Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 20:22:27 +0200
From: jerichoholic #1 <beer4myhorses@hotmail.com>
Subject: Paul & Josh / chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: The following story is completely FICTIONAL
is 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 an 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 is purely coincidental.


Paul and Josh ch4:

It had been a busy couple of days since Paul had showed
Josh around in New York city. He had several meetings
with various people working on the movie. He had put a
lot of energy in studying the script...learning his lines
and rehearsing them for himself. The filming would start
the next day and it had taken a great effort to get ready
for tomorrow, but this afternoon he finally reached the
point where he felt he was ready.

He put the script away and fell in the sofa. He started
thinking about Josh again. He had been doing that a lot
to the last couple of days. It had been since Wednesday
he had seen Josh. Both guys were incredibly busy people
so they hadn't had the time to meet the past  three and a
half days. Paul for one really wanted to meet the guy
again. Suddenly his eyes lit up as he thought of
something. he walked to the phone, dialed a number and
waited for a response.

"Hello"...he heard on the other end.

"Hey Josh...It's Paul" He spoke.

"Hey buddy...long time no see." Josh said
enthusiastically.

"I Know..." Paul agreed, "hey I just wanted to ask you if
you had any plans tonight." he continued.

"No...not really...why?" Josh asked.

"Well I was thinking...if you weren't doing anything
tonight...Maybe you'd like to come over to my place...and
watch some TV." Paul said. His tone of voice revealed he
was up to something. Josh noticed to.

"Watch some TV?...what are you up to boy?" He asked
laughingly.

"You're just going to have to wait and see." Paul
answered.

"Ok...What time should I come by?" Josh asked.

"A little before eight...and don't be late." Paul
answered.

"I won't.. I won't" Josh said, "I'll be there."

With that the conversation ended. Paul was anxious to see
if Josh would like the surprise he had in mind. If his
impression of Josh was right he thought it would be. He
looked at the clock. It was 5.06 pm. "Just enough time"
Paul thought. He quickly gathered his stuff and left the
apartment.

When he arrived back at his apartment about one hour and
a half later he was carrying four bags filled with chips,
beer and I don't know what other snacks and drinks. "In a
little over an hour Josh is going to be here" he thought.
He put his groceries away, took a quick shower and
changed into a pair of blue-jeans and a black shirt.
After he had applied some gel to his hair he headed to
the kitchen and opened himself a cold one awaiting the
arrival of Josh.

Five minutes later he heard the sound of the doorbell
ringing. He told Josh to come on up as he unlocked the
door. When Josh entered the apartment he immediately
noticed Paul had everything ready for a night of
watching...something. There were dozens of snacks set
ready on the table in front of the TV. Meanwhile Paul
took his time to admire Josh's appearance. He was wearing
a white sweater that contrasted beautifully with his dark
hair and his black jeans. At the same time, Paul noticed,
it accentuated Josh's smile brilliantly. There was no gel
applied in his hair this time so it looked lighter and
softer. It definitely made him look very cute, Paul
thought.

"Man...you haven't been trying to save a buck." Josh
smiled as he nodded at all the snacks on the table.

Paul smiled as he replied: "Yeah...you know...I didn't
know what you like to eat while watching TV, so I made
sure there was a bit of everything."

Josh smiled when he heard this.

"So what are we watching?" He asked.

"You'll see...?" Paul laughed. "As a matter of fact..."
He continued, "I think it's about Showtime."

Both guys sat down next to each other on the sofa in
front of the TV. Paul reached for the remote-control and
turned on the TV. At first there was a black screen for
about two minutes but then the program started. Josh was
curious to see what it was Paul had invited him to see,
but he didn't recognize the intro of the show. Suddenly
he heard a commentator say:

"Ladies and gentleman...we are live from the sold out
Madison square garden in New York city...Welcome to the
greatest event of all time...welcome to Wrestlemania XX!"

"Wrestlemania" Josh said surprised, his eyes were shining
and the excitement in his voice was obvious, "you ordered
the ppv?"

"Sure did" Paul said. he was glad Josh was surprised. he
had noticed a couple of days ago the guy was a huge
sports-fan and since he was a wrestling-fan himself he
put two and two together.

"Thanks man...this is great!" Josh said and without
hesitation he grabbed Paul in a close hug as to thank him
even more.

Paul was taken aback by this as a wave of electricity ran
through his body. He didn't think anything of it but he
was very happy that Josh was obviously very comfortable
around him. They both enjoyed the program very much. They
would cheer their favorites on as if they were in the
arena themselves. They had a great time. Paul noticed
Josh was growing even more comfortable around him. From
time to time he would jokingly hit Paul in the shoulder
when they disagreed about to outcome of a match or he
would playfully put his arm around Paul. This off course
drove Paul nuts. He had a really hard time not getting
carried away. In a matter of days they had become best
friends and they were both having a great time.

Suddenly a huge pyro exploded on the TV-screen. A
wrestler named 'Kane' made his entrance.

"Great...I've been waiting for this all night" Paul said.
he was obviously very excited.

"What?" Josh asked.

"You know what's going to happen next...don't you?" Paul
asked.

"I have o idea" Josh answered, "I haven't had the chance
to follow the program the last couple of moths".

"Just sit back and watch...This is going to be great!"
Paul said.

Josh was very curious as to hat was going to happen next
so he watched the screen with great attention. Suddenly
the arena went completely dark and a high voice sounded
through Madison square garden "OOOH YEEESSS!!!" it
yelled.

"No way!..." Josh reacted "No way this is what i think it
is!"

"I think it IS!" Paul laughed.

"Man I'm like twelve years old again!" Josh said excited
as he watched 'the undertaker' make his already legendary
entrance. "This is so cool!" Josh said, "I've got
Goosebumps...this brings back so many memories."

Paul laughed at josh's enthusiasm. Josh put his hand on
Paul's shoulder and looked at him. "I'm having such a
great time tonight...Thank you so much for this" He said.
Paul smiled, but didn't really know how to react. He
definitely liked to feel Josh's hand on his shoulder.

"No problem" He simply replied.

They both watched the program till the end. When the show
was over Paul turned of the TV. Both guys fell back in
the sofa. Paul offered Josh another drink and both guys
just lay there against the sofa, their feet on the table,
relaxing a while. Finally Josh broke the silence.

"Man it is really late." he said as he pointed to the
clock. It was already past 2 o' clock in the morning.
"Man I'm really not going to get any sleep tonight." he
continued "and I still have to walk all the way back to
the hotel." "What a way to start a first day of
filming..ey" he smiled.

"Well..." Paul spoke. he hesitated a bit while speaking
cause he was nervous about how josh would react to what
he was going to say. He continued: "If you want to...you
can stay here for the night...there's a guest-room over
there..." He pointed to the door behind the kitchen. "I
can drive by your hotel in the morning so you can get
your stuff...if that helps off course."

"That would be great..." Josh replied, "you're sure it's
no trouble cause I wouldn't want to impose myself."

"No problem..." Paul replied, "That's what it's there
for" he said, referring to the guest room.

Josh agreed with Paul's idea since it would really help
him out. He really didn't want to walk for an hour to the
dark streets of NY and since the movie was starting the
next day he needed all the sleep he could get. Paul was
happy Josh was comfortable enough with him to stay at his
apartment. He didn't mean anything with the suggestion,
but he was happy knowing they were becoming such good
friends. After chatting a bit longer they both agreed it
was best to get some sleep. Josh made his way to the
guest room, thanking Paul again for his hospitality. Paul
stayed behind to turn of the TV and the lights. After he
did so he walked up on the terrace for one last smoke. He
needed some time to get his thoughts together. As he
stood there, leaning against the balcony, inhaling the
smoke of the cigarette, he thought about the evening he
had just experienced. Even though he knew it was a bad
idea he couldn't help his feelings for Josh. He realized
he was falling in love with the guy. During the evening
he had been drawn to the guy. Especially when Josh would
put his arm around him or would flash his beautiful
smile. His heart was heavy cause he knew there was no way
anything was going to happen.

"I didn't knew you smoked." He heard a voice say behind
him.

He turned around and saw Josh stand in the doorway.

"Uh...normally I don't" Paul said, surprised by the fact
Josh was standing behind him "I only smoke when I'm
nervous or upset about something."

"So which one are you?" Josh asked.

Paul smiled nervously, not wanting to answer Josh's
question. Josh noticed Paul was uncomfortable with the
question, but he also noticed something was bothering
Paul. He decided not to push the question. Instead he put
his hand on Paul's shoulder and said: "Hey if there's
anything wrong...I'm here for you." The concern in his
voice was obvious.

"Thanks" Paul replied, "but it's nothing...let's go get
some sleep."

Both guys went to their beds for a few hours of sleep.

...

The first days of shooting the film went as well as could
have been expected. Paul and Josh had a great chemistry
on the screen and the director was very pleased with
their performances. The work was hard but both guys were
proud to be able to work on the project. Because of the
huge amount of work involved they hadn't had the chance
to socialize after the filming but they saw each-other
every day on the set. Both guys were impressed with the
other ones talent and working together only fortified
their bond. When Paul would drive home in the evening he
was already looking forward to the next day cause he had
such a good time working with Josh. Now that his mind was
focused on the movie his feelings for Josh were put
aside, but when he was alone at his apartment at night he
couldn't ignore them. He had a difficult time cause in
his mind there was no chance his love for Josh would ever
be answered.

Thursday morning Paul walked into the movie studio, his
usual cheerful self. He looked around for a while, trying
to find Josh. After a while he found him in one of the
cafeteria. From the first moment he saw Josh, Paul knew
something was wrong. Josh was sitting behind a table,
supporting his head with both hands. he didn't even
notice Paul coming in.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked concerned.

Josh nodded to the paper lying on the table. Paul grabbed
it and started to read the page. He was genuinely shocked
when he read the article Josh was referring to. The paper
was a tabloid, and from what Paul could read one of the
filthiest kind. There was an article in which they said
Josh was a money-driven ego-maniac that was impossible to
work with. Someone who had the most extravagant demands
before he would work on anything. There was a lot of
stuff in there that made no sense or was completely
ripped out of it's context. The article painted a real
bad picture of Josh. Paul was outraged when he read the
filth, but was more concerned with Josh who was taking
this really personal. He looked at Josh and put his hand
on his shoulder. Josh looked up.

"Hey man..." Paul spoke, "don't let these vultures get to
you. These are people with no morals trying to make a
buck spreading lies...Don't let them upset you. They
don't know you...and believe me...if they knew...if they
knew you at all... then one by one they would come in
here to apologize for this filth." He was trying his best
to make Josh feel a bit better. It worked a little cause
a shy smile appeared on Josh's face.

"Listen..." Paul continued "I've only known you for a
week and I know this is crap! You are funny, bright,
caring and one of the best friends I have. Don't let this
bother you."

Josh smiled as he heard Paul's words. he was thankful the
guy was there for him and cared enough to talk with him
now that he needed the support. He smiled at Paul and
thanked him for his kind words. Paul tapped him on the
shoulder again and told him: "No problem...any time
man...any time".

Meanwhile the news had spread around the movie studio and
different people whether it were camera men of assistant
directors, they all were shocked by what they had read
and were unanimous in their support for Josh. When the
director heard about the story in the tabloid he
immediately decided to postpone the filming for the day
to allow Josh to regroup after this experience. The
director had enough experience to know he couldn't ask
Josh to perform up to his normal level today so he
decided it was best to cancel the filming for the day.

Both guys left the studio together. Josh didn't say much.
He was still struggling with what had happened today.
Paul noticed Josh was still upset so he said: "You need a
drink...come on I'm not going to leave you like this."

Josh smiled at Paul's concern. He was happy Paul cared
that much about him. They made their way to a bar not too
far from the studio. They made their way to the corner of
the bar were they could talk privately. After they both
ordered their drinks Paul asked Josh again if he was
going to be allright.

"Yeah..." Josh replied, "It's just hard to believe people
would attack me in that manner." The hurt in his voice
was obvious. "I mean...they were talking about how I
demand a new bed in every hotel...I mean" he was
struggling for words now, "I needed a special mattress a
few weeks after I injured my back filming 'Pearl
harbor'...It's not like I demand outrageous stuff
everywhere I go, but they make it seem that way..." His
words trailed off. he was biting his lip trying to keep
his emotions under control.

Paul really felt for Josh at this moment. As an actor he
knew how brutal the press could be at times. He looked
Josh right in his eyes and spoke softly: "Hey, nobody is
buying that stuff...don't worry about what some strangers
think...You know the people who know you are behind you.
You saw it a few minutes ago...the whole crew was with
you on this one...and I am with you always"

This brought a smile on Josh's face. "Thank you man..."
He said, "thank you for being here for me."

"Any time man..." Paul answered.

They stayed in the bar for a while. They talked some more
and after a while Josh began feeling better. They drank
another round before they decided to head home.

"Hey, you want to come over later today to rehears
tomorrows scenes?" Paul asked.

"I think that would be a good idea since were shooting a
key-scene tomorrow...and boy it's a difficult one." Josh
replied.

"I know..." Paul agreed. "It's hard to get it right".

They agreed to meet later in the day. Josh wanted to get
back to his hotel first to finish some other work first.
After they had both said their goodbyes they left the
bar.

Josh entered his hotel room. He decided to order some
second breakfast since he hadn't eaten much this morning.
After he had eaten he cleaned up his room as good as
possible. He decided to take a shower before starting
rehearsing his lines. He opened his suitcase and grabbed
a few towels, soap and some shaving-stuff. In the
bathroom he quickly took of his clothes and stepped into
the shower. It took him some time to get the water just
at the right temperature but once he got it right he let
the water fall over his naked body. It felt like the
water was washing away the troubles that were bothering
him earlier today. The cold water didn't just refresh his
body but it seemed it refreshed his mind as well. He
washed his hair first and then soaped up the rest of his
body. Unintentionally his hand moved over his crotch. His
dick reacted immediately but Josh didn't feel like
jacking' off right now so he ignored his growing erection
and after a while the cold water made his dick go down
again.

After he had showered and had changed into a pair of
basketball shorts and a matching shirt he walked over to
the stereo. He threw in the first cd he got in his hands
without even looking which one it was. When the music
began to play he fell on the bed and started studying the
script. He kept reading the script for a while, trying to
memorize the lines and trying to figure out how to
perform them. Suddenly he dropped his script. He looked
over to the stereo. There was a look of surprise and
confusion on his face. He walked over to the stereo and
skipped the last track that was playing back. He listened
intense to the song that was playing. Again he was
confused when he heard the chorus play. He grabbed the cd-
case and saw it was, who else could it be, Melissa
Etheridge. He took the cd-case as he went to sit on the
bed. he listened to the track several times. Especially
the chorus got his attention for some reason.

"Angels, never came down...
there's no one here they'd like to hang around...
but if they knew...if they knew you at all...
then one by one the angels would fall."

Josh was confused. he had heard this before, but where?
Suddenly it hit him. He thought back to this morning in
the movie studio. He remembered the talk he had with
Paul. "What was it he said?" Josh thought to himself. He
remembered the words exactly.

"...Don't let them upset you. They don't know you...and
believe me...if they knew...if they knew you at all...
then one by one they would come in here to apologize for
this filth."

Those were Paul's exact words earlier this morning. He
listened to the song chorus again and then repeated
Paul's words again in his head:

Don't let them upset you. They don't know you...and
believe me...IF THEY KNEW...IF THEY KNEW YOU AT ALL...
THEN ONE BY ONE they would come in here to apologize for
this filth."

Josh was confused by this. His mind told him this was
just a weird coincidence but he had a gut feeling there
was more to it. He just didn't know what. He kept
thinking about it for a while and after a while more
things started coming back to him. He remembered what
Paul had said when they were in that pizza-place about a
week ago:

"I often wondered what true love looks like or feels
like...Her music answered that question in a way."

Josh felt this meant something. He could feel it in his
guts this was more then just a coincidence but he had no
idea what. He kept trying to figure it out. Suddenly his
eyes widened.

"He couldn't..." Josh whispered to himself, "would
he...?" He tried to tell himself that the idea that had
just entered his thoughts was to ridiculous for words and
this was all just a strange coincidence, but he couldn't
convince himself. His intuition told him this meant
something. "But I can't be THAT..." Josh thought. He
looked to the stereo again where the song was still
playing.

"Angels, never came down...
there's no one here they'd like to hang around...
but if they knew...if they knew you at all...
then one by one the angels would fall."

...

- to be continued -