Here I am (TWWW Denis POV)

1

Denis-
I pulled the last box I had out of the moving truck and carried it up the stairs, into my dark room.

I dropped the box and collapsed onto the ground dramatically.

"Denis stop that that may have been acceptable when you were six but it's not anymore. You're practically an adult. Besides did you forget that the walls in this house are paper thin?" My mother yelled up the stairs.

"Sorry mom." I sighed, chuckling.

Yes we had lived in this house for the main portion of my childhood, when I was eleven we moved to Ukraine for my parent's work. But my talent was what brought me back home.

I was a vocalist for two local bands back in Ukraine when a band here, in York reached out to me with an opportunity.  They had heard that I lived here previously and wanted me to join their band and finish year 12 of school with them. It was a pretty good gig.

I talked to my parents and they were ecstatic that I was getting 'international recognition' even if it was from back here in York.

I was ecstatic about moving back home, not because of the house, not because of my new band, but because of Vivian.

Vivian night was my childhood best friend, and she was perfect in every way. While most girls were afraid of playing with boys on the playground because of cooties Vivian jumped right in and never failed to challenge me. We grew up together, did pretty much everything together, and then I moved away.

Her parents didn't want her to dread it so I told her the night before we left. On her tenth birthday. I will never forget the hurt I saw in her eyes that day. That was the night I got the balls to kiss Vivian. Yes she was my first 11 year old awkward kiss and still it's the most special kiss I've had. Vivian always held a place in my heart, but I was nervous to see her after all this time.

The first year or so after I moved we kept in constant contact, phone calls, Skype, texts, but then I got busy and I ended up ghosting her. I could tell having me far away was holding her back and it hurt, so I let her go. No goodbye. Nothing. I ghosted her.

I had always wondered how she turned out, was her skin still sun kissed, did she still have tiny freckles on her tiny nose, were her eyes and lips still in that unique shape? Tonight was the night that I was going to figure out the answers to all my questions because I was going next door to eat dinner with her family.

I was beyond excited to see Vivian but I was also nervous about what she would think of me. I had done some hard living in Ukraine. I drank a lot, slept around, did a lot of drugs and had modified my body quite a bit. The ring in my right nostril and the tattoos on my chest arms and legs were just small parts of how I had changed since I saw her last.

I was like a little boy on Christmas morning as I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

My v-neck showed my owl tattoo, the most special one to me because I had always called Vivian my little owl and I had wanted a tattoo to commemorate that, it was only fitting that it was over my chest where my heart was, because she would always have a place there. In a strange way Vivian was my first love, in a weird awkward 11 year old crush way.

"Denis you ready?" My mom called up the stairs.

I bounded down the stairs excitedly, meeting her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Someone is a bit excited." She laughed.

I nodded. "I've missed the Night family." I smiled.

"So have I." She smiled as we walked out the door and over to the house.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door, ready to see my little owl for the first time in eight years.

The door swung open to reveal her mother who hasn't changed a bit.

"Oh my goodness look how big you've gotten!" She shrieked excitedly, pulling me into a hug, then my mother. "I've missed you so much."

Her mother had always been so optimistic. That was my favorite thing about her.

"Come in come in." She smiled, waving us through the doorway.

"The house looks amazing." My mom smiled as she looked around.

It looked completely different in a good way.

"Where's Vivian?" My mother asked the question that I had been dying to.

"I'm not sure." She paused. "She should have been home an hour ago let me call her." She said, scurrying off to another room.

I looked around the house, looking to see if there were any current pictures of my childhood crush but I didn't see a single one.

Her mother glided back in with a sigh.

"That girl." She laughed.

"Bit of a rebel?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Oh goodness no, quite the opposite." She laughed.

"Really?" I smirked. Her reaction to me would be quite interesting then.

"Yes she's done very well."

The moms went back to their chatter and I heard a faint knock on the door.

"Denis could you get that?" Mrs. Night asked me kindly.

I nodded, casually strolling to the door, my stomach churning. I was beyond nervous and suddenly began to feel self conscious.

What was up with me?

I sighed, grabbing the door handle, opening it to reveal a petite teenage girl, who I towered over, looking up at me, confused as I stood in the doorway.

"Viv?"

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A/N: Hello my lovelies so this is the Denis POV of 'The Way We Were' which was my favorite book I ever wrote so I figured to get my writing motivation back I would start this up because I was always excited about this book. This will have very slow updates since it needs to have a lot of dialogue copied and pasted which will take a while, but I'm beyond excited to go on Denis and Vivian's journey (again) with you. Much love as always...
-Anon