"Go away." His voice, groggy.
"Open up, Josh. You know we need to talk." I say softly, in hopes he'll unlock the door.
"No, I said go away," Josh grumbles, jeez he's so stubborn.
"Put it this way. You either open the door now so we can talk about why you did what you did when it's clear as day that you love her, or I can stay here, knocking on the door until you give up and let me in any way..." I hear him groan and the lock clicks.
Finally...
I open the door to see him making his way back to bed, not sparing me a second glance. There's no point making useless conversation so I get straight the point.
"Why did you do it?" I ask and he looks taken back.
"Wow, you don't waste any time." He rolls his eyes.
"Just say it, Josh. I was angry at you yesterday because I had to sit with Mia while she cried because she's convinced you played her. But after today, that can't be the truth so just say, why would you do it if you're in love with her?" He scoffs and his eyes darken.
He's putting up walls.
"I don't love her, I just said it to add to the drama." He says in a bored tone.
I call bullshit.
"Why are you being such a goddamn coward? You can't fool me, Josh. Why the fuck did you do it!" I raise my voice.
"Because I was fucking scared okay!" He shouts back, "I know it's a shit excuse, I know that but I was scared." I don't say anything, waiting for him to continue.
"I've never felt like this before. It's always been one time things but with her... With her, I knew it was different from the second I saw her. Then I realised I loved her and I freaked out. I didn't know what to do so I fucked it up on purpose." His voice is weak, it's clear he's hurting.
"Is that what you wanted to hear?" His tone's now cold as ice. How can ones voice change from vulnerable to hostile in just two seconds?
"But why? There was no one around, how did you do it on purpose?" I believe that he set it up, I just want to know how he did it.
"I knew you were coming down the hallway with Cole, I saw you both come out of the principal's office. I skipped class because I was freaking out and knew she deserved better than me.
Kim wouldn't stop hitting on me and following me around." So I finally know her name, it's Kim. "I don't know what came over, I just had an idea, so I dragged her into the closest room in hopes that's the one you'll open. You know the rest..."
My jaw drops, my anger levels rising. "You dick! Do you know how selfish that was? You should've told her how you felt! You hurt her so much. I was the one who had to sit with her while she sobbed because she thought she wasn't good enough for you.
Did you even think about how hard it was for her when your first 'I love you' was after she found out you made out with another girl?" He looks at the floor and puts his head in his hands.
"I know. I knew I messed up straight after I did it, I shouldn't have been such a pussy. I should've just said how I felt, that's why after it happened I still went to see her. I knew soon enough she would hate me and I would have no one to blame but myself. She hates me." He wipes his eyes and that's when I realise he's crying.
Holy shit, Josh is crying.
"She doesn't hate you," I say and finally sit down next to him.
"Yes she does, this morning she looked disgusted by the sight of me." I pull him into a side hug. God, I hope they can both sort this out...
"Trust me, she doesn't hate you. If she did she wouldn't have said she loved you while crying on the bathroom floor." I don't even realise what I say until I've said it. He looks up quickly, a small piece of hope showing in his eyes.
"She what?" He says in disbelief.
"I wasn't meant to say that to you."
Shit, shit, shit.
"I need to see her." He stands up quickly, grabbing his car keys off his bedside table, and heading for the door.
I grab his arm to stop him. If he's going to try and explain, we need to do this right. He needs to do this right.
"Wait, no Josh, don't. I'm meant to be staying at hers for the weekend, let me speak to her and she can decide if she wants to speak to you. If not, you need to give her time." The hope in his eyes fade but not completely.
He sits back next to me, looking at the floor while we sit in silence.
"Nans ring, huh?" I turn to look at him and he smiles. "I remember her exact words when she gave it to you.
'I want you to give this ring to the girl you want to marry when you're old enough. Before you ask how you'll know who you should give it to, you'll know. I want it to be a symbol of how much you love her and how she is the right woman for you.'"
We both say the last part in unison, "I want my granddaughter in law and great-grandkids to know just how much I would've loved them."
"I love Mia so much I don't even know the right words to express it." He whispers.
"If you're meant to be together it'll work out, so I think you'll both sort it out soon enough. It's obvious you're both crazy for each other." After a few seconds of silence I stand up, "I should go, Mia is probably wondering where I am."
"Thank you so much, Andie." I smile and look over my shoulder when he says one last thing. "Maybe soon you'll meet the guy who you're going to give grandad's watch to." I smile,
"Maybe soon."
******
"It's open!" Mia shouts once I've knocked. I open the door and make my way to Mia's room to see she's dropping the bunch of junk food she's holding in her arms on the bed.
I chuckle when she smiles sheepishly, "I'm going to need this after the day I've had." She laughs but I know it's fake.
"Mia, I need to speak to you about Josh." Her 'smile' disappears and she drops onto the bed.
"Do we have to, I just want to forget about him." She groans.
"I think you're going to want to hear what I have to say because I spoke to him." She sits up straight.
"You did?" I nod and because she doesn't say anything I continue.
"Today when I heard what he said this morning I started to feel like something wasn't right. The way he looked in the hallway, him saying he loves you and most importantly, the ring.
All of it just didn't make sense. I was there the day my nan gave Josh that ring and he promised to give it to someone he could see himself spending the rest of his life with."
She doesn't move a muscle and must be too shocked to even speak. "That's why I went to speak to him after school today and he told me why he did what he did. When I tell you this, it doesn't mean that I think it justifies what he did but he did it because he got scared.
Stupid and selfish I know, don't worry, I told him that. But he said he realised he was in love with you, he believed you deserved someone better than him. He purposely kissed Kim when he saw us coming."
I catch her up on the other things like how he went to come and see her and I tell her one last thing. "He cried because he knew he messed it up with you, Mia. I know it doesn't make what he did okay but he truly loves you. If you decide you want to see Josh I'll drive you there right now."
After what feels like a lifetime, she finally reacts and nods. "I need to speak to him myself, I need to hear this from him." Her voice trembles and we leave straight away.
Once we pull up outside I notice Mia shaking her leg again. Yep, she definitely does that when she's nervous.
Nadia's car is gone so that means Josh might be home alone. This could make things a little easier. Knocking on the door, we hear footsteps getting louder.
"What are you doing back already? Did you forget your ke-." His eyes go straight to Mia, who is standing behind me.
"Mia?" He rubs his eyes, possibly not sure whether he's seeing things. "Y-You came?" He looks surprised, close to speechless.
"I want to know exactly what you said to Andie. I want to hear it all from you." She says quietly, looking at the floor and refusing to meet his eyes.
"Y-yeah, of c-course." I step aside and try to give them space and once he's finished speaking, Mia speaks again.
"Why didn't you just come and speak to me? That's what relationships are for Josh, you trust the other person enough to talk about things like this." She cries, "It hurt what you did to me." She's sobbing at the point and he walks over to her, not waiting a second before hugging her as she cries into his shoulder.
He pulls away to look her in the eyes. "I'm so sorry for what I did," He murmurs, "You didn't deserve it. I only want you, I have since the day I met you." I head back to my car, deciding I'll give them proper privacy.
It's obvious they are going to sort things out and I couldn't be happier for them so I call the only person I can't seem to get out of my head at the moment.
It dials for a while and I think it's going to go to voicemail until,
"Hey, princess, what's up?" His raspy voice calls down the phone.
"Hey, erm- Are you busy?" I ask awkwardly.
Very slick Andie, very slick.
"Not at all."
"So I was wondering if you're free?" I can hear a low chuckle on the other side.
"Who's dying to spend every last minute of their free time with the other person now, huh?" I roll my eyes but can't help the smile that makes its way onto my face.
"If that was your way of asking if we can hang on, why don't you come round mine? I'll come to pick you up now." He adds.
"Yeah, sounds good but don't worry about it, I'll make my own way there but thanks." I turn around and see Mia and Josh kissing.
Well, it seems like they're back together... I couldn't be happier for them.
"Goodbye, Princess."
"Bye, Coley Woley." I tease, ending the call before he can complain. I get in the car, hoping to miss their make-out session.
After I put Cole's address in the GPS I make my way to his and the butterflies in my stomach appear again. I'm not even surprised at this point.
I think about what Mia said happened to her.
Shit.
Stupid, stupid butterflies.
>>>>>>
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey guys :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter next one is alot more Cole and Andie based, I know the last few have included alot of Mia and Josh.
Thoughts on them getting back together?
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