Under the Lights

“Indeed they are. Sit,” I urge them, pulling out a chair for K-drama. She gives me a funny look, then drops into it. “I have some news.”

“Champagne news?” K-drama arches an eyebrow. “Please tell me you’re not getting engaged to Shannah Barrett.”

“Funny.” Especially since I came on to you like an idiot just two weeks ago. “No, definitely not. I’m done with Shannah Barrett. I’m done with my parents’ stupid shit. And I’m definitely done with Chuck and that reality show.”

“I see you took our conversation to heart,” says Liam, grabbing a burger and sliding into a chair. “Does this mean you found a new passion to pursue?”

“Actually, no.” I pop open the champagne, and K-drama squeals and laughs as the cork goes flying and I spill all over the table before moving my mouth underneath to capture the escaping suds. After a couple of swallows, I hand it over to her and grin as she chugs a little straight from the bottle. “But I am gonna go looking for it. I’m leaving,” I tell them, wishing I had a mic to drop for maximum dramatic effect.

“You got your own place?” Liam asks.

“Clearly, I was a positive influence,” K-drama says smugly, putting the bottle down. She plucks a fry from the pile in the center of the table and pops it in her mouth.

“Nope, not that either.” I take a huge bite of burger and swipe my tongue over the sauce on my lip. She doesn’t even watch, so I guess she’s totally gay now. “I mean, I’m leaving. Leaving LA. Leaving the US, actually.”

K-drama’s fingers freeze mid-air on the way to nab another fry. “To go where? For how long?”

I shrug. “Everywhere. I don’t know. I just know there isn’t really anything for me here. But there’s gotta be something more fun out there, right? So, I got a one-way ticket around the world. Heading to Hawaii first. Figured I’d get in a week of surfing with Wyatt, and Aspen’s gonna come do a shoot there for a couple of days. Then Japan and then…we’ll see, I guess.”

“Wow.” Liam pulls off the top bun and takes a bite of his burger. I should’ve guessed he’s cutting carbs. Man, I’m so glad to be getting out of here. “So you’re just…wandering.”

“Just wandering,” I confirm. “I mean, there’s always plenty to do and lots of people around. But yeah, I wanna see new stuff. Do new stuff. Have experiences and shit. Maybe even do some volunteer stuff so I can see what it’s like not to be an asshole for five minutes.”

“Deep,” Liam says with a nod.

K-drama rolls her eyes. “So, basically, we’re here to help you set up for another massive party to send you off?”

“Nope.” I sweep my arm over the table. “This is it. Welcome to my goodbye party.”

“This?” Her eyebrows shoot up. “No one’s eating swords or doing body shots off a Victoria’s Secret model.”

I shrug. “New plan, new Josh.”

Suddenly, the skepticism falls off her face, and her eyes widen a little. “Wait. When are you leaving?”

“The new owners of the house take over on December 1 to redo it. I sure as hell don’t wanna be here for that, so, as soon as possible, basically.”

She knots her fingers in her lap, a weirdly nervous gesture, and I can’t help smiling. She is so gonna miss me. I take another swig of champagne as she says, “Can you stay until then, though?”

“Suddenly realizing you’re gonna be sad and bored without me, K-drama?”

“Actually…” Her eyes dart to Liam, then back to me. “There’s something I need to do. And I need to do it next week, while Ally’s home for Thanksgiving. And I’d really, really like for you to be here, too. It’d mean a lot to me.”

It’s obvious from Liam’s face that he’s completely confused, but I’m not. Not for a second. I reach over and cover her nervously twisting hands, squeezing. “Yeah,” I say quietly. “I’ll stick around for that.”

“What am I missing?” asks Liam, looking between the two of us, then dropping his eyes to our clasped fingers.

“I’ll fill you in as soon as I fill your girlfriend in first,” she promises. “I just want to talk to her in person.”

He nods, already over it. “Cool.” Then he puts his burger down. “It’s weird, you know? I feel like you guys are figuring all this shit out lately. I’m kinda jealous.”

“You?” I snort. “Dude, you’ve, like, set up your whole life already in the past few months.”

He shrugs. “Not really. I mean, yeah, I’ve figured out that I wanna do movies, and that I’m not so into being a teen heartthrob or whatever. And obviously I know I wanna be with Ally. But…I dunno. It’s tough to do it all, ya know?”

Vanessa smiles as she squeezes my hand one more time before pulling it back to nab another fry, and at the same time, we say, “Hashtag LiamProblems.”

There isn’t a lot I’ll miss about being here, I know, but this little party is to say goodbye to the few things I will. And it’s not exactly the most kickass shindig I’ve ever thrown, but I feel pretty sure it’s the right way to go.

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