Fuel to the Fire

Home sweet home, how I had missed you! I missed everything, actually; my house, my bed, my family, Cosmo, my friends, my mom’s food… the list is bigger than you imagine.

Tim said he would wait for us in the airport with Abbey and Lauren. Their faces were more relieved than anything when they was Garrett and I walking, hand in hand.

“Yes, I’m still his girlfriend” I said, letting go of Garrett and hugging Lauren. I hugged Tim tightly – because I missed him sooooooo much – and moved on to Abbey.

“How was it?” Tim asked.

“Good.”

“Good? That’s all you have to say? Did you guys have fun? And the concerts?”

“Okay, everything was great. My personal life was a mess, that makes my job great, are you happy now?”

“Aw Baby Sis” Tim said – sounding a bit gay, If I may add – and engulfed me in a bear-like hug. I hugged him back instantly; I did miss my brother. My thoughts flew back to that night when I found Garrett and Nicole. The first person I thought of was Tim; I knew he would help me. He always made me feel better, no matter what I was going through. No matter what my choice was, he would always support me.

“Leigh, you can let go now.”

I shook my head and Abbey, who was standing behind Tim, smiled and wiped a tear from under my eye. Oh good, I was crying now. Tim rubbed my back soothingly.

“Ah baby” Gare said taking my hand and pulling me to him. I giggled and swept my hands under my eyes, feeling a bit stupid. Duh.

Tim stared… maybe glared… at Garrett for a second, before turn to John and Austin. Garrett looked down, but gave a crooked smile when noticed me looking at him. I kissed his cheek lightly.

We were finally home. I rolled the windows down, letting the sunrays in and the wind blow my hair to my face. I leaned against Garrett and he kissed the top of my head. He swiftly took his phone out of his pocket, taking a picture of us us.

“What do you think you’re doing, Baby Nicko?”

“Twitter.”

“Garrett is that one kind of person who shouldn’t have access to the internet.”

“Agreed” Jared said. Garrett rolled his eyes jokingly.

“Who are we going to drop off first?” Tim asked.

“Austin and Jared?”

“Alright” Austin said and Jared shrugged.

After them, we dropped John and Kennedy, and then headed to my house.

“Cosmo!” I called as we walked in. The dog with a mohawk, as Garrett always says, ran to us, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, looking all happy.

“Hey Boy” Pat said.

“Mom?” I called, leaving my purse on the couch.

“Here” I heard her call from the kitchen. She appeared in the doorstep, a grin on her face. “There you are! How was your trip?”

I hugged her tightly, before letting Pat hug her.

“Great” he said. My mom smiled once again and turned to me, taking one of my hands in hers.

“Leigh, I need your help.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“That day when you called me… what were you doing?”

I bit my lip, looking at Lauren. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she tried to hide a smile.

“Uh… watching tv… with Gare. Why?”

“You were making some weird noises on the phone.”

Abbey, Tim and Pat looked at me wide-eyed; Lauren tried to muffle a laugh by coughing. I opened my mouth to speak, but after a long breath, nothing came out. Garrett scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.

“Yeah mom, I was tried and Gare was watching The Twilight Zone, what means no sleep for me.”

My mom looked doubtful at me; maybe she put the pieces together… She shrugged and turned to Pat, talking to him and Gare…. Or she just decided to drop it.

“What were you doing, huh Leigh?” Lauren asked, elbowing me playfully. I scowled, rubbing my arm.

Abbey placed on hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me towards the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of water in the fridge and sat on the counter.

“Leigh, what happened that day?”

“What day?” I asked, gulping my water.

“In New York. You called Tim and…”

I sighed.

“Why do you keep reminding me of that?”

“Sorry, I don’t know what happened. I don’t wanna make you more upset if that’s a problem.”

“What do you wanna know?”

“You called Tim and, something was up between you and Garrett, and Tim was pissed.”

“After the concert, Garrett’s friend” Abbey raised an eyebrow at my tone “she’s a groupie… Sh-she kissed Garrett and…”

Abbey nodded, taking my hands in hers again.

“I saw them and called Tim, cause he was the first person that came to my mind in the moment.”

“I see. God, he was so desperate. He tried to call you again but you didn’t pick up. Same as Gare and Pat, but John picked up. It was cute, you know, seeing how worried he was about his baby sister.“

I rolled my eyes but smiled.

“I was so pissed yet scared at the same time! It was Garrett and another girl, Abbey!”

I breathed deeply.

“But you two are okay now.”

“Yeah, but every time I remember what he did…” I bit my lip. Damn, I was going to cry again.

“Hey love, I…” Garrett trailed off when he saw me. “What’s up?”

I shrugged, looking down.

“Yeah, thanks Abbey” he muttered wryly. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Love” Garrett said softly “I’m going home. You coming?”

“Yeah, sure.”

I hopped off of the counter and Abbey smiled sympathetic as I walked past her. Garrett took my hand, squeezing it lightly.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Tim asked as Garrett grabbed my (mom’s) car keys and tossed them at me.

“Taking Garrett home.”

“Be careful” my mom said.

“Always am.”

“Why so sad?” Garrett asked softly when I parked in the curb next to his house.

“I’m not sad” I said, reassuring him with a smile. He reached out and touched his hand to my face. He caressed my cheek for a second, looking into my eyes and I sighed softly.

“I better go home.”

“But we just got here” Gare complained “my mom and Trey want to see you.”

“No, please Leigh! Are you like this because of Abbey? You were talking about me, I know.”

“It’s not her fault. She wanted to know what happened and I told her.”

“Ah babe” Garrett whispered. He leaned in and kissed my cheek, his hand soothing my hair “shh, it’s okay.”

“I know, I just… don’t like thinking about it.”

“Then don’t. it was in New York, Leigh, we should leave it there. We’re in Arizona now.”

“Yeah, let’s relieve our memories here.”

“What memories do you have in mind?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. I touched my hands to his face, placing my lips back over his.