#beth washington

"Are you cold?" Josh asked. You shook your head. You were wearing warm clothes and already had a blanket wrapped around you.

"I'm okay," You smiled faintly. "are you?" 

Josh smiled mischievously. "I'm really cold." 

You let out a grin as you scooted closer to him on the big couch. When you were close enough, he wrapped his arm around you. 

"That's better." He smiled.

Most of the time Josh acted like an arrogant dick, but not with you. You guys had been friends since you were nine years old and knew each other better than anyone. You probably knew him better than his sisters did- before they were gone, and he knew you better than your best friend. You even knew that he went to therapy. And you never stopped talking to him after his sisters did, even when the others did. You were always there for him.

You snuggled up against him with a soft sigh. When you were kids, you'd always imagined you would marry him someday.

Josh's hand ran through your hair, gently, and he grabbed one side of the blanket to sit under it too. You curled up against him, which made his face warm up, but due to how dimly lit it was, you couldn't see. 

You grabbed his hand and played with the bracelets on his wrist. He put his head on top of yours when you leaned onto him. 

For some strange reason, his smell was so comforting to him it made you sleepy. His cologne, fresh clothes and just... him. It was a nice scent.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me, yeah?" 

"No, no..." A lie. You were definitely going to fall asleep on him. 

He wasn't stupid, of course he noticed. "Alright, come on, get up. I'll walk you to your room." You could hear the smile in those words.

You grudgingly got up, taking the hand he offered you as he led you up the stairs. 

When you arrived at your room, you let yourself fall onto the bed instantly. The normally confident Josh stood by the door, not really knowing what to do.

"Come here," You said softly, "join me."

He looked at you, the doubt clear on his face. It only lasted a second before he closer the door and walked up to you. "You sure?"

"Of course." You stretched out on the bed and crawled under the covers. Luckily your clothes were comfortable enough to sleep in. His were too.

Josh sat on the side of the bed and took off his slippers before joining you in bed. 

You almost immediately curled into him. He smiled, but bit his lip so you wouldn't notice, and wrapped his arms around you. 

Josh wasn't the most talkative about how he felt, not even around you. He never told you, but you knew he loved you. Him being in bed with you at that moment was proof enough. 

You woke up the next morning because of how cold it was in the house. You blinked slowly, and noticed Josh had almost pushed you off the bed in his sleep. Of course, he was still sleeping peacefully. You couldn't stifle the soft laugh that escaped you as you curled up against him. As if on instinct, Josh wrapped his arm around your waist as he muttered your name in his sleep. You fell asleep again feeling all warm and fuzzy.

@/burgundyvirgo no plagiarism or ai training/use authorised.