Collateral Love

Chapter Fourteen | Romantics.

I slowly begin to flutter my eyes open the moment I can feel the warm sunbeams gently touch my skin. I can also hear the sweet sound of chirping as birds majestically soar across the sky, which is beautifully colorful with white clouds spread across for miles. I then start to sit up as I yawn and stretch my arms, looking ahead of me as I remember where I am before slowly standing up.

There's a subtle breeze in the air, although stronger than normally given the altitude. Whoever said sleeping outside is the worse, clearly hasn't done it from the top of a building. Yeah, I'm not kidding—the idea courtesy of my boyfriend, Josh who said and I quote, "We should wake up one morning, and watch the sunrise together. We'll just spend the night at the top of the roof," and for some reason, I just couldn't say no.

I'm not going to lie, I thought the idea was insane and impossible, but Josh had everything figured out as the roof of his dormitory is nicely furnished with lights and chairs almost like a rooftop lounge at a hotel, but not as ravishing.

It's a cool hangout spot for students, although I'm not sure the college even knows it exists. Regardless, Josh and I spent the entire evening here last night just for the purpose of turning his idea into reality.

I carefully walk to the ledge of the roof, staring out into the distance as I glance at everything in front of me and below me. As expected, everything appears considerably smaller and I'm not usually afraid of heights, but I have to admit, we're pretty high up off the ground. I then close my eyes while inhaling a deep breath, taking in the fresh air until the moment I can feel arms snaking around my waist from behind, slightly startling me.

Josh quietly stands behind me, his chest pressing up against my back, while his chin rests on my shoulder. He was still asleep just a minute ago and I didn't want to bother him, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm happy he's awake.

He takes a deep breath before planting a kiss to my cheek. "Morning, babe."

"Good morning."

"How did you sleep?" He asks, and I blush.

Considering I was sleeping close to him all night, I would say I slept amazingly, but for the sake of being overdramatic, let's just play it cool.

"I slept great. How about you?" I ask and Josh immediately spins me around, so we're facing one another, his hands softly holding my torso.

He stares deep into my eyes before shifting his gaze down to my lips, and then back to my eyes again. "Actually, I had a weird dream last night."

"What was it about?" I was curious to know, but Josh clearly had other plans.

He smirks. "I'm not gonna tell you,"

"What? Why not?"

"Because." He says, pecking my lips to prevent me from talking.

It worked, although only temporarily.

"Come on, tell me!"

"No."

"You know, you can't just say something like that, and then expect the person to leave it at that."

"I can, and you will." Josh replies, his smile enlarging like he's completely enjoying the idea of taunting me.

Well, two can play at that game.

I gently but firmly push Josh away before turning around, and crossing my arms. I'm not proud of it but I do have a petty side, and Josh will get to experience it first-hand today.

"Babe?" He calls, but I ignore him. "Baby," he says again, and still I ignore him.

"Maya." He groans, and I'm trying my hardest not to laugh.

It's funny how quickly he ditched the pet names. Clearly, he's serious now.

"Come on, don't be like that. I just don't want to tell you because it's embarrassing." I turn back around to look at him.

"It was only a dream,"

"Yeah, but you're my girlfriend. Sometimes dreams can say a lot about a person…" Josh says, anxiously scratching the back of his head.

"Would it help if I share with you one of my dreams?" Josh seems reluctant, but eventually shrugs.

Of course, what guy wouldn't know what his girlfriend dreams about?

I sigh. "Ok, it's been awhile since I've had this dream, but it's one I'll never forget," I say to him, and at this point, I have Josh's undivided attention.

If I didn't know any better, I would think he wouldn't blink even if he had to.

"Ok, so in the dream, it starts out like a normal day of high school. I wake up, I get dressed, I go to class. My science teacher then announces that he has a surprise for the class, and brings in a real-life polar bear. Well, it then suddenly starts to snow inside the classroom because you know, polar bears live in the cold. I then realize we're no longer in the classroom, but somehow in the Artic. My science teacher then starts to give a lecture like he would any other day when the polar bear starts to chase him, and I'm sure you can guess what happened next. Well, there's blood all over snow, and everyone immediately starts to panic before running away to prevent getting eaten. I'm running along with everyone else, and the next thing I know, I've fallen through the ice into the freezing cold water, and I'm continuing to sink further and further to the bottom. Of course, I can't breathe, and I'm losing oxygen fast. I guess I then blackout in the dream after that because the next thing I know, I'm waking up next to this guy who looks an awful like Ryan Seacrest. He asks if I'm okay, but I'm at a complete loss for words. I'm still in the Artic but instead, I'm inside an igloo that resembles a mansion. Ryan then takes off his shirt before beginning to take pictures of himself to post online, and it was like I was completely frozen, I didn't know what to do. Then comes the strangest part of the dream when Ryan slowly transforms into a penguin with flawless hair, by the way, and starts to offer me candy corn. I don't even like candy corn."

Josh is completely speechless by this point, while I have the biggest smile on my face.

"Ok…" He tapers. "Then what happened?"

"I woke up." I simply say, shrugging my shoulders, and Josh can't believe it.

"What do you mean, you wake up? The dream just stops at you getting candy corn from Ryan Seacrest?"

"Pretty much."

Josh gradually starts to smile before pulling me back into his arms, the two of us close together similarly to how we were standing just a few minutes ago, and quietly staring at the sky as the sun slowly starts to rise. I can then feel Josh kiss the top of my head.

He says, "I don't even want to tell you my dream now,"

"What? That's not fair!"

"I know, but there's no way my dream is as interesting as yours." He says, and although I can't see his face, I can clearly hear him smiling.

However, little does he know, I made that dream up right on the spot since I figured he would change his mind. Yeah, like I'm really going to share with him one of my embarrassing dreams. Do I know my boyfriend or what?

You don't have to answer that.

"So, what did you think?" Josh suddenly asks me after a few minutes.

"About the sunrise?"

"Yeah."

"I thought it was beautiful… I'm glad we did it."

"Me too." Josh says softly, squeezing me tighter.

It's been a week since Josh and I have worried about the pictures, abiding by our agreement to focus only on each other, and it's been amazing. Nothing out of the ordinary has even happened since then, and I hope it stays that way.

"Alright, let's get going. It's Sunday, and I have an entire day planned for you."

"You do? You know, you're really going all out for these dates." Then again, this is the last day we can really spend time together since final exams are next week, and we'll both have to start preparing for it.

Josh tenderly smirks at me. "What can I say? We're young and in love. We gotta have fun," he says before casually walking away to gather up all our stuff. Meanwhile, I feel like I'm frozen in time just like in that dream I made up.

Did Josh just say what I think he said? You know what, we're not going to overreact because that's the smart thing to do, right?

This you can answer.

I help Josh to clean up before we eventually part ways to our respective dorms. Josh apparently has plans for lunch before taking me to the real surprise, so I have a few hours before then to get ready and clear my head. I'm not freaking out or anything. I'm just… surprised.

In any way, I'm happy.

Arden isn't here when I get back to the room, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's probably at the gym or something. She's still being nice to me after the heart to heart we had, and I'm happy she's no longer treating me like an annoying little sister, especially since I didn't give her any reason not to like me except just exist.

When I meet back up with Josh, we go out to lunch as expected and the cutest thing happens when the employees sing happy birthday to a little boy, and Josh decides to go over and join in. I sit back, recording the whole thing with my phone, laughing and smiling and completely ecstatic. Who knew my boyfriend was both handsome and silly?

Oh, that's right. I did.

We then go to the next place Josh has scheduled for us, which is an art gallery. Can you believe it?

"I know how much you love art and I may not be artsy and creative like you are, but I want you to know we can still do things like this together. Whenever you want." He said to me, and although I appreciate the sentiment, I sensed something more was behind it.

I didn't ask.

We held hands the entire time while perusing the exhibits, listening to curators, eating refreshments, and taking pictures. I couldn't have asked for a better afternoon.

Josh and I sit on the steps of the museum after finally deciding to leave, eating some of the snacks we smuggled on our way out, and Josh is busy watching the video I recorded earlier at the restaurant before giving me my phone back.

"Ok, question time,"

"Shoot."

"It's obvious you really love art. How come that's not your major?" Josh wonders, and I avert my gaze to the ground.

"Art's more of a hobby," I respond, "I chose to study social work because of how I grew up."

"You said your father wasn't in your life, right?"

"He left me but more importantly, he left my mom, and that was very hard on her. I want to help young children that have unfortunate family dynamics, and to do everything I can to better their lives as they grow up unlike how it was for me. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything my mom has done for me, but it didn't come without struggles, and I don't want that for any little kids. I'd rather do everything in my power to prevent it."

Josh softly smiles at me. "Amazing."

I blush.

"It's not a big deal."

"What do you mean? I knew you were pure the first moment I met you, and this just proves it." Josh replies, and the only thing I can think to do is punch his arm.

He winces in pain, but still continues to smile. "Haha, you're cute."

I lean forward to peck his lips. "That makes two of us."

Neither one of us say a word for a moment as we keep our faces close, our noses lightly touching, while captivated by the other's mere existence. Josh's phone then makes a noise, apparently getting a text message.

"Who's that?"

"Darren? He says I need to get back to the room right away,"

"What for?"

"No idea, but I'd rather ask questions later." Josh says, lunging up to his feet, and grabbing my hand as we rush back to the car.

Josh doesn't say much on the ride back to campus and even offers to take me back to my room, but I decline. I want to continue to spend the day with him. Also, I'm ridiculously nosy.

I straggle behind as we walk down the hallway to his room, and the minute Josh opens the door, there's two people sitting inside—one person I recognize and one person I don't. Afterwards, I look to Josh and he's absolutely stunned, resembling a deer caught in headlights.

Ok, now can we ask questions?

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Recap:

1. Josh and Maya wake up one morning after spending the night on the roof

2. Josh takes Maya to an art museum, and Maya is suspicious (this is in reference to last chapter when Jane mentioned how Jake and Maya have art to bond over, and Josh decides to prove he can be interested in art too just for Maya)

3. Josh goes back to his dorm, and encounters a familiar face

Hello everyone, I hope you all are still enjoying the story as there's only a few more chapters left until the end. I know this chapter was short, but I'm not going to apologize for it since I purposely wanted to leave it on a cliffhanger. I also wanted to write a chapter that was more lighthearted, and showed more romance between Josh and Maya. In other words, a change from all the drama, so I hope you all liked it.

Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, and followed. Much appreciation!