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Note: I'm sincerely sorry about the non-existent updates lately, but things are quite hectic. I promise that the next time I post, it will be bodyguard!Brendon. x

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The wonderful aromas of cotton candy and fresh popcorn wafted through the air, and the gleeful shouts from people occupying the various carnival rides could be heard all throughout the fairground.

As you made your way through the entrance and towards the carnival's many attractions, you turned to smile at the pink-haired man walking next to you.

"Gosh, I haven't been to a carnival in ages. Everything looks so gorgeous," you marvelled, eyes scanning over the beautifully decorated area. "I'm glad we came here, Josh."

"Me too," he returned your smile, eyes crinkling.

"Althoughhhh," you added, shuffling anxiously and fiddling with the sleeves of your t-shirt. "I'm not too thrilled at the thought of seeing clowns at such a close distance."

"Oh," Josh frowned, his heart dropping at the sight of your scared expression. While he'd never told anyone besides Tyler, Josh himself was terrified of clowns. There was just something about not knowing who was underneath all that make-up and silly costumes that brought a feeling of dread to his stomach. His fear was never something he'd bring to light during a conversation, especially now that he knew how much you were scared of them. "Well, don't worry. I'll make sure they don't get too close to you."

~

You stood gazing lovingly at a giant stuffed dolphin that hung in the stall in front of you, where a group of kids were desperately trying to gain enough points to win a prize.

"Here ya go," Josh piped, handing you the sugar on a stick. "One cotton candy. With extra cotton candy."

"Thank you," you giggled, shoving a portion into your mouth and returning your eyes to the dolphin.

"You like that one?" Josh asked, noticing your gaze and pointing to the stuffed animal.

You nodded in response, eyes still not wavering from the dolphin.

"Well, then come on," he said, gripping your wrist and dragging you towards the booth, the few children slinking away empty-handed, kicking at stones on the ground disappointedly.

"What are you doing?" you questioned with an amused smirk as Josh handed the necessary amounts of tickets to the grouchy booth attendant.

"I'm winning you that dolphin."

"As sweet as that is, no one ever wins at these things," you waved your hand around the booth, where a few rows of multi-coloured glass bottles stood on a platform, and the rings you were meant to toss at them in a bowl in front of you. "It's rigged."

"Are you doubting my sick ring-tossing skills?" Josh mused, cocking an eyebrow at you as he twirled a ring around his finger.

"No, of course not," you rolled your eyes and chuckled. "But there's a very slim chance that you'll win."

"Your lack of faith in me is disappointing, (Y/N)," Josh tsked, shaking his head disapprovingly before turning to face the bottles.

"You get 10 tosses," the attendant said lazily, slouching against the edge of the booth. "Different bottle colours have different point allocations. Yellow is 10, red is 25, green is 50, and blue is 150."

"How many points for that dolphin, there?" Josh asked, once again pointing at the object of your desire.

"1000 points."

Josh nodded in acknowledgment before he raised his hand slightly and closed one eye, trying to gouge how he should toss the ring in order for it to land around the bottleneck. He took a deep breath, rolled his neck side to side, then flicked his hand, sending the ring flying across the booth and landing smoothly around the neck of one of the blue bottles with a clunk.

"150 points," the attendant said nonchalantly, lounging on a flimsy white plastic chair that looked like it was about to snap any second under his weight.

Josh gave you a smug smirk and you made an impressed face, applauding his conquest. "Wow. Maybe you'll get that dolphin after all."

"Damn right I will."

The next nine tosses went as follows: blue, blue, blue, green, blue, green, blue. You don't know how he did it, but Josh managed to get the blue almost every time, and with every toss he made, you squeaked in excitement, applauding dramatically. Needless to say, he racked up more than enough points for the dolphin.

You gasped happily, your face immediately lighting up and the biggest smile gracing your face as Josh handed you the prize, wearing a huge smile of his own as he saw your reaction. You hugged the animal closely against your chest, the soft material feeling incredible against your cheek as you moshed your face into it.

"It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!" you beamed, Josh giggling at your words. "Thank you!" you flung your arms around your date's neck and hugged him tight, pulling away a little bit so that you could peck his cheek.

"Your-you're welcome, (Y/N)," he stammered, a blush creeping onto his cheeks from when you pecked him.

"Where to now?" you asked, bouncing on your feet eagerly.

Seeing how happy you were made Josh feel amazing. He loved that you were having a great time, because he sure as hell was having the best time he's had in years. Just being in your company was enough to create a constant flurry of butterflies in his stomach, and being able to make you smile the way you were right now was blissful. He hoped that he'd do a good enough job as your date tonight so that he'd have as much time as possible to make you happy in the future.

"Uh, we could go on some rides?" he suggested with a shrug.

"Yeah! Let's go."

You started heading in the direction of the rides. The two of you walked in silence at first, until you felt Josh's fingers graze yours. He wanted desperately to hold your hand – he'd wanted to all night – but he was afraid you'd pull away, so his fingers grazed lightly over yours first as he waited for your rejection. But it didn't come, and after a while, he worked up the courage to fully envelope your hand in his bigger one, making you look down at the new physical contact you were sharing.

"Is this okay?" he questioned, and you could hear the nervousness in his voice as well as see it on his face as he tried to read your blank expression.

"Yeah," you smiled sweetly at him, squeezing his hand gently.

Suddenly, the piercing sound of a horn vibrated through your ears, startling the both of you and causing you to come to a standstill as a clown emerged seemingly out of nowhere, jumping into a pose in front of you.

"AHHHHHH!" Josh let out a rather high-pitched shriek; one that would've suited one of your baby nieces much better than it did him. He cleared his throat once he'd realised exactly how high his voice had gone. "Ahh!" he tried again, this time in a much lower voice as you turned to him with raised eyebrows. Noticing your gaze on him, and remembering his earlier promise to you, he straightened up and cleared his throat once again, shooting a glare at the clown. "I mean... what do you think you're doing?"

The clown didn't reply. Instead, he stretched his face into a ginormous grin as he squeezed the horn for a second time, the sound vibrating through your ears once again. You were sure that this was meant to make you laugh, but it did nothing other that disturb you while creating an unsettling feeling in the pit of your stomach. Subconsciously, you tightened your grip on Josh's hand, making him rub his thumb over the back of your hand soothingly as he continued staring down the unwelcomed carnival performer.

"Yeah, ha ha, that's real funny," Josh said. He tried his best to come across as tough and unafraid, but there was a slight hint of nervousness that came across in his voice. "But you're kinda making my girl- uh, date – uncomfortable. So if you'll excuse us..." he tugged on your hand gently, dragging you around the clown's stationary frame and away from him as quickly as possible.

"Thank you," you smiled up at the pink-haired man, scrunching your face lightly.

"You're welcome, (Y/N). Anytime."

~

Giggling deliriously as you and Josh stumbled through the ride's exit gate, you clutched onto his bigger frame in order to support yourself, your equilibrium still out of balance from the effects of the roller coaster.

"Wow, it's been so long since I was on one of those things. I forgot what it felt like!" you laughed, almost falling over your feet; Josh steadied you just in time.

"Yeah, I can tell," he chuckled. He was perfectly fine; the roller coaster hadn't affected him at all and he gripped you tightly until you could regain your own balance.

You continued giggling elatedly as Josh watched you with a smile on his face, your laughter being music to his ears. His smile got wider and wider with every sound that escaped your mouth, and your laughter started dying down as you took in the way he was looking at you.

It made you feel... invincible.

Your (e/y/c) eyes stared back into his intense chocolatey-brown ones, and it felt as if time was standing still. You'd dreamt about experiencing moments like these with him before, back when the two of you hadn't met each other yet, but now that it was actually happening, it felt more amazing than you could've ever imagined.

"(Y/N), I-"

"JOSH! (Y/N)!"

It all went downhill from there. It was like a domino effect; as soon as your names had left the girl's mouth, it rolled off the tongues of virtually everyone else in sight, along with a symphony of screams.

"Oh no," Josh squeaked right before a stampede of fans ascended upon the two of you, wanting to get a picture or autograph.

"Josh! Josh, please!"

"(Y/N), could you sign this?"

"Can we get a selfie, Josh?"

The mob lasted for a solid ten minutes, during which time Josh signed countless items of clothing, carnival tickets and any other objects fans jutted at him, and took multiple pictures with virtually everyone.

Once Josh had become a bit ticked-off, he apologised to everyone and said that he'd really appreciate it if you two could get back to your date. After his little speech, he scanned the crowd for you, but came up short.

You weren't anywhere to be seen.

During the mob, you'd somehow managed to get carried away by the hoards of people to somewhere out of Josh's general vicinity. Or anywhere as far as his eyes could see.

The thought of being separated from you sent a wave of nausea through Josh's stomach, especially since unrespecting, pushy fans that don't know when enough is enough were undoubtedly bombarding you. He started panicking, and immediately set off in a run to try and find you.

He ran for what felt like hours, his heart rate increasing dramatically whenever he couldn't find you in an area he'd searched. His breathing got heavier as his panic heightened, still searching desperately for you amongst the sea of strangers.

Josh searched the entire carnival for you, even going as far as to check with the clowns whether or not they had seen you anywhere. They hadn't, and at this point, Josh was so worried he had tears in his eyes.

He lost you.

He couldn't believe that he'd lost you.

Josh came to a halt in the middle of the fairground, hands gripping roughing at his hair while his breathing continued to come out as laboured and hoarse. His head pivoted left and right, eyes still frenziedly searching for you.

And then he found you.

You were standing close to the entrance, next to a lamppost. Your eyes were hurriedly surveying the area too as you bit your lip anxiously, snapping a few more pictures with the last little bit of fans surrounding you. Even in your anxious and noticeably tired state, Josh still thought you were the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and the relief he felt from finding you was overwhelming. So overwhelming, in fact, that he found himself once again running, this time towards you. With a relieved laugh, he fast approached you and your face instantly lit up upon seeing him.

"Jo-"

Josh gripped your sides tightly and raised you into the air before crashing his lips onto yours in a vehement kiss. Under any other circumstances, Josh would never have done what he just did. He would've asked for permission first, and it definitely wouldn't have been on the first date. But considering that he'd genuinely thought that he'd lost you, paired with the fact that you were the most incredible person he'd ever come across, he couldn't help himself.

When you finally broke apart, you were speechless. Josh had kissed you with so much emotion; it had taken your breath away.

"Oh... wow," you panted, forehead pressed against Josh's as he still held you in the air.

"'Wow' is right," he smiled, pecking your lips once more.

"I SHIP THEM SO MUCH!"

"THEY'RE PERFECT!"

"THAT WAS SO ADORABLE, I THINK IM GONNA CRY!"

The remainder of the fans continued to yell out approvals and cute comments your way while snapping hundreds of pictures. Some of them had even recorded the entire thing.

"Looks like we've got the fans' approval," Josh smirked.

"Yeah," you laughed, smiling at them. "And to think we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them. Maybe fan questions aren't that bad after all."

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Thank you for reading x