Ivory Tower

Josh laid on his bed in his parent's house staring up at the ceiling. He was still so angry at Genny. He couldn't believe she'd left him, he couldn't believe she'd lied and then not told anyone where she was going. He also couldn't believe she thought that coming home and telling him her sob story would make him change his mind.

"Joshua," Came the voice of his mother, bringing in his laundry. "You're being an idiot."

"What?" Josh asked, sitting up and looking at his mother.

"If you really didn't want her anymore, if you were really that angry about all of this you would have gone back to Los Angeles," She stated. "But you didn't. You're here."

"I wanted to see you all, too." Josh defended.

"Yeah? We've seen a lot of you since you've been home," She scoffed, looking around his mess of a bedroom. There were dishes everywhere, clothes all over the places, movies scattered around. It was a mess. He had barely been out of his room for the last few days.

"Mum, I love you, but I really don't want to deal with this right now." Josh sighed, rubbing his unshaven face.

"You never want to deal with anything, Josh." His mother laughed. "Either you go and fix this with Genny like I know you want to, or you go back to Los Angeles and finish your album. I will not put up with this poor attitude and self-loathing."

With that she exited his bedroom and closed the door behind her. Josh couldn't believe his mother had just said that to him. She had basically kicked him out.

"Fine," Josh mumbled. He got up off his bed and walked to his desk, pulling up the screen of his laptop. "I'll go back to L.A."

Josh wasn't ready to forgive Genny. Now the the knew why she left and that she didn't feel like he could tell him, he was back to being mad. He didn't care at that moment. He didn't feel welcome anywhere here in the U.K, so he would go back to his friends in California and finish his album.

...

"Elissa, I don't know what to do!" Genny sighed as she and Elissa Franceschi had lunch that same day. Genny had called up Elissa in a panic, begging her to come to lunch and talk to her about the Josh situation.

"I wish I knew what to tell you, hun." Elissa sighed, taking a sip of her wine. "Josh just needs a kick is the ass and I think it's beyond you."

"Are you mad at me still?" Genny asked.

Before Genny had left, she and and Elissa had been very good friends. They were basically sisters themselves. They did almost everything together. They did shopping trips, lunch dates, movie nights, sleepovers. They did so much together and then when Genny left they stopped speaking.

"No, Genny. I'm not mad at all," Elissa stated, putting her hand on top of Genny's. "I respect what you did."

"Then why doesn't Josh respect what I did?" Genny sighed.

"Because he doesn't respect the way you did it," Elissa stated. "He's more focused on how you left than why you left. If I'm being honest, I can't really blame him for being angry, but I do think he could be handling it better."

"How do I make him see that I'm sorry?" Genny sighed.

"Why would you be sorry?" Elissa asked. "You did what you wanted to do and what you thought you needed to do. If Josh can't see that, then he can't see that. You don't have to apologize for leaving."

"Do you think he'll ever forgive me?" Genny asked, stirring her iced tea with a straw.

"Eventually I think he'll come his senses and realize what a prat he's being," Elissa nodded. "Until then just keep doing what you have to do to stay better."

"I just really miss Josh," Genny muttered, looking at Elissa. Elissa knew how upset Genny was and she wished she could help, but there wasn't much she could do.

"I know you do," Elissa nodded.

Right before Elissa was about to continue her chat with Genny and try to make her feel better, her phone went off.

New Text from: Josh

Hey, El. I'm leaving for L.A in a few hours, I'm catching the red eye out. I'm not dealing with this right now. Love you.

"I'll be right back," Elissa stated. "Get us more wine, yeah?"

Elissa grabbed her purse and phone, making a run for the bathroom. She dialled Josh's number and prayed he would pick up.

"Hey, I just texted you." Josh stated.

"What the hell, Josh?" Elissa scolded, trying her best not to yell. "You're leaving? What about trying to work things out with Genny?"

"I can't right now," Josh sighed. "It's too much."

"This isn't high school, Josh. You can't just give up when things get tough and run away!" Elissa stated under her breath.

"Genevieve did," Josh replied smoothly.

"That's low, Josh. That's really low," Elissa spat. "She did what she did because she needed help. She didn't run away because she wanted to hurt you."

"That's one opinion," Josh muttered.

"You're being an asshole," Elissa replied back. She growled when Josh hung up the phone on her. He was being a child and she was so angry with him.

"Fine," Elissa muttered. She shoved her phone in her purse and walked back out to Genny.

"Are you okay?" Genny asked seeing a livid looking Elissa. Elissa threw cash on the table and ordered Genny to get up.

"What's wrong?" Genny asked, grabbing her purse and following Elissa outside.

"Josh is leaving," Elissa stated. "He's going back to L.A and you're going with him."