Warnings: Annoying ex-boyfriend

Word Count: 1511

You closed the front door and walked over to the couch, tossing your bag by the door as you did so. Today had been one of your extra long shifts, and you were looking forward to laying down on the couch and relaxing. Matthew wasn't supposed to be home for another couple hours, meaning that you wouldn't have to worry about him sabotaging your peaceful sleep.

The TV was the first thing you heard when you eventually woke up. Matthew was sitting in the armchair, holding the TV remote in one hand. The volume was much louder than it needed to be, and you knew that it was no accident. He had always been the one to complain that you needed the TV too loud, a result of frequently blasting music in your car as a teenager.

"Do you mind turning that down?" you asked, although the damage had already been done. You were awake, and you wouldn't be falling asleep again anytime soon.

"Yeah, no problem."

Matthew immediately turned the volume back down to a level that you would have had no trouble sleeping through. At least the two of you were talking now. He had been a lot more talkative since returning from his weekend trip, although most of what he said was insults and snarky comments. If you didn't know any better, you would have thought you were the one who broke up with him.

You rolled your eyes as you reached over and grabbed your phone from the coffee table to check the time. Your attention was quickly redirected as you caught a glimpse of the familiar green color of the messages app on your screen. One look at the name was enough to put a smile on your face.

"What has you so happy?" Matthew asked as you unlocked your phone.

Your expression quickly faded, "Nothing."

"Whatever."

Josh: How's the hair dye holding up?

You shook your head a bit as you typed out your response.

Y/N: Surprisingly well. I thought the orange would have shown up by now

Josh's answer was almost instant.

Josh: It's because you had my help in picking it out

You and Josh had been texting near constantly for the last few days. The two of you were quickly growing close and it was nice to feel like there was actually someone who had your back in the city. Plus it helped to keep your mind off of everything else that you should be worrying about, but had no control over.

Y/N: Sure it is...

Josh: Hey, you never sent me those photos you were talking about last night

"Damn," you muttered.

You had completely forgotten about that. The two of you had somehow ended up on the topic of your photography business last night and you had promised to send him some of your photos once your laptop was done charging. Of course, it had completely slipped your mind.

Y/N: Oh right, give me a couple minutes

You got up and grabbed your hard drive and laptop from your suitcase on the other side of the room. When you returned, despite the fact that you had gotten up no more than ten seconds ago, Matthew had moved from his spot in the armchair and stolen half the couch.

"Hey, I was sitting there."

"I can see the TV better from here," he said, gesturing towards it. "Besides, you don't get to steal the entire couch."

"This wouldn't be a problem if you hadn't dragged me out here and broken up with me," you muttered as you sat back down on the opposite end of the couch.

You plugged in your hard drive and began to cycle through photos, looking through the ones that you had been telling Josh about. They were ones that you had taken of Los Angeles the night before you left for Ohio. The sunset that night had been phenomenal. Once you found what you were looking for, you sent them to Josh.

Josh: Y/N! These are amazing! I had no idea that you were so talented

Y/N: Tell that to the people here, my photography business is failing miserably

Josh: Do you have any more photos that I can see? I'm just absolutely blown away

You continued to look through your photos, reliving memories as you selected ones that you thought Josh might like. There were some of your family, the town that you had grown up in, and just random ones that you had taken in your daily life. It was only making you miss doing photography more--you hadn't really had a chance to do much since the move--although you were happy that Josh was taking such an interest in it.

The two of you talked for awhile longer until he eventually stopped responding. You assumed that he had gotten busy and you had to make yourself dinner anyway. Matthew was taking up most of the tiny kitchen, as he often did, although you managed to make yourself a nice meal with the room he had left for you.

"Can we watch something that we both like?" you asked as both of you sat down on the couch with your dinners.

"I'm in the middle of this show!" he said.

"Yeah, and you can finish it later."

"If you want to watch something else so badly, you can watch it on your laptop."

You held back an audible groan and made yourself comfortable, deciding that Matthew's dumb show was better than watching nothing. Living with him was getting more aggravating by the day, which you were sure was intentional. Even though the two of you weren't flat out fighting, he knew all the right ways to push your buttons and slowly drive you insane.

The only thing keeping you from giving up completely and moving home was Josh. You knew that if you moved home, things between you and him would essentially come to an end. There was no way a long-distance friendship like that would work, especially since you had met less than a week ago. You just hoped that you would be able to put up living with Matthew long enough to find your own place.

Josh finally texted you again about an hour after you had finished your dinner. Matthew had finally given up on TV and went into his bedroom, allowing you to catch up on the shows you liked.

Josh: Hey, can I call you really quick?

You felt a burst of adrenaline rush through you, but you were curious as to why he needed to call you.

Y/N: Yeah, go for it

You got up from the couch and grabbed your apartment key as you headed out into the hallway; you would rather that Matthew didn't know who you were talking to. Your phone started to ring right as you closed the door.

"Hello?"

"Y/N!" It felt nice to hear Josh's voice again. "How are you?"

"I'm making it through the week. How about you?"

You opened the door to the stairwell with your hip and took a seat at the top of the stairs.

"I'm doing pretty good. Just working on band stuff."

"Right, how is that?"

"Good! I'll have to introduce you to Tyler soon. I think you two would get along really well."

"I would love to meet him!"

"Yeah. So, the reason I'm calling you."

"Right."

"I have an offer for you, if you're interested."

"What kind of offer?" you asked, trying to ignore the nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach.

"I can't tell you that yet, but I can tell you that it's definitely something you'll want to consider."

"When do I get to find out?"

"How about lunch tomorrow? It's your day off, right?"

"Yeah, it is. And lunch sounds fantastic."

"Perfect. I think Tyler will be able to come along too."

"Ok! What are the details?"

"How does one o'clock at the pizza place on fourth street sound?"

"Josh, I moved here just over a month ago. Do you really expect me to know which pizza place you're referring to?"

This caused him to laugh, "I can text you the address, but does one work?"

"Yeah, one is great."

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow, yeah."

"Ok, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

You quickly ended the call. Your mind was swarming with possibilities of what offer Josh could possibly have for you. The answers seemed endless.

Matthew was in the kitchen when you walked into the apartment. He was scooping ice cream into a small bowl.

"Where were you?"

"Doesn't matter," you shrugged, walking back over to the couch. Matthew just shook his head, grabbed his ice cream, and walked back into the bedroom.

You were feeling somewhere between excited and nervous. Josh's offer could be about anything, although you were pretty sure it was a positive thing. After all, he would have no reason to sound so excited about something bad, right?

All that was left to do was wait.