𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 [𝟏𝟖+] ✔

29

My arse is square, my hair is a mess, my back hurts, and I smell like out of date haggis.

Oh, and I got so used to the Florida weather that I'm freezing.

It's two AM by the time we get through security, collect our bags, and walk to the arrivals area, exiting through the revolving doors to the lovely Scottish weather.

It's totally pissing it down.

We say goodbye to Doctor Shique as his wife picks him up, waving at us when they drive away.

"Aria..." Gabs grabs my shoulder to stop me, staring down at her phone. "I have a message from Ewan, he said he tried to message you but just in case you didn't see it, saying it'll be too late to bring Jason tonight but he can see you tomorrow."

"Okay," I reply, pulling my hood up and searching for the taxi rank. I haven't bothered to dig my phone out of my bag and turn it on, it's been nice and peaceful the last few hours. I kind of enjoy the time away from the toxic world of social media.

"Did you give Toby my number?"

I frown at her, handing the driver our luggage to put in the car boot. "No, why?"

Lifting her screen to me, I shield it from the rain with my hand while I read the message asking if I'm okay. "How do you know it's Toby?"

"Who else would it be? Look at the dialling code." She points it out and I nod slowly, then shrug with a smile.

"He's just worried, that's all. Justin probably gave him it."

"He's so fucking weird," she replies as we climb into the back of the taxi, and I roll my eyes at her before giving the dude directions to our shared flat. "I'm going to call him, let him know we've landed."

"Toby?" I ask, and she glares at me with a murderous look. "Oh... Justin. What happened to you ending things with him?"

"We can still talk on the phone, Aria." She huffs, chewing the corner of her lip. "In fact, I'll just message him," she says, tapping away on her screen. After a few minutes of her finger clicking filling my ears, smirking every time he replies, she eventually turns to me with a confused look. "He didn't give Toby my number, are you sure you didn't?"

"Positive," I reply, raising a brow. Did I?

"Strange."

It's dark out, and the entire drive back is quiet, Gabriella eventually falls asleep on my shoulder. My phone takes forever to turn on before my notifications start, nearly wiping out my thirty percent battery. "Jesus." I lean my head back, deciding to wait for the vibrating to stop before I dive back into socialising, shoving it into my bag.

When we eventually make it home, Gabriella goes straight to bed while I shower, pull on a pair of fluffy pyjamas, and boil the kettle for a cup of tea. I finally pick up my phone, my half-opened eyes from tiredness squint at the screen as I scroll through the countless notifications.

Other than Instagram, I have two messages from Ewan, telling me to have a safe flight and another about it being too late to bring Jason to mine. One from Mum, asking how Florida is. And my eyes widen when I see two hundred and fifty-one from Toby. What? I chew on my lip, waiting for the messenger box to unfreeze, and read the last three.

Whiplash: I'm not sure what the fuck is going on but if something has happened then you need to tell me. You just left without saying goodbye and you leave a fucking note saying that it's done, what the fuck?

Whiplash: Fuck, I'm sorry for whatever it was that I did to scare you off. I just need to know you're okay, Aria.

Whiplash: ?????