Don't You Worry About Me

The small pub was filling up, a typical Thursday evening at Bobby's; about 8pm the place would be packed to the rafters. Everybody in the group seemed to be present, except one very important lady. Shifting uneasily in his seat to get a better look at the few patrons who had just walked in the door, Zac Hanson groaned and ran his hands through his slightly ruffled, long hair. He thought he'd made it very clear, it was really important to him that she be here. This meeting of sorts just wouldn't be the same if she wasn't here.

Resting his cheek on his propped up hand, he only half listened to what the woman next to him was saying. Her voice seemed to drown into the rest of the crowd, while he eyed every person wandering around the joint. It was evident that the woman beside him, his fiancée, had just told a joke of some sort or had attempted to at least.

"Zac, did you hear me?" she prodded him, gently poking him in the ribs.

"Uh, yeah hilarious." He answered, Zac was still more intent on paying attention to the other people around him.

Damn it, he was anxious and this was taking way too long. What if something had happened to her? What if she'd missed her flight? What if she wasn't coming? Checking his phone, to find no messages, Zac relaxed a little. Besides, she wouldn't just stand him up. Would she? No, he knew her too well. That happened when you had known somebody for eighteen years, despite the fact they hadn't had a regular communication schedule in the last five years. No, she'd show.

Devin Andover walked into the small crowded pub; it had been almost six years since she was last here. The last time she had been here was the night before she hopped a plane to NYC. It had been a going away to University party; Devin remembered the night so perfectly. Her parents had got her older brother and best friend to convince her that they needed one more night out, when they arrived all of her family and friends were waiting for her.

Tonight had brought her back upon hearing the news that her best friend was getting married. They hadn't seen each other in a little over a year, with his busy schedule and her own; it was crazy trying to see one another. He had been with this woman three years, yet he didn't mention a word of her to Devin when she saw him last.

The last time Devin had saw Zac had been in a bit of a rush, he had grabbed some time before a show to have lunch with her. They didn't really get to chat about much, when she'd gotten a call saying there was an emergency at work and Devin had to leave. She couldn't get the disappointed look Zac had worn on his face out of her mind. He said he understood, standing to bid her farewell before she ran out on him. Spotting the familiar blond sitting at a table in the middle of the room, a smile on his face and his blue eyes dancing as he laughed, Devin made a bee line for Zac's older brother, Taylor.

"Hey you!" she blurted out as she approached, being spotted by Taylor.

The next few seconds were a blur as she was attacked from every direction, being enveloped in hugs and shouts about how great it was to see her. Holding up her arms, to signal Zac, Taylor, and their oldest brother Isaac to back off of her she laughed and slid onto the seat that Taylor offered her.

"Dev!" Zac continued to cling to her; if he got any tighter she would be fighting for air. "I was scared you weren't coming!"

"Let go." Devin gasped in exasperation. "Need air!"

"Sorry." Zac laughed nervously, backing off of her and sliding onto the chair next to her. Sandwiched between his best friend and his fiancée, he smiled proudly. "Dev, this is Rachel. Rachel this is Devin."

"This is Devin?" the blond asked pointing at the brunette on the other side of Zac.

"Yep, this is Devin." Zac happily announced.

"Oh, I thought you were a man." Rachel snidely commented.

"I get that a lot, the name and all." Devin played it off. Holding out her hand to the lanky blond, she smiled. "Nice to meet you."

Rachel didn't reply, instead she turned her attention to Kara, Isaac's wife. Giving Devin a sympathetic smile, Kara turned back to Rachel. It was pretty obvious that Zac didn't notice the interaction gone horribly wrong as he continued to chat with Taylor about plans for a bachelor party the following weekend.

After a few minutes, Rachel seemed to get bored with her soon to be sister-in-law and took to quietly sipping her drink and glaring at Devin. Not paying attention to the other woman, Devin was happy when Kara tried her best to make conversation; the boys seemed to be lost in their own topics about who knew what.

"Hey, how did you meet again?" Kara asked, wanting to involve the poor girl into the conversation.

Kara and Devin had met previously, only twice, but Devin really enjoyed Kara and there was no better match for Isaac. They'd been married for two years, Devin had missed the wedding unable to get away from work, nothing would ever be held against her for it. She'd tried her hardest, but sometimes things in life just don't happen. However, she did see the photos that Zac had promptly sent her.

"If I remember, somebody ran me over with a bicycle." Devin pointed out with a smirk, eyeing Taylor.

"And I don't regret it." Taylor mused, breaking from his other conversation. Getting a glare from Devin, he smirked. "If I didn't mow you down, we wouldn't have you."

"I still hate you for breaking my arm." Devin replied bitterly.

As the waitress came around, the group ordered another round, this time it was Isaac who kept the conversation going. Asking about Devin's parents Isaac smiled. He spoke with her older brother, Joey, almost weekly; it was just something to keep conversations and to keep Rachel from making any more nasty comments.

"They're good, they wanted to come for the wedding but they're not sure they can make it." Devin answered taking a sip of her beer.

"I can't believe your parents moved to Miami. Really, I can't see that being their scene." Taylor laughed at the idea of Dan and Annie Andover living in Miami. Dan was too much of your stereotypical construction worker and Annie just didn't scream sun goddess to him.

"It's not, dad hates it, but mom is coming around to it. I guess the whole idea came because everybody else was doing it." Devin mused.

"Why did you move to New York?" Kara questioned. She had never really got to know Devin in the few times she'd met her.

"I went to NYU, for my last two years." Devin answered promptly.

"Dev here is the assistant manager of one of New York's biggest banks." Zac boasted with a wide, toothy grin. "Ain't ya Dev."

"It's not as great as he makes it sound." Dev chuckled softly taking another sip of her beer. "I got lucky really. "

"How so?" Kara prompted with a smile.

"My college roommate's dad is the manager. I started there as a teller, when the position came around he offered and I took it." Devin explained.

"Considering when you were younger, you always wanted to be a painter it's a really random job for you." Isaac butted in.

"A painter?" Kara marveled. "That sounds wonderful."

"I would paint all the time as a kid." Devin explained with a small smile. "I was never very good, so clearly that was not going to be my career."

"Nonsense!" Zac shook his head, his hair hanging in his big brown eyes. "Dev is a fabulous painter. I have one of her more abstract pieces in my living room. It's the one over the sofa."

"It's the only piece I've ever sold." Devin admitted with a chuckle. "Tay bought it for him, for his birthday one year for ten dollars."

"She had been working on it; I knew Zac would like it." Taylor confessed with a smile. "Besides, you sold that other one to Mrs. Landry."

"Mrs. Landry didn't buy that, I gave it to her in exchange for making my mittens." Devin informed him.

"Is she still alive?" Zac piped up.

"Nah, she passed away about a year ago." Isaac answered the question about the elderly lady who had lived down the block. "She was almost 98 years old."

As the night drug on and the four friends wandered briefly down memory lane, entertaining Kara with tales of the insanity that used to ensue, Devin settled in. At one point it was like she had never left the trio, laughing and carrying on. Just as she was getting completely comfortable, despite the fact Rachel was murdering her with her glares, they were interrupted. Loudly, Rachel, no longer the center of anybody's attention sighed.

"What's going on?" Zac asked, finally turning his attention toward her for the first time in the last hour.

"I'm tired and I have to work in the morning, you need to take me home." Rachel whined, pouting and batting her eyelashes.

"Uh, yeah." Zac answered.

Before he could even grab his jacket, Rachel was up and half way out the door. She moved fast, Devin noted. She also had Zac right where she wanted him. From the look on Taylor's face, he wasn't Rachel's biggest fan. Isaac didn't say a word; he only nodded to Zac and told him that he'd catch up with him later. Devin wanted to gag on her beer; instead she held in a snicker and casually pulled out her phone, pretending to look at it. Standing up, Zac waved to everybody, leaning down he grinned at Devin.

"Tomorrow, let's hang out." He proposed the idea. Devin nodded in agreement and smile. "Good."

Not wanting it to look bad for his brother, Isaac made an excuse that they too had to head out. Saying good bye to everybody, he and Kara followed Zac out the door. Rachel didn't stick around to wait for her fiancé, she had simply stated she had to go and left. Sliding into the chair beside Devin, Taylor folded his arms across his chest and stared into space for a moment before speaking.

"So." Taylor spoke, raising his brow.

"So." Devin echoed.

"That was fun." Taylor laughed.

"Not as fun as the hotel informing me that they lost my reservation." Devin admitted with a sheepish smile.

Taylor sighed and cocked his head sideways. "Need a place to stay?"

"Only for the duration of my stay." Devin added with a firm nod.

"Alright, you can stay with me. Come on, let's go." Taylor spoke, sliding his chair back from the table and standing up.