You Are Exactly My Brand of Heroin
It's a Matter of Time Until We're All Found Out.
"Hey, Lace? Could you take this downstairs for me?" I asked Lacey as I handed her my packed suitcase. She nodded and hurried out of the room. I stood up from the floor and closed my closet door along with my bureau drawers. All the girls were sprawled across mine and Garrett's beds. They'd been sitting in utter silence from the moment that they set foot in the room to wait while I packed, and I knew that they were up to something. That may have been true, but I wasn't game for finding out what that something was, so I decided to make some small conversation. "So, Lee? How did it go with Jimmy last night?" I asked her as I turned to all of them with my hands on my hips.
She smiled as everyone smiled over at her and she said, "He was absolutely enthralled. He wanted to tell all the guys himself so he had them all gather in your guys' kitchen when we got here." I smiled. I knew Jimmy well, and I knew that a baby was perfect for both him and Leana at this stage in their relationship. Still yet, Jimmy and Leana were both very young, very naive, and were huge party animals, but I was sure that a baby would bring the both of them down a few notches.
"That's great, Leana, but as much as I hate to say it and as much as you hate to hear it, we told you so," I said. Everyone laughed while Lacey re-entered the room, closing the door behind her as she plopped onto Garrett's bed beside Taylor. Leana nodded in agreement.
"Our family just keeps growing, doesn't it?" Val said as she patted Leana's stomach and looked around at Natalie, Ciara, Taylor, and I. I'd been a part of the family for years now, but I'd left and returned with even more family to add to our already gigantic one.
"That it does. Johnny said that Matt and Brian would be back with our plane tickets in about twenty minutes, but in the mean time, I heard that Natalie has taken a liking to a certain someone," Lacey said with a devious smile as Natalie blushed. She always had the latest gossip on everything when we were teenagers, but it seemed that her gossip was confined to our group of friends now.
"Oh! Oh! I know who it is!" Taylor bounced on Garrett's bed as she threw her hand into the air, shaking it like I was a teacher about to call on her for the answer to a question.
"I'm sure you do, but it's only because you share a room with him," Ciara said matter-of-factly with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I may be sleeping with her roommate, but at least I'm not sleeping with her brother!" Natalie pressed, defending Taylor.
"At least she's not having sex while someone else is trying to sleep in the room!" I defended Ciara. I hadn't known about this whole Natalie and Jordan situation, but it had just dawned on me at to who it was that had been creating all of the noise coming from Taylor and Jordan's room last night.
"Well, at least I'm not in love with my Brian!" Natalie shouted in return. She immediately clamped her hand over her mouth once she realized that impact of her words, a shocked expression overtaking all of our faces. My heart skipped a beat. Ciara's complexion turned from a bright shade of apricot to a pale shade of white. She'd heard mine and Brian's conversation earlier, and she'd told the girls. "Abby, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to... I never meant to -" Natalie searched for words to correct her mistake, but I stopped her.
"No, it's fine, Nat, and it's fine that you told everyone Ciara, but before I go on, I need to know something," I said as I turned to Ciara. She nodded stiffly and waited for me to speak again. I wasn't in the least bit mad, just a bit scared that she'd told someone other than the girls, but Ciara seemed to be terrified of me. "Did you tell anyone other than these girls?" I asked. Ciara immediately shook her head, the color returning to her face. I sighed in relief.
"I heard what you said about telling Matt, so I just kept it between the girls and I and told them not to tell anyone else about and to be careful about where they talked about it," she said, glaring at Natalie who blushed. I nodded and sighed as I plopped down on my bed between Val and Leana.
"Believe me, you guys, I was going to tell you in good time, but I was hoping to get things a bit more organized between Brian and I before we told anyone. I was also hoping that you guys would understand if I waited so long to tell you all. We've decided to take this very slow. We have to give it some time, ya know? So everyone can settle in with each other and get to know each other a little better before we throw this at them. We have to let everyone become accustomed to us being together, too, if that's what you'd even call it. Since all of you know now, though, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone else as of right now, not even our boys." All the girls instantly nodded. I could see it in Val's eyes as we exchanged glances that she knew how Matt would be once he found out what Brian and I had confessed to each other. He was overprotective of me, and I knew that he expected his friends to be the same way. That also meant that he didn't want them to touch me in any way, shape, or form... or fall in love with me. Unexpected and unwanted, much? I think so. In Matt's case, anyway.
Taylor and I exchanged glances as well, knowing that there was yet another underlying problem but we'd keep it to ourselves for Ciara's sake. Even though Garrett had Ciara now, he hadn't truly fallen for her yet, and I'd just come to find out that I wasn't the only one who saw it. Garrett didn't believe in love at first sight, unlike Ciara who was already falling for him. Garrett'slove lust for me was still very much alive. He was just using Ciara to feed that lust until he could get to me, which was never going to happen even in his wildest dreams, and I was beginning to feel that Taylor was seeing that Garrett's "love" for me wasn't love at all.
I sighed and ran my hands through my hair, knowing that I had a huge mess on my hands. I had a lot of problems to solve and a lot to deal with that were still ahead of me. I didn't realize then, but love affects everyone, not just the two people that are in it.
"Hey, guys!" Logan said as he came tearing into my room. "Matt and Bri are back with our tickets, and our flight is at six thirty." I glanced over at Garrett's alarm clock across the room on his nightstand to see that it was only five o'clock. I knew we'd leave about fifteen or twenty minutes before our flight, seeing as the airport was so close to our house, meaning that we had plenty of time before our flight to do whatever we pleased. Once Logan had left, we all decided to head downstairs to see what our guys were up to. On my way down, Ciara pulled me aside.
"Abby, I cannot even begin to express to you how sorry I am. I honestly didn't mean for the girls to say anything. I just -" I placed my hand on her shoulder, stopping her from proceeding.
"Ciara, it's fine. I'm glad you told them because I know that if it were left up to me to do, possibly months from now, I wouldn't know what to say. Once I figured it out, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. You guys would be so upset with me that I'd drive myself crazy trying to find a proper way to apologize for not telling you guys sooner," I said with a smile.
Ciara nodded and smiled, too, saying, "You're probably right. Ya know what, Abigail Sanders? You're not half bad. I can already see that I'm going to enjoy every second of being your hair stylist for the next two months." I smiled again and hugged her.
"And you know what, Ciara Morris? You're not so bad yourself either, and I can already see that I'm going to enjoy having you as my hair stylist and a new friend, too."
"Thanks, babe," she said.
"You're welcome," I replied as we both continued down the stairs and joined everyone in my living room.
---
We'd just arrived at the Las Vegas Airport and Matt and I were unloading everyone's luggage from the trunk of Taylor's Tahoe. I was thankful that I wasn't feeling any tension between Matt and I after what had happened between his sister and I earlier, even though he knew nothing about it. I could already see, though, that it was going to take quite some time for Matt and I to get used to Abby and I being together, but were we even together? I wasn't sure. That was something that I knew Abby and I needed to discuss.
"That's it, bro. All we have to do now is carry these babies inside to the luggage exchange," Matt said as he closed the trunk. Ben, our producer, was taking Taylor's ride back to Abby's place for us so we wouldn't' have to hassle with it. We said our goodbyes to Ben and made our way into the airport. As soon as we set foot inside the cool, air-conditioned place, mine and Zack phone's began to ring. Zack and I both pulled ourselves away from the girls that we'd had our arms around to dig into our pockets to retrieve our phones.
As it turned out, Matt Berry and Cam Rackam had called Zack and I. They were both asking the same question: are you bringing Abby home? She loved the very sound of that and just had to talk to both of the guys and Jason Berry, who was with Matt B., herself. She adored those guys, and it felt amazing to see her smile at the mention of them. She was definitely missing Huntington Beach.
A few short minutes later, we'd all boarded the plane and were comfortably seated in our first class seats that Matt had taken the courtesy of paying for. I made a mental note to thank him later then focused on the present.
Abby sat quietly beside me while Jimmy and Leana sat across from us. Behind us were Taylor and Zack with Garrett and Ciara across from them. In the next row were Matt and Val behind Garrett and Ciara and Jordan and Natalie behind Zack and Tay. Behind those four were Johnny and Lacey on one side and Logan and Brett on the other. Abby sighed softly after buckling her seat belt, meaning that the plane was about to take off. I did the same as Abby rested her head on my shoulder, looking up at me. I smiled down at her and laced our fingers together, softly kissing her hand. We both smiled at the site of our hands together.
I had to admit, that site gave me an amazing feeling, but at the same time, it reminded me that Abby and I were hiding an enormous secret from our family and friends. It hadn't been long that Abby and I had made our confessions to each other, but I was beyond prepared to tell everyone that I was in love with the most beautiful and most amazing girl in the world. Still yet, I was fighting the urge for the both of our sakes, but I couldn't help but wonder: how long until we have to tell someone? How long can we keep this a secret from everyone we love?
How long until we're all found out?
She smiled as everyone smiled over at her and she said, "He was absolutely enthralled. He wanted to tell all the guys himself so he had them all gather in your guys' kitchen when we got here." I smiled. I knew Jimmy well, and I knew that a baby was perfect for both him and Leana at this stage in their relationship. Still yet, Jimmy and Leana were both very young, very naive, and were huge party animals, but I was sure that a baby would bring the both of them down a few notches.
"That's great, Leana, but as much as I hate to say it and as much as you hate to hear it, we told you so," I said. Everyone laughed while Lacey re-entered the room, closing the door behind her as she plopped onto Garrett's bed beside Taylor. Leana nodded in agreement.
"Our family just keeps growing, doesn't it?" Val said as she patted Leana's stomach and looked around at Natalie, Ciara, Taylor, and I. I'd been a part of the family for years now, but I'd left and returned with even more family to add to our already gigantic one.
"That it does. Johnny said that Matt and Brian would be back with our plane tickets in about twenty minutes, but in the mean time, I heard that Natalie has taken a liking to a certain someone," Lacey said with a devious smile as Natalie blushed. She always had the latest gossip on everything when we were teenagers, but it seemed that her gossip was confined to our group of friends now.
"Oh! Oh! I know who it is!" Taylor bounced on Garrett's bed as she threw her hand into the air, shaking it like I was a teacher about to call on her for the answer to a question.
"I'm sure you do, but it's only because you share a room with him," Ciara said matter-of-factly with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I may be sleeping with her roommate, but at least I'm not sleeping with her brother!" Natalie pressed, defending Taylor.
"At least she's not having sex while someone else is trying to sleep in the room!" I defended Ciara. I hadn't known about this whole Natalie and Jordan situation, but it had just dawned on me at to who it was that had been creating all of the noise coming from Taylor and Jordan's room last night.
"Well, at least I'm not in love with my Brian!" Natalie shouted in return. She immediately clamped her hand over her mouth once she realized that impact of her words, a shocked expression overtaking all of our faces. My heart skipped a beat. Ciara's complexion turned from a bright shade of apricot to a pale shade of white. She'd heard mine and Brian's conversation earlier, and she'd told the girls. "Abby, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to... I never meant to -" Natalie searched for words to correct her mistake, but I stopped her.
"No, it's fine, Nat, and it's fine that you told everyone Ciara, but before I go on, I need to know something," I said as I turned to Ciara. She nodded stiffly and waited for me to speak again. I wasn't in the least bit mad, just a bit scared that she'd told someone other than the girls, but Ciara seemed to be terrified of me. "Did you tell anyone other than these girls?" I asked. Ciara immediately shook her head, the color returning to her face. I sighed in relief.
"I heard what you said about telling Matt, so I just kept it between the girls and I and told them not to tell anyone else about and to be careful about where they talked about it," she said, glaring at Natalie who blushed. I nodded and sighed as I plopped down on my bed between Val and Leana.
"Believe me, you guys, I was going to tell you in good time, but I was hoping to get things a bit more organized between Brian and I before we told anyone. I was also hoping that you guys would understand if I waited so long to tell you all. We've decided to take this very slow. We have to give it some time, ya know? So everyone can settle in with each other and get to know each other a little better before we throw this at them. We have to let everyone become accustomed to us being together, too, if that's what you'd even call it. Since all of you know now, though, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone else as of right now, not even our boys." All the girls instantly nodded. I could see it in Val's eyes as we exchanged glances that she knew how Matt would be once he found out what Brian and I had confessed to each other. He was overprotective of me, and I knew that he expected his friends to be the same way. That also meant that he didn't want them to touch me in any way, shape, or form... or fall in love with me. Unexpected and unwanted, much? I think so. In Matt's case, anyway.
Taylor and I exchanged glances as well, knowing that there was yet another underlying problem but we'd keep it to ourselves for Ciara's sake. Even though Garrett had Ciara now, he hadn't truly fallen for her yet, and I'd just come to find out that I wasn't the only one who saw it. Garrett didn't believe in love at first sight, unlike Ciara who was already falling for him. Garrett'slove lust for me was still very much alive. He was just using Ciara to feed that lust until he could get to me, which was never going to happen even in his wildest dreams, and I was beginning to feel that Taylor was seeing that Garrett's "love" for me wasn't love at all.
I sighed and ran my hands through my hair, knowing that I had a huge mess on my hands. I had a lot of problems to solve and a lot to deal with that were still ahead of me. I didn't realize then, but love affects everyone, not just the two people that are in it.
"Hey, guys!" Logan said as he came tearing into my room. "Matt and Bri are back with our tickets, and our flight is at six thirty." I glanced over at Garrett's alarm clock across the room on his nightstand to see that it was only five o'clock. I knew we'd leave about fifteen or twenty minutes before our flight, seeing as the airport was so close to our house, meaning that we had plenty of time before our flight to do whatever we pleased. Once Logan had left, we all decided to head downstairs to see what our guys were up to. On my way down, Ciara pulled me aside.
"Abby, I cannot even begin to express to you how sorry I am. I honestly didn't mean for the girls to say anything. I just -" I placed my hand on her shoulder, stopping her from proceeding.
"Ciara, it's fine. I'm glad you told them because I know that if it were left up to me to do, possibly months from now, I wouldn't know what to say. Once I figured it out, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. You guys would be so upset with me that I'd drive myself crazy trying to find a proper way to apologize for not telling you guys sooner," I said with a smile.
Ciara nodded and smiled, too, saying, "You're probably right. Ya know what, Abigail Sanders? You're not half bad. I can already see that I'm going to enjoy every second of being your hair stylist for the next two months." I smiled again and hugged her.
"And you know what, Ciara Morris? You're not so bad yourself either, and I can already see that I'm going to enjoy having you as my hair stylist and a new friend, too."
"Thanks, babe," she said.
"You're welcome," I replied as we both continued down the stairs and joined everyone in my living room.
---
We'd just arrived at the Las Vegas Airport and Matt and I were unloading everyone's luggage from the trunk of Taylor's Tahoe. I was thankful that I wasn't feeling any tension between Matt and I after what had happened between his sister and I earlier, even though he knew nothing about it. I could already see, though, that it was going to take quite some time for Matt and I to get used to Abby and I being together, but were we even together? I wasn't sure. That was something that I knew Abby and I needed to discuss.
"That's it, bro. All we have to do now is carry these babies inside to the luggage exchange," Matt said as he closed the trunk. Ben, our producer, was taking Taylor's ride back to Abby's place for us so we wouldn't' have to hassle with it. We said our goodbyes to Ben and made our way into the airport. As soon as we set foot inside the cool, air-conditioned place, mine and Zack phone's began to ring. Zack and I both pulled ourselves away from the girls that we'd had our arms around to dig into our pockets to retrieve our phones.
As it turned out, Matt Berry and Cam Rackam had called Zack and I. They were both asking the same question: are you bringing Abby home? She loved the very sound of that and just had to talk to both of the guys and Jason Berry, who was with Matt B., herself. She adored those guys, and it felt amazing to see her smile at the mention of them. She was definitely missing Huntington Beach.
A few short minutes later, we'd all boarded the plane and were comfortably seated in our first class seats that Matt had taken the courtesy of paying for. I made a mental note to thank him later then focused on the present.
Abby sat quietly beside me while Jimmy and Leana sat across from us. Behind us were Taylor and Zack with Garrett and Ciara across from them. In the next row were Matt and Val behind Garrett and Ciara and Jordan and Natalie behind Zack and Tay. Behind those four were Johnny and Lacey on one side and Logan and Brett on the other. Abby sighed softly after buckling her seat belt, meaning that the plane was about to take off. I did the same as Abby rested her head on my shoulder, looking up at me. I smiled down at her and laced our fingers together, softly kissing her hand. We both smiled at the site of our hands together.
I had to admit, that site gave me an amazing feeling, but at the same time, it reminded me that Abby and I were hiding an enormous secret from our family and friends. It hadn't been long that Abby and I had made our confessions to each other, but I was beyond prepared to tell everyone that I was in love with the most beautiful and most amazing girl in the world. Still yet, I was fighting the urge for the both of our sakes, but I couldn't help but wonder: how long until we have to tell someone? How long can we keep this a secret from everyone we love?
How long until we're all found out?