Like I Do

"Val?" Matt called throughout the house as he dumped his keys on the coffee table.

"You're home!" She exclaimed, rushing through from the kitchen into the living room.

He raised his eyebrows as he flicked the television on "You're so observant baby!"

"Haha, very funny," She rolled her eyes, unable to contain the excitement of what she had seen earlier on in the day "Kat and Brian were cuddling!"

"OhmyGod!" Matt mocked, bouncing up and down "Does that mean we can let them out yet?"

Val narrowed her eyes, hitting her fiancé on one of his muscular arms "Don't make fun of me, I want out friends to be happy! And I'm not sure yet, I'm going to check on them now. You wanna come?"

Matt pulled a face "Definitely not. You don't know what the hell they could be doing!"

Val rolled her eyes once more before heading to the basement, flicking the light switch on at the top of the stairs "Guys?!" She called through the door, swinging it open when there was no answer and she wandered into the, seemingly empty, studio "Brian? Kat?"

Then, all of a sudden, something landed on her back, wrapping their legs around her waist screaming 'BOO!' at the top of their voice.

"What the fuck Kat?!" Val exclaimed, noticing Brian almost on the floor laughing.

Kat dropped from her friend's back with a big, cheesy grin stretching across her face "Seemed fun."

Val groaned, her eyes switching from Kat to Brian "So you guys are back to normal then."

"Hell yes we are!" Brian exclaimed, resting an arm over Kat's shoulders "And we're already plotting our revenge Valary DiBenedetto!"

Val sighed "What have I done?"

*

Skye frowned when she heard the familiar roar of Kat's Impala's engine. Pausing the movie she was watching she got to her feet and headed for the front door. "You guys made up!" She exclaimed once she had swung the door open to see Kat and Brian stood before her.

Kat smiled as the two entered the house "We're getting there," She replied "At least we can be in the same room now."

"Hey!" Brian pouted "I wasn't that bad!"

"I guess not," Kat rolled her eyes as she reached up and ruffled his hair.

He shied away "You just don't quit with that do you? Even after all these years."

"Nope!" She giggled as the three made their way to the living room "You'll learn to love it once more Buttercup!" She added causing an annoyed sounding groan to come from Brian at the mention of his old nickname.

She chuckled as she watched the exchange between the two. Val had been right' there was nothing like the spark between Kat and Brian - they were perfect for one another.

"We're going to the beach tomorrow if you fancy it," Brian announced as Kat passed him a - non alcoholic - drink.

"Yeah!" Skye cut in, thinking there could be nothing more perfect to be doing on a Tuesday.

"You're in school darling!" Kat exclaimed, squeezing Skye's forearm.

The younger girl sighed and rolled her eyes "High school gets in the way of everything. Can I come after?"

"Sure," Kat shrugged "We'll pick you up, if we're not still at the beach we'll probably be at Matt and Val's."

Skye beamed in excitement, hoping all of the guys would arrive at school the next day; that would show her so-called-friends.

She may have to have a word with Kat about that...

*

"It's good to see you smiling again," Brian said softly, Skye, Lucy and Andrew had all retired to bed a couple of hours previous leaving the two to talk.

"Sick of the water works?" She teased, crossing her legs beneath her - sitting so she was facing him on the couch.

"It broke my heart seeing you like that," He confessed, also turning in his seat to face her "The only other times I ever saw you cry was after the party and after graduation."

"I almost forgot about that," She blushed "I thought I'd never let you see me cry before."

"You were the strongest girl I knew," He reassured her "No matter what shit me or Zach threw at you you never let your guard down."

She smiled, remembering all the times she had wanted nothing more than to break down but held it together. "That's what you get for being best friends with a load of guys and Val I guess," She answered with a chuckle "I am really sorry Brian."

He waved her off "We'll talk about it in depth one day."

She nodded in agreement, the wounds (some of hers he didn't even know of) still raw "Whatever happened to Alice anyway?"

Brian chuckled "Oh, she got knocked up, had to quit college, being a cheerleader, her dream of being a model..."

Kat's eyes grew wide "Zach...?"

"Oh no, that's what finally tipped him over the edge, the kid wasn't his," Brian explained, recalling the day him and his best friend became close once again "It was his team mate's - Mark or Mike - he was so mad. It's where his stage name; Zacky Vengeance came from. He was determined to make something of his life, to show all the people who wronged him in school."

"I can't believe I missed all of this!" Kat exclaimed, seeing Zach dump Alice would have made her life.

Brian nodded his head in agreement "Huntington wasn't the same without you."

"Well, I'm back now," She grinned, stretching her tired limbs "And this time for good."