18 and Life to Go

[Dan's POV]

Living with Juliette, Nancy, and of course my little Holly May was much different than I had expected.

Though, honestly, I wasn't too sure of what to expect.

Juliette and I had gotten closer, that was for sure. She was like the sister I never had, as cliche as that might sound, and she was probably the best aunt I could want for Holly May.

So I knew something was up the day she had come home more than a few hours before expected, her face almost emotionless. I was in the middle of wolfing down a ham and cheese sandwich, that too rather messily if you ask me, when she stepped into the kitchen.

“Oh, Dan, wasn't expecting you here,” she said, not looking up to meet my gaze.

“What's wrong?” I asked through a mouthful of food.

She looked up at me, rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You pig. Nothing's wrong, nothing at all...”

“Hey,” I started, pausing to swallow my food, then continued, “Don't give me that. I know something's up...”

“It's not important. It'll pass.”

“Come on, Juliette. Is it something Phil said? Did he do something? Did you spill coffee on his shirt or something?”

She chuckled slightly. “None, it's... Forget it, Dan, it was bound to happen some day...”

She turned and was about to step out of the kitchen when I grabbed her by the elbow and turned her around. “Come on. You know you can tell me!”

“I know I can, Dan. But... You don't need to trouble yourself with it.”

“Hey, hey, hey. We're best friends. Your troubles are my troubles, alright? You took me in when I had nowhere to go; I can repay the favour by being there now that you obviously need someone to talk to.”

She hesitated for a minute, then hugged me. “Thanks, Dan, I really appreciate that...”

“So are you gonna tell me what's wrong?”

She sighed, then mumbled something but it was too muffled for me to hear.

“You're gonna have to repeat that,” I chuckled slightly.

“Well... Phil and I kinda had an argument... And we broke up...”

“Whaaat?” I asked, unsure of what I had just heard. “You.. What?”

“Yep,” she nodded, letting me go and sniffling a bit. “But um... Yeah. It was bound to happen...”

And with that, she left. I sighed, mentally beating myself up for not knowing what to say.
---

A few days after the incident (and after I had managed to pull out a few comforting words), the telephone rang. It was late afternoon, almost evening. Nancy was working, Holly was sleeping, and Juliette was... Well, I'm not too sure. Somewhere in the house. I was eating my Maltesers in front of the tv... Well, what? Those things were absolutely perfect.

Suddenly, the ringing phone cut through the calm of the house. I groaned when I realized nobody was going to pick it up, and did it myself.

“Hello?” I answered with my mouth full of Maltesers just as Juliette rushed into the kitchen. She scowled when she realized she had made an effort to get up and get to the phone for nothing.

“Hello, is this Ms. Elizabeth's household?”

“Erm, yeah, but who-”

Maya grabbed the phone and shoved me away.

“Hey!” I cried, dropping a couple Maltesers onto the floor. I immediately dived to retrieve them as Juliette continued the conversation.

“Yeah, this is... Wait, what?... Really? Oh my gosh... Yes, we'll be there as soon as possible! Thank you so much!”

She hung up and grinned at me excitedly.

“You know, that was kinda rude, push-” I started, but she interrupted. Again.

“It's Lizzy, Dan. She's awake.”