Returning to You

Brian’s POV
I walked over to the front porch and climbed carefully up the structure and knocked on the door. I waited for 2 minutes but no one answered so I tried again and got the same result. I tried the knob and found the door unlocked so I turned it and opened the door, it squealed as I did so but the noise didn’t precipitate any movement. Walking in I shouted
“hello!” but again no sound so I walked in and as I passed a door I heard a grunt and then a groan, someone was in there. If the layout was as I remembered then it was coming from the sitting room so I moved in that direction and opened the door.
Inside I found a woman with an axe in her hand that she was just about to sink into a piece of wood from what looked like an old table. I cautiously said
“hello?” again and she immediately turned around wielding the axe and I stepped back bringing my hands in the air before in a defensive gesture and she blinked at me before she looked me over and scowled
“I don’t sell drugs, this house is no longer selling them so move out or I’ll hit you with the axe” I laughed, little Jessica would never have threatened someone with an axe, preferring words instead. She glared at my laughter and I sobered and said
“I’m not here for drugs, it’s Brain Jr from next door” Jessica raised a brow and gave me a once over again only this time going slower and it seemed I felt that look down to my bones making my skin tighten and tingle. I shook off the feeling and she lowered the axe to the ground
“well I’ll be damned, Brian Haner Jr look at you! You’re all grown up and inked” I chuckled and motioned to her
“well look at you little Jessica Morten all grown and handy” she looked down at the axe and I think I saw a blush on her cheeks but if it was there it was gone by the time she looked up at me and shrugged
“yeah well I had to get it done” I raised a brow
“you know there are chainsaws for that” she snorted
“I wouldn’t trust me with machinery” I nodded and she asked “ so what brings you to my shack Brian?” I walked closer and said while rubbing the back of my neck, a move she picked up on and raised a brow at so I stopped letting my hand go to my pocket
“well Suzy wanted to know if you want to come and eat some lunch with us” she looked at me confused
“Lunch? It’s lunch time, wow I lost track of time but tell her thanks but I do have food” I tilted my head and gave her a stare and she conceded
“ok I have trail mix but I can live on it” I shook my head and walked closer and took the axe off of her then turned and leant it against a wall, turning around I saw her staring at me baffled and I chuckled again and said
“Suzy sent me to get you and I will get hell if you don’t come” she thought it over
“I do so love to see you get in trouble though” I glared at her and she grinned “alright but I’m not staying long, I have a lot to do” I nodded and turned and walked to the door but I heard glass crunching and turning I saw her climbing out the window. I shook my head and went through the door and to the front door and when I reached the bottom of the porch she was stood there and I asked
“why the window?” she shrugged
“I don’t trust the porch” I eyed it and nodded before we set off back to Pop’s.

Jessica’s POV
Wow seeing Brian again was like a kick to the gut, I hadn’t seen him since graduation and he was the last to see me in this town. I looked at him secretly form the corner of my eye as we walked and I saw that he still had the long dark hair and the brown eyes but his face was more masculine, what the teenage hinted at but wasn’t there yet with and he had gotten a lot more muscle and height. The amount of tattoo’s he had was astounding as well and I could see that he even had his knuckles done as well though I could only see ‘boro’ and I wondered what the other said though I could guess.
We entered the house and I heard someone shout
“hey you back Brian!? I’m starving and Suzy won’t feed us til you’re back” Brian looked at me and shrugged while I smiled. We entered the sitting room and I was shocked to see that there were more than Brian’s family there and apparently they were surprised to see me too, all but Suzy who rushed over and hugged me
“oh dear, it’s good that you came you know I made more food than I needed to anyway so you’re really doing me a favour” she leaned in and whispered “though between you and me this lot eat like wild animals so I doubt there’ll be much left anyway” I giggled and she beamed at me before she turned and before she could introduce me a body came flying at me which I barely caught. I spit dark hair from my mouth before I looked down at the girl in my arms talking a mile a minute
“oh my god it’s really you Jessica! I mean I’m a fan of your writing I mean you make the places come alive and I mean to have been where you have been and done the things you have I want to do them too and one day I will and you’re my hero and I want to be like you and travel the world it would be so fun, oh you can tell me the best places to go and I can’t wait!” I just stared at her through her rambling and when she stopped to breathe I smiled and said
“thank you McKenna, I didn’t know I could inspire someone and I don’t know about how good I am but I can tell you the best places to visit, you know there’s this place where you can jump straight off a mountain and it feels like you’re flying, it’s amazing though of course you have to land and you can either fall into the water or you can attach a hang glider to yourself and soar” I heard Brian Senior snort
“McKenna jumping off a mountain? Over my dead body!” McKenna instantly turned and started arguing with him though I could tell it was in fun and I looked at Suzy who shook her head with a laugh before she disappeared into the kitchen leaving by myself, with the group.
I took a deep breath before I turned and looked at the group of five men before me, Brian having taken a seat by now. I smiled slowly and nodded
“hello, nice to meet you” the tallest one barked out a laugh making me jump slightly
“meet us? Don’t you remember us?” I shook my head but then stopped as I looked at them and said
“well there’s five of you and if memory serves Brian had four friends so you all must be Jimmy, Matt, Zacky and Johnny, still hanging with these guys Johnny?” I looked at the small guy with blonde hair who grinned and said
“psh they hang with me” the closest to him, Zacky, grabbed him in a head lock and gave him a noogie making him squirm as he said
“we hang with you! Who are you kidding short stuff” I raised a brow as the others acted like this was normal. The tallest, Jimmy, patted the seat next to him and said
“come sit, I don’t bite” I cocked my head and Matt shook his head
“don’t believe him because he does, come and sit over here so you don’t get germs” I hesitated before I moved over and sat next to him, he did always seem the nicest of them, especially when he was around Val.
After sitting Zacky released Johnny and asked
“so what brings you back here traveller?” I looked at my hands before I looked at him and answered
“I felt it was time to come back, I had seen all I wanted to and there was no reason to stay away any more” he nodded and Jimmy leaned forwards and asked
“so where have you been?” I laughed
“everywhere, every continent and country, every town and city. I’ve climbed mountains and jumped off them, I’ve sailed seas and dived them; I’ve ridden planes and jumped out of them as well as flying them well the jumping came after the flying because well that didn’t go well” Jimmy laughed and exclaimed
“you’re like me! Electrical things hate me, I burned down my house with a toaster” I raised a brow and Brian nodded
“yeah and now the fucker is living with me because of it” I nodded and Johnny asked
“so you got boyfriend?” Zacky hit him with a cushion but I just smiled
“define boyfriend?” they all looked at me shocked and I smiled, Matt spoke
“err a significant other, a partner, a fuck buddy?” I grinned
“oh then no I don’t have one” they all looked at me kind of confused and I chuckled “’boyfriend’ means different things in different places” they still didn’t get it but they didn’t ask any more about it as Suzy came out and said
“ok guys grab a plate of something and take it into the dining room” everyone got to their feet and I followed them, grabbing a plate of hotdogs and then followed them into the dining room which had a massive table in it which I guess they needed with how many people were here and I ended up sat between McKenna and Johnny with Brian opposite me.
Lunch was spent with talking and laughing and eating, the food really good and filling. McKenna gnawed my ear off about what I had been doing with my life until Suzy distracted her and then Jimmy caught my attention telling me the tale of how he burned down his house.
It was near the end of the meal when the guys started talking about music and some different tunes and things and I got interested and asked
“are you guys in a band?”