Symphony Of Sympathy

"El, wait up!" I called, rushing after the short blonde girl.

"Loh, it's not my fault you're a slow poke," she grinned at me, fixing her backpack that carried her countless textbooks. We were on our way back to my apartment after a long day of classes.

"'ey, I was on the phone! My friend Lee was callin' meh. Him and the rest of the band are 'ere. Yeh know, the friends yeh think are really cute," I smirked at her.

"No clue what you're talking about, with your silly British accent," she giggled, rolling her eyes at me. "So when are they coming?"

"Well, they're stayin' at some crappy 'otel about ten minutes away," I explained to her. "I gave 'im directions to meh apartment, but he refused to tell meh when they would get 'ere."

Ella let out a big sigh, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting. "That's no fun! I want to meet them!" She whined, stomping her foot.

"Yeh are such a child," I rolled my eyes at her, standing on my tippy-toes to grab the key on top of the doorframe. Once I felt the small piece of mental on my fingertips, I grabbed it, putting it in the lock and turned it. The lock clicked, and I pushed the door open, placing the key back on the frame.

"One of these days, someone is going to break in with that key. And when they do... I told you so, I told you so!" she chanted, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Jeez, you really are a child! I feel so bad that Alex has had to deal with this for eighteen years," I laughed, dropping my bag at the end of the counter. She did the same, and headed for the fridge, ignoring my comment. "Aya," I began, saying her name in Spanish, "do you and Alex ever have food in your apartment?"

She shrugged. "No, not really. Oh, is that cold pizza I see? Hells yeah it is!" Ella grabbed a piece, shoving it into her mouth and taking a bite. She began talking, even though her mouth was full. "Why did you leave Sheffield? New York sucks. And we don’t have cool accents."

"If he actually 'as the guts to show up, I'll show yeh why I left," I stated coldly, thinking about Oliver. In a way, I missed him. Though I'd never admit it, I loved Oli. But leaving him was the best thing I could have ever done. After months of therapy, Sierra was gone, and I was scared that seeing him would bring her back.

Ella stared at me, an odd look on her face. She sighed, shoving more pizza into her mouth. "Please go back to nice Shiloh. You're scaring me."

I gave her a weak smile, before heading for the fridge to get my own slice of pizza. "I'm sorry, it's just-"

I was cut off when I heard knocking on my apartment door. Not thinking much of it, I swung the door open, seeing two boys with long, shaggy hair standing in my doorway.

"Jesus Christ, Shi! Yeh look so... different!" one said. I took me a moment to realize it- Curtis!

"Curtis! Lee!" I shouted, throwing my arms around both of them.

Lee shoved me away, causing me to pout. "Nope. Yeh didn't recognize us at first. Yeh don’t deserve a hug!"

"More hugs for meh!" Curtis shouted, picking me up and twirling me around.

"Is this something your fiancé should worry about?" Ella asked, staring at the three of us, very confused.

"Fiancé?" They both screamed, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Meh and Conner... we got engaged," I grinned, sticking out my hand so they could see the small diamond ring.

"Why the hell didn't yeh tell us?"

"I told Tom! It's not meh fault he didn’t tell yeh! Besides, it was just last week that he finally popped the question," I smiled sheepishly.

"I'm gonna kill that wanker. I can't believe he didn't tell us!" Lee declared.

Ella coughed, as if to remind me that she was still there.

"Oh, right! Curtis, Lee, meet meh friend Ella. She thinks yeh guys are awfully cute," I grinned. Ella shot me a look that said I was so dead.

"Well, Ella, I think yeh awfully cute yehself," Curtis grinned, grabbing her hand and placing a kiss on it, like he was a gentlemen. Lee and I sighed as Ella giggled like a schoolgirl.

"So where are the others?" I asked Lee, as Ella flirted up a storm with Curtis.

"Well, Matt, Matt, and Tom are still at the 'otel. They're a bunch of lazy dicks, and said they'll just see yeh at the show tonight."

I glanced over at the two lovebirds. They were completely oblivious to what we were talking about. "What about... Oli?"

Lee scratched at the back of his neck nervously. "Shi, he's changed. A lot. After yeh left, he started sleepin' around wit-"

"He was already sleepin' around when I was there!" I snapped at him.

"No he wasn’t, Shi. I knew it's 'ard to believe, but when yeh were back in Sheffield, Oli stopped sleepin' around. He wanted yeh so badly. But now he's wit a bunch of girls in each city," Lee explained, looking rather frustrated.

"So what? I already knew he was sleepin' around. Tom's been sendin' meh picture of yeh guys throughout yeh tours. Oli always has a girl clingin' to 'im."

"He doesn’t want to see yeh. At all," Lee said, staring at the floor awkwardly.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Lee, yeh tell him it doesn’t matter. I'm done carin'," I stated, my voice heavy with venom.

"Shi..." he looked stunned, like he couldn’t believe the harsh words were coming from me.

"Yeh tell him that, Lee. And make sure he understands- I mean it," I growled. With that, I headed back to the kitchen, wanting nothing more then to eat my feelings away with a slice of cold pizza.