Sick of the Sunsets

Hannah never did too well in crises. She panicked and became somewhat erratic. When having to deal with these things alone it often got too much for her and she would crack under the pressure, yet this time it was going to be different because she had Paul.

After having found Hannah slightly hysterical on the bench outside the restaurant, Paul took her home and did everything that an attentive soon to be boyfriend should do, he lent her a hoodie of his so she could combat the chill that only she felt, and he made her a cup of hot chocolate with the tiny white marshmallows in. He sat next to her on the bed that she had been occupying for almost three weeks now. Her exhaustion won over in the end and she fell asleep wrapped up securely in the arms of Paul, who unlike Hannah did not sleep a wink. He was far too worried and preoccupied with the idea of a Josh invasion that his brain couldn't find any rest.

He shared his fears with the Almost Famous Giant and Alexa the next day at the breakfast table, whilst Hannah still lay deep in a dreamless sleep.

"Paul man I wouldn't worry, it might not have been him you know?" Martin said thickly through a mouthful of croissant, regardless of the disgusted face that his girlfriend was making.

Alexa was better at handling the situation, as she possessed what her boyfriend did not: tact.

"Sweetie the best thing to do right now is not to panic ok? You two should just carry on living your lives normally and if Josh turns up we will all help you deal with him ok? Hannah belongs here with us, and she wants to be here Paul. That's why she stayed so long."

Alexa had touched on a thought that had been plaguing Paul for a long time. He was so scared that Hannah was going to get up and go back to California because she didn't feel at home in Boston. Yet he soon realized how ridiculous this idea was, even more so in the afternoon when Hannah and Paul took a walk around the inner city, Hannah doing some serious retail therapy in the small boutiques, and Paul being more than willing to complement outfits and carry the bags for her.

Everything was idyllic and the fears of the presence of Josh were soon washed away by the comforts of each other's company. They walked around closely, holding hands and sharing kisses. It was enough to make any single person extremely jealous and want to join a speed-dating group.

That night John, whose girlfriend was coming into town to visit him, had planned a balcony barbeque and he took this as an ideal opportunity to introduce her to everyone and so the mood in the Almost Famous household was marvellous.

Everyone was relaxed and joyful, the sun was still shining in the sky despite the early evening time, and the three girls Hannah, Alexa and Kelsey were now joined by the presence of Sofia, a bright determined blonde who lived on the same wavelength as the other girls and thus had no problems what so ever fitting into the group. The boys talked music and how they were hoping to record soon and the girls just did what girls do best and talked and talked and talked about god knows what. Other school friends of each of the band members joined and soon there were at least twenty people in the apartment, sipping drinks, joking and laughing.

Everything had gone to plan and all the barbeque meats had been prepared in the kitchen until John dropped the bombshell that he had in fact forgotten to bring the coals that were needed to light the fire.

"Who plans a barbeque without the fuel to light it?" Hannah said shaking her head with a laugh as she leant against Paul who was stood staring at John with a rather aghast look on his face.

"Me obviously," John said with a smile before dropping a curse word in his annoyance. "I'm such an idiot."

"Tell you what shall I run down to the corner shop and get some? It won't take longer than fifteen minutes," Hannah offered setting her drink down on the kitchen island and already reaching for her purse.

John sent a grateful smile her way and thanked her.

"You want me to come with you?" Paul asked catching her free hand before Hannah walked out the door.

She shook her head with a smile.

"It's alright you need to stay here and make sure Martin doesn’t it anything, I won't be long," Hannah promised and with one last smile to Paul she slipped out of the apartment door and made her way down the stairs to the bottom floor.

Everything went without a problem; Hannah made it to the convenience store, picked up a medium sized bag of coals, paid for them and before she knew it she was making her way back up the stairs to the apartment that she had only just walked down ten minutes ago.

However something rather alarming and unexpected happened, just as Hannah was about to walk around the corner of the last flight of stairs. The lights in the corridor hadn't been working for about three days now and so the corridor was in a dim state of darkness, something that never brought about a sense of uneasy in her, but today something was different. She couldn't get over the feeling that there was something behind her.

Letting her paranoia win just once, Hannah turned around and almost at once collided with the form of a tall and well built person, at first it was difficult to make out who the person was, but the sudden vice grip on Hannah's wrist cleared up the mystery at once.

"Josh what the fuck are you doing here?" Hannah cried and in shock dropped the bag of coals that she had been carrying in her arms, the bag falling to the floor with a muffled thump. "How did you find me?" She asked getting slightly hysterical as she was trying to free herself from the grip on her wrist.

Josh was still the same as always, his surfer build gave him away and the same set of piercing grey eyes that showed every ounce of emotion that he had running through his body. In this instant it was anger and betrayal.

"I saw you in town today and followed you and your new nancy boy back here," Josh said, his voice holding signs of contempt. "Hannah you need to come back home to California. You don't belong in this city and you certainly don't belong to those people," he said and gestured with his head at the door where the sounds of the party were drifting out from.

However this door was suddenly flung open and a humming, good humoured Paul walked out with the intention to ask a neighbour if he could borrow some barbeque sauce, however his humour and original plan vaporised the minute he saw the scene in front of him.

"Don't you dare touch her," Paul said venom marking his every word and taking massive stride to stand in front of Hannah protectivly.

"She's my girlfriend so don't you tell me what to do emo kid," Josh bit back but was prevented from saying anymore when Hannah hollered at him.

"Ex girlfriend you jerk!"

Josh blinked twice at her but didn't say anything; he simply turned around and walked away, dragging Hannah with him. However she put up a fight and kept her feet planted firmly on the ground, preventing Josh from taking her further.

"If I were you I'd let go off her," Paul said quietly but a dangerous tone lining his words.

"Or what?" Josh challenged, but his cockiness disappeared the minute Paul's knuckles collided with his perfectly shaped nose. The blood sprouted instantly and Josh's cry of pain reverberated down the corridor.

"Now I suggest you fuck off to where you came from and don't you dare come back here again or we're calling the police," Paul warned Josh, conviction behind everything he said. He grabbed a hold of Hannah's shaking hand and picked up the bag of coals that had been dropped on the floor.

Without so much as a backward glance at Josh, Paul opened the door and gently pushed Hannah in. Only once the door was shut did Hannah's knees give in, but before she sank to the floor Paul caught a hold of her and wrapped a steady arm around her waist.

"It's ok he's gone," he said comfortingly and placed a reassuring kiss on Hannah's temple. "And he ain't coming back anytime soon."