Chapter Text
"Make sure all of your junk is out of my house!"
"Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't want to have to come back here to get something."
"That's the only thing we can agree on. Now get out."
"Already leaving."
I slammed the door behind me. Oh, sorry you had to witness that. I was just grabbing my last suitcase from my room and my mom was drunk again. I'm glad I'm moving out. That way I won't have to deal with her anymore. If you couldn't tell, my relationship with my mom isn't the greatest. But, as cliche as it sounds, it wasn't always like this. But back in high school, my dad got arrested for domestic abuse. My mom was in the hospital and almost died. I was living with my best friend at the time, but as soon as my mom got better, she moved us out of state and I haven't seen that adorable, short, amber-eyed girl since. I've long since graduated high school, about 3 years, and I finally have enough money to move out.
But what does high school have to do with your relationship with your mom? Oh yeah. I forgot. Well, after about a month in the new house, my mom's medical troubles came back, probably from overexerting herself while moving. The internal bleeding came back and she had to be put on about 10 different pain meds to be able to move at all. They messed with her mind in a negative way. When the bleeding went away again, the effects on her mind stayed. She had become dependent on the meds she was taking and, when she was taken off them, turned to alcohol for the same effect. After a while, she developed into an angry drunk, throwing things (her favorite thing being anything glass) for hours, and throwing up before passing out in various placing around the house (the most interesting place I found her was in our backyard, behind a bush). This all started in my sophomore year. So 5 years later, I finally moving out. No, I'm not leaving her by herself. She doesn't know I called for her to be put in rehab in 3 days.
I threw the final suitcase in the passenger seat of my car and started the engine. I took one last glance at the house. Mom wasn't in sight. As I started to drive away, I rolled down the window and flipped off the house I spent the last 5 years cleaning vomit out of and arguing with my drunken mother.
About 3 blocks away, I pulled over to think for a bit. I realized I didn't actually know if I was heading in the right direction. I opened the email I got from my real estate agent and plugged the address he gave me into my phone's GPS. I then plugged my aux cord into my phone, started playing my "Favorites" playlist on Spotify, and started driving again. Turns out, my new house is approximately 15 miles away. Let's hope there's a taco bell or boba shop on the way.
After 3 miles, a very important song cycled through in the playlist. You know the type; contains very emotional feelings for you, maybe a connection between you and a very important person in your life or you discovered it and a very difficult time in your life. This song, "Better than I Know Myself" by Adam Lambert, was all three for me. It was the song I always listened to when I was caught crying by my best friend, we developed a bond over it, she would sing it to me when she saw me crying due to nightmares. The same, short, spunky, amber-eyed girl that I haven't seen in 5 years.
~Time skip (because I'm lazy)~
After 15 miles and cycling through my playlists about 3 times, I finally made it to my new house. I stepped out of my car and stretched. My new house was far enough away from my mom's that she wouldn't accidentally show up at my front door drunk one day, but still close enough that it only took me 2 hours to get here (it took us 13 hours when we moved 5 years ago).
I took a long look at the house. It was a two-story house, 2 bed, 3 bathroom building with a pool in the back. I had 2 requirements when I first met up with my real estate agent; 1) at least 2 bedrooms (in case I have someone sleeping over) and 2) I want a backyard. The only downside; I have no furniture.
I grabbed my key and unlocked the door. Like I predicted, no furniture. I wandered around the house for a while, brainstorming where I wanted everything to go. Luckily, I had a fridge. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it. At least I wouldn't have to order takeout every day till I could get a fridge.
I made my way upstairs where the 2 bedrooms and 1 one of the bathrooms were. I walked into both bedrooms. Very similar, with one (I assume the master) being slightly bigger and having the bathroom. I, of course, chose the master bedroom. I didn't want to have to walk downstairs every time I needed to use the bathroom.
I walked back outside to start moving all my stuff inside. It wasn't much; 2 suitcases, a backpack, a messenger bag, and a few boxes of mementos and memories. It took about 20 minutes to move everything from my car to the front room and then move it up to my room. All the of the stuff I brought was just personals I needed. Anything I would have put in the front room or kitchen belonged to my mom. I walked back out to my car to grab the last suitcase in the passenger seat and lock the car when I heard a dog barking.
I turned my head to see a little husky puppy jumping on my leg, begging. I smiled, gave the angel a couple of scratches on the head and turned to bring the suitcase inside. Without me knowing it, the little pupper followed me inside and scared the daylights out of me when it barked at me as I stepped inside.
"How did you get in here?" I questioned, putting down the suitcase to pick up the dog. I walked outside, hoping to find the precious baby's owner when it barked and started to wiggle out of my arms. Before I could drop the poor thing, I set it down and looked at what it was barking at.
Tears began to well up in my eyes and spill over without me noticing. What, or rather who , I saw running towards me and the dog left me speechless. A short, spunky, adorable, amber-eyed girl.
Or shall I say, woman. She picked up the dog.
"Celestia! Have you been out running with Aaron again? You are too fast," she looked at me with a closed-eyed smile, "Thank you so much for catching her. I wouldn't have been able to catch up if you didn't," she bent down and put a leash on Celestia's collar and stood up again, "Thank you ag-"
We made eye contact, tears still streaming down my face. My hand covered my mouth in shock. It was her. I was really her.
"(Y-(Y/N)?!" she began to cry too. In 2 seconds flat, we managed to hug each other and start crying violently. Every memory we ever shared came flooding back; art class in high school, carpool, lunchtime, nearly losing my mom, living with her for 4 months, and tears shed when I moved away.
"Aph... I can't believe it," we pulled away and looked at each other. I heard another pair of footsteps headed our way, stop, and then come again even faster. I looked over just in time to see a shaggy mess of blonde hair tackle me to the ground.
"(Y/N)!" It was a guy this time. My best guy friend back in high school. The brother of my high school crush. The guy who would joke with me for hours on end through video skype on the weekends. I hugged him tighter than I hugged Aph, cause I knew I couldn't break him.
"Garroth!!" I laughed. We were currently on the ground, hugging, with Celestia jumping around and barking at us. More footsteps came.
"Aph! What's happening?! Garroth just ran out of the house towards here."
"Yeah, dude. What the heck? You scared the crap out of us."
"Hold on! I'm almost there... *huff* *puff* Man, you guys run way too fast."
"Garroth," I said, patting his back, "We should probably get off the ground."
"Oh, right. Sorry." He said, laughing. He stood up and extended it to me. I grabbed it and he hoisted me up to a standing position. That lasted all of about 3 seconds. One by one, the three guys that showed up while Garroth and I were on the ground tackled me, I managed to stay standing with the first 2, but the last one knocked us all down. Garroth and Aphmau started laughing. After about 30 seconds, the three guys got up and helped me up.
"Well, that was a friendly hello!" I said, looking at the three. It was Dante, Laurance, and Travis.
"When did you get here?" Dante asked.
"About an hour ago. I finally moved out of my mom's house." I answered.
"Wait. You've lived nearby this whole time?!" Travis asked.
"What? No, no, no. I lived about 15 miles from here. Hell, I didn't even know you guys were still around. I thought you guys were gonna move to the city like we all planned."
"Well, we did." Laurence started.
"But Aph moved with Kawaii~chan and Katelyn," Dante continued.
"And these idiots followed me." Aph finished. I couldn't help it. I started to laugh.
"Wow! You guys haven't changed at all! So does that mean Kawaii~chan and Katelyn are here too?" I asked.
"Yeah, but they're out grocery shopping right now. They'll be back in an hour or so," Aph answered.
"Man, I was hoping to see those two." Apparently, we were making a lot of commotion and noise that we attracted a certain someone who lived down the street.
"Why are you guys yelling so-" We made eye contact and I could tell he wanted to run. Not out of fear, but out of shock. We haven't seen each other in 5 years. He started to back away, probably back to his house. But before he could get very far, I ran up to him (he was kinda far away) and wrap him in a hug.
"Did you miss me?" I asked. I think he was trying to hide the fact that he was crying because he buried his head into my shoulder.
~Time Skip (cause I don't know how else to continue this)~
Today couldn't have gone better. We were all outside talking and joking and catching up for a good 3 hours. After about an hour, Katelyn and Kawaii~Chan came back from shopping. This time, I was the one to tackle my friends. But not Kawaii~chan. I was afraid I'd break her. But I basically threw my self at Katelyn. Afterward, everyone said goodbye, exchanged phone numbers (I got a new number since high school), and we all went home. I flopped in the middle of my empty front room and started to cry a little. I was so happy. I hadn't seen any of these amazing people in 5 years and the fact that I was able to move into the same neighborhood they were all living in.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
I stood up, dusted myself off, and answered the door. It was Zane.
"Hey, Zane! Come inside."
"Thanks, (Y/N)." He said, stepping inside. At that very moment, I remembered I didn't have any furniture. But then I remembered. My bed. The previous owners of this house left the bed in the master bedroom.
"Hey, come with me," I grabbed his hand, took him upstairs to my bedroom, and sat him down on the bed. His face was completely red though. I forgot he was a bit awkward and I guess grabbing his hand and bringing him to my bedroom without saying more than 10 words.
"Heh, sorry. I don't really have any furniture," We sat there, both red in the face for about 30 seconds before I broke the silence again, "So what's up?"
And he hugged me. No words. I wasn't upset about it, just a bit shocked. I hugged him back. I guess with everyone around, he didn't want to cry in front of him. But now that we were alone, he started to cry. I didn't say anything, just hugged him and whispered, "I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere."
After a couple minutes, he pulled back and said, "Why? Why did you leave? Why didn't you say anything?"
I lowered my head in shame and sadness, "I'm really sorry, Zane. My mom scheduled everything behind my back, and she moved us away without talking about it. She got the movers to pack up my stuff and put it in the moving van all while I was at school. She deactivated my phone and got me a new number. I tried to get answers out of her, but all she would say was 'I don't want you father to find us.' I didn't fully believe her though. My dad wasn't going to be released for a long time, but everything was already finalized..." I grew silent. I wasn't sure how to continue. All of the memories of the move, my mother's lies, and the past 5 years came flooding back. Silent tears began to stream down my face. I wiped them off my face.
"(Y/N)... I'm so sorry..."
"Hey, don't worry about it! That's all in the past and now I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. My parents can't do anything to me. They no longer have custody of me and I'm 15 miles away. Besides, in a couple days, my mother will be admitted to rehab for her alcoholism." I flashed him a big smile and he smirked back at me.
"You were always cheerful, weren't you?" He laughed.
"Yup!"
"Well, I’m...glad your back. I'll see you tomorrow, (Y/N)."
"Good night, Zane."
"Good night, (Y/N)."