We're Stuck Halfway

2012. Gilbert, Arizona.
 
With an arm clutched across her worn-out satchel, she walked towards the house's wooden front door.
 
The house wasn't small, nor was it relatively big - it was just right, like how she remembered it as. She for sure could still recall its interior, a cozy Arizona theme that was so homey it had her coming back to visit millions of times. Even the pool behind the glass sliding doors seemed comfortable, unlike anything in her house back then, which was modernized to the bone.
 
Before she had the time to hesitate, she put her finger on the smooth surface of the doorbell, pushing gently. A few bells were heard ringing through the house; not long after that, a petite woman with blonde hair opened the door.
 
Reluctantly, she pushed her hair away from her eyes, hoping that she looked at least a little bit familiar.
 
She did.
 
Her nerves calmed down as the woman rushed to hug her, rambling about how they hadn't seen each other in ages before that. She even made a bunch of comments, ranging from how different her hair looked from its dark red state it had on the last time they met, to how her eldest son had talked about her being in town and how her youngest remained silent about it.
 
It felt so weird on how his mom had always been on her side of the… of the incident.
 
Holly laughed, hugging her back. “Good afternoon to you, too, Carol.” She was invited inside and she complied, removing her shoes before stepping outside the mat. As soon as she had her shoes off, and before Mrs. Nickelsen was given an opportunity to offer her some food, she asked an urgent question. “So about your youngest son... Does he happen to be home right now? I kinda have to discuss some things with him.”
 
As if she had broken a law, Carol apologized for holding her up and said that Garrett was indeed in his room.
 
Holly nodded a thanks before trudging up the Nickelsen household's staircase, nervously feeling for the diamond clad ring that rested on her finger. She walked past doors until she came to a stop at the one which was just at the dead end of the hall.
 
She knocked once before a grunt responded from inside the room, and then entered. Everything suddenly went in slow motion for her, the steps to her demise clear before her eyes. One, she had stepped on a piece of clothing; two, she was wearing foot socks; three, she slipped; four, her butt smacked to the ground; five, she screamed.
 
And six, Garrett Daniel Nickelsen was shirtless and carrying her over to his bed.
 


Garrett had no idea on how to react to his ex-girlfriend who was already engaged slipping in his own room while he was half-naked. The fact that she had slipped on a pair of his used boxer briefs didn't help either.
 
He had recovered just in time though, still having the clear mind to carry her over to his soft bed and kicking the used boxers away before she spotted them - she was better off not knowing, anyways.
 
What he didn't have though, was the decency of mind to put on a shirt. He was held off retrieving an ice-pack from the fridge when his mom came over to ask him what had happened. She was horrified at the fact Holly hadn't been in his room for three minutes yet he was already partially undressed.
 
He felt the heat rise to his cheeks, like how they always did when he was teased about her before they actually dated. It was hard to accept though, since he had a girlfriend and she had a fiancé.
 
He panicked at that moment, explaining how he had his shirt off before Holly entered; making sure his mom hadn't gotten the wrong idea. She still looked at him suspiciously as he left, feeling her stare at the back of his neck. He felt like blurting out Holly's current relationship status, but he knew it would just make reality even worse. So instead, he opted for receiving another "woman-to-man" talk from his mother later on, even if he was already twenty-two years old.
 
Garrett sighed, making his way back to his bedroom. Out of all things, it just really felt weird to have Holly over. Disregard her being engaged and him being bare-chested - having her over just seemed to be on the top of the 'what the fuck?' list.
 
All too suddenly he realized he was going to be with her like that for the entire two months the tour would extend. A part of him wished to get over what she had come over for as soon as possible. Another part, though, wanted to spend time with her and just talk about life like they had at the diner a few weeks -which seemed like forever- ago.
 
When he reentered his room, the not-so-injured guest was actually standing, studying a painting hung up on the wall. Without a thought he stood right by her, and he saw her raised eyebrow up close.
 
“You started once we... er, broke, right?” she asked, keeping her voice tiny in hope of him not hearing her at all.
 
But he did, and he nodded slowly in response. He ended up explaining the vast horizon on the abstract painting as he handed the icepack to her.
 
She complemented his work as he shrugged a tank top over his head, and all he could respond with was a mere "thank you." It wasn't that he wasn't grateful for the complements; it was just that, due to being a bit popular, he had received many half-meant comments instead of whole-hearted ones on his paintings. It was hard to trust anyone's opinion on his works, whether he knew them personally or not.
 
As she remained standing, he sat down on his bed in an Indian position, clasping his hands together and without realizing, making his thumbs crisscross against the other.
 
“So,” he started, dragging the O's until she turned around to face him, her hands in the pockets of her half-coat. “What brings you to my crib?”
 
Holly rolled her eyes, sitting herself on the love seat opposite Garrett's bed. “You know why I'm here, Gary.”
 
Gary.
 
He suppressed a sigh of relief, the awkwardness in the air suddenly lessening. He had been aching for that nickname ever since they had seen each other recently; it was the name she used to refer to him in between giggles, the name she used on post-its stuck to his locker, calling themselves 'Gary & Holly' for the sake of the rhyme; it was the name that only she could pronounce the way he wanted to hear it.
 
Garrett's eyes magneted towards the ring on Holly's finger and his stomach twisted. Even if she had called him Gary, there was no way she'd be using it for the same reasons ever again. He fell out of his sudden daze, smacked back into reality by the ring. “I- I don't know, Hol. I'm sorry.”
 
Holly lifted her feet off the ground, hugging her legs to her chest. “Garrett,” she warned, despite looking queasy.
 
“I- I can't-”
 
“I DON'T WANT TO GO ON YOUR DAMN TOUR!” she suddenly shrieked, pulling at her hair.
 
Garrett's thoughts immediately scarmbled around in his head, looking for a place to crash in; either in his hurt feelings or his angry ones, they even in went in with his happy ones.
 
He must've looked flustered, since she immediately regained her composure and lowered her voice back to normal. “Don't you think it would be a bit...”
 
“Fun?” he tried to finish for her. He couldn't help but sound helpless, and to make her understand, he reasoned out things to make her stay. He started with how Jesse (he put an emphasis on him being her fiancé) wanted her to be with them in Europe because he would be in the same continent, then to how Selina wasn't free due to her work, and how they couldn't get anyone else because it was only less than a week before the tour itself. He even mentioned how the guys had actually missed her, and even if he hadn't asked them, he was pretty sure he was right because they wouldn't dare say anything that might make him miss her like they did.
 
Holly looked down at her shoes, while Garrett could only hope that coming clean to her did some help in changing her mind.
 
“I'm not sure if... Is Charlie really going to be there?”
 
Garrett nodded. “Skylar and Ronnie, too. I know how close you were with them.”
 
She shoved her face into her hands, and then looked up for a moment to look him in the eyes and smile faintly. It was small, but he knew it was there. “If I happen to do join this tour, do you guys solemnly swear not to throw out my torn sweatshirt?”
 
Garrett smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he licked his lips. “Yeah, sorry- sorry about that. Peter didn't know, and to be honest it did look like junk...”
 
“I'll only go if you can assure me that the sweatshirt will be kept safe-”
 
“Of course it'll be kept safe.”
 
“Alright, then.” She stood up, though she sounded not quite convinced yet. “I'll start packing by tonight.”
 

 
“Look,” she said, exasperatedly looking up at the ceiling. “I know I'm risking something going on that damn tour, but I've made my decision on things. I'm only doing this because Jesse requested me to do so, alright?”
 
She bit her lip, afraid of accidentally blurting out her true intentions.
 
The only reason Charlie wanted to be on that tour was because of Pat Kirch.
 
Ever since she had really thought about Alex Gaskarth and what she might be to him, she had decided that maybe giving another chance to the best guy she knew next to him was worth it. After all, it was one of his best friends who did the shit, not him.
 
Pat was… Pat was this adorable piece of sunshine everyone needed in their lives. Well, to her, he was. He could also be this menacing person if he wanted to, though rare since she had seen that side of him only once.

Nevertheless, she wanted him back in her life. Pushing him away because of what Garrett made everyone think of her best friend was low; she was starting to realize it slowly.
 
Holly grunted, still not seeing that Charlie missed Pat. “I just don’t… Jesse was so not in the right mind when he made that decision.”
 
Charlie sat-up straight. “You know what? That is one thing I absolutely hate about you, Holly. You never admit that something could be your fault. If you had actually told Jesse that you and Garrett dated once, not that you guys were “friends” like you were with the rest of the guys, he wouldn’t have made the shit decision in the first place!” She fell back on the bed. “I’m sorry that we’re in this mess; there’s just no way on earth we’re getting out of it, okay?”
 
After a deafening silence, Holly stood up, her pride crumbling to the ground. “You’re right, Charlie. So I’ll better start packing now, then.”

Charlie called for Holly before she entirely left the room, almost forgetting the most important thing she had to mention.

“Yeah?”

“Jesse also called a few hours ago, saying he couldn't contact you - he wants to ask if December 31 is a good date for your wedding.”

“That's… less than three months from now.”

“Don't look at me! He wants you to call him back, you know about him and texting.”

“Of course. Yeah.”

It was scary how one could sound less than thrilled at the thought of their own wedding.