Book 5: Just For a Moment

Chapter 15- My Love, Mine All Mine.

1 Week Later

Joshua groaned getting out of bed, he held his side and winced as he lifted up his shirt and just stared at the wound. He sighed pulling out his phone, Nini hadn't texted him since he got out of the hospital, he clicked his phone off then went to his bathroom. As Miles walked in

"hey, man!" Miles said placing bags of groceries on his bed "you feeling better?"

Joshua stared at his wound, zoning out he moved his hand toward it.

"Joshua?" Miles said putting his jacket up, he walked toward the bathroom and noticed Joshua

"dude stop that" Miles said moving his hand away and Joshua groaned turning on the water to wash his face

"hey uh, you know.. Mrs. Pearl is staring HSM back up this weekend, you maybe wanna give it another go?"

Joshua shook his head as he put the warm water on his face "i don't know" he said quietly

"we have security watching the building this time, and if you don't come back Julian is gonna take over as Troy"

"good for him" Joshua put his shirt on

"i guess... but him and Sarah have no chemistry... which is why you should-"

"i said i don't know, okay?!" Joshua yelled and smiles gulped then stepped back and nodded

"right"

"Im sorry for yelling" Joshua covered his face and sat down on his bed
"Is everything okay?" Miles said sitting next to him and Joshua nodded, still covering his face. Miles raised an eyebrow "that's not very convincing"

"Then what is?" Joshua replied and Miles stared at him
"Joshua?"
"What?"
"Whats going on?" Miles asked, his voice was soft, Joshua was hesitant for a moment then he spoke

"Ever since opening night happened, its been replaying in my head every day...and i want... i need it to stop" Joshua began tearing up and Miles put his hand on his back "anything else? What about Nini? She hasn't been around lately"

"I dont know whats up with her, at the hospital, she waited for me to wake up. Once i did she said she loved me, then she just left... and shes been acting weird and cold ever since... like we hardly ever see each other, and she rarely responds to my text"

"Well you're on the same campus, have you made any effort to communicate with her?" Miles said and Joshua sighed "no but, i mean, we took a break right before opening night... so I guess we aren't even really a couple"

"But you miss her?" Miles asked and Joshua slowly nodded "then let her know, you can't just wait on the bench, sometimes you gotta take action... you know?"

"Yeah... I know"

"Im sorry you're feeling this was, man, but i love you... and so does Nini, you just gotta talk"

"Yeah, can we just sit here for a minute though? This is nice" Joshua softly said and Miles smirked then nodded and hugged his friend tightly "its gonna be okay, dude."

Nini sat in the library, her fet up on the couches and she sat elegantly reading a book, she slowly took a sip of her coffee then put it down and sighed happily. May sat down beside her and placed all her things down then turned to her

"Whats you plan here?" she said and Nini scrunched her eyebrows "to finish this book?"
May rolled her eyes "no, whats your deal? You haven't talked to Joshua all week"

Nini sighed deeply then placed her book down and looked at May
"I made a mistake"
"Could you be more specific?"
Nini rolled her eyes "when he was in the hospital, Sarah sent me this video of a song he made for me about how much he loves me"
"Cute" May replied
"I guess... anyway, when he woke up I told him I loved him and we kissed but... I think I was so caught up in my emotions and the stress that I didn't take time to really listen to my feelings"
"And?"
"And I don't think I still love him..."

May winced "thats harsh"
Nini nodded slowly then May sighed "so then what? You're just avoiding him?"
"At all costs"
"Thats kinda hard to do when you go to the same college"
"Yeah but, i've managed it so far so i don't think i'll ever have to speak to him again"
May looked out toward the door then noticed Joshua through the windows and turned to Nini
"Speak of the devil" May smirked then grabbed her backpack and walked away

Joshua walked up to Nini, both stayed silent as Nini glued her eyes to her book. Joshua fake coughed and Nini still didn't move, Joshua sighed then sat next to her.
"Neens?" he said softly, she still had her eyes on the book
"Neens? Will you look at me, please?" he said and Nini closed her eyes, then the book and looked at him
"Thank you" he said and Nini nodded "whats been up with you? I feel like you're avoiding me"
Nini looked down and Joshua sighed "Nini just tell me whats going on, I won't be upset with you"

Nini sighed "Joshua..." she took his hand and caressed it, smiling at all the memories then it faded. "I don't... love you anymore"

Joshua froze, his heart felt like it got hit with a hammer and his eyes watered quickly
"So we're breaking up... again?" Joshua's voice quivered and Nini nodded slowly then let go of his hand "for real this time" she replied,  Joshua eyed her hand and looked at her.

"Nini... I need you to know, if this is final, this is the last time i'm going to talk to you... i'm not coming back this time, no matter what" Joshua shed a tear and Nini held his face and wiped it

"Okay" she said softly
"Okay" Joshua said as more tears rolled down, he wiped one away and looked at Nini
"Can I just stay here for a minute and hug you? Just one more time" he said and Nini nodded as her eyes watered, she pulled him in and he cried softly into her shoulder.  May sat across watching, she couldn't help but feel bad for the young boy

A few minutes later Joshua stood up and sniffled then sighed
"Goodbye, Joshua" Nini said softly to him
"Bye, Neens" he shoved his hands in his coat pocket then walked to the door, he held the handle, then took one last look back to Nini, she was already back in her book. He smiled softly then opened the door and walked away.