Status: Completed
Guide Me Home
January 25th-28th 2007
January 25th
“Why aren’t you drinking?” Garrett asked Kennedy as he leaned against the counter.
“Millie is off her face. I’m keeping sober so I can take her home later,” He shrugged as he sipped at his cup of soda.
“She’s not your responsibility, dude,”
“She is when everyone else is extremely drunk and no-one’s here to look after her,” He responded simply.
Garrett shook his head, swayed slightly in his drunken state then let out a loud burp, “Oh, speak of the devil,” He noted as Amelie stumbled through the door into the kitchen.
“Kenny-Bear!” She squealed.
Kennedy visibly winced at the pitch of her voice, “Millie, not so loud,” He gestured with his hands to get her to calm down.
She stumbled over to him and threw her arms around his neck, “Sorry,” She giggled, “Are you having fun, Kenny-Bear?”
He nodded, “I’m having a whale of a time,” He placed his hands on her waist to steady her.
“Good. So am I!” She beamed at him, standing up a bit straighter, “Where’s Ella?”
“She’s at home,” He replied.
“Why?”
“She’s not feeling too good,” He felt that familiar empathy in his heart for his sick girlfriend. She’d told him not to worry but it didn’t stop him.
“So while the cat’s in bed sick, the mouse can play huh?” She smirked suggestively at him.
His eyebrow rose inquisitively, “Uh... Not really...” He trailed off.
“Kenny,” She murmured, shuffling closer to him, “You’re very lovely,”
He chuckled, “Thanks, so are you,”
She smiled at him, “You’re lovelier. You’re so sweet and kind and very... Very sexy,” She traced her finger over his cheek and pushed herself up on her tiptoes and captured his lips in hers.
Kennedy took in a deep breath through his nose in shock before he pushed her away, “Millie, what the fuck are you doing?” He frowned, instinctively wiping at his lips.
“I... I thought...” She stuttered before stumbling over her own feet in an attempt to escape the kitchen.
Kennedy looked over at the other four boys who were staring gobsmacked at the scene that had just unfolded in front of them.
“What the hell...” John was flabbergasted.
“Jesus Christ...” Jared breathed.
“I think you need to talk to her,” Pat suggested.
Kennedy nodded, “Yeah I guess I have to. I just... Can’t believe that just happened...” He murmured.
With that, he wandered off in search of Amelie wondering where on earth that had come from.
January 26th
When Kennedy woke up the next morning, Ella wasn’t in the bed next to him like he expected. He frowned lightly and rubbed at his eyes with a tired groan. Sitting up, he threw his legs over the side of the bed and pulled himself to his feet to head downstairs.
He quietly made himself some breakfast, jumping slightly when the phone rang.
“Hello?” He answered.
“Hey Kenny,” John’s voice came from the receiver, “I was just checking you were in, I’ll be at yours in about fifteen minutes. That okay?”
“Yeah sure dude- See you in a bit,” They hung up and Kennedy headed upstairs to change then came and finished his breakfast while waiting on John to arrive.
About five minutes later, there was a knock on the door and he wandered out, pulling it open to let John in.
“Hey,” John greeted, closing the door behind him and following Kennedy into the kitchen.
“Hey,” Was the reply as Kennedy grabbed his mug of freshly made coffee, “Help yourself to stuff,” He waved his hand dismissively towards the fridge.
“I always do,” John chuckled slightly going into the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.
They sat down at the table and Kennedy sipped at his drink.
“So... Last night was good,” John began casually.
Kennedy nodded vaguely, “Yeah, it was a good night,”
“Have you... Uh... Spoken to Millie yet?”
“Not yet,”
“I called her this morning,”
Kennedy’s head perked up curiously, “And?”
“She’s severely hung-over,” He explained, “She doesn’t remember a thing,”
A sigh of relief left Kennedy’s lips, “Thank God for that,”
“You sound relieved,”
“I really am. Jesus, can you imagine how awkward that would’ve been if she’d remembered?” Kennedy ruffled his messy hair.
“I guess so yeah,” John nodded, “What happened when you went after her?”
“She was crying in the bathroom,” He sighed, glancing over to him, “It took me fifteen minutes to get her to open the door and then another ten to get her to even talk to me,”
“What did she say when she eventually talked to you?”
“She uh... She told me that she loved me,” He confessed, his eyes falling to the table, “She said that I’m her best friend, she thinks I’m amazing and that she loves me,” He huffed, “What the hell am I supposed to do with that, John-Oh?”
He lifted his shoulders in response, “Forget about it?”
“When your best friend tells you something like that it’s a little difficult to forget,”
“Well she’s certainly forgotten about it,” He scoffed, “Are you going to tell her what happened?”
“How can I? I can’t let this change anything between us,”
“You’ve both been hiding it from each other for so long though,”
Kennedy frowned, “What?”
“I’ve seen the way she looks at you, Kenny,”
Kennedy groaned lightly and rested his head in his hands.
“You know as well as I do that you’ve had this massive crush on Millie since you were kids,”
“I know that,” He replied tonelessly, “But she was unbelievably drunk,”
“What’s that got to do with anything? Do you think that makes any difference to how it sounds?” John said, referring to what Millie said to Kennedy in the bathroom.
“I don’t know,” Kennedy huffed.
John’s voice fell to a hushed whisper, “The truth always comes out when people are drunk, man. Her telling you all that pretty much sounds to me like the truth,”
Kennedy shook his head in response.
“Are you going to tell Ella?” He murmured carefully.
“How could I do that to her?” Kennedy replied in the same hushed tone, feeling his heart twist at the thought of hurting Ella like that.
“Do you love her?” John asked bluntly.
Kennedy raised his head to look him in the eyes, looking at John as if he was stupid, “Of course I love her,” His tone matched his expression.
“Then you have to be honest with Ella, man, she deserves to know. Sure it’ll hurt but she’ll get over it,” He explained, “Hearing it from you is better than her hearing it from someone else because you can tell her exactly what happened and you can reassure her how much you love her. That’s all she needs. She expects honesty from you,”
“Yeah, I guess so,” He nodded, almost jumping when he heard the front door shut. He held a finger to his lips in order to keep John quiet, “Ella, is that you babe?”
“Yeah it’s me,” Ella’s voice got closer until she appeared in the kitchen, “Hey John,” She smiled and Kennedy noticed something was off.
“Hey,” John grinned back.
“Where’d you go?” Kennedy asked.
“Out for breakfast with Evie- My stomach’s not feeling too good though so I can’t go for lunch with you today. I just don’t feel up to it,” She shrugged.
“Alright, it’s okay. Just get some rest and I’ll bring you up some medicine in a second,” He smiled.
“I’m fine,” She shook her head dismissively, “What time are you leaving for Santa Cruz?”
“Uh...” He checked his watch, “About three I think,”
She nodded, “Alright. Well, I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” She said simply before wandering out of the room.
Kennedy watched her go, frowning gently, “Something’s not right,”
“She seemed fine to me,” John shrugged.
Kennedy sighed and shrugged it off before continuing to talk to John in a low voice about what he was going to do about this whole situation.
-----
At around ten past three later that day, Ella was woken from her nap at the sound of a blaring car horn. She groaned lightly and rubbed at her eyes. She felt her stomach lurch but managed to hold its contents down.
There was a light knock on the door.
“Ellie?” Kennedy’s voice made her heart pound but it withered when she remembered what he’d done to her.
She contemplated pretending she was asleep but decided against it, “Yeah,” She called back.
The door opened and he wandered over to the bed, sitting on the edge of it beside her and resting his arm on her hip, “Our ride’s here. I’ll be back Sunday night. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” He traced his fingers over her forearm on top of her thick cardigan- The go-to piece of clothing she had when she wasn’t feeling so good.
“I’ll be fine,” She whispered, “My mom and dad are about ten minutes away if it comes to it,” She looked up at him but then looked away again. She just couldn’t look into those eyes anymore.
He nodded and brushed his fingers through her hair, “Then I’ll see you Sunday,” He leaned down and went to kiss her but she didn’t move to allow him the space.
She could see the hurt in his eyes as he kissed her forehead instead before softly squeezing her arm and getting up from the bed, “I love you, Ellie,”
“You too,” She responded blankly, still staring at the wall ahead of her.
Kennedy frowned once again as the hurt in his chest ached a little more at her response. Ella never said ‘you too’ in response to that. He tried to let it roll of his back as he left and closed the front door behind him, but he just couldn’t.
Ella sniffed slightly and fiercely brushed away the tear that had fallen.
No matter how many times she told herself not to cry she couldn’t stop it.
She laid her hand on her stomach and glanced down at it.
“If you’re in there baby,” She whispered, “It’s just me and you now,”
January 27th
The next morning, Ella hauled her luggage down the stairs and left it by the door. She wandered into the dining room and opened the cupboard, pulling out the block of Post-It notes she’d bought for ten cents. She couldn’t turn down something for ten cents and now it was coming in handy.
She grabbed a marker and scribbled down her final words for Kennedy before walking over to the phone and sticking the note to it.
When she heard a taxi horn come from outside, she pulled on her jacket and hat before grabbing her suitcase, looking around at the house one last time before leaving it, slamming the door behind her. She locked up, posted the keys through the letter box and got into the taxi.
She found it easier to leave than she thought she would.
She felt nothing.
But she wasn’t aware that all she was inside was numb.
-----
Ella stood in the empty bathroom of the airport washing her hands. She watched the soap bubbles trickle down the drain before cupping her hands and collecting some water which she then splashed over her face. She looked up at herself in the mirror.
Her face was pale, her once bright blue eyes were lifeless and saddened and her skin imperfections were visible due to the fact she wasn’t wearing any make-up that day. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping that when she opened them she’d wake up four days ago and all of this would be a dream.
But her eyes opened once again and landed on the deadened expression on her face.
She shook her head and grabbed some paper towels to dry her face and hands. She wandered back out into the main gate where she sat down.
It’d been three hours since she’d arrived and her flight was due any minute.
“We’re now boarding flight one-three-nine to New York. Passengers with seats in rows seven to fourteen are free to board the plane,” The voice came over the loudspeaker and Ella checked her ticket. Row nine.
She stood up and went to the back of the queue, one hand firmly clutched around her hand luggage and the other resting on her stomach.
Her passport and ticket were checked before she wandered onto the plane and found her seat.
She glanced out of the small window and sighed quietly before turning away.
And that was the last time Ella saw Arizona for two years.
January 28th
“See you guys later!” Kennedy called back as the car drove off with Jared and Pat waving goodbye to him.
He pulled his keys from his pocket and shoved it into the lock, pushing open the door. He stepped inside and frowned when he stood on something. He moved his foot and bent down, picking up Ella’s keys between his fingers.
He kicked the door shut, “Ella? I’m back,” He called out, “Why are your keys by the front door?” He asked again, placing the keys in the bowl they bought for that specific reason but rarely used.
He frowned as he dropped his bag at the foot of the stairs, “Ella?” He wandered further into the hallway, “Ella, baby, are you-” He paused when his eyes landed on the phone. He reached over and pulled the Post-It from the receiver.
Kennedy,
We’re over.
Ella.
His frown deepened and a mixture of fear and pain became etched across his features. He dropped the note and jumped up the stairs, slamming open the bedroom door and then pulling open the closet doors.
His clothes still remained but Ella’s were gone.
Kennedy felt his heart plummet into his stomach and his world come crashing down around him.
She’d left him.
-----
'Everything Looked Fine From Here, Everything Looked More Than Clear, But Now You're Gone And I'm Still Here'
The Maine
“Why aren’t you drinking?” Garrett asked Kennedy as he leaned against the counter.
“Millie is off her face. I’m keeping sober so I can take her home later,” He shrugged as he sipped at his cup of soda.
“She’s not your responsibility, dude,”
“She is when everyone else is extremely drunk and no-one’s here to look after her,” He responded simply.
Garrett shook his head, swayed slightly in his drunken state then let out a loud burp, “Oh, speak of the devil,” He noted as Amelie stumbled through the door into the kitchen.
“Kenny-Bear!” She squealed.
Kennedy visibly winced at the pitch of her voice, “Millie, not so loud,” He gestured with his hands to get her to calm down.
She stumbled over to him and threw her arms around his neck, “Sorry,” She giggled, “Are you having fun, Kenny-Bear?”
He nodded, “I’m having a whale of a time,” He placed his hands on her waist to steady her.
“Good. So am I!” She beamed at him, standing up a bit straighter, “Where’s Ella?”
“She’s at home,” He replied.
“Why?”
“She’s not feeling too good,” He felt that familiar empathy in his heart for his sick girlfriend. She’d told him not to worry but it didn’t stop him.
“So while the cat’s in bed sick, the mouse can play huh?” She smirked suggestively at him.
His eyebrow rose inquisitively, “Uh... Not really...” He trailed off.
“Kenny,” She murmured, shuffling closer to him, “You’re very lovely,”
He chuckled, “Thanks, so are you,”
She smiled at him, “You’re lovelier. You’re so sweet and kind and very... Very sexy,” She traced her finger over his cheek and pushed herself up on her tiptoes and captured his lips in hers.
Kennedy took in a deep breath through his nose in shock before he pushed her away, “Millie, what the fuck are you doing?” He frowned, instinctively wiping at his lips.
“I... I thought...” She stuttered before stumbling over her own feet in an attempt to escape the kitchen.
Kennedy looked over at the other four boys who were staring gobsmacked at the scene that had just unfolded in front of them.
“What the hell...” John was flabbergasted.
“Jesus Christ...” Jared breathed.
“I think you need to talk to her,” Pat suggested.
Kennedy nodded, “Yeah I guess I have to. I just... Can’t believe that just happened...” He murmured.
With that, he wandered off in search of Amelie wondering where on earth that had come from.
January 26th
When Kennedy woke up the next morning, Ella wasn’t in the bed next to him like he expected. He frowned lightly and rubbed at his eyes with a tired groan. Sitting up, he threw his legs over the side of the bed and pulled himself to his feet to head downstairs.
He quietly made himself some breakfast, jumping slightly when the phone rang.
“Hello?” He answered.
“Hey Kenny,” John’s voice came from the receiver, “I was just checking you were in, I’ll be at yours in about fifteen minutes. That okay?”
“Yeah sure dude- See you in a bit,” They hung up and Kennedy headed upstairs to change then came and finished his breakfast while waiting on John to arrive.
About five minutes later, there was a knock on the door and he wandered out, pulling it open to let John in.
“Hey,” John greeted, closing the door behind him and following Kennedy into the kitchen.
“Hey,” Was the reply as Kennedy grabbed his mug of freshly made coffee, “Help yourself to stuff,” He waved his hand dismissively towards the fridge.
“I always do,” John chuckled slightly going into the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.
They sat down at the table and Kennedy sipped at his drink.
“So... Last night was good,” John began casually.
Kennedy nodded vaguely, “Yeah, it was a good night,”
“Have you... Uh... Spoken to Millie yet?”
“Not yet,”
“I called her this morning,”
Kennedy’s head perked up curiously, “And?”
“She’s severely hung-over,” He explained, “She doesn’t remember a thing,”
A sigh of relief left Kennedy’s lips, “Thank God for that,”
“You sound relieved,”
“I really am. Jesus, can you imagine how awkward that would’ve been if she’d remembered?” Kennedy ruffled his messy hair.
“I guess so yeah,” John nodded, “What happened when you went after her?”
“She was crying in the bathroom,” He sighed, glancing over to him, “It took me fifteen minutes to get her to open the door and then another ten to get her to even talk to me,”
“What did she say when she eventually talked to you?”
“She uh... She told me that she loved me,” He confessed, his eyes falling to the table, “She said that I’m her best friend, she thinks I’m amazing and that she loves me,” He huffed, “What the hell am I supposed to do with that, John-Oh?”
He lifted his shoulders in response, “Forget about it?”
“When your best friend tells you something like that it’s a little difficult to forget,”
“Well she’s certainly forgotten about it,” He scoffed, “Are you going to tell her what happened?”
“How can I? I can’t let this change anything between us,”
“You’ve both been hiding it from each other for so long though,”
Kennedy frowned, “What?”
“I’ve seen the way she looks at you, Kenny,”
Kennedy groaned lightly and rested his head in his hands.
“You know as well as I do that you’ve had this massive crush on Millie since you were kids,”
“I know that,” He replied tonelessly, “But she was unbelievably drunk,”
“What’s that got to do with anything? Do you think that makes any difference to how it sounds?” John said, referring to what Millie said to Kennedy in the bathroom.
“I don’t know,” Kennedy huffed.
John’s voice fell to a hushed whisper, “The truth always comes out when people are drunk, man. Her telling you all that pretty much sounds to me like the truth,”
Kennedy shook his head in response.
“Are you going to tell Ella?” He murmured carefully.
“How could I do that to her?” Kennedy replied in the same hushed tone, feeling his heart twist at the thought of hurting Ella like that.
“Do you love her?” John asked bluntly.
Kennedy raised his head to look him in the eyes, looking at John as if he was stupid, “Of course I love her,” His tone matched his expression.
“Then you have to be honest with Ella, man, she deserves to know. Sure it’ll hurt but she’ll get over it,” He explained, “Hearing it from you is better than her hearing it from someone else because you can tell her exactly what happened and you can reassure her how much you love her. That’s all she needs. She expects honesty from you,”
“Yeah, I guess so,” He nodded, almost jumping when he heard the front door shut. He held a finger to his lips in order to keep John quiet, “Ella, is that you babe?”
“Yeah it’s me,” Ella’s voice got closer until she appeared in the kitchen, “Hey John,” She smiled and Kennedy noticed something was off.
“Hey,” John grinned back.
“Where’d you go?” Kennedy asked.
“Out for breakfast with Evie- My stomach’s not feeling too good though so I can’t go for lunch with you today. I just don’t feel up to it,” She shrugged.
“Alright, it’s okay. Just get some rest and I’ll bring you up some medicine in a second,” He smiled.
“I’m fine,” She shook her head dismissively, “What time are you leaving for Santa Cruz?”
“Uh...” He checked his watch, “About three I think,”
She nodded, “Alright. Well, I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” She said simply before wandering out of the room.
Kennedy watched her go, frowning gently, “Something’s not right,”
“She seemed fine to me,” John shrugged.
Kennedy sighed and shrugged it off before continuing to talk to John in a low voice about what he was going to do about this whole situation.
-----
At around ten past three later that day, Ella was woken from her nap at the sound of a blaring car horn. She groaned lightly and rubbed at her eyes. She felt her stomach lurch but managed to hold its contents down.
There was a light knock on the door.
“Ellie?” Kennedy’s voice made her heart pound but it withered when she remembered what he’d done to her.
She contemplated pretending she was asleep but decided against it, “Yeah,” She called back.
The door opened and he wandered over to the bed, sitting on the edge of it beside her and resting his arm on her hip, “Our ride’s here. I’ll be back Sunday night. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” He traced his fingers over her forearm on top of her thick cardigan- The go-to piece of clothing she had when she wasn’t feeling so good.
“I’ll be fine,” She whispered, “My mom and dad are about ten minutes away if it comes to it,” She looked up at him but then looked away again. She just couldn’t look into those eyes anymore.
He nodded and brushed his fingers through her hair, “Then I’ll see you Sunday,” He leaned down and went to kiss her but she didn’t move to allow him the space.
She could see the hurt in his eyes as he kissed her forehead instead before softly squeezing her arm and getting up from the bed, “I love you, Ellie,”
“You too,” She responded blankly, still staring at the wall ahead of her.
Kennedy frowned once again as the hurt in his chest ached a little more at her response. Ella never said ‘you too’ in response to that. He tried to let it roll of his back as he left and closed the front door behind him, but he just couldn’t.
Ella sniffed slightly and fiercely brushed away the tear that had fallen.
No matter how many times she told herself not to cry she couldn’t stop it.
She laid her hand on her stomach and glanced down at it.
“If you’re in there baby,” She whispered, “It’s just me and you now,”
January 27th
The next morning, Ella hauled her luggage down the stairs and left it by the door. She wandered into the dining room and opened the cupboard, pulling out the block of Post-It notes she’d bought for ten cents. She couldn’t turn down something for ten cents and now it was coming in handy.
She grabbed a marker and scribbled down her final words for Kennedy before walking over to the phone and sticking the note to it.
When she heard a taxi horn come from outside, she pulled on her jacket and hat before grabbing her suitcase, looking around at the house one last time before leaving it, slamming the door behind her. She locked up, posted the keys through the letter box and got into the taxi.
She found it easier to leave than she thought she would.
She felt nothing.
But she wasn’t aware that all she was inside was numb.
-----
Ella stood in the empty bathroom of the airport washing her hands. She watched the soap bubbles trickle down the drain before cupping her hands and collecting some water which she then splashed over her face. She looked up at herself in the mirror.
Her face was pale, her once bright blue eyes were lifeless and saddened and her skin imperfections were visible due to the fact she wasn’t wearing any make-up that day. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping that when she opened them she’d wake up four days ago and all of this would be a dream.
But her eyes opened once again and landed on the deadened expression on her face.
She shook her head and grabbed some paper towels to dry her face and hands. She wandered back out into the main gate where she sat down.
It’d been three hours since she’d arrived and her flight was due any minute.
“We’re now boarding flight one-three-nine to New York. Passengers with seats in rows seven to fourteen are free to board the plane,” The voice came over the loudspeaker and Ella checked her ticket. Row nine.
She stood up and went to the back of the queue, one hand firmly clutched around her hand luggage and the other resting on her stomach.
Her passport and ticket were checked before she wandered onto the plane and found her seat.
She glanced out of the small window and sighed quietly before turning away.
And that was the last time Ella saw Arizona for two years.
January 28th
“See you guys later!” Kennedy called back as the car drove off with Jared and Pat waving goodbye to him.
He pulled his keys from his pocket and shoved it into the lock, pushing open the door. He stepped inside and frowned when he stood on something. He moved his foot and bent down, picking up Ella’s keys between his fingers.
He kicked the door shut, “Ella? I’m back,” He called out, “Why are your keys by the front door?” He asked again, placing the keys in the bowl they bought for that specific reason but rarely used.
He frowned as he dropped his bag at the foot of the stairs, “Ella?” He wandered further into the hallway, “Ella, baby, are you-” He paused when his eyes landed on the phone. He reached over and pulled the Post-It from the receiver.
Kennedy,
We’re over.
Ella.
His frown deepened and a mixture of fear and pain became etched across his features. He dropped the note and jumped up the stairs, slamming open the bedroom door and then pulling open the closet doors.
His clothes still remained but Ella’s were gone.
Kennedy felt his heart plummet into his stomach and his world come crashing down around him.
She’d left him.
-----
'Everything Looked Fine From Here, Everything Looked More Than Clear, But Now You're Gone And I'm Still Here'
The Maine
♠ ♠ ♠
And so it was all a pretty bad misunderstanding.I hope this clears up all your questions and I hope you liked it.
Thanks for the story comments from- lissasaywha?, PeacefulNightmare, theloveinmyclub, Leannabandana, we are thieves. and Spencer_Reid. You're very lovely.
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