After Everything (A Starkid Fan Fiction)

Chapter 18-The Things I Learn at Parties Include...

~In new situations, all the trickiest rules are the ones nobody bothers to explain to you. (And the ones you can't Google.) -Fangirl~

Chapter 18

The guests start coming at five and trickle in after that fairly slowly. There are a fair amount of faces I've never seen before, some of these guys aren't Starkids or theater kids. They're just friends of the Langs. I help out as much as I can, grabbing things for the brothers and greeting as many people as I can as they come in.

I miss the Starkid guys come in however, but I sure hear them shortly after they arrive. They're doing what they do best--being loud and having a good time.

Alex is sitting on the couch with Dylan when I pass everyone the first time, the two of them looking at something on her phone and laughing about it. I look out of the corner of my eye and I see Clark standing over in the corner of the room, looking right at them. I'm about to go confront him when Nicki and Joey walk in, and I have to go and greet them.

"Hey!" Nicki smiles wide, engulfing me in a hug. "Oh, I haven't seen you in so long, how are you?"

I smile. "Better," I say, nodding. "A lot better."

Joey smiles as well, and puts his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. "Glad to see you getting back to your old self, Jeff," he tells me.

I nod again. "Thanks, Joey." I then turn and point out the things I'm supposed to. "Okay so, beer, soda, water, whatever is in the fridge, snacks on the table, people in the living room and pizza will be here later."

Joey pumps his fist. "Yes. This is exactly what we need. I mean, Darren's party was fun and all, but a good old fashion college friends party, that's what we need!" He then wraps his arm around his wife and kisses the side of her head. "Let's go party like kids," he tells her.

"Bet I can do more shots than you can!" Nicki giggles, breaking away from Joey.

"Let's find out!" He says, letting her lead him away. "We'll talk later," he tells me quickly.

I nod, though I'm pretty sure he misses it as he's being dragged away.

I watch them interact with each other, and then Dylan and Alex, so happy, so free, and so...perfect. Like how do you get something so perfect of a relationship as those two couples do?

"I envy that." Rachael comes up and stands next to me on my right, crossing her arms.

"Envy what?" I ask, though I'm pretty sure I know the answer to her question.

I look down at her and she's looking at me, smiling and shaking her head. She nudges me with her arm and sighs. We stand there for a second, and I start smiling at her. "What?" I ask. "Why are you staring at me now?"

She half shrugs. "I don't know. You're just amusing me."

I turn to her fully. "Amusing you how?"

"I don't have to tell you all my secrets," she teases.

With that, she walks away, being called over by Jaime and Julia.

What is up with that girl, I don't understand it.

I go back to being the gracious host that I am and checking to make sure everyone is good, making sure everything is going well. Some people are over in the corner playing Beer Pong together on the table, clustered up and talking and laughing together. Some people are playing with the music on the TV that Nick had set up - the Pop Station. (He promised to bring karaoke out later.) Lauren is sitting on Walker's lap, twirling a strand of his short-ish hair in between her fingers. And I'm standing at the counter in the kitchen, just watching everyone have a good time.