It's been a 2 days since the whole Astrid and Hunter thing. Hunter and Rose where still living here. The day after the incident, they were gone all day, but they are slowly spending more time her everyday.
Which got me really mad, because I was always gone now. Noelle and Kiran have been picking me off, dropping me off, and dragging me around the city. They have been planning this party for New Years. I've been included in there also, and today I was going to leave for Noelle has to decide the colors. We've successfully gotten a caterer, a DJ, a place to have the party, and bartenders, waiter's all that other stuff that I wasn't keeping track of.
Astrid had moved into her friend's townhouse for a while. Trey was still trying to cool off. Took a long time for the kid to do so.
"Reed?" Josh asked me. We where sitting at bar in the kitchen, eating breakfast. I looked down at my plate, which had a blueberry waffel on it. I sighed and looked up at him.
"What are we doing today?" He smiled.
Oh no. Here comes the hard part. I've been dreading telling him that I was going to be gone again today. "Josh…" I started. But I knew he already got the message.
He sighed and looked to the side. "Are you hanging out with Noelle and Kiran again?" He asked.
"Yeah, it's close to the end though. We just have a few things left to plan." Lie. I didn't know how much more there was left to plan. All I knew was that Noelle was happy to see me, and Kiran was too. Josh got up from his seat and paced in a slow circle, and then made his way back to the bar.
"It's just… I never get to see you anymore." Josh confessed. He finally looked at me. He was standing. His forearms rested on the countertop, and his body bent a bit.
"I'm sorry, but New Years is like 3 days away, and I'll be with you all night." I said turning myself towards him.
"No, it's fine. You should go out and have fun. I think Lynn wanted to hang out anyways." Josh gave me a tight smile. I let out a depressed sigh and turned back to my breakfast.
"I say we should have a silver and blue theme." Kiran said. "Think about it, blue and silver balloons, we can even get those colored fireworks for midnight." She smiled.
We where all at Dash's apartment, party planning. Dash was out with his dad so Noelle took it as a perfect opportunity. It was hard to turn down, even though I wanted to spend time with Josh.
We where all sitting in he dinning room, with a bunch of folders and a phonebook, ready to be cracked open.
"Themes?! Are we planning a 10 year old's birthday party, or an underage, crazy New Years party?" Noelle asked sarcastically. I sighed and Kiran scoffed. I was surprised she didn't flip her off.
"Whatever." She scoffed again. Then she drank more sparkling water. She would have wine, but she was having a shoot later today.
"How about, we just go with Kiran's idea." I suggested shrugging one shoulder. Noelle looked at me as if I was suggesting we should serve hot dogs and hamburgers. "I mean, it's simple, and we don't want to over decorate with too much right? It'll be all like midnight-ish." I smiled. Kiran sat up a little more, proud of her idea.
"Fine." Noelle spat still looking at me. Then she moved her harsh gaze over to Kiran.
"Now, let's just find someone to do that." Kiran laughed and sipped more of her water.
"We need to go shopping for dresses tomorrow." Noelle pointed out as she flipped through the yellow pages book.
"We'll do that at 12, and then go out for lunch after." Kiran said and wipped out her blackberry so she could enter it into her calander. I cringed, tomorrow too?
My conversation from this morning with Josh flashed back into my head.
"Sounds like a plan." Noelle smiled. I let out a sigh and grabbed a piece of bread off the trey on the table. Kiran did the same.
"Did you guys hear about Portia's new boyfriend?" Noelle asked.
"She called me the other day, he's like german or something. Blonde hair, blue eyes." Kiran gushed.
"I know! And then she cheated on him with his older brother." Noelle shook her head. "It's crazy."
"I know." Kiran nodded.
I just sat there. Exhausted already and we haven't even started doing anything big yet.
The next day we all went shopping. I left Josh home alone again, his outting with Lynn and Hunter went horrible because it ended in a fight, which Josh had to break up.
Kiran decided that we should put some color in out dresses for the New Years party. I scanned the racks at Saks, trying to find something cute. The prices where big, but Kiran and Noelle were buying me the dress.
Kiran walked out of a dressing room smiling. "You guys!" She shouted, we turned around and found her in the BCBGMAXAZRIA Centurian satin dress she was eyeing. It was silver, and it looked like one big ribbon was wrapped around her body a million times. She really could pull it off.
"Wow." I gasped. "You so have to get it!"
"I know!" She smiled. Then she was back in the dressing room.
"Ohh what about this one?" Noelle was holding up a Tibi Tango Silk Dress. It was black and had a gold bow draped around the one shoulder. The other side was bare. The bow glimmered in the light.
"I'm trying this one on." She came out a few minutes later, I was still looking. "I got it in a size down so it would be tighter." She smirked. It looked good on her. I gave her the it's so pretty speech, and went back to my hopeless search.
Then I saw it. It was white, and black. But the dress was to die for. I gently took it off the rack and held it up so I could see it. The tag read ABS bow-front tiered dress. The was a white dress, flow-y. The design was like Kiran's but it was lighter, more see-through fabric. It was wrapped around so much you couldn't see through it. And the top of the dress was black. With a big black bow. I quickly got in a dressing and slipped the dress on. I came out of the room. Noelle and Kiran where talking, but they turned when they saw me. Noelle raised an eyebrow and walked around me. She gave me a smirk when she came back to my face.
"Not bad glass-licker." She smiled. I laughed.
"Shall I get it?" I walked over to the huge mirror, and spun once.
"Yes, if you want to give Hollis a heart attack." Kiran giggled. I smiled. "Let's get it; it's the best thing I've found today."
Therefore, I walked out of Saks with that white and black dress. We went out for lunch after that, and even stopped at one more store to get heels. I ended up getting sexy black ones. Now I know Josh is going to die. It was finally the day before New Years Eve. The party was tomorrow night. The invitations where all sent out via e-mail. So they got there quicker. Everyone was calling us, saying how excited they where about the party. I got all of the Hollis family invited, it seemed like there was nothing else to worry about.
Noelle's driver dropped me off at seven that night. It was already dark out, and there was fresh snow on the ground. It crunched under my short UGG boots. I unlocked the front door. And leaned on it, as it swung open. I took in the sent of the house while I placed my bags on the floor. I shedded my boots, scarf, and jacket before I ran into the living room.
"Josh?" I asked. He was sitting on the couch.
"Well look who decided to come home." He said. I didn't know if he was being sarcastic or really pissed.
"Are you mad?" I asked, taking small steps towards him.
"Oh no, I'm fine just sitting at home all day. Going over to friend's places alone. On the other hand, you know, there's always the daily fight. That's always a showstopper. And a hell of a lot of fun breaking up." He said. That I knew was sarcastic.
"Tomorrow's the last day I have to leave for a while." I said sitting on the couch.
"Tomorrow!? Like the day of the party?" Josh asked.
"I'm sorry." I sighed. I looked over at what he was watching. Flashback, didn't we have a fight like this before?
"Why do we fight so much?" I asked him bitterly.
He whipped his head to the side. A hurt look on his face. "What?"
"Why do we fight so god damn much?" I asked a little bit louder.
Anger creased Josh's face. "Because!" he shouted.
"Because why?"
"You are gone all freaking day, and don't come home till late. I wouldn't care if it were like a two in a row kind of thing. But Reed, this has been going on 4 days!" He shouted.
"It's not my fault I'm gone all day! Nor is it my fault that you never leave the house!" I shouted. He had no right; he knew all of the stress that was being built up.
"I went over to Trey's today! I don't sit here all day! He is so beat up Reed. I can't hammer into his head that it wasn't Astrid! It was all the son of a bitch's fault!" He shouted at me.
"I don't care about Astrid and Trey right now! I want you to know that I don't like being away from you all day! It sucks! And we're just going to have to put up with it. Since we have less than a week left of vacation!" I shouted.
"Yeah, way less than a week and you want to just spend it apart." Josh snapped. He crossed his arms over his chest and lay back onto the couch. "If you hate it so fucking much then why do you even go?"
"Because their my friends." I sighed.
He looked over at me with a 'really' look.
"Josh…" I started.
"No, Reed. If they really are you're friends, then they would give you a day off." He scoffed. Then mumbled something I couldn't understand.
"Whatever." I sighed. Then I got up from the couch and walked up the stairs. My footsteps were heavy, and I let out a sigh when I reached my room. I flicked on the lights and shut the door. Quickly, I turned around and placed my hot forehead on the door. The cold wood calmed down my stinging skin.
"Hello sexy," someone slurred. I gasped and turned on the lights. I found Hunter staring at me. "What?" He walked towards me and put his hands on my waist. I tried to take them off, but he was stronger than I was.
"Hunter! Get your hands off me!" I hissed. Before I knew it, his lips were on mine. Nothing was delicate it was rough. I refused to kiss him back. I tried to push on his chest, yanking on his hands, and even pulling away. But he was strong and his lips always found mine. He pulled me towards the bed. I tried all I could to push him off but going that and walking backwards wasn't easy. He pushed me down on my bed. My first instinct was too roll over and out of his way. But he was fast. So we were on my bed. I was pinned down under him. I couldn't escape. He tried to take my shirt off. But I would just tug it down. Then he went for my pants, I had to pull them up as he slid them down. Then he went back to my shirt. All he could do was roll it up, exposing my bra. I didn't bother on pulling it down because I was too busy trying to push Hunter off of me. He started to kiss my neck. "Get off of me!" I shouted as loud as I could. "Get off!" He just placed his lips back on mine. Causing me no longer to be able to talk or breathe. I pushed at him with all my force. But his weight was all placed on me and my brain was in too much shock to do anything else. He went back to my neck. I was worrying whether or not I was going to get a hickey. "Stop!" I shrieked. A painful tear ran down my cheek. I just wanted him off. Then just like before, he went back on my lips. I didn't hear anything but hunter loudly kissing me. I still refused to kiss him back.
"What the hell are you doing?" Josh's angry voice filled the room. Then he must have seen me trying to push Hunter off me, and the hot stinging tears trickling down my face. My muscles where so sore. "Get off of her!" Josh shouted.
Then he pulled Hunter off me so he was on my side. I quickly got up off the bed and sat in a corner. I brought my knees to my chest. I was crying, and I couldn't' stop.
"What the hell is your problem?" Josh asked Hunter.
"You don't need to get all worked up. It was just a kiss." Hunter chuckled.
"A kiss!? You were just about to rape my girlfriend!" Josh shouted at him.
"You're a son of a bitch who doesn't even love his girlfriend!" Hunter shouted loudly and pushed Josh.
Then Josh did the unthinkable. He punched his cousin. I gasped. Hunter stumbled back, holding his nose. Then he got back up and pounded one on Josh.
"Josh!" I screamed on the top of my lungs. I was about to go over to him, but he got up. He threw a fist at Hunter again. Soon it was an all out fistfight. Soon enough, Mrs. Hollis was there.
"What is going on in here?" She shouted. Mr. Hollis came through the door shortly after her. He had to break up the fight, by bravely placing himself between the two boys. Mrs. Hollis came rushing over to my side, asking if I was ok. I was crying still and so all I could do was shake my head no. She wrapped her arms around me trying to calm me down.
"Don't you ever say I don't love Reed!" Josh loudly shouted at Hunter. His voice full of anger. Hunter didn't respond, Mr. Hollis took him downstairs and Josh was quickly at my side. He took me from his mom's arms and put me in his. He pulled back so he could look me in the eye.
"What happened?" He asked. I couldn't look at him. His hurt face, I was staring at something in the distance. I finally decided to explain. I kept my eyes on the spot in the distance.
"So I came upstairs and he was waiting in our room. And before I knew it, he was... attacking me and he took me to our bed. He was too heavy and I couldn't push him off me. And he tried to take off my clothes, but I...." I couldn't say anymore because I was in tears. Josh pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me tightly. He kissed my head before saying,
"its ok Reed. It's ok." He rocked me back and forth a little. And, his scent cleared my scenes. Susan put her hand on my shoulder.
"He's not staying here anymore," Josh told his mom.
"I know, Josh. I know." She told him. She gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I'm so sorry Reed." She said. Tears of anger and sadness, it seemed like, started to fill her eyes. I nodded, my crying slowly subsiding. "I'll let you two talk for a minute, come downstairs if you would like to Reed." She told me in the kindest voice I've ever heard.
"Ok." I said my voice cracking. Once she was gone, I finally looked Josh in the eyes. "Josh I'm so sorry!"
"For what?" He asked confused.
"Because I've been gone so much and we don't get to spend time together!" I gushed.
"Reed, it's ok. I don't care if you want to go hang out with your friends all day or not, I just want to know if you're ok." He said.
"I think I'm ok." I chocked. "Do you want to go downstairs?" He asked. I nodded on his chest.
We where downstairs within a few minutes. Josh's parents, Gia, and Lynn where there. They all looked up when we walked in the kitchen.
"Oh Reed!" Gia gasped then she ran over to me and wrapped me up in a firm hug. I hugged her back and pulled away.
"He's such an ass. And his girlfriend." Gia said.
"I know, I'm just happy nothing more happened then what did." I said, repeating it in my head to make sure is made sense.
"Yeah," Gia smiled.
"Do you guys want anything? I can make some tea or coffee if you want." Susan offered.
"No, it's ok." I smiled and looked up at Josh. There was a bluish rim around his eye. I let out a small gasp. I got closer to him and placed my finger on the purple skin. "You have a black eye." I told him quietly.
He just looked down at me and whinced from my touch. His hand went for his eye. Mrs. Hollis handed me an ice pack and I gave it to him. He gently dabbed it on his eye, then I slipped my arms into his and gave him a hug. I just wanted to be held. That's all I wanted.
Ok, intense chapter! Review!!
-Lauren