"Wait, no, that can't be true!" I stammered. "I can't leave you!" My heart beat fast "I'll be lost without you."
"You'll be with your brother. You'll be happy. And if you're happy, I'm happy." He faked a smile but I could see the sadness in his eyes.
"But... I wont be happy without you. I don't want to leave you." Tears started to gather in my eyes.
Josh raised a hand to my jaw and softly started stroking my cheek. "I don't exactly want you to leave either, but it's for the best""
I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. Josh pulled me into a tight hug.
"What about us?" I muffled through his hoodie.
He took a deep breath. "I'll Skype you, call you, text you all the time. I'll visit whenever I can. I'll do anything. Whenever you need me I'll come."
"But I'll be too far away." I interrupted.
"Distance doesn't mean anything." He said releasing from the hug and looking into my eyes. Tears were starting to build in his eyes too even though he tried to stay strong and hide them. It broke my heart.
"I'll miss you." I whispered, tears now rolling down my cheeks.
"I'll miss you more." He replied. "I love you Lauren." He gently kissed my lips and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
"I love you too."
Just then there was a small knock on the door. "Lauren it's us" said Emma's voice from behind the door.
I sniffed and wiped the tears from my eyes. "Come in."
In came Maddy with Emma following behind, both of them with sad looks on their faces. They both instantly gave me a tight hug.
"Oh Lauren, you're so lucky to be leaving this place. Try not to miss me too much!' Maddy joked.
I gave a small laugh.
"Me too! Who am I going to talk about boys with!" Emma exclaimed.
Maddy coughed and raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm still here!"
"Apart from you Maddy." Emma stuck out her tongue.
I laughed at their childish behaviour. They knew how to cheer me up.
"Are you guys still going to be together?" Emma asked, her serious eyes flickering between me and Josh.
"Of course." Josh smiled. "We'll make it work." He winked at me, causing me to blush.
"How cute!" Maddy cooed.
"I need to start packing." I stated taking in a deep breath.
"We'll help!" Emma said and started on my makeup.
I caught my reflection in the mirror and noticed that my eyes had become black from my makeup running and red and puffy from crying. I felt embarrassed and tried rubbing it off.
"You still look beautiful." Josh whispered close to my ear. It sent shocks down my back and instantly made me smile.
-----------------------------------
After I had packed my suitcase and my room was empty, we started to head downstairs. Maddy and Emma were already down and Josh took the case from my hands pulling it into the hallway. I turned to close the door and when I turned back around Josh collided his lips with mine, kissing me passionately. He wrapped his arms around my waist as mine went around his neck. I was definitely going to miss this. He let go and carried on carrying the case downstairs as if nothing had happened, leaving me stood there shocked and breathless. I giggled and followed behind him.
Paul and Charlie stood by the door followed by the others.
"I'll take you case to the car." Charlie smiled, picking it up as if it had no weight at all.
Paul reached out a hand for me to shake but I ignored it and have him a hug. "It was nice having you here Lauren. Stay out of trouble now." He joked.
I laughed back. "I'll try."
Then Katie came prancing up to me. I kneeled down to her height.
"B..Bye bye Lauren." She sang and danced off before I had time to reply.
Layla rushed to my side and gave me an unexpected kiss on the cheek and hug after flickering her blonde hair out of the way. "Keep me in with all the gossip!" She squeaked.
"I will!" I replied hugging back.
After saying goodbyes to everyone else I got to Maddy and Emma.
"Bye!" I squealed, starting to tear up again.
"Stop! You'll make me cry too!" Maddy squealed back.
I hugged them both separately.
"Yeah you'll run my mascara! Keep in contact yeah?" Emma asked.
"Of course!"
My final and hardest goodbye was to Josh. I was going to miss him a lot. He'd stuck with me since I was having trouble at home and at school. He was there while I was at hospital. He gave me a place to stay for a while. He's helped me with my problems. He was always there. I owed him for everything. We promised to always stay in contact, no matter how hard it would be. Being without him felt unbearable. Not seeing his face everyday. And seeing him now almost in tears was heartbreaking.
He embraced me in our final hug and gently kissed my lips.
"Goodbye Lauren. I'll never forget you. I love you."
"I love you too Josh."
And with that I got into the car with my brother and saw him watching me leave as we pulled out the driveway, ready to start my new life without him.
