Warnings: Profanity

Word Count: 1616

Request: Hey! May I request a Josh x Male reader where the reader is like in love with Josh since they're children but he's hesitant bc he's not sure that Josh will like him back and as TØP is getting more popular and this stop him too (It's quite messy I know I'm sorry 😅 But do whatever you want lol I just had this idea so I'm not sure if u want to do it fully but do whatever please you! 💕)

Author's Note: Although this fic is named after Chasing Cars, it's not really based on the song (although there's a small reference at the end). I just listened to it while I was writing and thought it fit nicely. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one! :)

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Waves crashed in the distance as you sat on the beach, listening to your friends tell stories of what they had been up to lately. The fire in front of you illuminated their faces and kept everyone from getting too cold. It had been warm earlier in the day, but the breeze coming in off the shore made things feel that much colder. You pulled your sweatshirt sleeves a little further down your hands.

"Hey," Darcy smiled, taking a seat next to you. She was holding two cups in her hands. "I brought you some soda."

"Thanks," you said, grabbing the cup from her hand. The condensation on the outside of it didn't do much to help your cold hands.

"How are you doing? I feel like you've been off by yourself all night."

You shrugged. Darcy was the one who organized these get-togethers for all of your friends, so you didn't really want to disappoint her by saying you weren't feeling very good. Your mind was just focused on other things tonight.

"I had a long week," you said, sipping at a tiny amount of your drink. "I'm just tired."

"Oh, come on." Darcy nudged your shoulder. "You really think that I'm going to believe that? I've known you since we were six."

"It's stupid."

She sighed and stood up, holding a hand out to you. "Come with me."

You reluctantly grabbed her hand and allowed her to pull you up to a standing position. A couple of people looked your way as she dragged you off to a quieter area, out of earshot of anyone else.

"Is this about what I think it is?" she asked, still keeping her voice quiet.

"Darcy, stop. We really don't need to talk about-"

"Have you even talked to him?" She raised an eyebrow at you.

Your eyes roamed the dark beach until you saw Josh. He was running barefoot through the sand, throwing a frisbee around with some of your other friends. A small smile appeared on your lips.

"No," you answered, turning back to her. "Look at him, he's having fun with his friends. I don't want to drag him away from that."

"I really think you're just making excuses not to tell him."

"For good reason." Darcy crossed her arms. "For starters, his band is starting to get really popular. Even if I did tell him how I felt, it'll only be so long until he's introduced to a whole world of people who are so much prettier, funnier, smarter, and more talented than me. Then there's the problem with not knowing if he even likes guys which, you know, kind of poses an issue for me. And, on top of that, there's the fact that I've liked him since we were like seven. Don't you think something would have happened by now if he felt the same?"

Your chest was heaving by the time you finished your rant. Darcy was still staring you down, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. You two didn't often fight about this subject, but after hearing the same things repeated in your head all night, you were frustrated with having to go over the list another time.

"The only reason nothing has happened is because both of you are too fucking scared to make the first move!" Her eyes went wide as she realized exactly what she had just confessed to you. "Shit, I told Josh that I wasn't going to get in the middle of this."

"You knew he liked me?"

"Yes! Why do you think I always pushed so hard for you to tell him how you feel?"

"I thought you were just being supportive..."

"For good reason," she smiled. "Now will you please go talk to him?"

You looked over your shoulder at Josh again. He was still playing frisbee. "I guess I have no reason not to."

"Exactly. You've got this, Y/N."

You took one more sip of your drink, passed your cup off to Darcy, and then made your way down the beach towards Josh. Your hands started to shake a little more with each step that you took in his direction.

"Josh!" you called as you got closer, not wanting to get in the line of fire of the frisbee. "Can you come over here for a second?"

"Yeah!"

He waved to his frisbee friends, letting them know he was out of the game for now, and then came jogging over to you. You wondered how he wasn't freezing in just basketball shorts and a hoodie.

"Hey," he smiled, putting his hands on his hips as he caught his breath. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if we could talk? You know, catch up and stuff."

"Yeah, totally," he grinned. "Let's go."

The two of you started to walk along the beach, slowly getting closer to the water. Josh didn't say anything, so you figured it was on you to get the conversation going. You wanted to dive right in to talking about your feelings but decided that wasn't the best idea since you hadn't seen him in a few months.

"How have you been?" you asked.

"I've been good," he nodded. "Just working on the band and stuff. Touring. It takes up a surprising amount of my time. What about you?"

"Nothing quite that exciting. I've just been working and saving up so that I can do more traveling."

You turned and finally got a good look at him. He had dyed his hair pink since the last time that you had seen him, although the color was starting to fade. Everything else about him still seemed the same, which was comforting. Part of you always worried that one day Josh would come back from tour completely different.

That is, if he ever came back at all.

"You should get a job on our crew or something. That way you could work and travel," he smiled, turning to you. You quickly averted your eyes.

"I would love that, but I have my family and Darcy and everything. I don't know if I would be able to be apart from them for that long."

"Yeah, no, you're right," he nodded.

Shit. Wrong thing to say.

"But maybe I could come along for a month or something," you added. Josh quickly started smiling again.

"I would like that. I miss you a lot when we're on tour."

I miss you a lot. Your stomach filled with butterflies.

"I miss you too."

Josh didn't say anything immediately after that, but you could have sworn that he was walking a little closer to you.

This was it. This was your chance.

"Hey, can I talk to you about something serious?"

Josh stopped walking and turned so that he was totally facing you. There couldn't have been more than a foot of space between you.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

You really hadn't expected to get this far.

"There's something that's been on my mind for a long time and I feel like it's past time that I tell you."

"Ok." His eyebrows raised slightly.

"So, um," you started to fiddle with the strings of your sweatshirt, "I guess you could say that I have feelings for you. It's been that way ever since we were kids, but I put it off for a long time for... well, a lot of reasons really. I spent a lot of nights worrying about what might happen if you found out I liked you. I didn't know if you would think I was weird or shut me out and never speak to me again, so I kept it to myself for a long time. The reality is... I can't hide it anymore, Josh. I'm in love with you."

"You are?"

You nodded.

"I am too. In love with you, I mean."

You stood still, taking in everything that you could about the moment: the distant crash of waves, the look on Josh's face, the way that your heart was pounding in your rib cage. It was perfect.

"Can I kiss you?" you finally asked.

"Yeah," he smiled.

You grabbed Josh's face and pulled him towards you, crashing your lips into his. His arms wrapped around you, pulling you in until your chest was flush against his. Your lips fit perfectly together.

"You kind of taste like Dr. Pepper," he whispered. You were close enough that you could feel the heat radiating from his face.

"Is that good or bad?" you laughed.

"Good. I like Dr. Pepper... and you."

"I like you too."

You kissed him again, reluctant to let him out of your arms. It seemed Josh felt the same, considering he hadn't made any attempt to pull away from you.

"We should probably get back to everyone," you whispered, slowly untangling yourself from Josh.

"Not yet," he said, catching your arm. "I don't think they'll miss us for a little longer. Besides, you can see the stars really well without the light from the fire."

"I can't argue with that."

You and Josh laid down in the sand. He made himself comfortable on your chest and you happily wrapped an arm around him, eager to steal more of his body heat. It didn't take long for Josh to start naming off constellations and trying, but failing, to get you to see the patterns in them. You were just happy to spend the time with him.

"A shooting star!" Josh said, squeezing your hand a little tighter. "Make a wish."

"Ok, I've got one," you smiled, pressing a kiss to Josh's forehead. He puckered his lips, prompting you to kiss him again.

You wished that you could lay here forever.