Warnings: None

Word Count: 2122

Author's Note: A little disclaimer - I have never been to Ohio so I have no idea what ~fun things~ there are to do there so I looked at Trip Advisor (oh man, that sounds dorky). Regardless, this is another one of my favorite chapters, so I hope all of you love it as much as I do 💛

You were sitting on the couch, scrolling through your phone, when the front door swung open. Josh walked inside, carrying a variety of bags in his arms. He smiled once he saw you.

"Morning, Y/N/N," he smiled.

"Where have you been all day?" you asked.

"I had some errands to run. Groceries and training and stuff."

You nodded and got up to follow him into the kitchen. He had set all of his bags on the counter and you began to look through them all to see what kind of food he had brought home.

Living with Josh had turned out to be a lot less stressful that you had expected. It had only been a couple days since you arrived home from tour, but it was already much better than living with Matthew. Aside from the fact that Josh's house was much bigger, he was also a much better roommate. Not to mention that you were happy to have so much alone time with him.

"I got you a present," he grinned.

Your eyebrows furrowed, "What did you get?"

He reached into one of the bags and pulled out a small plant in a little clay pot. A smile quickly spread across your face.

"I know your room still doesn't have that many decorations in it and when I saw this, it just reminded me of you. The best part is that it's fake, so it won't die when we have to leave next week."

"I love it," you smiled, reaching out and taking it from him. "I'll go put it in my room right now."

You walked down the hallway, carrying the small little plant in your hands. It would be nice to finally have something in your room besides furniture and a few pictures. After a quick glance around the room, you decided that it was best suited on your bedside table near the lamp.

"Did you find a place for it?" Josh asked as you walked back into the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's on the bedside table."

"Nice," he smiled.

You tried not to stare at him too long, but it was hard when he had that adorable smile on his face. Your feelings had only continued to grow stronger as the tour went along, and now you found yourself admiring almost any little thing he did. It was starting to take over your mind.

"Do you want any help with the groceries?" you asked.

He looked over his shoulder at all the food for a moment, "Uh, sure. Do you know where stuff goes?"

"Not really," you laughed as you grabbed a bag of chips.

"Great," Josh laughed along with you.

"Hey, if I'm going to be living her for an indefinite amount of time, then I need to learn where everything goes eventually."

"I suppose that's better than you using not knowing where anything goes as an excuse to not help around the house," Josh said as he put some food in one of the taller cabinets.

"Exactly! Now where do these go?"

"Second shelf," he said, pointing to a cupboard on the other side of the kitchen.

You hummed quietly to yourself as you continued to put away things that you knew the place of. It wasn't much, but Josh seemed to appreciate the help.

"Oh, Y/N/N," Josh said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

Josh grabbed the last bit of groceries, so you gathered up the bags and put them with the others.

"One of our friends is having a party tomorrow to celebrate the success of the first part of the tour. Would you be interested in going?"

You grabbed the end of your shirt and began to play with it, "Is Tyler going?"

"Yeah. He's going to be the designated driver, if that influences your decision at all."

"I don't know," you sighed. "I've never been big on parties."

Josh pulled puppy dog eyes on you and dramatically stuck out his bottom lip, "Please, Y/N/N?"

"Josh, I don't know."

"It won't be as much fun without you."

How were you supposed to say no to that?

"Alright, I'll go to the party."

"Yes," Josh grinned. He walked around the counter and put an arm around you, pulling you into his side, "We're going to have a great time."

"If not, you owe me ten bucks," you grinned, ducking under Josh's arm and heading back towards the living room.

"If it's really that bad, then you can just have Tyler drop you off back here. The party can't be more than a twenty minute drive away."

"You've already convinced me, Josh. Don't make me change my mind."

Josh nodded and pretended to zip his mouth closed. You took a seat on the couch but Josh remained standing, looking lost in thought.

"You alright?" you asked.

He blinked a couple times, "Yeah, I'm good. I'm going to head upstairs and shower."

"Don't have too much fun without me."

You winced as soon as the words left your mouth. Leave it to you to say something embarrassing like that.

"No promises," he smirked, shooting you a quick wink.

You were suddenly very glad that his back was to you so that he wouldn't see the blush on your cheeks.

"Let's do something," Josh said from the other end of the couch.

"Huh?" you asked, looking up from the book that you were reading.

"Let's do something," he repeated, looking straight at you. "It's only noon, we have plenty of time to go out and do something."

"What did you have in mind?"

He shrugged, "I was hoping you would have an idea."

"I do have an idea," you grinned, holding up the book in your lap.

"Come on, Y/N/N," he pouted at you. "We can't read together."

"Sure we can. I sit here and read and you sit there and read," you laughed.

He rolled his eyes and scooted down the couch, grabbing the book from your lap and tossing it onto the coffee table.

"Josh!" you grumbled. "I lost my page."

"That's what you get for being difficult," he laughed, shoving your leg lightly.

"Let me go grab a sweatshirt and I'll try and come up with some ideas."

You grabbed your book off the table and headed down the hallway towards your room. Since you were still relatively new to Ohio, you didn't really have any ideas about what to do in Columbus. Josh should be the one coming up with ideas. He had lived here all his life, after all.

You tossed your book onto the bed and walked over to the dresser. Your black tour hoodie was sitting at the top of the drawer, so you grabbed that and pulled it on over your shirt. It was cheesy to wear your employer's sweatshirt--especially when you were walking around with one of them--, but it kept you warm so you didn't mind.

"Nice sweatshirt," Josh laughed as you walked back into the room.

"Shut up," you grinned, taking a seat on the couch. "Did you come up with any ideas?"

"No. Did you?"

You shook your head, "Is Tyler free today?"

"I have no idea, but I, uh, I was kind of thinking we could hang out just the two of us today?"

Your heart skipped a beat, "I'd like that. We just have to think of something first."

"Yeah," he smiled.

"Alright, there has to be some place in Columbus that you want to show me. We've already been to your favorite pizza place. Where else do you like to go?"

Josh turned to you with wide eyes, "Y/N/N, you're a genius!"

"I am?"

"Yeah, I know exactly where we're going to go," he said, standing up from the couch. "Let me grab a jacket."

You got up and pulled on your shoes while you waited for Josh. He returned a few moments later, now wearing a plain hoodie over his dark jeans.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" you asked.

"Nope," he grinned, grabbing his keys and pulling on his own shoes. "Come on."

You followed Josh out to the car and hopped into the passenger seat, hoping that it wasn't a mistake.

You arrived at your destination twenty minutes later. Josh had a huge smile on his face as he got out of the car and led you towards the building in front of you.

"Where are we?" you asked, looking around for any sign that would indicate where you were.

"You don't know?" Josh asked. You shook your head. "I thought for sure that Matthew would have taken you here when you moved This is one of the most popular places in Columbus."

"Are you kidding?" you scoffed. "Matthew never took me anywhere."

"Well this is the Franklin Park Conservatory," Josh said, glancing back over his shoulder at you. "I think you'll like it."

You bounced on your toes while you waited for Josh to buy you two entry. A few people gave you weird looks, but you brushed it off.

"Do you trust me?" Josh asked, looking to you with one eyebrow raised.

"Of course I do," you answered, trying to mask the nervousness in your voice.

"Close your eyes."

Your eyebrows furrowed, "Why?"

He smiled, "You have to trust me."

You nodded and closed your eyes. Josh reached out and gently grabbed one of your wrists, guiding your hand up to wrap around his arm. Even though you had been in close contact with Josh numerous times before, there was something about not being able to see what was going on that was making you extra nervous.

"Ready?" he said.

"For what?" you asked, turning in his general direction.

"To walk."

"Right. Yeah, I'm ready."

It took you a second to match Josh's walking pace, but you eventually settled into a comfortable rhythm. Your hand was wrapped tightly around his bicep in order to keep yourself from falling over.

"Where are we going?" you asked.

"You'll see in a second."

"Are we almost there?"

"Yes."

You felt a cool breeze as Josh opened a door. He carefully led you through the doorway, although you still managed to bump your hip into the frame.

"Are people looking at me?" you whispered.

"You've gotten a few weird looks, yeah," Josh laughed.

"Oops," you laughed nervously, feeling color rise to your cheeks.

"Ok, are you ready to open your eyes?"

"I can open them?"

"Yeah."

You opened your eyes, blinking a few times to allow them to adjust to the bright light. Once you could see properly, you let out a little gasp. In front of you was a garden full of multicolored flowers and sculptures. People wandered through the plants on little pathways, taking time to admire everything around them. It was one of the most beautiful places you had seen, and you suddenly wished that you had your camera.

"This is amazing!" you beamed, turning to Josh. "I'm so glad you brought me here."

"You like it?"

"Like it? Josh, this is gorgeous. I wish you had told me to bring my camera."

"It didn't even cross my mind."

"That's ok," you said, starting to walk down a nearby path. "It's just an excuse for us to come back."

"Exactly."

You and Josh wandered through the conservatory until you eventually got too cold and hungry to keep going. He had suggested that you two pick up some food on the way home and then watch movies all night, to which you had happily agreed. Tyler had also texted asking what you two were up to, and you were excited to spend the night with your two favorite boys.

Even though you had been hesitant to leave the house at first, hanging out with Josh had been a great idea. You two had acted like idiots as you moved throughout the conservatory, cracking jokes at one another's expense and acting like kids. For awhile, you had forgotten that you two weren't on a date, even though deep down you knew that Josh didn't view it the same way.

"Hey, Y/N?" Josh said.

You pulled your eyes away from the window and turned to face him in the driver's seat, "Yeah?"

"It was fun hanging out with you today."

"Yeah, I had a really good time. Thanks for taking me to the conservatory."

"It was no problem," he smiled. "Kinda nice to go out and do something just the two of us, huh?"

Your stomach flipped, "Yeah, it was."

Josh smiled and nodded. You turned back to the window and tried your best to hide the huge smile on your face. Maybe you two didn't feel so different, after all.