Warnings: Someone gets cheated on, related mentions of sexual activity (not smut), filthy dirty liars, profanity, angst

Word Count: 2629

Authors' Note: We hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

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June 2017 - Tour De Columbus

A few months had passed since the dreaded morning that you reasonably liked to call "Dunsday" instead of "Doomsday" as it had been a complete and utter disaster. Not only had you made the mistake of falling asleep with Josh in his bed, but you also had paparazzi pictures of the both of you at the awards show spread all over Twitter, Instagram, E! News and probably a thousand magazines... online and physical copies. This was not pleasing to Beau and he had made it well known. You cringed at the mere thought of what he had said as it echoed in your mind to this day. The main reason why you had cooled things down between you and Josh. Luckily, you had Tour de Columbus to worry about shortly after that. Now... it was the end of the last day and things had gone amazingly well, despite you and Josh having some tension between you yet again. And again it was your fault.

The plan had been simple that night: finish up the tour and go out to celebrate with Tyler, Josh, and some of the crew with some dinner. Unfortunately, you felt like you were starting to come down with something and didn't want to risk getting sick. Walking over to the boys as they started prepping to leave for the night, you sighed deeply and made a face.

"I know that we've been planning this... but I'm really not feeling well tonight. I don't think that I'll be going with you guys tonight. Can we reschedule it for another day? I'll take the both of you out for a nice lunch or something."

They both looked to each other with disappointed glances and then back to you while nodding.

"Of course! We'll be available any time with the hiatus coming up. Just make sure that you get better, Y/N/N," Tyler responded and pulled you into a hug, causing you to laugh.

"Yes, Dad..." you smirked and then Josh brought you into a hug next. The first one the both of you had shared in a while - instantly making it awkward.

Clearing your throats, he rubbed the back of his neck and looked down to the ground after pulling away from the embrace. Tyler just rolled his eyes and made his way to the bus where Jenna had been waiting for him, as you and Josh were left alone to try and find out the words to say.

"T-Thank you for all of your hard work, Y/N. You know that it means a lot to Tyler and me. We couldn't have done this without you."

"I know. That's why I can't leave this band, right? You two would be hopeless without me," you teased.

A smirk appeared on Josh's lips as he looked back up to you and nodded his head.

"Exactly."

After another quick exchange of a hug and a quick wave to Jenna and Tyler, you decided that it was time to go home early. You needed to just sleep in your bed and unwind after the long months of being away. Sure, you had been glad that you didn't have to see Beau for so long, but you had to suck it up and deal with it.

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Home sweet home, you thought as you pulled into your driveway to park. You had plenty of luggage to take inside with you, but you would wait until tomorrow to go through it all and clean it. You were just too tired in that moment. Getting out of the car, you grabbed your purse and got your key to the house ready, using it to open the front door. You let out a sigh and locked the door up as you threw your keys back into your purse. Your eyes looked around the room and raised an eyebrow at how eerily quiet it was, unsure as to why. You had seen Beau's car in the driveway when you got there. Maybe he had gone upstairs to the bedroom to do some work at home? Putting your purse on the back of the couch, you made your way up the steps and toward the door. But, the closer you got... the more you heard some strange sounds coming from behind the closed door. With an eyebrow raised, you tried to decipher just what you were hearing, but then decided to just find out for yourself.

Swinging the door open, your now wide eyes were met with a horrible sight of Beau and another girl. Completely naked. He was cheating on you! You gasped loudly as your hand flew up to your mouth, causing the both of them to stop what they were doing and look toward you like deer in headlights.

"Oh my god, you creep! What the hell is your problem?!" you yelled at him.

You shook your head angrily as he quickly reached for the blankets to cover himself up.

"Wait, baby! It's not what it looks like!"

The other girl looked just as disgusted at him as you did.

"Oh really? Did you just slip and fall into her? You and I are done. Do you hear me? Done. Don't even think about calling or texting me. I'll be by to collect my things later in the week," you managed to say in as calm a manner that you could.

Storming back downstairs as you heard yelling now between the two once you left, you instantly grabbed your purse again along with a coat as it was getting colder outside with the sun down. Your vision was blurring as you slammed the front door closed and made your way to your car, hurriedly getting inside of it and leaving to get as far away from that house as you could. You needed somewhere to go. Somewhere to stay for the time being. Who would let you stay with them?

Josh.

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Arriving at his house, you internally cussed at yourself as you saw his driveway was empty. Of course he wasn't home yet. He was still out with Tyler, Jenna, and the rest of the crew celebrating. Who knew when he would be home that night? Turning off your car, you managed to grab your coat to put on and make your way to his patio steps, collapsing to sit down on them. You were tired, you were hungry, and you were angry. But mostly hurt. After all of the accusations of you cheating on him... there he was doing the very thing that he knew would hurt you, even if you didn't love him anymore.

Grasping at your chest, your body started shaking from the sudden sobs that emitted themselves. Tears streamed down your face and the sound of your cries filled the night air. Whether they were sad tears or happy/relieved tears... you weren't sure, but you knew that they needed to be released. You knew that, in that moment, you needed Josh. And you got your wish after what seemed like hours later. You had been crying almost the entire time and when Josh got out of his car to see you and how horrible you probably looked, he hurried over toward you and embraced you instantly as you stood up. He ran his fingers through your hair and hushed you as you cried into his chest, instantly wetting it with your tears. He didn't ask questions as he just held you and managed to bring you inside of his home, surrounded by warmth and love.

You knew that you could always rely on him to take care of you, even after being stupid and pushing the one man away that you loved more than anything else.

Josh held onto you until your sobs finally stopped and you managed to draw in steady breaths. He didn't say anything while you cried, just held onto you and rubbed your back and let you get all the emotion of the night out. By the time you finally calmed down, your throat felt raw and your eyes were swollen.

"Can I have some hot chocolate?" you whispered meekly. It was the first set of words the two of you had exchanged.

"Yeah, I'll go make you some."

Josh carefully untangled himself from you and stood up. You grabbed a nearby blanket and wrapped it around you, hoping it would emulate at least a little of the comfort that being close to Josh provided you with. From where you were sitting, you could hear the sound of Josh opening and closing cupboards as he grabbed things for your drink.

He returned a few minutes later, carrying a steaming mug of hot chocolate. You gratefully took it from his hands, making sure to thank him. Once the mug was safely in your hands, he took a seat back on the couch, close enough that he could rest one arm on the cushions behind you.

"I'm sorry," you said. Your fingers were tapping nervously against the mug. "I know I just showed up here and you came home to me crying on your porch even though today is supposed to be a happy day and I haven't offered any explanation. Not to mention that things have been different over the last month because of..." You stopped yourself, realizing the true gravity of what Beau had done. Who knew how long he had been cheating on you, and yet he had still tried to ruin what you had with Josh. It made you sick. "I'm sorry," you mumbled as a fresh wave of tears spilled down your cheeks.

"Y/N/N," Josh said. His voice was gentle, more than Beau's had ever been even on your best nights. He gently took the mug from your hands and set it on the table so that he could pull you into his arms again. "You don't have to explain anything to me. I'm here for you no matter what happens, ok? I care about you and I never want you to deal with these things alone."

"He cheated on me."

You didn't mean to blurt it out, but you were tired of letting the information just bounce around in your head. Josh tensed immediately, you could feel it. It took him a moment to relax again.

"How did you find out?" His tone was calm, but you could hear the anger that was just barely being concealed.

"They were in bed together when I got home. He must have thought he had more time since I was supposed to go to dinner with everyone, but I caught them in the act. I don't even know who it was, or if I did, I didn't notice."

"I'm going to lay him out on his ass next time I see him..."

"No, no, Josh, please." Your fingers were holding tightly to the fabric of his t-shirt. "I don't want you getting hurt. I just want to forget about him. Please."

You hated how desperate you sounded, how you were begging Josh to not do something. It was a trace left behind by Beau, and surely not the only one that you would be discovering in the coming weeks.

"Ok, I'm sorry," he said, holding you a little tighter. "I won't do anything to him, I promise. I just can't believe he did that to you."

"He knows that I hate cheaters. We talked about it when... when we fought last. I just don't understand how he could do that to me if he really loved me."

"Did he?"

You sighed, thinking over how you wanted to answer the question. Josh's heartbeat was steady in your ear, reminding you of all the times you had heard it before. Cuddling with him at the start of tour, dancing at Tyler and Jenna's wedding, cuddling after the Grammys. That had been love. Not what Beau gave you.

"No. I think we stopped loving one another a long time ago."

Josh nodded in acknowledgement as he listened to you speak, even though he had known for a long time that Beau hadn't loved you. It wasn't love when he treated someone who was supposed to be so special to him like dirt. You were a special person to him and he planned on showing that to you every day that you were together. He had waited so long to be given this opportunity and now it was presented at its fullest capacity.

"How about we watch a movie to get your mind off of things for a bit, hm? We can watch whatever you want." He smiled a little.

"Yeah, I like that idea."

You nodded your head and then reached over to grab your hot chocolate again as Josh stood up to start prepping the television in front of you for your little movie night. Watching him silently, a small smile appeared on your lips as you thought of how lucky you were to have someone like him in your life. He and Tyler had been the first people to welcome you with open arms and then Jenna came along and treated you as if you were her sister. You had found a family with them and you never wanted to let that go.

Finishing up your drink, you set the cup back down on the coffee table shortly after Josh came back to settle into the couch again with you. He looked over to you with a smile of reassurance that everything was going to be alright. You just felt it. He handed you the remote so that you could scroll through all of the movies that were available. After deciding on watching something that would lift your spirits, 50 First Dates, you set the remote down and settled back into the couch cushions and wrapped the blanket tighter around your body to feel comfortable.

As the movie further progressed, your body relaxed more and more as you then decided to be bold and rest your head on Josh's shoulder. You felt him tense up a bit as if he wasn't sure what to do in the situation, but it quickly went back to normal and that's when you felt his arm wrap around your own shoulders. Before, you would've shrugged him off because you had someone waiting at home for you. Beau, that creep. Now, you were able to finally enjoy the warmth and closeness that you loved so much. He made you feel safe, made you feel secure. It was what you needed in that moment.

Before you realized what was happening, your eyes had fallen shut and the sounds coming from the movie faded away. All you heard was the soft breathing coming from Josh and it soothed you so much that you fell into a deep sleep. Once the movie was over, Josh looked down to you and finally realized that you had passed out and tried to mentally prepare a plan on how to get you up and into bed. He knew that you really needed the sleep that you'd finally be getting that night. Once an idea was put in his head, he carefully removed himself from beneath your head and managed to gently put one arm under your legs while the other wrapped around your back, a hand resting at your side. He left the blanket around you as he carried you in his arms and into his guest bedroom, laying you down on the bed. He brushed some hair out of your face as he watched to make sure you were okay and smiled a little, leaning down to place a soft kiss to your forehead.

"Goodnight, Y/N/N."

He turned on his heel and left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.