~S~
Lindsey never officially moved in. It wasn't like that with us. I didn't expect him to sell his house, pack up his entire life and come live full time at my home in Santa Monica... We weren't twenty- five anymore.
But he did come and stay with us for a while. And it was good... it was always good, until it wasn't.
Now I must warn you, before I get too far into this, that to pick sides would be very unfair... We both messed up and now that it's been so many years, neither of us is really afraid to admit it.
We were both at fault for the downfall that came shortly after.
"You're beautiful..." he whispered, a little smile on his face as he stared down at me.
We were on the sofa, my head in his lap, his fingers lost in my hair as I tried to focus on the boring movie that he insisted we watch. "So are you." I assured with a gentle smile as I felt the pad of his index finger trace the curve of my face.
It had been a few months since we'd "officially" gotten back together and a lot had seemed to change in that time. And honestly, it hadn't been easy, not in the slightest.
There were a couple of times when we had found ourselves right back in the same place we had a million times before... fighting. But when we bumped heads, Lindsey just went home for the night and in the morning, one of us was picking up the phone to apologize.
It probably wasn't the best solution to our problems, but it was working.
"You're going to put me to sleep if you keep doing that." I let out a soft giggle, eyes incredibly heavy.
He chuckled as well, leaning down to press a kiss to my temple.
The thing about knowing someone for as long as Lindsey and I had known each other is the fact that everything just comes easy and natural in moments like that.
We had already lived together for years, we'd worked together forever, we'd had a child at time when we weren't even dating, we'd fought like cats and dogs.... So we had really done it all and there was no awkward stage in our dating.
It was easy. Neither of us felt like we really had to entertain the other, because we'd already been through that once before, many moons earlier.
Just as he was getting ready to respond, the sound of the front door unlocking caused me to push myself up.
It was a Friday night and like many, Lark had made herself scarce.
But by then, she had graduated as salutatorian of her class, the summer had come and gone, and she had started taking courses at USC... Proud was an understatement.
I was so over the moon for her, and I could hardly wait to see what she decided to do with her life.
I knew that she was an extraordinary human from the day she'd entered the world and she was proving that a little more every day.
"Hello, hello." She had a little smile on her face as she trailed into the living room with Austin right behind her.
They had started dating sometime over the summer... I think. I'm not actually sure, but that was when she started bringing him around and I thought he was really great for her.
They did a lot. He took her to Big Bear with his family, they went to a couple of music festivals and they even began taking painting classes together.
"Hey, kids." Lindsey was sitting by the arm of the couch and I was still right next to him, even though I had sat up by then. "Did you have a good time at the movies?" He had one hand around my waist casually as the other held the remote to turn down the volume on the television.
"It was a good one, yeah." Austin always looked the exact same.
He had blonde curls and really green eyes. And he was really funny and kind, which I thought was wonderful.
And by then, he had really started to come around more often, so Lindsey and I both thought he was really great.
He had his head on his shoulders, he was going to college, he wanted to be an engineer and he was super calm... He wasn't worried about the partying scene, which I was so thankful for.
"Austin was wondering if you had some time to help him with some sheet music?" Lark was still standing in the doorway, wearing her winter jacket and smiling lightly.
I was surprised when she told us that her boyfriend was in a little garage band... She hated that lifestyle.
Patting my back, Lindsey nodded his head as he began to stand. "For sure." He would really, in the years that followed, start to consider Austin a son.
They were really good friends, even though Austin, eventually, started to make it really obvious how little he agreed with us at times.
"Do you want some hot chocolate?" She asked me that as soon as they two guys had headed for the den, where they would end up sitting around for hours, going back and forth with opening rifts and random solo guitar lessons.
"That sounds nice." I slowly pushed myself up, wrapping my silk shawl around my shoulders to follow her into the kitchen.
"What'd you and dad do today?" She wondered, setting her coat down on the barstool before she began to pull a couple of mugs out of the cabinet.
We were doing really well. We had sat down a couple of months earlier and had a serious heart- to- heart... We needed it. She was honest with me and I listened to every thing she had to say.
"Dad and I went to dinner, and then we went down to the beach for a short walk." I recounted, slipping into an empty chair at the island as I watched her trail around the room.
Her hair was pulled up into a clip, she was in a pair of of jeans, one of her dads old hoodies from a million years earlier and her glasses were sitting on the end of her nose.
She had done quite a bit of growing up in just a few short months... but I guess that's just what happens.
"That sounds like a good time." She nodded her head, already pouring milk into the pot to mix in the powder.
And before long, we were curled up on the couch together in the den, sipping hot chocolate, while Lindsey and Austin sat on the floor, laughing and talking about all things music...
"I love this." I whispered to Lark, hand in her hair as her head rested on my shoulder.
"Me, too."
