First Kiss - A Lawson FanFic

Chapter 20 - Fight

It was now Sunday, and I hadn't really spoken to Joel since yesterday morning. We'd exchanged a few texts, but I could tell something was up. I wanted to call him, but when I confronted Mum about it, she told me not to.

"Just give him space, Ellie. He's probably just a bit preoccupied with their tour." In spite of my instincts to check up on him, I knew my mum was right; I had to let him breathe. He'd call me if he needed to, right?

In the meanwhile, I was finishing final preparations to start London Music College tomorrow. I had one more finance form to fill out, and needed to buy some stationery for my lectures. At least I had something to do to keep myself busy.

*****

I went to the shops to pick up some biros and a notepad from WH Smiths, and as I was waiting in the queue I couldn't fight the urge to get out my phone and text Joel.

Hey you, I texted, I miss you. Call me later?xxx

I sent the text, then slipped my phone back in my pocket. Time seemed to drag by immensely slowly as I waited in the queue for my phone to buzz. As I was leaving the shop it did, making me jump. I quickly extracted it from my pocket to read his reply.

I miss you too. I'm quite busy right now, maybe later?xx

I sighed; I wanted to call him now. And he had only put two kisses; have I done something wrong? I wondered. But I forced myself to ignore the nagging feeling in my stomach, and instead busied myself with continuing to buy pointless stationery to write pointless notes about pointless information.

*****

I got home and decided it was finally time to call Joel. He picked up on the fifth ring.

"Hello?" He sounded weary.

"Hi, Joel, it's me," I said.

"I know, your caller ID came up."

"Okay... How are you doing?"

"Fine. Can I call you back? We're kind of busy and Ryan's pissed off to God knows where."

"Oh, again?"

"Yeah, again. So I'm gonna have to go."

"Joel, wait. I..." What was it it wanted to say? Why was I calling him?

"What?" He snapped. I flinched at the harsh sound of his voice.

"Uh, nothing. Well, actually, I wondered if I could come round and help, maybe-"

"No, not really Ellie. To be honest you're wasting my time right now. Do you realise how important this tour is?" He was shouting now. "We've been busking and gigging in pubs and clubs for years and finally we have an official tour, and no one seems to care!"

"I care," I whispered.

"No you don't. You can't. You don't understand. It's alright for you; you've got your placement at your college and you're off to do your dream course. You've got no worries!"

"Joel, please-" I was on the verge of tears.

"Just forget it. See you later." The line went dead.

The tears that threatened to spill now came streaming down my face as I still held my phone to my ear. I refused to believe that Joel and I had just fought. He had not just hung up on me. Everything was fine. Everything was fine.

But it wasn't, and even though I tried to ignore it, the raw feeling of hurt and despair was there, in the pit of my stomach, wanting to be noticed. And it wouldn't go away.

*****

a/n

Please don't be a silent reader: vote & comment! Thank you for reading ♡