LA Baby ♡ Manhattan Dreams Sequel

12. The Hardest Goodbye

I was hoping that Friday would never come. I know it was unrealistic since time is unstoppable and the future eventually becomes present day but I was really hoping that in this case time would do the unthinkable. 

Josh is wheeling his bag out of our bedroom and I'm leaned against the counter stuffing chocolate covered pretzels into my mouth. "Are you sure you have to leave today?" I ask, hoping he'll change his mind but he nods his head. 

"You know I pushed it as far back as I could" he replies, stopping in the entryway before walking over to me. "Are you going to come to the bus depot?" he asks and I roll my eyes as I wrap my arms around his neck. 

"Is the sky blue?" I ask theoretically and he laughs, nodding his head as his lips duck down to press against mine. I kiss him back gently, savoring the kiss rather than rushing it until we pull apart and he glances over my shoulder towards the clock. 

"We should really get going" he whispers. I sigh, dropping my arms to my sides. 

"Okay. Let's go rock star" I reply, grabbing the keys and leading him out the door. 

We head down to the car and I help him pile the last of his things into the trunk before we climb in and prepare to set off on our quick drive to the bus depot where their tour bus waited for the band to arrive. 

I turn the radio on as he starts the car and immediately a 5 Seconds of Summer song blares from the speakers and I laugh, glancing over at my boyfriend. "Somethings never change huh?" I ask him, turning it down a bit. He smiles, placing his hand on my thigh as we pull out of the driveway. 

"Somethings never should change" he counters and we set off on our way. We listen to the 5SOS album the entire drive there, singing along to some of our favorites until finally we pull up to the bus depot. 

We've beaten everyone here which actually leaves us with a few minutes before I'm finally forced to say goodbye to him. "So" I begin, placing my hand over his and intertwining our fingers on my thigh. "You gonna miss me?" I ask teasingly and he laughs, turning in his seat to look at me. 

"I'm going to miss you more than you could ever fathom Penelope" he replies sweetly, squeezing my hand. "But you are going to come and visit me and make my heart hurt a little less, right?" he asks and I nod. While I couldn't imagine a life in Los Angeles, I would of course come and visit him. I could only hope that eventually we would be able to settle back here when we got a little older and a bit more serious. 

"I'll be at a couple shows" I agree, glancing out the window to check if we were still alone. "Promise you won't pull random girls on stage and fall in love with them in the meantime though" I add teasingly and he laughs, shaking his head. 

"I was already falling for you by the time I pulled you on stage. My love was just cemented when you opened your mouth" he responds causing a blush to rise on my cheeks. I would never consider a career as a singer but admittedly the compliment felt nice. 

"You're too sweet" I gush, leaning back in my seat while I gaze at him longingly. "It's gonna be weird going back to the apartment without you."

"I know" he nods, leaning against the console. "But remember, I'm only a phone call away and if you ever really did need me for anything serious I would drop everything and be here as soon as humanely possible. Okay?" I knew in my head that there was nothing I could ever need so badly as to interrupt his life on the road but I also knew that there was no arguing with Joshua Gabriel Matthews so I simply smile and nod my head. 

"I'll call you if I need you" I assure him and he seems to take my answer happily as the subject is dropped and luckily for me, that's when another car pulls up and Max and Sophie step out.