You Can Have It All (Roses book 2)

Twelve

A/N

Okay, so another one of my favourite authors noticed me last night, so I died fangirling. So I'm sort of a bit amazed at the moment. It was Gayle Forman, who wrote If I Stay, and she reblogged one of my posts on Tumblr. SO I DIED. A LOT.

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Hazel's POV

The drive home wouldn't have been bad if it wasn't for the rush-hour traffic. I was stuck in the traffic in the centre of Nottingham for an hour, not getting anywhere. That's when I decided to not go home. I wanted to make someone as happy as Ricky had made me, and I was in the right place to do that. I remembered the way as if it was programmed into me, and drove around the small roads to beat the traffic.

I pulled up outside the house, my old parking spot still empty. I remembered the conversation with Megan when I had started driving. Her family agreed to park a certain way outside their house, so there would always be a space there when I went around. I was there that often, it was unusual that space would be empty. I guessed old habits died hard, so they kept parking, leaving my space clear.

I got out of the car, pulled out my bag, and walked up to the house under the warm orange glow of the streetlights. The nights were drawing in fast now, and it was getting dark so early. I loved dark evenings. They always seemed happier. I knocked on the door. I could see the light on in the lounge through the window on the front, so I knew they would be in.

The door opened, and Megan's mum was stood there, looking the same as usual. Her hair always looked perfect, as if she would never let a strand fall out of place from her neat curls. She was an exact older copy of Megan.

'Hazel?' She said, surprised. 'Hey.'

'Hey,' I said. 'Mind if I spend the night here?' I asked.

'Of course!' She said, walking to the side so I could walk into their warm house. It always seemed so homely in there. It was like the perfect house. 'Is everything okay?' She asked, looking worried. Then I realised how weird this must be, because I hadn't been around since before my first audition for The Voice because I had been so busy.

'Yeah, everything is great. I was just in town, and the traffic was so bad I knew I had no chance of getting home tonight.' I said. I was trying to keep my voice down. I could hear Megan in the lounge, but I wanted to go in and surprise her by it. I suddenly realised how much I had missed her.

'I'm glad.' She said, and took my bag from me. 'I'll take this upstairs while you go and see Meg.' She said, smiling.

I smiled back. 'Thanks for letting me stay.' I said, before walking up to the lounge door.

Megan was sat on a settee with a book in her hands. A pretty normal sight. She was so engrossed in it that she hadn't noticed me standing in the doorway.

She looked so different, to say it hadn't been too long since I last saw her. She looked older. Her hair was cut shorter, now it was just below her shoulders rather than halfway down her back.

'Is it a good book?' I asked, holding back all of the smiles that wanted to burst out.

She quickly closed the book and looked at me. 'Hazel!' She said, and jumped up, ran over to me, and crushed me in a hug. 'Oh my god!'

'Hey.' I said back, hugging her back. I'm not going to lie, I was close to crying. It was great to see her after everything that had gone off.

'What are you doing here?' She asked.

I explained about the traffic, and how I wanted to see her, so I was going to crash there for the night.

'Oh my god, I saw about what happened at the gig last night!' She practically shouted. 'I'm so happy for you!'

I laughed at how excited she was.

'Not only is my best friend famous, she's now getting married to the lead singer of one of my favourite bands. Kill me now.' She said.

We had always been similar. We had the same taste in music, and clothes, and books.

'Anyway, what's been going off while you've been away getting famous?' Meg asked, making me laugh. It was unusual that I wasn't in hysterics by now.

'Nothing much.' I said. 'Life is back to normal now.'

'What about your mum? You been to see her while you're around here?' She asked. I forgot I hadn't told her.

'Yeah... I've been to see them.' I said. 'But things aren't the same any more. I met my dad when I was on The Voice, now he's back with my mum. And it turns out they've been hiding the fact I have a sister from me. And now they hate me. And don't get me started on what they think of Ricky.'

'Okay. So I've missed a lot then.' She said.

I nodded. That was an understatement.

I hated the fact that I hadn't visited her until now. We used to see each other all the time - I would spend most of my time at her house. And then as soon as I went on The Voice, I feel like I've left her out. I felt bad for that. I had found my dreams, but I had left Meg out of them, and had gone on with my own life, without her in it, when she used to be one of the most important people to me.