miss her when he was away.

Josh crawled over to Josephine and tackled her into a hug. Kissing the top of her head, he said, "thank you for all the gifts and such, but you need to finish packing." She groaned loudly, shoving herself away from Josh's grasp. "Okay, okay. I'll get it done."

He gave her a skeptical look, "Josh, don't look at me like that. Stop it, J. I am gonna do it!"

The couple said goodbye to Josephine's parents at their house before making their way to Josh's car. He turned to her before he pulled out of her driveway, "ready for the best road trip you'll ever have?"

She shrugged with a cheesy smile, "I know for a fact that I'll be asleep for a majority of it. So, sure!" Josh smiled with a curt nod in her direction, "atta' girl!"

Once Josh found his way onto the highway, Josephine sat quietly on her phone. Skipping songs until she'll eventually find the song she wants to listen to. Jo huffed, "why can't you just put all you're songs on Spotify? I hate you." He laughed, reaching his hand over to grab the phone from her hand. 

"NO, JOSH! YOU'RE DRIVING! GIMME THE PHONE, J! YOU'RE GONNA KILL US!" She flailed around aimlessly, trying to get the phone back from Josh without moving him too much. Joshua threw the phone behind him, earning a groan of disapproval from Josephine. "That was mean. I'm leaving." 

After a while, Josh managed to convince Josephine to go to sleep. It was going to be a while before they would reach his house, let alone get to the state of California. He continuously drank coffee to keep himself awake, his hand being placed on top of Jo's hand resting on her lap. 

Josephine opened her eyes, staying squinted. Her gaze moved over to Josh. He was softly humming along to the song playing in the car. his soft mutters stirred her back to sleep. With a big inhale, Joey drifted back to sleep before closing her eyes. Josh turned to look at her, watching her eyes flutter close with a soft smile playing on his lips. He felt her hand grasp him, and he tightened his grip on her hand with a butterfly feeling in his heart. 

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