Somewhere In Neverland

Tied Together With A Smile

"I'm gonna miss you so much. You don't even understand." I sobbed, hugging Jaime as tight as I could. He chuckled sadly, hugging me back.

"Believe me, I do." My pregnant hormones made this situation ten times worse. I couldn't stop crying and it made both of us feel horrible. The other guys and Megan were a few feet away, Megan and Vic saying goodbye, Mike and Tony messing around on their phones.

"You almost ready to go, Hime-time?" Vic asked, picking up his bag and kissing Megan one more time. Mike and Tony got up and gave me hugs before grabbing their stuff. They weren't too fond of Megan yet, but she was growing on them.

"We'll be back before you know it, babe. Stay strong. I love you." Jaime hugged me again, tears forming in his eyes. We kissed before he grabbed his stuff, and then kissed about another seven times before he actually left.

"Well, Dev, looks like it's just us for a while." Megan sighed, throwing an arm around my shoulders. We stood on the front porch, watching them leave. I wiped my tears away and prepared myself for the long three weeks to come.

------

- 1 week later -

"Megan, have you seen my sweatpants?!" I yelled, searching through my dresser drawers. We had slowly been packing everything up, getting ready to move when Jaime got back. I seemed to lose something every day, though I was sure that I had left it out. I always ended up unpacking half of the boxes before finding it in the most obvious place. Megan ran up the stairs to help me look.

"Here." She huffed, crawling out from under the bed and handing them to me. I laughed and thanked her, smiling. The two of us had become extremely close once it became clear that she wasn't trying to replace Carter. She knew how much Carter meant to all of us and she simply wanted to become a new addition to the group, not take over her place.

"Why are you wearing sweatpants? I thought we were going to go shopping later?" Megan questioned, fixing her hair in my bathroom mirror. I searched for a decent t shirt to wear, blushing from self consciousness.

"Can't really wear most of my old clothes anymore. Belly's getting bigger." Since I was getting close to the end of my first trimester, my stomach was starting to grow with the baby.

"You're still gorgeous." I rolled my eyes at her compliment, kicking her out of my bathroom and turning on the shower. I plugged my ipod into the dock and turned on some Never Shout Never, singing along as I took my shower.

"DEVAN!" Megan yelled, pounding on the bathroom door. I almost slipped and fell on the tile floor on the way to the door.

"WHAT?!" I yelled back, panicked. She handed me the home phone, smiling.

"YOU ALMOST KILLED ME FOR A PHONE CALL?!" I screamed at her retreating figure before answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey baby cakes! What's this I hear about you almost getting killed?" I grinned at the sound of my aunt's voice, having not heard from her since before Carter passed. She lived in Pennsylvania, the next state over, so we called each other every once in a while to catch up on things. I had missed her but I was dreading her call and having to tell her that Carter wasn't around anymore.

"It's nothing, Megan just scared me. I thought something important had happened, but it was just-.." I trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence without making it offensive.

"Just a phone call from your aunt?" She finished, laughing. I chuckled half-heartedly, wrapping a towel around my hair and body so that I could sit on the toilet lid for the phone call.

"Yeah. How are you?"

"I'm doing alright. Your uncle is as lazy as ever, making me do all the house work, but after thirty years you get used to it. How are you, darlin'?" I sighed, not sure how to reply. Her tone quickly changed from cheery and carefree to worried and protective.

"What's wrong, child? Do I need to come regulate the situation over there?" I breathed a laugh, trying to hold back tears.

"No, Rose. You don't need to come regulate. Just.. a lot has happened since the last time you called. A looooot." I could practically see her face as I said those words. I garentee she was sitting in her old recliner, phone line wrapped around her finger and her lips pursed.

"Well, do you wanna talk about it on the phone or do you want me to come get you and you can visit me for a few?" I thought for a minute. A few could mean a few days, weeks, months. She would keep me forever if she could. I really needed to plan for the wedding and finish packing, but I also really needed a break...

"Will you come rescue me for a few days?"

"I'm on my way."

-----

"I'll only be gone for a few days. Just until Saturday." I told Megan, pulling on my shoes by the front door. She nodded, gathering her things. My aunt had called around noon and promised to be here around nine. It was almost 8:45, so she should be here soon. Just as Megan got ready to get in her car and leave, my aunt pulled up.

"Devan! I made it!" My aunt yelled, waving her arm dramatically. Megan laughed and tossed her purse into her car, waiting so that she could meet her. I locked my front door and bounded down the front steps to the drive way, reaching my aunt just as she got out of the car. We hugged and I kissed her cheek, smiling so wide that my cheeks hurt. My aunt and I had been close since I was a toddler and being with her felt like being home.

"Aunt Rose, this is my friend Megan. Megan, this is my aunt Rose." I introduced them and they chatted for a few seconds before Megan decided she had to go.

"Gotta go let the dogs out." She said, hugging me before driving away. I watched her disappear and then turned to my aunt, sighing.

"Long time no see."

-----

"You mean to tell me that Carter passed away and you had her funeral without me?!" I cringed, tears streaming down my face. We were sitting in my aunt's living room with snacks and drinks, talking about the past months' events. I had waited to talk about it until we had arrived because I knew that she would be genuinely upset.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I was just so upset and things moved so fast..." She sighed and waved off my apology like it was fine but I knew that she was mad about it. She wiped tears away and motioned for me to go on.

"Things were rough. I went through depression and therapy and me and Jaime even broke up for a short amount of time..." Her eyebrows raised at mention of my fiance.

"Jaime's still in the picture? I thought you would've left him after high school, run off with some young hunk or something." I smiled and proceeded to tell her exactly how wrong she was.

"Actually, he proposed...and I said yes." Her jaw dropped and her eyes got huge. I decided to wait a few seconds before dropping the bomb about the baby.

"You're engaged?!?! Why haven't you called me?!"

"Uhh...I'm also...pregnant.." I whispered the last word, sinking down in my chair. Her face was expressionless and she was silent, which really scared me.

"I need to move to Ohio. Nobody tells me anything anymore." She said, shaking her head. I let out the breath I didn't know that I was holding and sat back up, eyeing her to make sure that she wasn't about to explode. Seemed safe.

"I'm sorry, Rose. Things have just been so hectic. Forgive me?" I gave her puppy dog eyes and she rolled her eyes, opening her arms. I hugged her and then glanced at the time.

"It's really late...you should probably be getting to bed."

"Are you calling me old and weak?" She replied, yawning. I laughed and helped her up.

"Night, Aunt Rose. I love you." She smiled at me and headed to her room.

"Night, sweetheart. I love you too."

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update. /: I didn't have inspiration for a while, but I'll try to start updating regularly again. Comments are very much appreciated.