"All We Know" Chapter 13

“You did what?!!” I yelled angrily at Zac. He jokingly cringed and put his hands out in front of him to brace my wrath.

My fists were clenched tight. I was trying to keep my breathing even.

Josh came over to try and calm me down. Zac explained to him that he had told me that they had cancelled the tour because of my previous condition after the accident.

He took in a deep jagged breath. “Well, what were we supposed to do Paija?” he tried to say it coolly. “Leave you in the ICU in France and continue on tour?”

It was clear that Josh was on Zac’s side.

I crossed my arms. “Yes!” I said roughly.

Zac looked at me, his expression was pained. He shook his head. “No, Paija. I…we could never do that to you.”

Hayley walked down into the basement with a towel wrapped around her head. I could tell by the faded red stains on the cloth that she had just re-dyed her hair. “What’s wrong?” She must’ve felt the strain of our conversation.

Josh turned his body towards her. “ She is angry about us canceling the UK tour.” He rolled his eyes. He obviously thought that I was over-reacting.

“And I was telling him that it was unnecessary to cancel it just because I bumped my head and broke a few ribs.” I scoffed, trying to defend my side of the argument.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “You have no idea how bad you really were Paija.”

I took that as a sign that she was taking Zac’s side. Traitor.

I glared at her for a couple minutes and gave up. “Alright fine. But don’t tell me you cancelled the US tour!”

She laughed. “Actually, I came down here because I just got off the phone. We are officially touring with Jimmy Eat World!”

Everyone including myself was psyched.

Zac’s smile faded. “Paija is coming right?”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “Of course she is Z! What kind of question is that?” She smiled and punched his arm.

I looked at both of their faces. I was glad to see them happy again.

“But Paija I staying with me until then” he commanded.

Hayley’s mouth fell open. “No she isn’t. She’s staying with me.” She argued.

I put my face in my hands. Just when I thought things were settled…

“But we planned to move in together when we were in London.” He whined.

“We did?” I muttered, confused.

They ignored me.

“That was before the accident and she lost her memory. She has been with me since then and that’s where she’ll stay.” She said confidently with a nod.

I felt like a little kid stuck between a vicious custody battle between parents. “Don’t I have a say in this?” I shouted over their arguing.

They stopped and glared at me. “No!”

“Humph” I slumped onto the couch and continued to listen to their bickering.

“I know how to settle this.” Taylor interrupted. “We could flip a coin!”

I wanted to wipe that stupid grin off his face. “That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard.” I scoffed. My mood was getting darker by the second.

They continued to ignore my comment and me.

“Ok. I call heads. “Zac agreed.

My eyes grew wide. “You cannot be serious!”

Taylor started to search his pockets for a coin.

“Unbelievable.” I groaned. This was so immature.

The coin was flipped and resulted in Hayley’s favor. She jumped and stood on the couch, jumping in victory. “Yeah!!”

“This is so unfair! Re-do!” Zac whined.

“This is ridiculous!” I shouted, waving my arms in the air in frustration. They all turned to me. Their faces focused intently on what I was about to say. It was about time my opinion was heard.

“Here is the deal, I will stay with Hayley and one night a week at Josh and Zac’s. Deal?”

“How bout two nights?” He pleaded with a face I couldn’t resist.

“An occasional two-nighter.” Hayley compromised.

They shook hands. “Deal.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Thank goodness that was over with. That was such a stupid argument.

Zac came and sat right next to me. I curled into his lap and rested my head against his shoulder.

“You don’t know how much I have missed this.” He said quietly.

My fingers traced his collarbone. “I have somewhat of an idea.” I sighed.

He kissed my hair.

Hayley and Josh were at the table at the other side of the room writing song lyrics. I could see the closeness they shared. I was counting down the days until they got together.

I looked up at Zac’s face. He looked peaceful. He looked down at me and kissed my forehead.

“ I love you.” He whispered softly.

“I love you too.”

I closed my eyes, wanting to fall asleep. My peace was interrupted by loud footsteps stomping down the stairs. I opened my eyes to see who it was.  I was suddenly staring into the face of my brother.