20 Minutes Later

Even though Joshua considers himself to be an introvert, that doesn't necessarily mean that he hates interacting with people.

Joshua can be social when the situation calls for it, and he knew that by working as a cashier he would have to interact with multiple people eight hours a day, five days out of the week, sometimes talking nonstop. Joshua knew exactly what to look forward to when taking this job, which is why he trained himself to master the art of faking it until you make it.

There are days where he hates having to clock in, but Joshua never shows such negative emotions on his face. He always comes to work with a positive attitude and a bright smile. Because of this, the regulars love him, and his supervisor and co-workers never have anything bad to say about him. However, where there are good days, there are also bad days. 

And days like today, where Joshua wishes Lucas was around to do his own damn job.

Currently, in his head, Joshua is cursing out his latest customer for all the junk that she has in her shopping cart. Joshua feels like it will take forever to scan and bag everything himself, thanks to Lucas having gone on another unnecessary break.

Joshua wants to get rid of the old woman as soon as possible because standing behind her is Rory Carter, looking magically delicious in his fitted black tank top and basketball shorts, his muscles out and on full display. Joshua is so distracted by Rory’s presence that he can barely keep up the conversation that he’s having with the old woman.

"Yes, ma’am. We recently moved the cat food to aisle thirteen. Now will this be all for you today?" Joshua asks, trying to be polite. The woman nods and thanks him for being patient with her. Joshua helps her load everything back into her cart after she pays, and then finally, she heads toward the exit. “Hey, Rory.” Joshua smiles at his next customer after stepping back behind the register. “I totally didn’t mean to leave you on read earlier. Things suddenly got very busy around here and…yeah. Sorry about that.”

"No need to apologize. We can always pick up where we left off later." Rory smiles while unloading his groceries, making the simple act somehow look sexy as hell. "Shouldn't there be someone else here to help bag the groceries for you? Seems like you're doing a lot of work today."

“Um, yeah actually,” Joshua says, slightly caught off guard. “Wow. You’re like the first person that’s noticed I’m here alone.”

“I’m attentive when I want to be.” Rory winks.

“Noted.” Joshua blushes.

Rory Carter is one of the few shoppers that treats Joshua like a human being, actually acknowledging him and caring enough to make small talk when in Joshua’s checkout line instead of treating him like someone whose only purpose in life is to scan and bag groceries.

Despite having been messaging back and forth with one another on Twitter over the past few days, the two have yet to make any plans to link up in person, so Joshua can't exactly call Rory a friend right now, but more so a casual acquaintance.

Rory, however, feels differently about their title.

"Lucas, my co-worker, is supposed to be here helping me out but he's gone MIA," Joshua says. "I'm used to doing most of the work around here anyway, so I can't complain. If I do, I might get fired," Joshua jokes. Rory laughs with him. "So, as you probably saw, we recently moved a few things around in the store. Did you have any trouble finding what you needed?”

"I did get a little lost trying to find the kiwis, but other than that, no problem. Tell your boss the new renovations look great," Rory says. Their time comes to an end much too soon as Joshua scans Rory’s last item, later reading him his total. Rory pays for his things, telling Joshua to keep the change. "Before I go, I have a question to ask you."

Thankful that no one is in line behind Rory, Joshua relaxes a bit, trying his best to savor every second spent standing here talking to this gorgeous man.

"A q-question?" Joshua stumbles over his words, growing nervous as he continues to hold Rory’s intimidating gaze. "A question about what?"

"Friday night. Do you have any plans?" Rory, although it looks like he exudes nothing but confidence as he speaks to Joshua, on the inside, he’s actually just as nervous as Joshua. It's an unfamiliar feeling, but Rory doesn't let it shake him up. "A friend of mine recently got promoted at his job and I'm throwing him a party at my place to celebrate. It won't be anything too wild, but I wanted to know if you'd like to come by and maybe hang out for a bit."

A party invitation? But why me? We've only spoken to each other a few times. We're not exactly close... Joshua thinks. He wants to pinch himself just to be sure that he's not dreaming right now. He doesn't know whether to scream in excitement, jump for joy, or do both because apparently, he and Rory are closer than what Joshua had initially assumed. 

Why else would Rory invite him to this party? A party being held at Rory's house; a place where his fans have only caught small glimpses of via his YouTube videos. So many things could go wrong in this scenario, Rory inviting Joshua—basically a stranger—into his home, into his personal space where only family and a handful of friends are welcomed.

Joshua doesn't want to think too deeply about this, but he can't help but do exactly that.

"I’m sorry. I-I just don't understand…" Joshua whispers, his cheeks red with embarrassment at how horrible he's handling this conversation. "We've only recently started talking and have never hung out in person before, so why invite someone like me to your party? We still barely know each other."

"I beg to differ." Rory smiles, never taking his eyes off the blushing boy’s cute face. "Of all the conversations we’ve had in this store, and even before we started talking to each other on Twitter, I’ve always felt a bit of a connection towards you. And while I may not be the best judge of character or anything like that, my spirit tells me that you’re a good guy. Someone I can trust. If you weren’t, you would have already told people that we were talking in the DM’s,” Rory says, studying Joshua’s reaction. “You’re not being friendly with me because you’re after clout. You just genuinely want to be my friend and I…I like that about you.”

Joshua is malfunctioning and Rory can see right through him.

Rory laughs, saying, “Plus, with you being so damn shy and never wanting to FaceTime, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious to see how you'd act once you got some liquor in you." Rory smirks. Joshua swears his heart stops beating at that exact moment. It’s hard to tell, but Joshua is almost certain that Rory is flirting with him right now. "When’s the last time you had a break from this place? I bet you could use one."

“You’re right…” Joshua says after finding his voice. “I could use a break.”

"Great! Let’s exchange numbers so that I can send you the time, location, and all that jazz. You can also bring a few friends if you want." Rory pulls his cell phone out at the same time as Joshua. They quickly exchange numbers before Rory gets ready to leave. "Take it easy, Joshua. Don't let these people work you too hard today."

Joshua nods, smiling shyly as he watches Rory walk out of the store sporting an even bigger grin on his face.