Times running out (a Bret Von Dehl love story)

Chapter 12

The plane ride was so boring.

I drank some lemonade and I started cuddling the stuffed wolf that Bret had gotten me a while ago.

There was that smell again.

Jack Daniels, pine trees, leather jackets, and happiness.

By this time I realized I was a 22 year old woman ferociously cuddling a black stuffed wolf on a public plane, and I had attracted some attention to myself.

The flight attendant even walked over to me to ask if I was alright, to which I replied:

"I just get scared on planes, My boyfriend gave me this, it reminds me of him. it makes me a little less scared."

I got a chorus of aws out of that, even if it wasn't the complete truth.

My plane landed soon after and I got off and grabbed my luggage. I sped into the nearest taxi and told the driver to take to the place I had been dreading going back to.

Naomi & My apartment.

I thanked the taxi driver and walked into the apartment, my keys jingling when I unlocked the door.

"N-Naomi?" I called out as I opened the door.

"Hey." Said the very flat voice of Naomi

I awkwardly stepped inside and saw her watching Netflix. She didn't even turn around.

"I saw alt press magazine." She said after an awkward silence.

"Oh yeah? Like the one we did an interview for?" I replied.

"Uh huh... Bret was funny, you sounded like the most interesting person ever, Skye and Ray were adorable, Kat was badass, Daka sounded hyper, and I now want to literally BE Wednesday." Naomi chuckled.

And suddenly I remembered.

We were supposed to be best friends. Best friends fight, and they don't mean three quarters of what they say when they do. The difference between friends and best friends is that best friends can't stay mad. They forgive and forget, and that's what Naomi was trying to do.

"MiMi, I'm sorry." I said quietly, using the nickname I had given her long ago.

"I'm sorry too Nix, I-I really didn't mean what I said... I was just... jealous and mad." Naomi sighed heavily.

I put down my bags and hugged Naomi.

"I forgive you." I said.

I sat on the couch with her and we caught up. Apparently Vic and her had kept in touch after she left. He had been so sad to see her go. They weren't a couple as of yet, but I'll admit they were pretty cute.

I told her about how the shows went, and with haste told her about Bret and the tour, which she didn't really seem to mind.

After it felt like we knew each other again, I went to unpack in my room.

Though I was feeling better about her, I didn't totally trust Naomi.

Knowing that she could snap and change into a manipulative, word twisting beast was knowledge you can't really go back from.

After placing down my wolf, whom I had decided to name Ramone, because honestly I've got an obsession, I struggled to fold my clothes and put them back in their drawers.

I was wondering when the rest of the girls would get here, so I could make Daka fold my clothes, when I heard four familiar voices down my apartment hall.

"No! We CAN'T tell Phoenix about the band house." said Daka's voice.

"Why not?" asked Skye.

"We bought it somewhere special, for her." Wednesday said. I could practically see her warm friendly smile.

"Where?!" said Skye, who was as usual totally clueless, but we loved her for it.

"Washington D.C." said Kat with a smirk in her voice.

"Well shuddup about it, we're about to get to her apartment and we don't want her hearing us." Wednesday shushed.

Unfortunately for them my apartment had thin walls.

I heard my apartment door open up and I rushed into my living room to see 4 smiling faces.

I hugged all the girls.

"Ugh! Those 5 hours without you guys was torture. How did we ever go without living together!?" I asked in an exasperated tone.

"No idea." said Kat with a grin. "You got food?"

I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"A girl's gotta eat something."

Kat rushed to my pantry, probably to clean it out.

We all went in my room because
A) Wednesday had never seen how cool it was,
And B) it's where we usually hung out anyways.

Naomi had gone out, she had friends outside of the band unlike us.

The girls and I laughed and chatted until Kat got a phone call.

"Scuse me." she said, leaving the room.

She came back in smiling.

"Is it a go?" Wednesday asked.

"Please say it's a go!" Daka said urgently.

"It's a go." said Kat.

"WHATS A GO?" I asked excitedly.

Skye stood up.

"We decided that living with Naomi would be awkward." she began.

"And we loved living together and didn't want it to end." added Kat.

"So I pulled a few strings aaaaand..." Wednesday continued.

"WE BOUGHT A HOUSE FOR THE BAND IN D.C!" Daka shouted.

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!" I yelled, prancing around. "That's where BRET lives!"

"WE KNOW!" They all shouted and giggled.

"It's also where Ray is, so DOUBLE YAY!" Said Skye.

"So when do we leave?!" I asked.

"In two days. We would've liked to go sooner but that's the soonest we could rent a U-Haul." explained Daka.

"2 days. Just 2 days." I grinned.