IMESSAGE

joshy 🛹
hey liv, i happen to notice
that today neither of us are
filming on set, and since we
have a song to work on, do
you want to come over?

livvy 🌹
oh yeah sure, sounds like a
great idea!!

"happen to notice", huh?

joshy 🛹
i was trying to say that i
know our schedules
without sounding like a
creep or a stalker or
something 😂

livvy 🌹
hmm, now that you happen
to mention it...

joshy 🛹
LIV

livvy 🌹
lmao i'm kidding 🤣

but yeah let me just get ready
and i'll be over in about 45
minutes or so

josh 🛹
alright cool, see you then :)

•••

Joshua heard a car pull up in his driveway as he looked out the window. He saw Olivia wave goodbye to her mom before hurrying across the street with her bag over her head as an attempt to avoid getting wet by the rain; it didn't seem to work when she walked into his house dripping on the welcome mat.

"Hey, sorry, I don't want to get the floor wet," Olivia apologized as she shut the front door behind her, wiping her wet shoes on the mat.

"No worries, I can always clean up after," Joshua replied with a small laugh. "I'll just grab a towel and you can sit on it on the couch, and we can get to work."

"Sounds good," Olivia smiled as she headed towards the living room. She waited for Joshua to come back from the closet with a towel, which she laid out on the couch and sat down.

"You want anything to drink?" Joshua asked. "I'm gonna grab some water."

"Sure, I'll take water, too," Olivia nodded, pulling a pen and her songbook out of her bag, which was thankfully not wet.

Joshua returned with two bottles of water, placing one down on the coffee table in front of her as he sat on the couch adjacent to her with his guitar leaning against it. "Did you add or think of anything since the last time we worked together on set?"

"I thought of a couple of verses, but not much besides that. You?"

"I thought of some chords and such for the chorus, I can play it for you now, if you want."

"Heck yeah, go for it," Olivia rested her chin in her palms as he strummed and hummed along. She felt almost entranced watching him in his natural, song-writing element; it was almost enchanting, in a way.

"Liv? Earth to Liv?" Joshua waved in front of her face, snapping her out of her daydream.

"Hmm? Yeah? Oh, sorry, um, what did you say?"

"I asked what you thought of it."

"Oh! Yeah, it was... absolutely amazing, Joshy, I loved it!"

"Yeah?" Joshua raised his eyebrows with a smile growing on his face. "So, we can use this as the chorus?"

"Of course! Just gotta come up with some lyrics, have any in mind?"

"I wrote down something, hang on, let me pull it up..."

The two spent the remainder of the day continuing to write and strum and laugh together, not noticing how late it was getting Olivia's mom called her, asking her when she was coming home.

"You can stay for dinner, if you'd like, and then I can take you home," Joshua offered in a soft voice as she was thinking of how to reply to her mom's question.

"You sure?" She mouthed, to which he nodded, before she replied to her mom, "Yeah, Mom, I'm going to stay for dinner, but I'll text you when I'm on my way home. Yeah, I love you too, see you soon. Bye." She hung up and then looked over at Joshua. "So, what's for dinner, then?"

"Let's go see what's in the cabinet," Joshua stood up and headed towards the kitchen, Olivia following.

"Oh, we're making dinner? I thought you would just order in or something."

"I was going to offer you my mean garlic noodles, but I mean, if we are cooking, that's cool too. I can just sit back and tell you what to do..." Joshua teased, pausing when he saw Olivia grab a spatula and run towards him with it. "Hey!"

"I! Am not! Cooking! Alone!" Olivia exclaimed between each hit, Joshua covering his face as he ran around the kitchen. He quickly grabbed another spatula as he yelled, "You better watch out, you're not the only one wielding a weapon around here!" She squealed as he ran towards her, the two attempting to hit and block each other as they ran up and down the entire house. Olivia giggled as she rolled onto the couch, Joshua holding his spatula above her.

"I bet I could take yours right now," He dared as he stood above her.

"You couldn't possibly—" Before she could finish her sentence, Joshua poked her in her stomach, resulting in a scream and her letting go of her spatula, Joshua letting out an evil laugh as he held both.

"I AM VICTORIOUS!" He exclaimed as Olivia rolled her eyes.

"You're like a big child," she teased as she got off the couch and playfully shoved him. "Now, come on, let's actually go make some food. Maybe you can make some mean garlic noodles, but I've got the best recipe for garlic bread."

"Good thing none of us are vampires, because this is going to be a very garlic-filled meal," Joshua said as they headed back into the kitchen to start cooking, Olivia letting out a laugh.

Once both were done, they sat at the dining table and passed around their food, indulging in each other's delicious creations.

"Holy shit, this is good," Joshua beamed with a mouthful of garlic bread. "Where'd you learn this?"

"My grandmother's signature recipe," Olivia smiled. "And your noodles are great, who taught you?"

"My mom," he smiled back. "She taught my sisters and I how to cook some stuff throughout the years."

"Oh cool! How many sisters do you have?"

Joshua continued to talk about his family and his 5 sisters, including about his childhood and how he was introduced to music and theatre. She laughed at the fact that he started songwriting all because of how he asked a girl to a dance in high school; it was a cute story.

Soon enough, the two had finished eating and Joshua drove her home, where he asked her about her family. The two both enjoyed getting to know each other a little more on a personal level, and both were slightly saddened to realize the conversation had to end once they arrived at Olivia's driveway.

"Well I had a really fun day today, and we got a lot done. I think we'll have the song ready for Tim in no time," Olivia said as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Oh yeah, for sure, and I had a really good time, too," Joshua smiled as he looked over at her, her face mirroring his own; they each had a contagious smile to the other. Olivia felt like she could stare into his eyes for hours and never get tired of it, and suddenly subconsciously found her hand on top of his; she almost thought about moving it away, but when he didn't flinch, she decided not to.

Unfortunately, whatever was just occurring between the two ended when Joshua's phone buzzed against his leg. "Sorry," he mumbled as he grabbed it out of his pocket to see what it was. "Ah, it was Sofia."

Olivia suddenly felt her heart twinge a little. "Oh?"

"Yeah, we've been talking a bit recently, she was one of the cast members I didn't talk to very often but she's great, you know?" Joshua replied.

Olivia nodded, and decided that it was time to go. "I should really get going, my parents are probably wondering why I'm not inside by now. Tell Sofia I said hi, and I'll see you on set tomorrow." She quickly hurried out of the car without saying or receiving a goodbye, which left Joshua slightly confused; was there, or wasn't there, just something between them a minute ago, or was he imagining the whole thing?

He shook it off for only a brief moment as he drove away, but quickly dialed Sofia's number through his car's bluetooth.

"Hey, Josh, what's up?" Sofia's chipper tone greeted him through the speakers.

"Hey, sorry I'm driving so I couldn't text you back, but um, is it okay if I like, rant or something for a little bit?"

"Let me guess, more Olivia trouble?" Sofia let out a small laugh. "Yeah, shoot."

Joshua sighed. "I don't know, Olivia and I were having a great time songwriting and the day flew by and then I asked if she wanted to stay for dinner. We ended up cooking garlic bread and noodles and talked about our families and it was cool and all and then she touched my hand and it felt like... I don't know, we shared a moment? But then you texted and I told her it was you and she kinda got quiet and then just left. She's acting a little weird, right? Or is it just me?"

Sofia laughed. "Oh, Josh, you are so oblivious to the female mind."

"... What's that supposed to mean?" Joshua asked, clearly confused.

Sofia sighed. "Oh, my dear son, it is so obvious that she likes you, so when you mentioned my name, or if you were to mention any other girl's name, it made her a bit jealous. But she didn't want you to really know that so she left the car quickly, but left you pondering why to see if you'd figure it out without her having to tell you. Simple."

"Nothing about that is simple."

"That's because you're not a girl."

"So I'm not complicated?"

"Josh, she likes you. What about that is complicated?"

"She just got out of a relationship, Sof, with a guy who was like her best friend and that's basically where I am with her right now and I don't want to ruin that. I really like my relationship with Livvy right now and I don't want to jeopardize that by getting into a relationship when she might still be hurting from her past one."

"How do you know she's still hurting? Did she tell you herself? Does she still talk about Ethan to you or your friends?"

"Not that I know of, no. Why?"

"So you don't know for sure if she's over him or not. She could be, and if she is, I don't see why you shouldn't shoot your shot, and you're never gonna know unless you try. Now, before you talk about the 'possibly ruining a friendship' thing again, just stop. That's the stupidest reason people come up with, in my opinion; just got for it and say you don't want things to change if she doesn't feel the same way, which I honestly doubt. I think it'll all be okay in the end, just stop overthinking it, okay?"

Joshua sighed. "You give pretty good advice, you know that?"

"I know, I'm kind of the best," Sofia replied, and even through her voice over the phone he could tell she was smiling. "You've got this, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Sof."

"Anytime, Josh."

•••

A/N: underrated friendship is between josh and sofia and i want more of it 😡 so here it is!!

anyway i hope you enjoyed this chapter! if so please don't forget to vote comment and share because i love your feedback!

thanks, until next time ;)