My arms instantly wrapped around his neck, his strong, muscular arms around my waist. I couldn't believe what was happening, who was standing in front of me, who I was hugging. It had been too long, way too long, since I last hugged him like this. It had been nearly 4 years since I last heard his voice while I was in the same room as him. Nearly 4 years since I'd seen his face in person, instead of it being printed on a magazine or on a TV screen.
Completely overwhelmed by this, tears uncontrollably rolled down my face and I sniffled. We stood there hugging for what seemed like ages, until Josh pulled away to wipe away the tears. Pippi was jumping up our legs, her nails lightly scratching my bare legs, but I didn't care. Josh Hutcherson was standing in front of me.
"Wow are you really that upset about seeing me?" he said jokingly, and I pushed his shoulder with a laugh as I wiped away another tear.
"I'm guessing that Bradley Cooper isn't my co-star, then?" I asked, and when he nodded I shook my head. "Damn."
"What makes you think he's your co-star?" Josh laughed, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of Dasani water. He leaned against the counter of the small trailer kitchen, twisted open the cap and took a sip of it before looking back over at me with slightly raised eyebrows.
"Well, each one of David's movies that I've been in, Bradley was my co-star," I shrugged my shoulders and slumped down on the bed, crossing my legs. "Plus no one told me who my co-star was gonna be, and when I asked David if it was Bradley he just smiled so…"
"So you jumped to conclusions?" Josh laughed lightly as he dropped down onto his back next to me, his arms crossed behind his head. I couldn't help but notice his muscly arms, and I turned to lay down on my stomach next to Josh, my head next to his when I pressed my finger against a vein protruding out of his arm.
"Well I definitely didn't expect you here, you big goof." I rolled my eyes at him, pulling my finger from his vein and watching it pop back out immediately. "Can we go get lunch now? I got all prettied up for Bradley Cooper only to be letdown. I don't wanna miss out on some food as well."
Josh laughed and made an O shape with his mouth, but he couldn't keep it on for long as he smiled. "How rude. I thought you'd be genuinely happy to see me."
I propped myself up on my hands and looked at Josh, my hair falling back over my shoulders and lightly tickling my arms. "Of course I'm happy to see my best friend," getting up off the bed, I pulled him up with me, standing awfully close to him when he was on his feet, but I didn't mind. We'd been closer when we filmed Mockingjay. "I don't care if we haven't seen or spoken to each other in years. My feelings haven't changed. You're still that annoying little brother that I never wanted. Because I already have two older ones." I ruffled my hand through his hair, causing him to frown and quickly fix his hair.
"Put shoes on, your feet smell, and we're leaving now." Josh said, letting Pippi out of the trailer. I was about to protest and tell him to catch her, when I remembered that we were on a fenced off property, and there was no way she was escaping it with all the people around. Besides, Josh probably had Driver running around on set, and she behaved a little better when he was around.
I pulled on a pair of simple black flats to match the rest of my outfit, and jumped out the trailer, stumbling when my feet hit the ground. Josh's hand were quick to catch me and make sure that I wouldn't faceplant the gravel. The last thing I needed now was a scraped up face.
"Whew," I laughed, my hair hanging all over my face when I managed to regain my balance and Josh let go of me. "Still clumsy as hell. That sure hasn't changed."
He shook his head and gave me a crooked grin, that oddly made my stomach feel weak. Pushing the thought of that feeling to the back of my head, I linked arms with him and we headed towards the gate.
"Wait, which car are we taking?" I asked, remembering that I had been picked up by someone at the airport. "Because I don't have one."
Josh pointed over to the blue motorcycle that stood parked across the street, and I looked at him in excitement. I'd only ridden on the bike once with him back in Kentucky, but that one time was a blast. At the time he only had one helmet, and since the idiot was more concerned about my safety than his own, he made me wear the helmet while we sped down the interstate and drove around Louisville.
Letting go of Josh's arm, I raced across the street and immediately sat down on the still hot motorcycle, making sure my skirt was tucked under my behind so that it wouldn't flutter behind me in the wind and everyone driving behind me could get a good glimpse of the red thong that I was wearing that day.
Josh placed a black helmet on my head that he pulled from the seat compartment, and then put on his own helmet and clipped it together under my chin.
"Can you help me close this thing? Last time I did it, I caught my chin fat in the clip and it hurt like a bitch," I laughed, holding the strings of the helmet in both of my hands.
Josh turned to me and helped me carefully secure the helmet on my head, his hands as gentle as ever. I looked at his brown eyes, his long eyelashes, which were fixed on his hands to make sure that he didn't get my chin fat stuck between the clips again. Once I heard the 'click', which signaled that the helmet was secure and we were ready to go, I smiled at Josh. "Thank you."
He nodded once, returning the smile, before turning around again and climbing onto the motorcycle. I wrapped my arms around his waist like I did the first time I was on his motorcycle, scooting my butt a bit forwards so that his butt kept the front of my skirt a bit in place, and leaned my chin against his shoulder. With one mighty kick, the motorcycle roared to life, and we drove off to get lunch together.
I wasn't sure where we were headed at first, but I quickly recognized the path he was taking. We drove to the edge of Los Angeles, where our favorite Mexican restaurant/bar was located. Years ago, for Liam's birthday, we rented out the entire place for Karaoke night with our friends and families. That night Josh and I sang the song 'MMMbop' by Hanson together, in front of every person there. The two of us knew the entire song by heart. We even danced to it.
When we arrived at the restaurant and we climbed off the motorcycle, I flattened out my skirt with my hands and handed the helmet to Josh, before straightening out my hair as well. Together we walked inside, and were seated by an older, brunette woman. The two of us ordered drinks, a Dr. Pepper for me and a Coca Cola for him, and then we just sat in silence for a moment, examining the room. Looking at Josh, I could see a large grin spread across his face and I followed his eyes to see what he was looking at.
There was a slightly elevated stage across the room where the bar was located, with two microphones and a screen between them set up, so that whoever was singing knew exactly what lyrics to sing.
I knew exactly what Josh was thinking. I knew exactly that he was remembering that night we stood on top of that stage, singing our hearts out together. He was grinning to himself, his eyes a little glazed over and I spoke up to pull his gaze from the stage and on me.
"You remember that night too?" I asked gently, obviously already knowing the answer, but I wanted to hear what he thought of it.
Josh nodded, looking at me with bright eyes, looking a little nostalgic. "Of course I do. It was for Liam's birthday the year we finished Mockingjay. We sang MMMbop in front of all our families and friends. I mean, we were drunk, but I definitely remember it as if it happened yesterday." Josh leaned back in his seat, looking back up at the stage, and then looking back at me with a bright grin.
"Oh, no, no, no, Josh. No. I'm not doing that. I'm not drunk this time." I laughed at him, holding up my hands in protest as I knew what was coming next.
"Alright, we'll order drinks then, and once we're tipsy we'll go up there and sing," excitement sparked in his eyes as he spoke. Josh was never the one to be shy about singing and making a fool of himself. "We'll make a game out of it. We go up there individually, and whoever gets the fewest tips while they're up there, loses."
Rolling my eyes at him, I agreed to take on his challenge. I couldn't let him hanging. "Alright. But the winner gets a nice back and foot rub from the loser." I said, and Josh held out his hand and we shook on it.
When dinner came, the two of us shared one giant burrito for two people, Josh ordered two shots of Tequila for the both of us. He knew that this would get me started right away, since I usually got quite tipsy after just one of them. The waitress immediately returned with four shot glasses on a wooden plate, placing them on the table in front of us before disappearing into the kitchen again.
We reached for the shot glasses, looked each other in the eyes, before saying 'cheers' and gulping down the brown liquid.
It immediately burned in my throat and I gagged, sticking my tongue out of my mouth and quickly covering it with my hand. "Oh my god that was fucking awful," I laughed with a harsh cough, and Josh couldn't help but laugh at my reaction. Kicking him under the table, I quickly downed the other shot and slammed the little glass on the table. "You're on now. Watch me kick your ass."
"Oh I would love to see you try," Josh said as he, too, finished his second shot. "We both sing the same song."
"Believe by Cher." I quickly blurted out, before Josh could suggest any other song. He seemed completely okay with the choice of the song, because he stuck out his hand, and I shook it firmly, before pushing myself out of the booth and up towards the stage, trying hard not to fall on my face as I stepped up on the wooden panels. I grabbed the microphone, and cleared my voice.
"Alright you guys, my buddy Josh and I are having a little competition here," I said, looking around to see if I had gotten everyone's attention. "And before anyone says anything, yes, I am in fact tipsy. I realize that it is only 2 PM. But no way in hell would I have gone up here without having a drink or two." A few people in the crowd chuckled, their phones at the ready, and as I looked over at Josh I couldn't help but feel a bit woozy when I noticed that crooked grin of his. "Anyways, we're both going to sing Believe by Cher, and whoever gets the most tips out of the two of us, wins!" I let out a loud cheer, and whoever was in charge of the karaoke machine played the song that I would be singing.
Even though I was tipsy, I still felt a little nervous being up there. I hated singing in front of anyone that wasn't myself, my family, Josh or Liam. None of them minded my random outbursts of singing. And most of the time, they would join in with me.
I started to move my body with the beat of the music, my skirt swinging back and forth, and I began to sing the song, my eyes always fixed on Josh. If I didn't take them off of him, I wouldn't notice all the people around me. I could pretend that it was just me and him having some fun.
By the time the song ended, I was a little sweaty and my throat slightly achy, but it was worth it. Somebody had placed a glad at the end of the stage by my feet, and I could see that it was filled with tips to the point where the money almost fell out. I quickly thanked the audience and headed towards my booth where Josh was waiting for me, but not without tripping and falling to my knees on my way down from the stage. I raised my hand and shouted that I was alright, before pulling myself up on a nearby table and then sitting down across from Josh in the booth with a smile on my face.
"Well done," he clapped his hands together lightly, a smug look on his face. "But now watch and learn as the master does it." Josh grabbed his glass from the table, which earlier still had Coca Cola in it, and walked over to the stage where he placed the glass and then stood behind the mic. The music began to play, and Josh began working his magic.
He didn't have the best voice, but it certainly wasn't the worst voice out there. His eyes were glued to mine the entire time, just as mine had been when I was up there. Maybe he was just making sure that I wasn't putting extra money from my own purse into my glass.
The boy was completely into it. He would gesture to me every now and then, probably pretending to be some famous rock star up there. He pulled grimaces that made me laugh, and went down to his knees at the high parts, his head thrown back as he attempted to hit the high notes but missed them by about 3 feet. My smiles and giggles turned into laughter, which was uncontrollable by the time he'd finished and returned to our booth I felt as if I was about to pee myself.
"I… I'm gonna fucking peeeeeee," I laughed as I doubled over and held my stomach. "Please he-help me. I'm gonna fucking pee myself."
Josh let out a laugh, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not sure what you want me to do here, Jen. Just hold it."
I sat there for another good minute, giggling to myself as I tried not to wet myself, before I finally managed to race to the bathroom and pee. When I washed my hands in the white sink, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I was visibly read from all the laughing, and my hair was sticking out in all kinds of crazy angles. I brushed my wet hands through my curls to flatten them a bit, splashed some water in my face and exited the bathroom.
Josh was silently counting the money in his glass when I returned, and looked up at me with a triumphant grin as I sat down. "23 dollars and 50 cents." He said proudly, spreading his tip out on the wooden table so I could count them for myself.
I dumped out my own glass and began to count.
"30 dollars and 5 cents. Booyah, motherfucker. I win, you lose. Suck my ass, you owe me a massage, loser." I said with a laugh, crossing my arms across my chest with a sly grin on my face.
Josh buried his face in his hands with a laughing groan. "Nooo! And I was so sure I'd win," he laughed, dropping his hands on the table.
"Stop the whining, let's get back so that I can get that massage," I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck. "I'm so tense from all that flying."
Getting up from the booth, the two of us left our tips for our waitress and headed to the front desk to pay for our meal, when we realized that Josh was in no condition to ride his motorcycle. The waitress kindly called a taxi for us, and allowed Josh to keep the motorcycle in their parking lot overnight, as long as he would come pick it up in the morning. We didn't have to wait long for our taxi, and once we both were seated in the back seat, I leaned my head against Josh's shoulder with a yawn and held my stomach with my hand as I began to feel a bit sick. Driving after I'd just had alcohol wasn't a good idea.
"You alright bub?" Josh asked as he noticed that I wasn't feeling too well, brushing a strand of my hair from my face. Throughout the years, Josh learned how I acted when I was feeling a certain way, and was always the first to comfort me when he was there.
I shook my head. "I feel so fuckin' sick. I should not have had that damn tequila," I groaned. "Are we almost there?"
Josh looked up and out the window, before nodding his head and quietly answering with 'yes'.
Once we had arrived back at the set and we were in front of my trailer, I quickly swung my door open and raced to my small bathroom, where I just managed to lift the lid of the toilet before the tequila came up again, causing me to puke all the contents of my stomach into the toilet.
Josh was following me close behind, holding my hair up out of my face and rubbing my back as I vomited. This wasn't a first for us. After a premiere party for the first Hunger Games movie I got drunk as well, and he was the one to hold back my hair and had a glass of water at the ready for when I got it all out of my system.
I was sat there for a good 10 minutes, which was surprising because I didn't think the tequila would affect me as much, but since I hadn't had anything strong like this in years, my body probably completely rebelled against it. I cleaned up my face, brushed my teeth, drank a few sips from the tall glass of water Josh held out for me, and then proceeded to plop face-down onto my bed. Footsteps approached the bed, and I felt Josh sit down on the bed next to me, sliding his hand up my shirt which had untucked itself from my skirt while I was on the bathroom floor, and proceeded to gently rub my back.
"Maybe that massage can wait, hm?" Josh said softly, his hand still tracing along my spine and sending shivers through my whole body. At the back of my head, I thought to myself that I shouldn't be allowing this. That if Jamie were here, none of this would be happening. If Jamie knew about any of this, he would go berserk. But I was too worn out for any of that.
After a while, I could feel Josh lay down beside me, his hand never leaving my back. My eyes were closed, and I didn't want to open them. I was afraid of what might happen if I did. He was clearly still drunk, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath.
The softs rubs on my back calmed me down slowly, and I was drifting in and out of sleep when I felt a pair of lips press against my forehead.
I faintly remember whispering the words, "I love you, Jamie..." before finally falling asleep.