My Brother's Best Friend: a Josh Richards FanFiction -complete-

Part 2: Breakup

"Oh, Bryce, you know I'm playing," Addison said, resting her head on his shoulder.
I zoned out of the conversation as I stared at Josh and Nessa. Part of me knew that I had to move on, but the other part of me just couldn't let it go. He looked up at me, meeting my stare and causing me to look away, embarrassed at getting caught.

As dinner ended, Josh stayed in the kitchen to help me with the dishes. "Can we talk real quick, Bailey?" he asked, drying as I washed.
"Sure, what's up, Josh?" I replied, nervously scrubbing at the plate in my hand.
"What was that about? At dinner?" he asked.
Play dumb, Bailey. "What do you mean? Why did I make dinner? I was hungry, and Bryce said that none of you know how to cook."
I could see Josh shake his head in my peripheral vision. "You and I both know that that isn't what I'm talking about."
"Cant say I do, Josh."
Josh sighed. "When you were staring. What was that about?"
It was my turn to sigh. "Oh, that? I just zoned out."
Josh grabbed the plate out of my hand. "That's clean. Now, look at me."

I looked up at him. As I looked into his gorgeous blue eyes, I struggled to think straight. "Yes, Josh?"
"Did I do something to upset you?" he asked me, putting a hand on my chin to ensure that I wouldn't look away.
I shook my head gently. "No, but it's stupid. I can't tell you. It's something I have to take care of by myself."
"You know that I'm here for you, right? You're like my little sister."
Ouch. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Josh. You should go find Nessa. I'll finish up here."
"Okay. You know where my room is if you need to talk."

Tears filled my eyes as I finished up the last few dishes. I knew that it was a long shot, but his words stung like a knife. I sank into a chair at the kitchen table, exhausted.
Griffin walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Bailey. What are you doing in here? We're all watching a movie."
"I think I'm just going to go to bed," I replied, wiping the tears from my eyes.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I will be," I said, getting up and heading upstairs.

I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling. What the hell was I doing? My phone buzzed with a text from Josh.

I rolled over, plugging my phone in. I would deal with my emotions in the morning. For know, it had been a very, very long day.

I woke up, confused at first about my surroundings. The events of the day before quickly came to mind. I got dressed for the day and walked down the stairs to find Blake and Bryce in the kitchen.
"You didn't wake up to get gains with us," Blake joked, handing me a protein shake.
"Don't have to be up before the sun to get gains, Blakey Blake," I replied, tousling his hair as I sat between him and Bryce. "Where is everyone?"
"Anthony is at the Hype House. Quinton is at Not a Content. Jaden's at the studio. Noah's filming at Dixie's. Kio's somewhere. Griffin is training. Josh said something about Nessa hanging out again today," Bryce replied.
"I'm gonna go work out," I said, groaning internally at the sound of Nessa's name.

I put my AirPods in, turning on my workout playlist. As I squatted, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder, causing me to jump.
"Whoa, calm down, Bails," Josh said, laughing.
"You scared me! What else was I supposed to do?" I asked, laughing too. "What are you doing out here? I thought you were supposed to hang out with Nessa today."
"Um, yeah. We were. We got into a fight last night, and it kind of spilled over into this morning. She asked to take another break. I just broke it off instead."
"Wait, what? You broke up with Nessa?"
He shook his head yes. "I love her, but I'm so tired of always arguing about stupid shit."