Somewhere In Neverland

Home Sweet Home. [ Part One ]

“Get up, lazy.” I opened my eyes and came face to face with my uncle Jack. He wore a fond smile that made his eyes crinkle, showing how old he really was. I reached up and hugged him, making him laugh.

“I missed you.” I mumbled, letting go of him and getting out of bed. The clock on the nightstand told me that the day was already half over – I had slept until noon.

“I missed you too, Devan. Get dressed and come downstairs. Your aunt and I have things planned to do before you leave.” In ten minutes, I was dressed and ready for the day. I wore an old pair of blue jeans and a flannel, unbuttoned with a tank top underneath. My hair was down and slightly wavy and I had decided not to wear makeup. My aunt and uncle go to church a lot and they’re old fashioned, so I decided to try to go along with that for the duration of my stay and not wear anything too scary.

That thought made me laugh, which earned a curious glance from my aunt. I waved her off and grabbed a cup of coffee from the pot in the kitchen. Stirring in my sugar, I walked into the dining room where she sat with my uncle. Jack was reading the newspaper, drinking coffee. Rose was reading an old book, drinking tea. I sat down between them and sipped my drink.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” I asked, glancing between the two of them.

“Well, today we’re going to the flea market. It’s been a while since you been there, eh?” Jack replied, glancing at me over the top of his newspaper. I thought back to the last time I had been; it was about two years ago, my mom had gotten a new boyfriend and she was going on vacation with him, so Carter and I came to visit my aunt and uncle. We went to the flea market and a carnival during our weekend visit and it was honestly one of my favorite memories.

“Yeah, it’s been a while.” My aunt looked over at me and smile. I knew that she was remembering those days too and I felt bad for not telling her what happened sooner. We were silent for a while, lost in our thoughts. The doorbell rang, causing me to jump and bringing us out of our thoughts. My aunt chuckled and went to answer the door. I took my coffee mug to the kitchen and then went to see who was here.

“Just set it over there. Thanks, Andy.” My aunt was directing the placement of a very large box, carried by my very first childhood crush.

“Andy!!!” He almost dropped the box when I yelled his name, causing my aunt to jump in and try to help. She ended up stubbing her toe.

“Darn it, Devan. Calm down, crazy.” She said, shaking her head and limping into the dining room.  Andy stared at me for a minute, looking me up and down. It had been a while since we had seen each other, but we used to play together all the time as kids. He had been really sweet and he always shared his toys and pushed me on the swing. I blushed at the memory of how much I used to like him.

“Well hello there, Devan. Still as beautiful as ever.” He commented, walking over to me and hugging me. I hugged him back, breathing in his scent of Axe body spray and cut grass. It was an odd mixture, but it smelled good.

“Where’ve you been? Haven’t seen ya in a while.” He asked, letting me go and leaning against the wall. I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

“Things have been hectic.” He raised an eyebrow, sensing my stress.

“Care to explain?” I shrugged, looking away.

“Do you wanna hang out tomorrow? Go to lunch or something? Then we can catch up.” He suggested, standing up and walking towards the door.

“Sure. Sounds good.”

----

"Such a stingy man." My aunt grumbled, walking away from one of the vendor's stands at the flea market. She had spent twenty minutes trying to barter with him, but he refused to lower his price. I chuckled and followed her down the aisles of vendors. People ambled around, some window shopping, some trying to barter like my aunt. Hardly anyone would buy anything for the labled price. I took a deep breath, wiping my forehead with the back of my hand. It was hot and the flea market was crowded.

"Where'd Jack go?" Rose asked, her eyes sweeping across the crowds of people. Her face was scrunched up in displeasure and I had a feeling we would be heading home very soon. I looked around and found him walking towards us, holding the very item that Rose was just bargaining for.

"There he is." I pointed. She looked over and rolled her eyes in annoyance, but she smiled.

"What are you doing with that, Jack?" She asked, walking towards him. I followed her, admiring their cuteness.

"I saw you arguing with that guy over it, so after you left I bought it. Looked like you really wanted it." Rose smiled and kissed his cheek, taking the lamp and admiring it. I had no idea why she liked it; to me, it was one of the ugliest things that I've ever seen. But I guess your tastes change when you get old.

"Are we ready to go?" Uncle Jack asked, using his shirt to wipe his face. I nodded, excited to get out of the sun.

"Let's go get ice cream or something cold." I suggested, following them to the parking lot. They nodded and Uncle Jack rubbed his stomach, thanking me for suggesting it because Rose would have said no to him.

----

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to take a nap." Jack yawned, heading to his bedroom. Rose went to the living room to find a place for her new lamp, and I went to my room.

My room hadn't changed much since I was a kid. The only thing that changed was that my bed had been switched from a toddler bed to a full size and a desk had been added. The walls were covered in a flower print wallpaper and the floors were dark wood. When I got here, I had switched out the pictures on my nightstand from me and my dog to the picture of me, Carter, Jaime, and Vic. I laid down on my bed and picked up the frame, staring at it for a long time. My phone rang suddenly, making me almost drop the picture on my face. I sat it back on the nightstand before answering the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Devan. It's Andy." I smiled at the sound of his voice, but I wished that it was Jaime.

"How'd you get my number? Not that I care, I'm just curious."

"I got it from your aunt, a while ago actually. I just haven't used it til now. Anyway, I was calling to see if you wanted to go out for dinner. I just found out that I have to work tomorrow, and I'm not sure when you're leaving.." I got up and walked into the hall bathroom, checking out my hair and makeup. I looked pretty rough.

"Uh, yeah. Dinner would be cool. I gotta take a shower though. By the way, I'm not leaving until Saturday. What's today? Wednesday?" Andy chuckled.

"Yes, it's Wednesday. I'll come pick you up in say, an hour?" I agreed and we hung up.

"Aunt Rose, I'm going to dinner with Andy!" I shouted before shutting the bathroom door and taking a shower. After changing into a pair of dark capris and a nice purple shirt, I blow dried my hair and straightened it, along with putting on mascara and eye liner. I was ready in fourty five minutes, so I decided to call Jaime and see what he was doing.

"HELLO, MY BEAUTIFUL FIANCE. I MISS YOU." He yelled as soon as he picked up, making me smile sadly. My heart ached from missing him so much.

"HELLO, MY FAVORITE PERSON EVER. I MISS YOU MORE." I replied, making him chuckle.

"I was just about to call you. Vic just called Megan and she said that you're not home? What are you up to?" I told him about getting away from the stress and coming to visit my aunt for a few days.

"Ohh. Everything okay? How's the baby?" He tried to cover up his worry but I could hear it in his voice. 

"Yes, everything's fine and the baby is good. I just wanted to call you before I left for dinner. How's  tour?" We talked for a few more minutes about how everyone was doing before Andy showed up.

"I gotta go, hun. My friend is here. I'll talk to you later, okay? I love you."

"I love you more."

"I love you most!" I shouted before hanging up and heading downstairs. As I walked, I wondered about whether or not Andy had noticed my baby bump. He was a gentleman so if he had, I highly doubted that he would say anything.

"Well hello there." I said, hugging him when I got downstairs. He hugged me back, kissing my cheek.

"Ready to go?"