Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 19:42:08 +0100
From: jerichoholic #1 <beer4myhorses@hotmail.com>
Subject: Paul & Josh / chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: The following story is completely FICTIONAL it
does not imply anything concerning the private life of Paul
walker or Josh Hartnett. I don't know them and I don't know
anything about their lives. This story is only meant as
fiction and does in no way describe real occurrences,
situations or facts. All other persons mentioned in this
story are fictional. Any resemblance to an existing person,
company or business is totally coincidental.

Author's note: Just want to stress again that this story is
complete fiction. In this chapter there's some talk about
their families and childhood. That's all made up ok. I have
no idea what their real lives look like so please keep that
in mind. For the rest: Enjoy chapter 10 and please let me
know what you think ok?


Chapter 10:

The room was dark, dirty and covered with a thin film of
dust. The green carpets that covered the floor were
stained and it seemed as if they had been there since the
beginning of time. The air was thick and reminded her of
rotten food and air-freshener. She took a few seconds to
overlook the mess in front of her. Then she turned to
face the guy behind her and said:

"This will do fine...I'll take it."

She paid the landlord two weeks in advance after which
she  kindly but firmly showed him the door.

It was the first time she had ever visited New York but
it hardly impressed her. She thought the city was too
dirty, crowded and depressing. Even though she had
disliked the place from the first moment she set foot in
it she didn't mind staying there. She knew she had a job
to do, and time was against her.

...

"We're here!"

Josh was awoken by Paul's sudden outing. He had fallen
asleep during the long drive to Paul's parents. It was
the first time in days he had been able to sleep for a
few hours without being plagued by bad dreams. He
stretched his arms a bit before looking outside. They
were driving through a pretty typical suburban street:
White-painted houses on both sides, with a small yard
around them, a row of oak trees between the sidewalk and
the road, ...It looked quite nice.

"How long have I been asleep?" Josh asked with a sleepy
voice.

"A couple of hours I guess"  Paul answered.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Josh questioned, "now I've
slept through most of the ride."

"you just looked too cute, sleeping" Paul smiled.

"So this is the neighbourhood you grew up in, huh?" Josh
asked as he continued to look outside.

"Yup, this is it" Paul replied. There was a smile on his
face as he drove through the familiar streets where he'd
spent most of his childhood.

Josh continued to study the houses and streets they
passed. The evening sky had turned a darkish colour of
red. Outside there were people watering the lawn,
children running around or riding their bikes. It was a
typical suburban neighbourhood. Josh nevertheless was
fascinated by it. His mind imagined what it must have
been like growing up here: Sunday-afternoon barbeques
after church, sitting on the front porch drinking ice-
tea, watching the clouds go by... The recognisable
character of the neighbourhood was somewhat comforting.
There was a feeling of safety in the predictability of
the area.

"It must have been fun growing up here" Josh thought out
loud.

"It was...for a while" Paul replied.

"What do you mean?" Josh asked, a bit confused by Paul's
words.

"Well...When you're a kid I guess everything is good
enough." Paul answered, "But when I grew older the only
thing I could dream of was leave this place behind."

"Why?" Josh inquisited. He couldn't see how someone could
want to leave a place as peaceful as this.

"Because there's nothing going on here." Paul continued,
"Every corner you turn there's more of the same...white
houses, picket fences,..."

"What's wrong with picket fences?" Josh teasingly asked.

"Nothing,...nothing" Paul explained, "what I mean is that
places like this don't offer any chances at growth.
Nothing changes, nothing new ever appears. It's like a
desert sometimes. If you're a bit curious like I was this
place has nothing to offer you. I guess that's why I
became an actor...because of that deep rooted desire do
discover new horizons. Acting, art, literature,
music...they were all methods of escaping the total
blankness of this place.  But don't get me wrong I had
some fantastic times here as a child. I just outgrew it I
guess. They say the circumstances in which you spend your
childhood determine your life as an adult,...there's some
truth in that I think."

Josh had listened to Paul explaining a bit of what it was
like growing up here and he could understand what Paul
was trying to say. Still he felt like he had missed out
on quite a bit growing up moving every couple of years.
The predictability and uneventful character of these
blocks, the thing Paul disliked so obviously, appealed to
him. He had always been quite traditional when it came to
setting out goals and dreams. He was just a picket-fences
kinda guy.

"Just one more turn and we're there." Paul said. There
was obvious excitement in his voice. It might seem
strange that someone who leads such an exciting life
could get so enthusiastic about coming home...but for Paul
his family was far more important than his career. He
knew he wouldn't be where he was in his life right now,
without the support of his loved ones.

Josh suddenly became fully aware of the fact he was going
to meet Paul's parents in a few minutes. When they had
talked about it during the past couple of days it seemed
like a cool idea, but right now he was getting a bit
nervous.  This had nothing to do with Paul's parents per
se...He'd always been a bit uncomfortable meeting new
people. Especially if their opinion of him mattered. He
felt like he was about to audition for a role...another
thing he wasn't especially fond of. He shook the nervous
feelings from his mind. He took a look at Paul who's
excitement was obvious. He smiled a bit then turned back
to looking out of the front window.

...

The glow of the fire reflected in the red sand. He stared
at the inferno below him. The smoke rising from the
wreckage began to cut of his breath. The flames piercing
the darkness of the night, consuming whatever came into
their grabs, suddenly frightened him. There was no way
back now...this was it.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a sudden gust of
wind. It took him a few moments to remember where he was.
As he overlooked the city he wondered what would have
happened if he hadn't...It was supposed to be a new
beginning...But had it been?

He wondered what had brought on these sudden flashbacks.
They had been plaguing him all day. He saw flashes of
cups of tea, smelt the odour  of strange smelling herbs,
drying against the ceiling. The orange glow of the
streetlights reminded him of the playful flickering of
red candles standing on the tables and cabinets. And then
there was her face, those inquisitive eyes,...He hadn't
thought about her in ages, but today her face had invaded
his mind...Her face...and his.

Why was he remembering these things? This was the past!
It was dead! It was buried! He had left it all
behind...everything...everything...except...there was one thing
he had never been able to forget. One memory still
haunted him...the one thing he had tried to run from all
these years.

He suddenly turned around..."I need to know for sure"...he
thought. "I need to know my eyes didn't deceive me...and if
she's here too...I'm not going to let her stop me!"

With that he disappeared into the New York  evening.

...

As the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the
horizon, Paul's car pulled up the driveway of the house
that had been his home for most of his life.

"She still puts out the rose-bushes" Paul smiled.

"What?" Josh asked

"See those two potted rose-bushes by the door?" Paul
asked as he pointed to the front door of his parents
house. "Every year my mother puts them there. She has
been putting them there for as long as I can remember.
Every year when Palm-Sunday comes along she drives to the
florist to get two potted rose-bushes. They stay there
till Easter. I'll bet there are two wooden Easter-bunnies
besides them."

As they both stepped out of the car the front door of the
house opened. As soon as Paul saw his parents he hasted
to the front door where they waited to greet their son.
While Paul was hugging his parents, josh, who wasn't
really sure what to do, opened the trunk of the car to
get their luggage. With a suitcase in each hand he made
his way to Paul, who was busy answering the typical
questions people ask  right after you've arrived: "How
was the trip?" "How was traffic?", "How long did it take
to get here?",...

 When he noticed Josh had caught up with them he put his
hand on Josh shoulder and said: "Mom, dad,...this is Josh,
my boyfriend, as you know."

"Hey Josh, nice to meet you." Paul's mother said as she
extended her hand.

"Nice to meet you to, Mrs Walker." Josh said as he shook
her hand.

"Please,...call me Mary-Ann" She said to Josh.

"Ok" Josh replied as he turned to Paul's dad who also
extended his hand.

"Hey Josh, I'm Tom," He said as he shook Josh's hand,
"welcome to our home."

"Well, let's get inside...I'm sure you guys are hungry
after such a long drive." Paul's mother said as she
gestured at the door to invite them in.

As they walked in Josh noticed there were indeed two
wooden Easter bunnies besides the rose bushes. Just as
Paul had predicted. It brought a subtle smile to his
face.

"Josh,...you can leave the suitcases in the hallway." Paul
said to josh while they we're making their way in. "We'll
unpack later".

"Ok..." Josh replied, "and thank you so much for helping me
carrying these" he joked.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Paul said, not knowing if Josh was
serious or not.

"Don't worry about it..." Josh said laughing, "I'm
perfectly capable of carrying two suitcases up a
driveway."

As Josh made his way through the living room to the
kitchen where everyone was settling down  around the
dinner table, he quickly scanned the interior of the
house. The living room was pretty homy. It was obvious
Paul's mother was behind most of the interior. The were
several bundles of dried flowers on the cabinets, as well
as several other ornaments, including a beautiful
crucifix carved out of wood. His attention was drawn to
several youth pictures of Paul that were standing on a
shelf against the wall. There was one picture he thought
was really cute. He guessed Paul must have been about 10
or 11 in the picture. He was wearing a baseball outfit,
complete  with a matching cap, and was holding a bat
above his shoulder as if he was waiting to take a swing.
Josh smiled as he put the frame back in it's place.

As he went to the kitchen he noticed there was a pretty
big record collection in the corner of the living room.
he made a mental note to check it out later, as he
entered the kitchen.  Everybody was already sitting down,
so he sat down next to Paul.

"I tell ya mom...I've sure missed your cooking." Paul said,
referring to the food standing on the table.

"Well then...you should visit more often." She replied,
"now let's not let this get cold...dig in."

During dinner most of the conversation focussed on Paul
and what he had been up to, but Josh also received quite
a lot of attention. They basically had to tell everything
that had happened since they had met some two months ago.
Paul's mother was a bit shocked to learn they were
already living together most of the time, but she
concluded her son was old and wise enough to make his own
calls. Besides, she could see he was happy with the way
his live was going. This naturally pleased her very much.

"So tell us a bit about yourself, Josh" Paul's father,
Tom, asked. "Where are you from"

"Well that's a tough one" Josh replied, "I'm basically
from everywhere and nowhere...My father used to be in the
military, so we moved around quite a bit when I was a
kid. I lived in Australia for three years with my aunt."

"Australia...really? What was it like living there?" Paul's
mother asked.

"uhm...It was alright I guess...It's a beautiful country.
That's for sure." Josh answered.

Paul's mother was intrigued by Josh's reaction to her
seemingly innocent question. She had noticed he seemed a
bit uneasy answering the question. As a mother she had
immediately picked up on that, but decided it was best
not to push the subject. She didn't even get the chance,
if she had wanted to, cause her husband wanted to know
more about the movie-business and had already shifted the
conversation to the movie they were working on.

After they had all finished their meals Paul's mother
started clearing the table. Paul's father got up to help
but was immediately cut of by his wife.

"No Tom, you know you need to rest." Mary-Ann said, "You
go watch some TV...I'll do the dishes...and don't forget your
pills."

"What's wrong dad?" Paul asked concerned.
"Oh It's nothing..." Tom replied, "I had some trouble
breathing lately, but it's nothing to worry about. Just a
flu that affected  my lungs. The doctor says I'll be up
and about in no time."

"As long as you rest enough" Mary-Ann corrected him.

"Alright...alright" Tom said, faking a bit of irritation,"
How much can you rest...By the time this is over I'll never
have to sleep again."

"I'll go take our luggage upstairs" Paul said, "Be right
back."

As Paul left Josh noticed Mary-Ann had started washing
the dishes.

"Do you have a towel somewhere?" Josh asked, "I'll help
you with those."

"Oh that's not necessary" she replied, "this won't take
long"

"It'll go faster if you let me help" Josh answered.

"Ok" she said smiling, as she handed him a towel.

Five minutes later the last dish was put in the cupboard.
Mary-Ann thanked Josh for his help. After the sink was
cleaned they both walked into the living room where Tom
was watching a recap of a football game. Before Josh had
a chance to sit down Paul came back downstairs.

"hey Josh,...feel like going for a walk?" he asked.

"Where are you going?" His mother asked.

"Just want to see the old neighbourhood again" Paul
replied, "You mind...?"

"No, not at all, go ahead" His mother answered.

Paul and josh grabbed their coats and headed outside. The
night sky was totally clear with every star shining as if
it was Christmas. Little did they know that at the same
time Lightning and thunder tore through the New York
Night.

...

She had opened the window of her hotel room to observe
the furious weather. Flashes of lightning made the New
York skyline look like the jaw of some giant monster.

"There's a lot of anger in the air tonight..." She said to
herself. I have to find him before he does!"

...

...
Well That's it for chapter 10. I hope you enjoyed it.
Since I'm about to have two weeks off I hope the next
chapter will be up soon. The good news is I have figured
out how to take this story through the next chapters. So
keep an eye out for Chapter 11 and please let me know
what you think

Also: don't forget to check out my story `blue eyes
crying in the rain' in the `encounters' section of this
site. New chapter to be added there soon as well.

beer4myhorses@hotmail.com

thanx 4 waiting.