Warnings: Angst, profanity, drunk shenanigans, mental abuse, Beau is a HUGE a**hole

Word Count: 3079

Authors' Note: We hope you enjoy the chapter! :) Well, maybe aside from when Beau is in it...

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February 2017 - After the Grammys After Party

"Do you think he's going to be ok?" Jenna asked quietly.

You looked over at Josh, who was currently passed out on the Josephs' couch. It had only been a few minutes since you got back to the house, but it had been the perfect amount of time for Josh to get comfortable and pass out. That wasn't really a surprise to you, though. After a few too many drinks at the after party and a night of shenanigans, the sickness and exhaustion was finally hitting him.

"I hope so," you said, turning back to Jenna.

"Should we call him an Uber?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," you sighed. "He might puke in the backseat."

"Then what do we do?"

"Let me talk to him."

You walked over and took a seat on the couch near Josh. As gently as you could, you started to push at Josh's shoulder, hoping it was enough to wake him up. After a few seconds, he slowly blinked his eyes open and turned to look at you.

"Did I fall asleep?" he asked.

"Yeah, you did."

"Am I at Tyler's?"

"Yeah." He sighed and dropped his head back to the couch. "How are you feeling, Josh? We need to get you home."

"Terrible." You pursed your lips, trying to decide what to do from here on out. Before you had a chance to make a decision, Josh spoke again. "Can you take care of me?"

"What?" you asked, unsure that you had heard him correctly.

"Can you take care of me?"

"What, like take you home?"

"And stay with me."

"Josh, I have to get home to Beau at some point."

Josh made an audible noise of disgust. You barely managed to hold back a laugh, even though you knew it was wrong.

"You don't have to stay all night," he mumbled. "Just a little while. Please."

You turned to look at Jenna for some sort of reassurance, but she had disappeared. The decision was up to you and you alone, it seemed. To be fair, Josh did seem like he was in pretty bad shape and Beau didn't know how long Grammy after parties went on...

"Ok, but I can't stay long."

"You're coming?" Josh asked, the excitement in his voice was obvious.

"Only for a little."

"Ok."

"Alright, you stay right here. I'm going to go tell Jenna and Tyler what's going on."

You found the two of them in the kitchen, having a quiet conversation while Jenna drank some water. They turned to you as you walked in the room.

"How is he doing?" Tyler asked.

"Still bad, but I'm going to take him home and stay with him for a little while so you two don't have to deal with him."

"Oh, you are?" Tyler asked, raising his eyebrows. Beside him, Jenna was smiling against the rim of her cup.

"Just to make sure he doesn't get sick or injure himself. Shouldn't you be thanking me because I'm taking him off your hands?" you laughed.

"Thank you," Jenna smiled, briefly shooting a look at her husband. "If he gets to be too much, just give one of us a call and we can come over, ok?"

"I will. Anyway, we should probably get out of here."

"Not before you hug me!" Jenna said, setting her cup down and walking around the counter.

She gave you a big hug before handing you off to Tyler. He was still smirking as he held his arms out to you.

"Congrats again," you said as you hugged him. "You two deserve it. And thank you for letting me come along on this crazy ride."

"We couldn't have done it without you."

"Alright, now let's go get that idiot in the car."

*     *     *

Twenty minutes later, you were standing in the entryway of Josh's house with one arm looped around his middle. It had been awhile since the last time you were here, mostly because it was a fight with Beau anytime you told him you were going over. In fact, the last time you had been here was the night Josh asked you to be his "date" to the Grammys in the first place.

"You remember where the bedroom is?" Josh asked, putting an end to your reminiscing.

Taking a deep breath as you set your purse and keys down onto his end table by the door, you nodded your head in response to him with a slight laugh.

"I don't think so... I wasn't really given a tour the last time I was here, but I think that I'll manage."

Josh made a face and then slowly followed you down the hall, his feet dragging slightly due to how plastered he was, making it all the more difficult to hold him up, but you managed. Upon entering his bedroom, you turned on the light and looked around a bit at the surprisingly normal walls and decor. You had half expected his room to be a fanboy shrine to any of his favorite drummers. In that moment, you supposed it to be a silly thought as he wasn't a teenager. Shaking your head and smirking a bit, you continued with him over to his bed. Letting out a sigh, you plopped him down on the side and moved your arms a bit to release the tension that had built up in your shoulders.

"Okay, Dun. Come on now. You need to get changed into your pajamas. That looks like something you may have worn last night." You point to some folded up clothes at the end of his bed as he glanced with half open eyes. "Just use those. I'll be in the hall while you change."

You turned on your heel and then left his bedroom, closing the door behind you, despite his whining and complaining of needing help. There was no way that you were going to willingly undress him and help him into his clothes outside of your job and pay grade. Not that you wouldn't want to, but it would just be torture knowing that you both can't do anything about it.

After a few moments of leaning against the wall, you heard Josh call your name and decided to open the door again to see him now laying down on the bed in his pajamas. Thankfully, he wasn't shirtless, so this made things a bit easier on you. Just a tee and his sweatpants.

"How are you doing? Feeling okay? I can bring the garbage can over if you need to throw up. I can even get you some water."

"No... no, I'm okay. I just need to rest right now. Thank you for helping me home, Y/N. I don't think I could've done it without you." He gave you a smile.

With a laugh, you shook your head and crossed your arms across your chest, "Oh, it's fine! You would've done the same for me. I should probably go home now, though."

With that being said, Josh sat up and looked at you with a pout, "Going home? You don't think that you can stay for a little while? Maybe to just... relax and lay in bed with me to watch TV?"

You sighed, "Josh, I don't think that I -"

"Please."

Fighting internally with yourself for a bit, you decided against your better judgement to stay. "Okay, fine. But, only for a while! I don't want Beau to worry."

Josh made a face at your remark, but then nodded his head and sighed as he looked over your clothes. "Are you going to wear that? I have some extra clothes if you want to change into them to be comfortable."

Looking down to your clothes that you had changed into after the awards ceremony, you figured that he was probably right about not being comfortable in them. Taking him up on his offer, you walked over to his dresser and pulled some fresh joggers and a tee out from the drawer.

"You get whatever movie you want on. I'm going to change in the bathroom," you stated and Josh responded to you with a nod. Taking a deep breath, you walked into the bathroom across the hall and closed the door behind you, remembering to lock it up. Changing out of your clothes and into his, you stared at yourself for a moment in the mirror and just looked over how you looked. You had to admit that you often thought about times like this with him... although, it usually didn't involve Beau in the mix. Lifting some of the shirt up, you sniffed it a bit and thought you could vaguely smell Josh's cologne on it, even after it had been washed.

Clearing your throat and shaking your head to clear your thoughts, you made your way back into his room with your clothes folded up neatly in a pile, now being placed on the floor. You closed his door and then looked over to the television, seeing X-Files playing on the screen, causing you to smirk and roll your eyes. Of course he was watching that. You made your way to the unoccupied side of the bed and then slowly laid down as far away as you could get. Feeling eyes on you and then hearing a slight huff shortly after, you looked over to Josh and saw him staring.

"You're really going to lay that far from me? Do I have cooties or something, Y/N?"

You laughed and shook your head, blushing a bit to him. "It's not that... I just don't think that it's really... professional."

"Okay, you're not my boss right now. You're my friend. I need my friend for a while. No funny business, I promise."

Narrowing your eyes at him, you watched as he opened his arms to you and then you scooted toward him. Getting under the covers, you moved to lay in his arms as they enveloped themselves around you. You had to admit that it was the most comfortable that you had ever been. Using Josh's arm as a pillow, you closed your eyes in relaxation, but then felt his hand rest on your hips, causing you to tense up not because it made you feel disgusted, but because of the complete opposite. Your heart was pounding in your chest and you dared not open your eyes, because you knew that your faces were only mere inches apart. Instead, you settled on listening to his own heartbeat just as crazy as yours. And before you knew it... you were asleep.

*     *     *

You woke up to the sound of your alarm blasting right near your ear. That should have been the first sign that something was wrong, considering you hadn't taken the time to set an alarm the night before, but in your tired state you simply turned it off and rolled a little further into Beau's chest. His arms were wrapped around you, holding you close to his chest, and for the first time in what felt like forever, he wasn't snoring. You smiled as you draped an arm over his side, letting your fingers trace idle patterns on his back.

Your alarm started blasting hardly thirty seconds later, bringing you right back from the edge of falling into a peaceful sleep. With a grumble, you reached over and grabbed your phone. Something was obviously messed up with your alarm and you needed to get to the bottom of it. Your stomach dropped the moment that you realized why your "alarm" wasn't working. It wasn't an alarm at all, but a phone call.

From Beau.

It only took a second for everything to come together in your head. The arms wrapped around you weren't those of your boyfriend, but Josh, who was still fast asleep despite the numerous phone calls you had received that morning. You frantically got out of bed, no longer caring if you woke him up in the process. Your chest was heaving as you struggled to take in breath.

How the hell were you going to explain this?

The call eventually went to voicemail, giving you your first glimpse of your homescreen. It was flooded with notifications: Twitter, texts, voicemails, news articles, pretty much everything that you could think of. You scrolled through it for a moment, trying to get a hold on what was happening. Josh was still passed out on the bed.

dunlover: "look how cute y/n and josh were at the grammys together last night!! #shipped"

pilotsstan08: "you can't tell me they aren't together. look at the way josh is looking at her!"

tylerrrjosephsss: "get you a girl that looks at you the way y/n looks at josh"

You locked your phone and threw it down on the bed, only for it to start ringing again a few moments later. Beau's picture was shining on the screen, smiling up at you. The mere sight of it filled your stomach with discomfort. You ignored the call and then sent him a quick text, telling him you would be home soon. He answered with a frowning face.

You frantically gathered your things and stuffed them into your purse. The sooner you got home, the less pissed that Beau was likely to be. Your mind was already racing with possibilities of what lie you could tell him to get him off your case. Maybe you could give Jenna a call and see if she would be willing to cover for you.

You were about to leave when you caught sight of Josh. He was still fast asleep, with his face pressed up into a pillow and the covers half-kicked off of his lower body. His arms were out at a weird angle from where you had previously been laying. You desperately wished that you were still there; his arms were the only place that you felt truly safe, it seemed.

You shook your head. Although your feelings for Josh were old news by now, Beau was still in the picture. There was no point in entertaining your thoughts about him as long as acting on them wasn't an option.

After debating whether or not you should wake Josh up and let him know you were leaving, you decided on texting him later in the afternoon to explain what happened. There was a good chance that he didn't even know you had spent the night, anyway. Not to mention that you weren't so sure you would be able to say no if he asked you to stay just a little longer. You settled for one last glance at his sleeping form before grabbing your things and heading downstairs.

*     *     *

"Where the hell were you?"

You hadn't even closed the front door yet and Beau's voice was already raised. He was standing in the entryway, still wearing pajamas and looking like a mess. His hair was sticking up at all angles.

"At a friend's." Your voice sounded small. Defeated. Beau had only said one sentence to you and it wasn't even accusatory.

"And you couldn't let me know where you were because...?"

"I didn't mean to stay over there. We were watching some TV and I fell asleep on the couch. I texted you as soon as I woke up."

"Which friend?"

You swallowed the lump in your throat and blinked away the tears that were already forming.

"Which friend, Y/N? Answer me."

"Jenna and Tyler."

"You're lying."

"I'm not lying!"

"Yes you are. I can read it in your face, Y/N. Where were you actually?"

"It doesn't matter," you said, trying to keep your voice steady. "You don't control who I get to spend time with."

"I think I get to have a say if you stay out all night without telling me!"

"It was a fucking accident, Beau! I think it's pretty bold of you to accuse me of lying when you aren't even listening to the words coming out of my mouth!"

"You were with that Josh guy, weren't you?" he asked, ignoring everything you had just said. "Weren't you?"

"I wasn't with Josh!"

"I saw the pictures, Y/N. Did you think I wouldn't? They're all over Twitter. It's obvious that something is going on between you two. You've probably been fucking him for months by now."

Hot tears were streaming down your face now, though it was mostly a result of anger. Infidelity had always been a weak spot for you and Beau knew that.

"There is nothing going on between me and Josh. Nothing. I have been loyal to you since we got together."

"Oh yeah? Then why are you wearing his clothes?"

Your stomach dropped, but you tried not to let it show on your face. In your rush to leave Josh's, you had forgotten to change out of the clothes that he had given you.

"Stop," you muttered.

"I'm not stupid, Y/N. I've seen how you look at him. I've heard how you talk about him. I knew it from the moment that he came over here to help you pack. Why do you think I've always had it out for him?"

"If it's so obvious to you, then why do you insist on staying in this relationship?"

"Because I'm helping you." Beau's voice had dropped back to a normal volume, but the icy undertone was still there.

"Helping me?"

"Come on, Y/N, you really think that he likes you? You know he's just using you and will move on to the next best thing when he gets the chance. It's all about the chase right now."

You bit down on your lip to stop it from trembling. Tears were still streaming down your face, but you no longer cared. You let them fall.

"Josh isn't like that," you shook your head, desperately wanting to believe it yourself.

"Of course he is. He's famous. That's what all celebrities do."

You continued to shake your head, but you couldn't deny that Beau's words were having an effect on you. Maybe it really was all about the chase.

"Come here," Beau said, suddenly changing to his comforting tone. "It's ok."

You didn't move, even when Beau wrapped his arms around you. His hands stroked along your hair as he talked softly to you, but you weren't listening. His words were stuck in your head, rattling around until they were the only words you could hear.

You really think he likes you?