"Emily! Stop! This is out of hand. There's no reason to fight like this." Matt once again tries to get the situation under control, and the tension in the room is building up. Jessica however, does not seem to get the hint, and uses the new comment for her advantage.
"Yeah, Em! Why you pickin' fights over your ex boyfriend? Huh?" she says tauntingly, and the look on Emily's face is nothing else than disgust. If it's for Jessica or Matt, the others can only guess. She opens her mouth to come with an answer, but at the same time, Josh stands up.
"STOP IT!" he says loudly and the two girls shut up at once. He looks at them, and then continues with a serious look. "This is not why we came up here. This is not… helping. It's not what I wanted. If we can't get along for ten minutes then maybe we need a little bit of a break, right?"
Josh keeps his serious tone, but his blood is pumping in his veins, because this is exactly what he wanted. He can send the first pair away with this opportunity, and soon his plan can start. He can almost feel the smile trying to break through and take a hold of his face, but he keeps the acting going. Soon his revenge can start, and oh boy, it will be big. The feeling of finally getting closure of the wound in his heart. No feeling of helplessness or unfinished business anymore. The sleepless nights will be over. Finally some peace in his raging mind.
"Mike- why don't you check out the guest cabin? The one I told you about." And now he will just need to send Emily and Matt away. He has some different ideas, of how-
"No, man, it's cool," Mike says, and Josh almost forget to keep his face. "You're right. This is not helping. It's stupid. But we can get along. Right, Jess?"
Jess looks at him, with a huffed look, but then sighs and nods with a fake smile. "Yeah, sure."
Matt sends Emily a look too, and she just nods, while making her way to her bags, that's at the entrance to the living room.
Josh does not know what to say. If they do not want to leave, he will have to wait for an unknown amount of time to start the big show. He will just have to play some tricks, to get Emily and Jessica in a fight again later. Yeah. Yeah, he can do that. For sure. It will be easy.
"Okay, cool," he manages to say with a bit of thankfulness in his voice and faces the fireplace yet again.
Chris, Ashley and Sam stands near the stairs, not involved in the now finished conflict. Sam and Ashley both look relived, that the fight is over, but Chris feels a little bit tensed. He knows, and has known since he got the invitation, that they must have a good time at the mountain. Not to get the fun and free atmosphere that the group once shared back, but for the sake of Josh. His conversation with Sam on the cable car still replays in his head. She's worried, and even though he tries to push it away, he is too. Josh lost his sisters, for god's sake. The trip is their only chance to get the happy Josh back. Or at least help him with some of the grief. Therefore, he offers the only thing he can think of.
"Anyone who wants to help with the lights so we can get the party started?" The attention goes to him, and he smiles and adds with a bit of sarcasm; "Or we could all just cheer for Josh, while he gets the fire going?"
"I'll go with you, man." Mike says.
"Um, you'll have to- It's in the basement," Josh says. "I- should I go with you?"
"Yeah, that would be a good idea," Chris says. "You know the place better than us."
Matt sits down in front of the fireplace, instead of Josh, and the three boys makes their way to the stairs. Mike and Chris is up for small talking, but Josh keeps quiet. He reflects on his possibilities, and happily realizes that alcohol might be a good idea. If he can get Mike and Jessica to drink enough, he might make them leave, and the same goes for Matt and Emily if he plays his carts right. Then it will all fit. He smiles and starts engaging calmly in the conversation, knowing things are going to turn out just the way he wants them.