Noises

Let me just tell you: being cramped up in a black cab with five boys is not cool. Or comfortable, for that matter. But, yes, here I was, keeping my gob shut whilst the five young adults teenagers squealed to themselves about going to this club in London. Honestly, I could’ve been more interested.

“Boys, it’s just a club.” I muttered, rolling my eyes as Josh turned his head, sliding his hand into mine and pouting, dramatically.

“But, it’s a good club.” Franceschi replied, his voice soft as it echoed down my ear. He pressed a soft kiss to my cheek and I laughed, shaking my head. “Oi, don’t shake your head at us. You agreed to come.”

“Because I didn’t think you’d be so childish about it!” I cried, turning my head to look up at Josh with a look of disbelief, but Max soon held my attention by whistling, extremely loudly. Everyone stopped bickering and turned to look at him, each one of us raising our eyebrows.

“Listen, you bunch of knobs,” Max muttered, which resulted in Matt leaning forward and slapping his cheek. I smiled a little, but continued to listen to the rude guitarist. “We’re here, so all act mature, yeah? We’re in a club.”

I snorted a little at this, and all five boys shot me a serious look, so I sucked in my lip and slouched down into my seat. Chris nodded. “Yeah, I agree. We don’t wanna get chucked out.” he voiced. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head, unbuckling my seatbelt and climbing out, with Josh at my heels, and the boys following. Immediately as we got out of the cab, my cold fingers twitched as another set of digits laced with my own, squeezing them lightly. No doubt that they were Joshua’s, and when I looked down, I was correct. They were Franceschi’s, alright.

“Ready?” Josh asked me, his voice quiet as the four others messed around behind us. For some reason, the singer seemed a little nervous, but I was sure they’d be getting served, if that was the problem. They all looked mature enough.

And, as I thought, they were getting served. So was I, actually, which was a huge shock. So, there I sat with my beverage an hour later, my brown eyes downcast as I watched the liquid quickly disappear into my thirsty mouth. It was quite obvious that the boys were drunk - well, all but Josh, who (although only a little tipsy) was dancing around like a nutter with the others. I’d spent most of my time at the bar, which was no surprise, and for the time I’d spent at the bar, no one had really paid any attention to me. But that was okay - I’m usually quite the bitch when I’m drunk.

Well, it was okay until someone slid into the stool beside me, ordering themselves a drink. My eyes glanced up, my eyebrows lifting as I put my glass down on the surface of the bar. Oh, look who it was.

“Hollie?”

“Ben.” I retorted quietly, rolling my eyes some, and moving my hands to steady myself so I could slide off my stool. I wasn’t planning on getting raped by him, tonight.

“Where are you off to?” he asked, almost demandingly. I lifted my eyebrows, utterly disgusted by him already, and continued to try and shuffle out of my seat, spinning around as he suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Get off me!” I screamed, outraged. “How dare you even talk to me! Let alone touch me!” I squealed, eyes wide as I huffed, trying to tug my arm out of his tight grasp. It was hard to understand why he’d act like this in such a place, when it was quite obvious that I hated him.

“Come on,” Ben whined, pulling on my wrist a little, which resulted in my body coming closer to his. I grimaced. “Don’t be like this with me.” he smirked some, shaking his head.

“Ben, seriously, just get off me.” I argued, and once more, tried to pull my arm out of his grasp. However, before I could get away, the taller man had pulled me closer and pressed his lips against mine. My eyes widened, and before I could even try and get away, the most heart breaking sound met my ears as the music dimmed, the DJ in the process of switching to a different song.

“Hollie?”

Ben pulled away just as I did, and my eyes widened some more. “Josh, I-”

“You know what? Fucking save it.” Josh spat, glaring at both me and Ben, before he turned and elbowed his way through the crowd, hurriedly. I don’t know why this made my stomach fall through my arse, but it did, and I shoved Ben away with all the strength I could muster.

“Hollie!” I heard Ben yell, but I was ignoring him. I had to ignore him - I needed to find Josh. I followed the path in which Josh took, elbowing my way through the crowd until I pushed the door open and slowed myself down as the cold air hit my flushed cheeks. Just as the door was about to slowly close, it flew open again, and out came Ben. “Hollie, wait!” he called.

No.

I shook my head and began to walk down the road, passed the taxi’s and the cars, and politely trying to squeeze my way through groups of young adults that were laughing outside with their cigarettes in between their fingers. “Leave me alone, Ben.” I muttered, though I doubt he heard me. My eyes were frantically searching around the street, behind the bins, behind cars, around corners, in gardens - everywhere. “This was meant to be a night for just me, him and the boys. That was it!” I cried, panicking more and more as the time passed. “And, then, you show up, a-and this happens-”

“Hollie, just listen to me!” Ben interrupted, grabbing my wrist and harshly tugging on it so I faced him. He then let go after a moment - probably trusting that I’d stay put. “Just… we’ll find him, okay? We will find him.” he croaked.

I let out a breathless laugh, my nose frozen, my lips cold - my whole body shaking. “Now, you want to help me?” I whispered, staring at him with quite an intense look. Ben lifted his arm, his fingers beginning to curl around my forearm, but I tugged it out of his grasp. “Don’t touch me - don’t touch me!” I panicked, almost, my voice loud. There was an uneasy feel to the atmosphere, now, and his eyes were wide as he stared at me. “He saw what you did.” I breathed, my voice now somewhat quiet as I exhaled, still breathless. “I… I feel sick.” I whispered, looking anywhere but at Ben. What had this boy done to me? And, not Benjamin, but Josh. It was only a few days ago that I was certain that Josh would be the death of me with his annoying prods, but now, I was panicking because he was missing, I was just hoping and praying that he turned up so I could hold him and apologise. It was mental.

“N-No, if we tell him, you know, i-if we both-” but I stopped him there.

“No! No, you stay out of this. You’ve done enough, okay? I’ve… lost him, because of what you have done. I-I’ve lost him, and I never had him in the first place.” I rushed, my stare still just as intense. He made me want to punch him in the balls, so bad.

“B-But, if anybody could forgive us, it’s him, he looks-” and again, I couldn’t bear listening to Ben, talking as if he knew Josh. It was the most ridiculous thing.

“Stop saying that!” I snapped, loudly. “Stop saying that! There is no ‘us’, Ben! There never will be, because I don’t want you.” I hissed, angrily, glaring at him. My blood was boiling. I couldn’t believe I was about to say this, about to admit this to the one person I truly did despise. “I want him. I want Josh.” I whispered, suddenly beginning to feel helpless, and sounding it, too. I stared at Ben for a moment longer, my glare softening a tad as my eyes pricked, before I shook my head and turned on my heels, my back to him. “Go back inside, Ben. I don’t want you anywhere near me. Or Josh.” I stopped myself there, and without another word, I sniffed up and wiped a small tear off my pink cheek, taking my first steps forward to my second attempt at finding Joshua.



It had taken me almost an hour to find Josh, and by the time I did, London’s cold, winter night had turned into a storm. The rain was heavy and loud, and it was the type of rain that you could hardly see through. But I managed.

As he came into view, I noticed Josh was crouched beside a house, by a small lake. It wasn’t far from the club, but far enough for me to catch a cold during my search. His head was down, his arms wrapped around his knees to keep them bent, his feet and bum planted firmly on the soaking grass. I remember being so quiet and careful, even with the rain pounding down against us and the ground, however, as I slowly pushed a few leaves out of my face, my foot accidentally landed on a twig, snapping it, and I held my breath. He heard, though, but didn’t look up.

“What do you want?”

I stood still, a foot a two behind him, my body soaked, my hair sticking to my face as I squinted some, staring down at him. “Josh, I never meant for that to happen.” I began, my voice cracking. My hands clenched into little fists as I tried to resist making a massive, unattractive, loud shiver, my skin crawling with goosebumps. “I came straight out of that club after you left, and he followed me.” I told him, taking just one step forward, shaking my head and exhaling, slowly. “I… I can’t believe I’m going to say this,” I breathed, closing my eyes as I tilted my head back, the rain hitting my face. I knew that I probably looked a right state, but it didn’t matter to me. I looked back down at Josh, who’s head was turned slightly, like he was watching me out of the corner of his eye, over his shoulder, waiting for me to continue. “I told him that it was you, all along.”

Joshua’s eyebrows lifted, just slightly, and he turned his head a little more, looking up at me with those big, ocean blue eyes, his own hair stuck to his face, his clothes drenched - including those silly Nike trainers he always seemed to wear. “What do you mean?” he asked, quietly, though - surprisingly - I still heard him.

“I mean… I told him that you are who I want to be with.” I admitted, my voice getting just a little louder to compete with the weather. “And… and, then I left. I told him to go back to the club.” I explained, boldly, my head tilting and my eyes squinting as I watched him with my brown hues, staring at the singer as he began to stand, and turn to face me, his body towering mine.

Josh stared down at my face, his own expression just… emotionless. I could see in his eyes that he was contemplating on believing me or not. “… really?” he asked, his voice turning up the volume just a tad. I nodded my head, staying silent, and after a moment of loud silence, Josh stepped forward, his arms lifting, his wet, cold hands cupping my pink cheeks. “Sometimes, I come here just to get away from everything.” he told me, his voice cracking. “Sometimes it works. Sometimes it does fuck all for me.” he paused, leaning forward to press a frozen kiss to my forehead. He lingered there for a moment, and my own eyes closed as I embraced the moment, my arms staying by my side. “Sitting here, tonight… it did nothing for me.” he breathed against my skin, his head ducking, his lips now against my cheek, his eyes closed. “Until you came looking for me.”

My eyes fluttered open and I lifted my head, which resulted in Josh pulling his head back a little, his eyes opening to stare down at me. “Yeah?” I called, softly, a sad smile on my face. It seemed quite magical that, here we were, discussing this in the middle of one of England’s bitchy storms. It seemed quite cheesy, but that didn’t matter to me. The way Josh was cupping my face gave me strange butterflies - strange in the way that I’d never had these, before. They were strong, as if they were going to be staying for a long time. And, I didn’t mind that. Not one bit.

Josh began to smile at this point, just slightly, and nodded his head. “Yeah.” he whispered, before leaning in, and pressing his lips to mine. Once again, our eyes were closed, my hands were planted firmly on his hips as I returned the soft kiss. It seemed to last for minutes, and it probably did, as after we were finished, the rain had seemed to lighten up, and the two of us began to giggle, our noses brushing against each others. “You’re fucking soaked.” he chuckled. Oh, that smile - that laugh. What was he doing to me?

I couldn’t help the grin on my face, though. I couldn’t even try to hide it. “So are you,” I pointed out, biting my lip as I playfully nudged the tip of my nose against his, my fingers clutching his hoodie, pulling him closer to me. “But this must mean that we can leave, now, right?” I murmured, smiling contently as I lifted my head, looking up at the sky, the rain hitting my face, once again. I could feel Josh’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look at him.

“Come on.” the singer urged, finally, his hands carefully brushing some wet strands of hair out of my face, resulting in me looking at him, my smile permanent. “Let’s get you showered and warm.” he added, quietly, taking off his hoodie and draping it over my shoulders. I remember trying to protest at first, in fear of Joshua falling ill in such harsh weather conditions, but he wouldn’t listen to me. So, the two of us huddled close, Josh’s arms bare, we walked together to get a cab home.

Well. A cab to my home.