Change My Mind

61 - New all around

Packing up my belongings and sending them across the Atlantic ocean was a lot more complicated than I first thought. I couldn't bring everything, so my furniture and a lot of other belongings went to Goodwill. Niall and Harry both stayed in New York and helped me handle everything. They carried heavy boxes and furniture and helped me gradually empty my Staten Island home; my tiny two-bedroom apartment. Josh and Stig helped as well and Josh found lots of little memorabilia he wanted to keep from my apartment. 

"Oh I love this spoon!" He exclaimed while going through my kitchen utensils. I wasn't bringing anything, so I gestured for him to take it. It was a very plain, nothing special melamine spoon. "We used this when we made that punch once. I stirred that horrible tasting mixture for the love of all things fruity. Do you remember? You ended up puking before we even left for the club." He chuckled and shook his head at the memory. Harry was painting a wall that had looked a little worse for wear, but he paused to listen to Josh's story. He laughed along and looked at me with an adoring expression. 

"Josh, don't spill all my dirty secrets," I hummed and pointed towards Harry with a laugh. "He can still change his mind, you know?" 

"Fat chance, Harry mates for life," Niall sang from the other end of the apartment. Harry turned and threw a roll of masking tape after him. Both Josh and Stig wolf-whistled at Harry, who just returned to painting the wall. 

Josh sent me a cheeky look and wagged his eyebrows, silently dancing the dance from Beyonce's 'Single Ladies.' "If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it," he mouthed earning him a punch on the shoulder. I shook my head at him, but struggled not to laugh. 

"Can I have this too?" Josh asked, holding up a random fork from the cutlery drawer. 

"Knock yourself out," I laughed and watched him pack it in a separate box labelled 'Josh's box of memories'. By the time we were done, his box was so heavy that Stig and Niall had to help each other carry it down the stairs. Josh guided them and occasionally scolded them for almost dropping his things. 

"Carry with your legs, Niall! You'll throw your back and how the hell are we going to dance the jig at the pub?" Josh dramatically threw his hands in the air and sighed at Niall. 

I stood in the middle of my empty living room and looked around at how all signs of me ever being there were gone. Harry wrapped his arms around me from behind and looked around the room with me. 

"It's strange," I said and leaned into him. "It looks so small and cold now. It must have looked like this when I moved in, but I can't even remember that. I can't picture how it looked before I started cramming my entire life into this small space." 

"You brought life to this place, baby. I'm excited for you to do that in London." He spoke comforting and kissed the top of my head. 

"How is your plant budget?" I asked and chuckled when he blew out a deep breath. I was going to fill that place with plants if it was the last thing I did. 

***

News of Aiden taking a plea deal came the day before we were leaving. Mom and dad had traveled down to New York and were staying at a hotel Harry had booked them into. It was very luxurious and my darling parents truly felt like fish out of water. They were not used to that kind of extravagance and while I'm sure they appreciated the gesture, it just wasn't something they craved. 

"Aiden took the plea deal," dad said after walking off to take a phone call. It turned out it was Nellie calling him. "The case isn't going to trial. He'll get four years and then a conditioned probation. On top of that he's going to pay a fine and restitution to the victims for emotional distress."