Warnings: Minor angst

Word Count: 2739

Josh's POV

"Come on, man. You can't stay in here forever," Tyler said.

"Yes I can," I grumbled, adjusting myself slightly on the couch.

"How do you expect yourself to move on if you never get outside and look at what else the world has to offer?"

"I don't know. I obviously had some master plan a few months ago when I made the dumb decision of breaking up with her in the first place," I said sarcastically.

"Well I'm going out to get lunch in ten minutes. You can come with me or you can stay here and wallow in self pity."

Tyler walked off, leaving me alone on the couch. He had a point, although taking a shower and getting dressed to go out seemed like a lot of effort at the moment, it was still less effort than making myself lunch.

"I'm going to hop in the shower, don't leave without me," I called to Tyler.

"Good choice."

Tyler shut off the car and hopped out. I pulled down the car's visor and looked myself over one more time before joining him on the sidewalk.

"You look fine, Josh," Tyler commented. He must have noticed how nervous I was. "Besides, all we're doing is getting lunch. You don't need to look perfect."

"You never know who you'll bump into," I laughed nervously.

I followed Tyler inside and stood quietly while he got us a table. My mind was too busy replaying memories, distracting me from what was currently going on. The last time that I had been here was with Y/N, it was one of the last dates we had gone on before I suddenly ended things.

"This way," the host smiled, tucking two menus under his arm and walking off between tables.

I subtly scanned the restaurant for anyone I might recognize. One couple towards the back caught my eye, but I was quickly distracted by Tyler stopping right in front of me.

"Woah," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder to steady myself. "Sorry, Tyler. I wasn't paying attention."

"It's ok," Tyler said as he slid into one of the benches. I sat down across from him.

"Your waiter will be right with you," the host smiled before walking off.

"I'm glad you decided to come to lunch with me," Tyler said. "It's nice to see you getting out of the house."

"Yeah, the past week has just been rough for me."

"Still hung up on Y/N?"

"Yeah," I sighed.

"What made you start missing her?" Tyler asked, flipping through his menu.

"I just started thinking about how happy I was when I was with her. My decision to break up with her was so impulsive, and the more I think about it, the more I'm coming to regret it. The first few months without her were fine because I was enjoying being single again, but I don't think it was the right decision."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"That's what I'm trying to decide," I sighed, going back to looking at my menu.

Tyler made a noise somewhere between understanding and concern. Having decided what I wanted to order, I set my menu down and rested my head in my hand. Loud laughter on the other side of the restaurant drew my attention. It was coming from the same couple that I had taken note of earlier. The girl seemed familiar, but her back was to me so I couldn't quite tell who it was.

Our waiter walked up to our table, once again drawing my attention away from the couple. Tyler and I both ordered and handed him our menus. He smiled and walked off, allowing me to redirect my attention back to the couple.

"Dude, what are you staring at?" Tyler asked.

"Huh?" I said, turning to Tyler. "Oh, sorry, that girl over there just looks familiar, and I'm trying to figure out who it is."

Tyler scooted over so that he would better be able to see the couple. He leaned around the corner, looked for a few seconds, and then turned back to me.

"Isn't that Y/N?" he asked.

"What? No. Her hair is way longer than that."

"Josh, she cut it right after the two of you broke up. Haven't you seen any recent pictures of her?"

"Not really, I try to avoid her social media,"

"I'm pretty sure that's her," Tyler said, scooting back to where he had been sitting before.

A waiter walked up to the couple's table; the girl turned to look at him, giving me a chance to see more of her face. It confirmed exactly what Tyler had just said: it was Y/N.

"It's her," I said, not taking my eyes off of her. "What is she doing with that guy?"

"You know you two broke up, right? You aren't together anymore, she's allowed to see other people."

"Yeah, but-yeah. You're right, Tyler."

"Who knew that finally getting you to leave the house would backfire so bad," Tyler sighed.

It was later that night. Y/N had been on my mind all day, and I had finally decided that I needed to do something about it. My phone was sitting in front of me, open onto her contact information. I had been sitting there for nearly fifteen minutes, trying to convince myself to call her.

I was about to do it when Tyler walked by, sucking on a popsicle, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I lied, quickly reaching out and turning my phone off. "Where did you get the popsicle?"

"Oh, Y/N came by and dropped some off."

"She did?"

"No," Tyler smiled, seeing my terrified reaction. "I bought them at the store yesterday."

"Oh, right."

"Just make sure you're not doing anything that will ruin the band's reputation," Tyler said as he walked off to return to whatever he had been doing.

Now that adrenaline was already rushing through my veins from Tyler's comment, I decided that now was as good a time as any to call her. I opened my phone back up and clicked on her cell number. My hands shook as I brought the phone up to my ear and listened to it ring.

"Hello?" she answered after three rings.

"Hey, Y/N."

"Why are you calling me?"

"I, uh, needed to talk to you about something."

"Ok, but can you make it quick? I was about to take my dog on a walk and now she's going crazy because I got her leash out."

"Yeah, no problem."

"I'm listening."

"Um, so I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I think breaking up with you was a mistake, and if you want, I thought that maybe we should get back together."

I heard her sigh on the other end of the line, a sound that I had heard many times before.

"Josh, I still care about you. A lot. But you can't just pop back into my life after a few months and expect things to go back to how they were. I'm not going to let you use me just because you started feeling lonely again and then drop me once you get your fix."

"But Y/N that's not-"

"Listen. If you can prove that you actually want me back because of who I am and not because you're just tired of being single, then I'll consider giving you a second chance."

"I'll take it," I said, plans already formulating in my head.

"Bye, Josh."

"Bye."

I waited until I heard her end the call. Once the line went dead, I tossed my phone down in front of me and smiled. I had a second chance.

It felt weird to be outside of Y/N's apartment building again; I had lived here at one point, after all. She was supposed to be coming outside any minute to meet me, and the anticipation was killing me. My heart was pounding in my chest and my palms were sweaty, making it difficult to keep my grip on the flowers in my hand. They were her favorite kind that I always bought for her on anniversaries, I just hoped it was enough to show that I cared.

The door began to open, and I quickly corrected my posture. Y/N walked outside, looking absolutely stunning as always. I put on my best smile and held the flowers up so that they were clearly visible.

"I bought these for you," I said, holding them out to her. "I know they're your favorite."

She reached out and took the flowers from me, her mouth curving into a half smile, "Thank you."

I clasped my hands behind my back and waited for her to say something else, but she remained quiet. Instead, she raised her eyebrows at me as if she were waiting for me to say something.

"Well?" I finally asked.

"Well what?"

"Are you going to take me back?"

Her eyes went wide, "Wait, is this how you're proving that you really care?"

"Well, yeah, they're the flowers I always got you on anniversaries."

"Josh, anybody can buy me my favorite flowers. It takes hardly any effort. If you really want to show me that you care, you're going to have to do a bit more than that."

I sighed and looked down at my feet, this was the best idea that I had come up with. In hindsight, I should have known that flowers wouldn't be enough.

"I'll think of something better."

"Ok. I do appreciate the flowers though, they're beautiful," she smiled

"I'm glad you like them."

"Alright, well, I-uh-have some more work to do so I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you around."

She waved and then disappeared back inside her apartment building. It took me a second to get my feet to move and start walking back towards the car. I was at a loss about what to do, but I knew that I couldn't give up now, not when Y/N was on the line.

"She said the flowers weren't good enough," I explained to Tyler as I paced back and forth in front of the dining table. "Anybody can buy her flowers."

"She has a point."

"I don't know what else to do! I was never good at being romantic, but now she wants some big romantic gesture."

"Well it's a good thing you live with the king of romance," Tyler smiled proudly.

"You haven't been on a date in months."

"Whatever. Let's just try to think of something you can do to show her you love her."

Tyler and I sat at the table for what felt like an eternity, throwing ideas back and forth. Everything we said felt too simple, and I was beginning to think that nothing I did would prove to her that I still cared.

"I've got it!" I said, sitting up suddenly.

"What?"

"What if you helped me write a song for her? Then we can perform it."

"That might work."

"What are we waiting for? There's a lot to do," I said, standing up.

"I'm coming," Tyler said, sliding out of his own chair.

Your POV

You were lacing up your shoes when your phone buzzed on the table in front of you. It was a text from Tyler, telling you that he was outside. You told him you would be down in a minute and got up to find your bag.

Josh had been on your mind a lot over the past week, ever since you had seen him when you were out on a lunch date. You had thought you were getting over him, but you quickly realized the dates that you had been going on were merely distractions for the feelings you had buried deep inside. Despite this, you were hesitant to go running back into his arms; the last thing you wanted was to get hurt again.

Tyler was on his phone when you stepped outside, but he looked up and smiled when he heard the door open. The two of you had kept in touch since the breakup, occasionally meeting up to get lunch or dinner and catch up. You assumed that's what was happening now, although you had a sneaking suspicion that Josh had sent him to get information out of you.

"Nice to see you," you smiled, pulling Tyler into a hug.

"You too. You look nice."

"Thank you. So where are we going to eat today?"

"We're actually not going out to eat."

You sighed, "Does this have something to do with Josh?"

"I'm not allowed to disclose that information."

"So yes," you laughed.

"Why don't we just not focus on that right now?" Tyler smiled.

Tyler was quick to redirect the conversation to a completely unrelated topic as the two of you walked down the sidewalk. You didn't have even the slightest idea as to where he could be taking you, but you figured that something big was happening if it involved a second location.

Tyler stopped walking when the two of you arrived at a park. It only took you a few moments of looking around to recognize it: it was where Josh had taken you on your second date and kissed you for the first time. It also happened to be one of your favorite places in the city.

"What's going on?" you asked.

"Do you recognize where we are?"

"Well, yeah, it's my favorite park in the city."

"Do you know why it's significant?"

"It's where Josh and I kissed for the first time because he was too nervous to kiss me on the first date."

Tyler began to walk forward again, so you quickly fell into step with him. The two of you walked in silence for a little while longer until Josh came into view. He was standing in front of his drum set, smiling widely.

"What's going on?" you whispered to Tyler, unsure of why Josh had carried his drum set into the middle of a park.

"Wait here," Tyler said, walking over to join Josh.

Tyler picked up his ukulele and took a moment to tune it while Josh sat down behind his drums.

"We stayed up all night writing this." Josh smiled proudly.

Tyler began to play his ukulele, followed closely by Josh joining in on the drums. A few people began to gather around, listening as the boys played and Tyler sang. You tried to pay attention to the lyrics, but Josh trying to catch your eye at every moment he could proved to be quite distracting.

The few people that had gathered around cheered and looked at you expectantly. You hardly paid attention to them, however, as your attention was trained on Josh who was looking at you with wide eyes.

"Well?" he said, his mouth turning up into a half smile.

"You stayed up all night to write that?" you asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Josh answered. "I wanted it to be perfect."

"It was," you smiled.

Josh stood up and you half-jogged over to him. You practically threw yourself around him and held onto him tightly. Being in his arms was a familiar feeling, and it was one that you were thankful to have back.

"Does this mean that I'm going to start third-wheeling again?" Tyler asked.

You let go of Josh and turned to face Tyler, but Josh kept one arm wrapped tightly around your waist.

"Yes, but it also means you probably get your apartment to yourself again."

"Yes! This is totally worth it!" Tyler cheered. You and Josh both stared at him blankly. "Of course, I really did it because I wanted you two to be happy," he blushed.

"That's what I thought you said," Josh smiled. "Now let's get these instruments out of here before someone kicks us out."

"Good plan," Tyler said.

"Josh, wait a second," you said.

"Yeah?" he said, turning back to you.

You leaned over and pressed your lips to Josh's. His lips curved into a smile as he kissed you and he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him.

"I've missed you," he said, resting his forehead against yours.

"I missed you too."

"Yo," Tyler called. "The drums?"

"Right," Josh said, letting go of you. He was about to grab his drums when he leaned over to you, "We'll continue this later."

"Deal," you smiled.