When Worlds Combine - A WWC Sequel

25; Car bonnets, jumpstart cables, and unexpected guests

Violet

"This is ridiculous, Josh. We've been out here for hours and no one has come to help us. It's going to get dark soon. What are we going to do?"

Josh and I were still stranded in the middle of nowhere with a flat battery and no one around for miles to help us. We decided to just wait it out and hope that someone would drive past, but no one has come since we broke down. And that was an hour ago. Turns out this was a very lonely and isolated road we happened to end up on.

"Well, the only other option is to leave the car and start walking until we reach the next settlement," Josh suggests.

"Walk?" Who knows how long we'd have to walk for. And what if something happened to the car whilst we were gone?

Josh hears the uncertainty in my voice and sighs before sitting up on the bonnet, bringing his legs up and resting his arms on them. "Guess we just wait then."

I want to argue but I realise there's really nothing to argue over. So I admit defeat and join him on the front of the car. The sun is warm and the air is still and it doesn't seem like too bad of a place to be stranded. I could think of many worse places with many worse people. And after all, somebody would have to drive down this road at some point. If we ended up on it, others would have to as well. We'd just have to wait it out.

Josh turns to me briefly, chuckling under his breath. "You're giving up that easy?"

I roll my eyes at his remark. "I'm not giving up, just knowing my options. I'm not going to fight for something that's not worth fighting for."

Things go quiet for a bit and we both just stare ahead at the peaceful scenery. Then Josh speaks up.

"Violet, about what you said earlier in the car..."

My chest tightens as I wait for him to continue. I knew my outburst wouldn't be forgotten easily by Josh. I wish I just hadn't said anything. It was always more simple when people didn't know how messed up you were feeling.

"Are you sure everything's okay?"

"I don't know," I reply honestly. "I mean our car has broken down, and we're in the middle of nowhere-"

"Violet."

I sigh. I don't really know what he expects me to say. It's obvious Zayn and I are going through a sort of rough patch, but is that what it is? I don't want to think it's anything more, but I also don't want to kid myself when I know it's something more. The truth is, I don't actually want to think of the possible outcomes. I don't want to think about the negatives and all the things that could go wrong. Maybe I'm naive, maybe I'm clueless, but I just can't afford to think that way.

"I think things have definitely been better," I tell him.

"Well, talk to me," Josh says, taking me by surprise. Isn't that what I was doing? "We have all this time, all this space. There's no one around for miles to hear you, so talk to me. Unleash everything you've ever wanted to say. I promise I'll listen."

I think it over before giving Josh a smile and nodding. "Okay. I-I don't really know where to begin."

"Start from the beginning," he instructs. "You know, I don't actually know the story of you and Zayn."

"You mean, how we first met?" I gasp a little. That was so long ago, it feels like years.

Josh nods.

"I, uh, okay." I clear my throat, shifting awkwardly. "Well, we met at high school. Senior year." I realise then that this is the first time I've actually thought back along all of mine and Zayn's memories, and placed them together like a story. This is the first time I've actually spoken about us. The full story, right from the beginning. "He was an absolute dick the first time we met. In fact, he was a dick for a long time."