Endless Summer; Never-Ending Love

~Chapter 28~ The End . . . Or Is It?

So, today has started off on the wrong foot. My alarm went off at 5:30 in the morning (my idea . . . I thought working out sounded fun last night while we watched "The Sand Lot" a.k.a. Connor's fav. movie), I woke up hungry, and I'm locked out of the hotel room. Yea, apparently leaving at 6 o'clock in the morning when you're rooming with a bunch of teenage boys (and not telling them that you're leaving) is a bad idea. So, no. Not even Starbucks could fix this problem. 

**** 

Someone finally let me in with a kind 20 minutes to spare before my flight back to North Carolina. I'm flying home for the rest of the tour not only to surprise Lia, but because I can't even handle Hayes. He thinks that he can break up with that Maddie girl, and just get my sister back? Oh no sir. "Really Brent? I sat outside the door texting you for an hour and a half, asking you to let me in." 

I brushed passed him. "Sorry, I was stress sleeping . . . " 

"Why are you stressed Brent? There's only a month left in the tour."

"I-I didn't get my Baja Blast Freeze yesterday . . . " he started crying. God Brent . . . Why are you such a Taco-Bell-aholic? 

******

I'm sitting on the plane waiting for the pilot to let us off, and it's hot as fuck in the seating area. All I want to do, is grab my carry-on, walk through the terminal, grab my luggage, and go home. "Good afternoon, this is your pilot speaking" an expected pause "I would like to thank you all for flying Delta Air. Please grab your carry-on, and walk out the door one-by-one onto the terminal. Thank you, and have great day." 

****** 

"TAXI!" oh my God . . . "TAXI!" Jesus Christ. 

I step out into the road in front of the yellow cab, and hope it sees me. I hear the screech of a tire, and I flinch as the cheese mobile screeches to a halt inches away from me. I tell the cabby my address, and put my luggage in the trunk. I heard the light switch off, and away we went. 

*****

I walk through the front door with all my bags, and Lia is standing at the top of the stairs holding a book. she looks up, and totally flips shit. "COLLLLLLLINNNN!!!!!!!!" She came running down the stairs, and ran to me. I dropped my bags, picked her up, swung her around and placed her gently back on the ground. 

"I-I thought you would be happy to see me." I said, slowly looking down.

"Don't be ridiculous. I couldn't ever not want to see you." She smiled, which made me smile. And next thing you know, Sammy comes out of the kitchen. 

I ran over to my big brother, and gave him a big hug. Sammy is much taller than I am, so he picked me up so my head was on his shoulder. and then came the water works. I mean, 100% balling my eyes out. "Sammy, I'm so sorry that I treated you the way I did." Sobbing "I had no right to do that to you . . . " more sobbing "but even thought I was being an ass hole, you still loved me . . . " 

"Ssshhhhhh, it's ok Collin . . . I love you." He gently grabbed my head, and pulled it down to his shoulder to comfort me. "And this time, I promise that I'm not going anywhere."

******

My dad's voice came from the kitchen while the three of us, my brother and sister, were playing our favorite game. LIFE. "Kids, I want you to come here!" 

I shot up like a mortar on the 4th of July. "Coming!" 

My dad was staning on the kitchen side of the breakfast bar so Sammy, Lia, and I sat on the bar side. "What is it dad?" Lia asked "I was just about to open a can of retirement on these fools." 

"Kids, I have something important to tell you." He looked at us all.

"Dad just tell us." I kind of "unintentionally" snapped at him. 

"Ok, we're moving."