He Who Wants A Rose, Must Respect The Thorn

Getting Somewhere

JULIAN'S POV

"Did you know?!" I yelled down the phone at Danny as soon as he answered. "Did you fucking know?!" I yelled again, not even giving him time to breathe. "Jules, calm down" Danny sighed quietly. "what the hell is going on man?" he asked. "did you fucking know Penny was in Boston?" I said angrily down the phone. He sighed again, making my blood boil. "look..."

"ahh," I laughed sarcastically. "fucking great." 

"just fucking listen to me" Danny snapped. I stood there waiting for whatever bullshit he had to say. "I only found out this afternoon when I met up with Liv...she had been keeping it from me too. She'd been with Penny last night. They got talking and agreed it was unfair to not tell me. Liv kept it to herself for Penny. Look man, I'd have done the same for you, so don't blame Liv either." he told me. I sighed, he had a point. "I was gonna come by and see you, but you were out" 

"I was fucking at her brother's house with Nicki" 

"Nicki? what? Your sister's in town?" 
"yeah, she turned up to see what was going on, and the next thing I know were going to her brother's place, and then I tell him I didn't know what else to do and he said she was out. That's how I fucking found out" I huffed, feeling like a complete tool. "that's bullshit man" Danny huffed, "I know. I feel so bad though, I just stormed off, leaving him shouting after me man. I'm a fucking idiot. I'm just pushing everyone away from me Dola. What the fuck am I doing?!" I slumped down onto the floor, my head in my hands as I held my cellphone to my ear. "you need to make it right. with everyone." 

"and how the hell do I do that, she doesn't even want me knowing she's in the same fucking country as me man" I almost burst into tears again. "we'll think of something. But in the mean time, don't do anything stupid" 

...........

NICKI'S POV

It kept calling and calling. I was beginning to lose hope that I had written the number down right in my cell. But soon the call connected and I sighed with relief.

"hello?"

"Penny, it's Nicki...." silence. "Hi" I breathed another sigh of relief. "Hi" I said back, now not exactly knowing what I was going to say. The noise on the other end of the line made me realise she was still out, like her brother had told Julian. "look, I assume you're out so I'll keep this short. I just wanted to see how you are." I said, feeling like whatever I was going to say would just sound stupid. She sighed, and luckily answered me, "yeah, I'm still pretty crap. But I'll live. How are you?" she asked, making me smile. "I'm good, tired, but good. Work's driving me nuts at the moment. I need sometime off. I miss you y'know" I told her. It was true. I missed her as a friend, not just as Julian's girlfriend. "I'm in Boston" I blurted out. Silence. "oh. really?" She asked. "yeah, I actually stole your number off a certain brother of mine. He doesn't know" I smirked, hearing her chuckle. "that's cool...." she hesitated briefly, "I miss you too" she added, making me want to squeal. At least she would talk to me. "How we didn't exchange numbers before I don't know" I smiled at her. "I know right" she replied. Just then the door opened up and Julian came marching out, like a man on a mission. still. He frowned when he saw me on the phone, so I mouthed 'work' at him and he nodded. I watched him grab his keys and then nod to the door. I smiled and nodded, leaving him to it. He needed some space with me here, so I let him head out without a thought.

"Well we need to keep in touch more" I said once Julian had left the house. "I'd actually really like that" Penny said, surprising me. "awesome." I beamed a smile. I never asked her where she was, or mentioned Julian really. I wanted to talk to her as a friend, not her ex's sister. God, his ex.  I know she was the first girl he'd ever brought home, but I seriously thought she'd be my sister in law someday. 

We talked a little longer, but I was aware she was on a night out and she didn't deserve me bringing her down, incase she started thinking of Jules or anything, so I decided to cut the call shorter than I'd have liked. "well, I will let you carry on with your night. Whatever you're doing. But you have my number now, so give me a call later. We need to keep in touch" I smiled, "of course, I'll talk to you soon" she said sweetly. I loved that girl. I cut the call and put my cell down beside me. I just hope Julian was a little calmer now. Wherever the hell he was.