I Want You All To Myself

Twenty-Seven

Hayley's POV 

Singing Paramore songs made me cry. I couldn't stand it. The band had fallen apart completely. Zac and his brother hated me, Jeremy had regretfully told me he was leaving and Jack... Well, Jack might as well have been dead.  

But it didn't matter so much anymore.  

I was pretty sure I had never been this sad before. I had never been so alone. Nightmare after nightmare drowned my thoughts into an inky sea of regret. My rationality told me that I had done the right thing, that there had been no other choice. Unfortunately, my rationality was nothing but an atrophied ghost now, fighting to take over again but standing no chance in front of the colossal wall of pain that surrounded my reason.  

There was nothing I craved more than him. I wished he would throw pebbles at my window again, like he had done once upon a time. I wished I could see him standing there in my backyard, waving hello with that little smile of his that made me melt. I wished he would hold me in his arms, the only place I felt safe, and tell me that everything would be okay. I would have believed him.  

But he was gone. Forever. There was nothing here for him. He had no reason not to forget me. Not anymore. 

Josh's POV 

The plan was simple. Sara had to distract dad while Matt and Ian got me into the trunk of his car-hopefully they'd manage to get my whole six feet two inches in there-and Nicole looked out for intruders so that our little scheme had no witnesses. It wasn't exactly a war strategy, but it sounded like a good idea. To me, anyway.  

When the big day came though, I wasn't so sure anymore. First of all, my dad was taking the small car. The smallest car, the tiny little piece of scrap that miraculously hadn't blown up yet. Despite the fact that we had three cars and either of the other two would've been perfect for his needs, my dad insisted on using that thing under the pretense that it had been in his family for decades-you can imagine what it looked like. 

So my chances of fitting in there without having to cut off my feet had dropped dramatically.  

Second of all, it was raining. No need to explain how that was a bad thing. And lastly, since my dad was leaving at seven in the morning, we all had to get up early. I was surprised to see that everyone was at the rendez-vous and hadn't decided to bail on us.  

"Anything for Operation Save-the-Baby!" had been Ian's answer after I'd told him about it. I wasn't sure if this guy actually cared about my personal life or if he was trying to get something outta me. He was probably really desperate about this whole band thing and wanted to get on my good side. As if.  

At six forty-nine, we were all in place and ready for action. As soon as dad unlocked the car, Sara dragged him back to the house before giving him a rib-crushing hug and starting a long and complicated conversation to keep him busy. I knew I could count on her.  

Nicole, who was hiding behind a tree, gave us a thumbs-up. Ian, Matt and I jumped out of the bushes like ninjas, sprinting to the car. The rain had us shivering in no time, but we wouldn't let that distract us. While Ian glanced nervously at my dad and Matt made eye-contact with Nicole, I opened the trunk. Jeez, I would never fit in there. Ever. Even if I was an elastic dwarf I wouldn't be able to get my whole body in there. 

"Come on!" Ian urged. 

"Wait!" Matt whispered harshly. He pointed Nicole who was waving her arms at us frantically. Panicking, I swept the surroundings with my eyes and finally saw what she was seeing. My mom was coming out of the house, reading the list she'd made of all the things dad had to bring on his trip. Dammit, Sara, you could've stopped her! Ian, Matt and I quickly hid behind the car right before my mom raised her eyes from her list to stare angrily at the dark sky.  

"Do you have your passport!?" she yelled at dad as if the rain was noisy enough to muffle her voice. I couldn't hear his answer-apparently he didn't feel the need to yell-but I guessed it was an annoyed 'duh.' "Are you sure this car is big enough!?" my mom shouted. I felt like standing up and clapping. Thank you, mom, thank you. Unfortunately, dad's answer must've been the same as the first time, so I guesses we had to go back to the 'cut Josh's feet off' option.  

"How long do we have to wait here? It's freezing!" Matt pointed out as if we hadn't noticed, holding his sides with shaky arms. I shot him a glance that was enough to shut him up again. 

"Do you have your suitcase!?" came mom's voice again. I stopped breathing for a second. Shit. Nobody had thought of that! How the hell was I supposed to fit in a trunk the size of a crib with a suitcase in it?  

Hearing footsteps getting closer, the three of us crawled to the front of the car, doing our best to hide from my dad, who was now hauling his suitcase across the lawn to the trunk, and my mom who was running back to the house. Stretching my neck to see the front door, I managed to throw Sara a dirty look. She shrugged apologetically and looked away.  

"Why's this open?" I heard my dad mutter when he reached the car. Oops, we'd left the trunk open. Oh well, we had bigger problems ahead. Once dad returned to the house to get the last few items and Sara closed the door behind him, Ian, Matt and I jumped out from our hiding place and opened the trunk again to examine the situation. Well, unless I figured out a way to shrink myself, I don't know how I would fit in there.  

"Would the backseat work?" Ian proposed.  

"Risky," I said, "But worth a try." That said, we slammed the trunk closed and hurried to the door on the side of the car. Matt opened it for me-what a gentleman-and I lay down across the three seats, making myself as small as possible. 

Matt made a face and Ian crossed his arms thoughtfully. "I dunno, Josh. You're too visible," he said matter-of-factly.  

"Oh, sorry, my invisibility button's broken." He grunted but otherwise ignored my remark.  

"How about if you moved over there," Matt said innocently, pointing the space between the backseat and the front seats-in other words, the floor.  

"Oh, of course Matt. Right on the ground. Genius. How 'bout I just go UNDER the car while we're at it." 

"You were ready to spend fifteen hours in a trunk," he said slowly, "but you're not gonna do it over there?" He had a point. 

Before I could answer, Ian poked Matt's shoulder. "Um, Nicole's saying something," he told him. I stood up quickly and saw Nicole doing that wavy thing with her arms again. Uh-oh. Right then, Matt and Ian slammed the door, almost breaking my ankles in the process, and crouched under the window so I couldn't see them anymore. Glancing behind me through the window, I saw my dad walking back towards the car. 

Realising it was my only escape, I slid between the seats, annoyed by the fact that I had to do what Matt wanted. A few seconds later, I heard the door open and saw my dad climbing into the driver's seat. I supposed Matt and Ian had managed to escape into the bushes before he saw them. The engine roared and sputtered-jeez, stupid old cars-and then we were moving. 

He didn't even see me. We were on our way to the States and my dad didn't even know I was there. I was on my way to Hayley. The hardest part was over. 

Holy shit, we did it.