the next few days were stagnant. josh and rosemary didn't talk or see each other for a week, and he was beginning to think kissing her was a mistake. out didn't regret it, of course, he just hoped that such a simple thing wouldn't ruin their friendship he worked so hard on.
exactly a week from the last time he saw rosemary, josh forced himself out of his own house and to rosemary's so he could see her. he was going insane, and if he waited any longer he'd have to go even longer without seeing her while he went to see his family for christmas. when he walked in the receptionist said hello to him as always, but then she said something that caught his attention.
"hey mr. dun. about time you come back, ms. michelson hasn't been out of her apartment since you last left. i don't even think she's gotten groceries." the receptionist's comment was meant to be lighthearted, but it just got josh worried.
"really? is she okay?" the receptionist looked up from her computer at the sound of josh's concern.
"i'm sure she's okay sweetie, your presence alone will make her better if she isn't. you two are never sad with each other." the receptionist flashed josh a smile before turning back to her work, which kind of made josh's nerves calm a little.
he reached rosemary's apartment with the spare key she had given him, the cold of the apartment catching him by surprise. a quick look at the thermostat told him that the heat was completely off in every room which worried him thoroughly. going the weather was sub-zero temperatures, how was she not freezing to death? immediately was shivering already and he had only been in the apartment for a few minutes.
"rosemary?" he called, cautiously stepping further into the apartment. instead of being greeted by rosemary, her dog that he loved so much came walking to him instead. which he didn't mind at all, her dog was so great to him. he immediately smiled and crouched down to pet ruby, the husky already familiar with josh by then.
he got up after a few minutes of playing with the husky, beginning up the stairs to find rosemary. his first instinct was to check her office, which was exactly where she was. she didn't look as stressed as he usually found her in the room, which made him relieved. she had a laptop, but on it wasn't work. josh recognized it from how much he saw tyler using the program.
"are you writing piano music?" josh piped up, which made rosemary jump and look back, shutting her laptop quickly. she cleared her throat and got up, then shaking her head and waving it off.
"no, were you? i'm not judging or anything, i was just curious." he followed after her as she went towards her bedroom, stepping into the vacant room to busy herself, probably. she shook her head, waving him off again, but josh wasn't having it.
"c'mon, i'm sure it's really good. were you just coming up with it on the spot?" he asked gently, trying to peer around her to see her face. she stopped bustling around her room and sighed, then nodding her head and facing him.
"could you play it for me?" he pressed. she shook her head again, and this time josh didn't mind. if she didn't want to play, that was fine with him. he wouldn't pressure her into anything she didn't want to do.
"okay, i'm fine with that." he backed down, following her out of the bedroom and down the stairs. she went to the kitchen and started going through the cabinets, then josh noticed it was already about time for dinner. "oh, you don't have to make me anything- is that your pizza recipe?" josh's polite facade dropped immediately when he noticed the piece of paper on the counter he had seen before. she chuckled and nodded, and with no further protest from josh, began to gather the ingredients.
"can i do anything to help?" josh tried to help her gather materials, but he was quickly shooed off my rosemary, who pointed towards the living room with a fake glare. "are you sure? don't overwork yourself, now." josh tried once more as he backed out of the kitchen slowly, and with one final look from rosemary, he was out. as he sat on the couch and played on his phone, he began to imagine what a cook-off between jenna and rosemary would be like. both of them love to cook, and they do it so well, he'd definitely pay to see that. it was then that he decided instead of some silly album, the next thing he and tyler would put out was two cookbooks, one of jenna's recipes and one of rosemary's. whichever became a new york times best seller first won. the thought alone made him laugh.
he immediately went to twitter with the thought, smiling as he did so. "hey @tylerrjoseph instead of an album can we put out cookbooks"
the tweet got likes right as he posted it, but what intrigued him more was all the positivity of replied. people actually wanted that? he was just joking!
after an hour or so of him just going on his phone and abusing her netflix subscription, the smell of pizza and the sound of the oven door closing made him go off the edge and go into the kitchen. rosemary had finished the pizza, which confused him a bit.
it looked delicious, like fancy restaurant quality. she brushed some flour off her shirt and took the pizza to the island she had in the middle of the kitchen, then putting down two plates for them both, using a pizza cutter to cut the slices into even pieces.
"oh my gosh, that looks so good." josh gushed, sitting down at the counter at one of the stools where rosemary soon joined him. rosemary picked up one of the pieces, and it looked like one of those pizzeria commercials where the cheese perfectly stretches and the pizza itself keeps perfectly intact. "hold on, keep your hand there," josh rushed, rosemary pausing her actions to keep the pizza slightly pulled up and some of the strings of cheese still attached. josh snapped a few pictures and immediately put it on his instagram, captioning it "your move, dominos."
they both began to eat their slices of pizza in comfortable silence, then a thought popped into josh's head.
"so, doing anything for christmas? seeing family or anything?" he asked, using a napkin to wipe the sides of his mouth before grabbing another slice. rosemary shook her head, exactly what he expected. he noticed her face fall the tiniest bit at the mention of family, but he didn't want to delve into that.
"well, if you want, you could come with me to see my family for christmas? they wouldn't want you being alone here on christmas anyway, i already ran the idea by them and they're fine with it." he rambled, trying not to scare her off by coming on too strong.
to his surprise, rosemary just nodded with a shrug and kept eating. she wasn't even phased, she just kept taking bites of her pizza.
"cool." he confirmed, looking at her for only a second more before turning back to his own food, a content smile now resting on his face.
"cool." she said back, looking over at his sheepish self and chuckling a bit, shaking her head then looking back at her pizza.
good thing he already had her gift.
-
a/n: next few chapters r gonna b christmas specials my dudes i'm late as fuck but whatever it'll b cute i promise
this is the calm before the storm, everyone. buckle up for the bumpy ride.
