Ivory Tower

"But I don't want you to go!" Genny fought as she and Josh walked around his bedroom as he packed for tour.

"I have to go!" Josh replied. "This is for my band, this is for my job! I have to go! I need to do this."

"I hate it when you leave!" Genny stated.

"I know you do, Genny! I hate that I have to leave you, too, but I love touring!" Josh fought.

They had been together about a year and You Me At Six was really taking off. Josh was out touring a lot, in and out of Surrey all the time. Genny was growing to resent it. She supported him and was happy for him, but she could only take so much before she snapped.

"Genny, please." Josh sighed when she sat down on his bed in a huff. "Don't be like this."

"Be like what?"

"Don't be a bitch! You knew when we got together that this is what I did," Josh stated. "You told me that you were okay with it!"

"I didn't know it would be this hard!" Genny stated, letting herself cry.

"Genny," Josh sighed. He put his clothes in his suitcase and then walked over to her. He sat down beside her wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, kissing her forehead. "I just need you to understand this is what I want to do and that touring is what I have to do to make it all happen."

"I know," Genny replied. "I'm sorry I got so mad. I just hate watching you go and then being all alone."

"I know, baby. But I promise you'll never be fully alone. As long as I'm around you'll never be alone," Josh promised, keeping his lips pressed against her forehead.

As Genny sat on her bed watching Elissa run around the room, packing for her, she thought of all the things Josh had promised her. All the things she had promised Josh.

"My relationship was built on broken promises," Genny stated softly.

"What are you talking about?" Elissa asked, tossing some dresses into a suitcase for Genny. "You and Josh were the most honest people I've ever seen in a relationship."

"He promised he'd never let me be alone and here I am," Genny stated. "I promised I would tell him everything and I abandoned him in the middle of the night."

"Well these are all things you should talk to Josh about when you get to L.A!" Elissa urged, zipping up Genny's bag.

"He doesn't want me there," Genny sighed, shaking her head. "He's made that clear."

"He does want you there," Elissa insisted. "He just doesn't want to deal with it all right now. He's pushing away and he needs to know that you're there for him. He needs to know that this is what you want. By you just laying here and accepting that he's gone you're proving to him that what he thinks is right."

"What does he think?" Genny asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Elissa verified.

"Yes!"

"He thinks you're a quitter. He thinks that once times get tough you just roll over and let it kill you," Elissa sighed. "He didn't mean that about your father dying, that was a legitimate thing and that really did hurt you. He meant about him not wanting to get engaged again. You just shut him out and you left him."

"He said that?"

"Yeah," Elissa nodded. "And by letting him leave and not fighting you're proving to him that you're a quitter."

"I'm not a quitter," Genny stated firmly through gritted teeth. "Elissa, hand me my bag please."

"You're going?" Elissa smiled.

"There's no way in hell I'm letting Josh Franceschi think I'm a quitter," Genny stated. "If he thinks that than he has another thing coming to him."

....

"I can't believe you actually left," Max stated when Josh got back to L.A a few hours later. "The whole reason you went back was because she was home. Now you're back?"

"Yeah," Josh nodded. "She told me what happened and then I decided to come back."

"More like she told you what you didn't want to hear so you bailed," Dan stated, cracking open a beer. "It's obvious that's what happened."

"You don't get it," Josh stated, shaking his head.

"You're right, I don't get it." Dan replied. "I get that you're pissed, but I don't understand what running away is accomplishing."

"I'm not running away," Josh stated firmly.

"No, of course not. You just got a text message from the girl you've been in love with since you were about 16 years old who ran out on you for some reason, left L.A to go see her, then came back within a day or two." Dan replied. "Not running away at all, Franceschi."

"You don't know what happened!" Josh yelled, tossing his suitcase into the closet.

"I want to know what happened," Max stated, stepping in. "She's my best friend and I want to know what happened to her for all those months."

"She checked herself into a fucking institute that's what happened!" Josh yelled. "She was in Lambeth the whole time and no one knew!"

"And you fucking left?" Dan yelled back. "She opens up to you and tells you where she's been and you fucking leave her? You don't deserve her!"

"I don't deserve her? Where the fuck do you get off telling me that I don't deserve my own girlfriend?" Josh asked.

"Ex- girlfriend," Max mumbled.

"I was nothing but good to her!" Josh spat, ignoring Max.

"Yeah, right up until the point where she needed you more than any other time in your relationship," Dan glared.

Dan and Genny had never been particularly close. They were friends and hung out, but they weren't on the same level that Max and Genny were. Dan did love Genny like a sister, though. He would protect her from anyone. Even Josh.

"You don't know what it was like," Josh his voice low and menacing. Every word Dan said made him angry. If he could, and if he wasn't so sure Dan would win, he'd fight him. He hated him so much in that moment.

"You're right, I don't. All I know is that if I loved someone enough to want to marry them, then I would at least fight. You rolled over and died, Josh. You let it hurt you and destroy you, therefore it destroyed her. You didn't even try," Dan replied.

"Guys, enough." Max sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm so sick of you walking around here like she didn't hurt you and I'm sick of you playing the victim. I hate that you act like you didn't destroy her either," Dan sighed. "If I have to see you parade one more random girl around this place I'm going to snap. Enough, Josh. Who are you trying to convince that you're okay? No one believes you."

Josh glared at Dan once more and then took off out the front door of the apartment. Dan sighed and looked around the room. He left the room in a bit of a huff as well. Max looked at the spot where his friends and bandmates had been and sighed himself.

"That was intense," He mumbled.

The rest of the night in the apartment was fairly quiet. They had the night off to recuperate from recording and be ready for the morning. Max laid in his bed unable to sleep. It was impossible. Josh hadn't been home in hours and he was starting worry something had happened to his friend. He didn't know the area well and could very well have gotten lost or hurt.

Just as he was about to call Josh to ask where he was, there was a knock at the door. Max got out of bed and shuffled towards the door.

"Thank God, mate. I was starting to wo-"

"Hi Max,"

"Genny," Max gasped upon seeing his best friend for the first time in months. He broke down into tears and grabbed hold of her, hugging her as tightly as he could. He never intended on letting her go ever again.