"Hello," I Lied.

Jack

After we said our goodbyes to mom, Ashleigh, and Dusty, Ricky and I grab our carry-on luggage and make our way to the plane. Ricky finds our seats and we settle down. "I don't know about you, but through all this excitement, I'm dead tired." I laugh, agreeing with him one hundred percent.

I had spent the last week helping my family get settled in, which consisted of unpacking, getting groceries, and reassuring Ashleigh that everything would be okay and that I would be sure to check up on Dustin as often as I can.

In that time, I had gotten quite acquainted with Dusty and Ricky. As it turns out, Ricky used to live in Stanton with Nate! It's insane, the things that happen in such a large world.

I got to hear some pretty hilarious stories about my boyfriend when he was younger, and Ricky was pretty amused to find out that Nate had finally came out of the closet, or as he put it,"Yeah, we all knew he loved cock."

But it was also something new to hear about what happened when his mother died, and how they moved so suddenly no one got to say goodbye.

After talking to Ricky for awhile, I also learned that his situation was in the pits. After moving to Europe for some girl, she had not only left him, stole all his shit, and stole his money, but now he was dirt poor and living with a local gang. They were pretty pissed at Ricky at the moment because he couldn't pay the rent and he was against stealing.

After a moment's thought, I realized that without mom, dad, or Ashleigh,our, I mean my house was pretty empty, so I offered Ricky a place to stay while he gets his life together. He thought it was a great idea, going back to the states, back to his friends and family, so he scraped what was left in his savings for a plane ticket, and here we are.

"Jack, let's color." Ricky whispered in my ear as people around us were served with tiny pillows since it was getting pretty late. Our plane wouldn't land for another eight hours.

"I'm tired. I don't wanna." Ricky whimpered, but I beat him down with my puppy dog eyes and he gave in, putting on the headphones I let him borrow, along with my IPod. I leaned back, falling slowly into a deep sleep-

"Jack! Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey! We're almost ready to land! Wake up!" I sigh, pulling my sit back into the upright position.

"It's been that long already? I just fell a-fucking-sleep." I grumbled, glancing at the open coloring book in his lap. I could tell he took his coloring seriously; It was just a Strawberry Shortcake book, but he had everything colored perfectly, down to adding his own designs with shading and everything.

"Don't be mean." He said, sticking his tongue out.

"Fine, but only," I smirk, feeling as if I'm talking to a child. He has such an innocent personality, even though he's been living with a gang for the last three months. "Only if you color me more pictures to hang up in my room." I laugh as he nods his head enthusiastically. He would've done it anyways, but it was amusing to watch.

After the plane staff takes about FOREVER to actually let everyone off the plane, we make our way though the airport, grabbing our luggage and finding my car we left in the parking lot before mom took us to Europe. After I unlock the door and we shove all our stuff in, Ricky blasts the CD I had in the stereo already, and Black Veil Brides screams through the speakers.

The wind coming in through the open windows feels relaxing, and I feel as if everything's starting over new. I get a new rush of energy, courtesy of Ricky's own eagerness, the setting sun, and being home. Also, a whole house, and awesome roommate, and a soon to be live in boyfriend doesn't hurt, does it?

When I set the car in park in the driveway, we have to carry our stuff to the door, but wait for me to actually find the right key. The house sounds completely empty as we tumble in. I sigh, a remorseful note escaping my lips. I'm going to miss dad and Ashleigh. The only difference is, Ash isn't dead.

Ricky runs through the house, a happiness I never got to see on his face in Europe making me smile in spite of myself. I walk to the full message machine and press the intro button, which basically lets me listen to the first five seconds of the message before deleting. Useful for lazy people like me.

A crash from upstairs echoes around the house. "Ricky! Be careful up there! Don't break anything!" I yell as different voices pass though the machine with their condolences for my father.

I walk over to the mail that has been pushed through the door, flipping through all the spam and junk mail. My head whips around as Nate's voice comes on the message machine, but it was quickly deleted.

"Dammit." I mutter as I listen to the rest of the messages, hoping he had called again, but the rest of them are all the same, more grief about my dead father. Suddenly Ricky comes tumbling down the stairs, a huge grin on his face.

"Can we go food shopping? I'm starving!"