I sat in the cramped plane seat and combed my fingers through my long, black hair. The pilot had begun our descent and I soon felt the plane jolt and slow down before coming to a complete halt. I went through the normal airport procedure, you know passport control and baggage claim, all that shit. I scanned the crowd for the familiar face of my step brother. I spotted him and crept up behind him. I waited for him to turn around and, when he did, he jumped about 5 feet in the air.
"Jesus, Candice, you scared me! I missed you, how have you been?" He asked whilst wrapping me in a big bear hug.
"Well you deserved it! I missed you too, Barry," I laughed and pulled away from him "I've been alright but not so great since Justin,"
"Yeah I'm sorry you had to go through that, Candi. I won't let him come anywhere near you, I promise." He had his protective, big brother face on and it made me feel safer.
He grabbed my bag from my hands and told me where we're going over to Arin and Suzy's place. I'd met them once or twice before and we got on like a house on fire. I was staying with them until I could find an apartment and I really appreciated their help. I hadn't told them what had happened between me and my ex-boyfriend, Justin. Barry was the only one who knew and I wanted to keep it that way, at least for a little while. After singing along to songs on the radio and catching up, we arrived.
The door opened to reveal Suzy in a pair of sweatpants and a plain white t shirt.
"Candi! It's so great to see you!" She squealed as she pulled me in for a hug which I accepted. Barry came up behind me with my suitcase and Suzy ran to give him a hug too. I saw Arin come outside and greet the both of us before telling us to go inside because they'd ordered some Chinese and it was on the table.
I was eating my chicken noodles when Arin opened the door and invited a man with big hair into the house. I had never met this man before and I was a bit skeptical, I always was to new people.
"Hey, Dan! We got your favourite," Arin said "This is Candice, Barry's step sister. She's cool." I blushed lightly when Dan looked at me but managed to avoid embarrassment by looking at my noodles and eating them slowly.
"Hi, Candice, it's nice to meet you," he smiled at me
"Call me Candi," I waved back. He made me feel safe for some reason so I felt more comfortable around him. We all ate our Chinese and talked about random stuff before Barry and Danny left with Ross and Holly. Arin decided to go to bed whilst Suzy and I cleaned up the mess, not because he was being inconsiderate but because we wanted to and he had been stressed with recording stuff.
"So, did you meet any cute boys in Albuquerque?" She prodded
"Uh I had a boyfriend but we're not together anymore,"
"Oh I'm sorry to hear that," she soothed me and rubbed circles into my back.
"Well, Dan seemed pretty nice, right?"
"Isn't he your friend? You've met before on many occasions?" I was confused as to why she would bring this up.
"Yeah but I meant he seemed pretty nice to you. Maybe there's something there," she giggled and wiggled her eyebrows. I laughed at her suggestiveness but I barely knew him and I doubted we would get together.
"I didn't come here for a boyfriend, Suze. I came here to get away from an ex and to see you guys," I sighed, drying the last bowl.
"Yeah, I know. You can't hate a girl for trying, though," she said before showing me to my room. I collapsed on the well-made bed without even changing into pajamas and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
I know this wasn't the best chapter but I just wanted to get some things set up and introduce the main character n all that jazz. I promise there'll be more things with Dan in the next few chapters and I hope you enjoy this story 😊
