* set yourself on fire, [josh]

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

His lips twitched into a smile at the joking. Joshua appreciated Nell's sense of humour and didn't take it seriously enough to be offended, so he just lay there with her in contentment and enjoyed the extra heat that her closeness provided. It was different to his own but that was not a problem for him. "It had carpet, once upon a time," said Josh truthfully. "It was... blue, I think." He had bugged his parents to change it when he was younger because he'd enjoyed sliding across hardwood floors and, "it doesn't match anything, it's ugly". He was no interior designer even at that age but he could at least tell that powder blue and the dark, deep reds and wooden tones of his room had clashed. The carpet had been soft and plush from what he remembered of it, and it had always been clean no matter what he spilled thanks to the maids and their diligence. Josh was glad to hear that it had not been his fault that Nell was pulled from her sleep, the girl herself instead blaming the sun. He wasn't entirely sure what had woken him up. He remembered the slow return to consciousness but it had not seemed to be triggered by anything particular. Perhaps the sun was to blame—he wasn't sure. "Well in that case, good morning?" He chuckled quietly and smiled as he spoke. It didn't bug him to get up, either. He was in an agreeable and relatively good mood that morning, if a bit lazy, and it wasn't hard to find the reason why.

Though he thought about it, he could not remember Annabel or his parents giving him an exact time or date of his sister's return. She'd hugged him in farewell and then half-skipped out to the car where her friends parents were waiting to pick her up. He assumed she had told Patricia and Donovan the details of her sleepover but as he had not been around when she'd asked them he was not privy to them himself. "If she gets back today, probably some time in the afternoon," the Fire graduate shrugged. He was alright with her returning whenever, he was just relieved that she hadn't come back too early in the morning. It was incredibly unlikely that she would have but still not a thought he liked to entertain. "She might stay over another day, as it's the weekend and all. She never said." He had never really experienced many sleepovers in childhood. Not that he'd really cared back then and he minded even less now. He'd had a rare few people that he could tolerate in terms of friendship and had generally been a bit cold to them during the period when he'd hung around the gang. Though there were things he regretted and things he didn't in his life, his treatment of his few companions during those times was definitely not something he was proud of. He was secretly glad Nell hadn't been around back then. What would she have thought of him if he'd turned on their friendship for (seemingly) no reason at all? I'd never do that to her. Not now.

Despite his mother teasing them, Josh was still relaxed as they sat down at the dining room table. He wondered how Nell was feeling, as she'd voiced her anxieties up in his room, but he could not tell simply by the things she said to his parents. She sounded fine and it made him smile a bit when she agreed to have both rather than just either or. He touched her hand for a moment in a silent gesture to get her attention without alerting his parents, hoping that she could infer that he was glad she was eating again. Life felt pretty good right now. Nell was getting over her depression, they had a real relationship now, and even though Patrick was causing problems Josh found that he felt optimistic for the time being. It was rare for him but he didn't question it. Trish returned soon with food for all four of them and sat down beside her husband, who had put down his paper in order to start in on the food. The conversation was mild (Josh, of course, made sure Nell was fully included) until about halfway through, at which time Donovan asked, "Are you planning to go back to Nell's tonight?" It was not a hostile question and did not seem double-edged, so he did not hesitate to answer. "I think I will," he said, looking at Nell for a moment as he spoke. Glancing back at his father, he added, "As long as you're sure you don't need me around...?" Trish smiled at him. "We'll be fine," she insisted. "Do you know when you plan on moving back for good?"

The question caught him off guard and made him slightly uncomfortable. The truth was, he had thought about it. When he'd come back to stay with his parents for a few nights Josh thought he would revel in the fact that he was back home, but it was a lot less thrilling than he'd expected. He supposed it was because he'd gotten used to having Nell around. He was not alone in the mansion—he had his sister, his parents, his pets, the house staff. It was different. He did not have his girlfriend when he lived her. I don't know if I could get used to this again. In a way, he didn't really want to. He liked the freedom that came with living somewhere else and the fact that it was with Nell was a huge bonus. "I, uh, I don't... really plan on it. Not yet." He felt like he was under some sort of spotlight because Donovan was staring at him and he realised that he'd never brought this up with Nell, and her opinion on the matter was crucial. Clearing his throat a little (at least Trish had the decency to keep her expression to one of mild interest) he said, "I thought I might, you know, stay with Nell for a while." He glanced at the girl in question now, feeling bad for asking her opinion in front of his parents where it was more difficult to say no. He hadn't planned this. "If that's okay with you?" He was asking Nell and not his parents. "I mean, I can always stay here if you want your place back to yourself..."

[NELL DOE DALE]

Sighing, it was content and showed that she was in fat okay with getting up. ”Buenos días,” she told him, covering her mouth with a hand. It did feel like a good morning, which was starting to become common now that she was generally feeling better. This morning was special, but she also liked to believe that it was the depression packing up its bags and leaving her be. Nell always loved to see Annabel, but she understood that it would be kind of awkward to explain to his baby sister why his girlfriend was staying the night in his room. She wasn’t a little kid—even though Nell still found her too adorable for her own good—but it was still Josh’s little sister. There was aways that protective instinct to shelter the younger siblings from the world, as her friend had proved before by threatening her own little sister’s boyfriend once. Even though Tilly was her ‘younger’ twin, she could understand that in a way. Of course, she didn’t have the girl long enough to guide her through broken hearts and life in general. She tried not to think of that. She wanted it to be a good day.

Nell tried not to be too uncomfortable with the situation, and worked well enough. She wasn’t easily perturbed as is, so it only took a little effort to keep herself composed. You’re chill with them now, was what she kept repeating in her mind. It’s all good. After all, she couldn’t sense any tension from his parents. The opposite, actually. She let this reassure her and give her a sense of comfort for the time being. She would take Trish’s ball-busting over her ire any day. Besides, food was a good way to take her mind off of pretty much anything. She was glad to have that back now, the joy that food used to give her. Apparently Josh was glad to, because that’s what she inferred the contact to be for. It was weird, thinking of how much he knew during her depression, the fact that it was his doing that she didn’t make herself sick from how little she was eating each day. She was glad that everything in this moment was okay, and she could talk to Josh’s parents without the guilt she used to feel around them. The subject of Josh’s return to her place was brought up by Donovan, and she smiled at Josh when he said that he would go back. A part of her wanted to tell him that he should maybe stick around for his family, but when his parents said that they’d be fine without him, she decided to let her selfish side be happy with that.

Of course, she knew that Josh wouldn’t stay forever, and she was perfectly fine with that. She liked having him around, but he also had a family. She wasn’t going to keep him away from them. This thought in her mind, she was surprised to hear that he wasn’t planning on moving back for good. Nell blinked and turned to look at him. You live in a mansion, she thought, her best attempts at philosophical early-morning musings. Why wouldn’t he want to move back in? It seemed that Donovan had a similar train of thought, and she looked away so as not to make Josh feel like he’d suddenly grown three heads. It was jarring for her, considering she could fit her apartment in one of the rooms of the mansion and still have space left over. She’d like to live in a mansion, but her funds wouldn’t really allow that. Then he said that he wanted to stay with her for a while, and she gave him a small smile when he looked at her to show that she wasn’t opposed to it. Her door was always open for him, after all. Plus, she hated being alone—yes, she had Pablo, but human companionship was different. ”Yeah, of course,” she told him. ”I’m fine with it.”