It Never Ends [Of Mice & Men- Alan Ashby fanfic]

Chapter 5: Awkward Introductions

There wasn’t much Harper had to do to get her house ready. Whenever she had more than one guest, she always panicked a bit since she only had a one bedroom apartment and her apartment was the smallest apartment in the world. This time it was going to be different because Lydia was like her best friend. When Nicole wasn’t there, Lydia was.

In a way, Lydia was a lot more sensible than Nicole. She had been through a lot more than Nicole, and she had better music taste. Lydia and Harper could bond about Jeremy McKinnon’s skills and Of Mice & Men’s deep lyrics.

But then there was her mom. Her mom was a clean freak and very personal. She wasn’t afraid to tell someone that they dressed like a hoe (she’s told Nicole more than once), and she could ask anyone anything. At times, it was the most annoying thing, but at other times, it was helpful when you had to get things out. She was a great listener.

There was a knock on the door and Harper quickly answered it. Her family came into view and they embraced each other in a familiar hug.

“It’s so great to see you again, Harper. How many tattoos did you get while I was gone?” Her mom asked, letting herself in to her apartment and dropping her bag on the floor.

“Only two. How are you, Lydia?” Harper asked, chuckling at her mom, who was already settling herself into the apartment.

“I’m good. Your cat tattoo is amazing,” Lydia observed, putting her bag beside Harper’s moms bag.

“Thank you,” Harper blushed.

They were all sitting in the living room, squished together on the couch watching Long Island Medium when there was a knock on the door. Harper got up and opened the door. Alan was standing there with a collection of movies and a six pack of Bud Light.

“I thought maybe we could have a movie day?” He suggested when he noticed Harper’s blank stare. Alan was standing in the doorway and her two most nosy family members in the entire world were within an earshot of them.

“Alan, I would love to, but my mom and cousin are here from San Francisco. Can we do it another time?” Harper asked, trying to speak as quietly as she could.

“Nonsense!” Harper’s mom suddenly shouted, taking the movies and beer. “Nice to meet you, Alan. I’m Carol, Harper’s mom,” she introduced, passing the objects to Lydia so she could give Alan a hug.

Harper stood awkwardly in the doorway as her mom took a big breath in.

“He smells good,” her mom whispered to Harper before grabbing Alan’s hand in pulling him into the house.

He laughed awkwardly and Harper gave him a look that said I’m sorry but you dragged yourself into this.

“Are you Harper’s boyfriend? She hasn’t told me anything about a boyfriend,” her mom said, sitting next to Alan on the couch as she ruffled his hair.

“Um, we’re just friends,” he answered.

“You’re Alan Ashby,” Lydia said, looking completely awestruck.

“I do believe I am. You an Of Mice fan?” Alan asked, laughing at her terrifyingly happy expression.

“Harper and I used to perform Satan exercises in attempt to summon Austin Carlile into her bedroom,” Lydia spat out, shooting Harper a smirk. “One time-”

“That’s enough from you,” Harper said, covering Lydia’s mouth with her hand. Lydia licked Harper’s hand and Harper quickly pulled away from her.

“Ew, ew, ew,” Harper said, wiping her hand on Lydia’s shirt.

“Am I missing something?” Harper’s mom said from the couch. She was holding Alan’s arm like she owned the man, and she had that confused old person look on her face.

“It’s nothing-”

“Hey Alan, you forget the con...doms,” behind Harper, Austin Carlile dropped a box of condoms on the floor with a surprised look on his face.

“Are you sure this isn’t your boyfriend?” Harper’s mom asked.

“Um... sorry. I’ll just be leaving now,” Austin began backing out of the doorway.

“Oh no you won’t,” Harper said, grabbing Austin’s sleeve and pulling him inside. She locked the door and picked up the box of condoms. After Austin took a seat next to Alan she whipped the box at his face and then turned to Lydia.

“Lydia, meet your idol,” she murmured, emotionlessly.

“You know what, there was a nice little store down the street that I wanted to check out. I’ll be back in an hour,” Harper’s mom said, jumping off the couch and jogging out the door.

“Austin, you’re a fucking twat,” Harper said, sitting next to Alan as Lydia sat next to her.

“Hey, I didn’t know your mom was here!” Austin said, putting his hands up in surrender.

“You still don’t stalk Alan and bring a box of fucking condoms to my house!” She yelled.

“Because she likes it without protection,” Lydia murmured, causing Alan and Austin to burst out laughing and Harper’s face to burst into flames.

“I hate you all,” she muttered.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?” Lydia teased, nudging Harper’s side.

“I think you know who the fuck they are considering they’re all over your bedroom walls,” Harper shot, causing the boys to snicker again.

“Well, nice to meet you. I’m Austin Carlile,” Austin said, leaning over to look at Lydia.

“Hi Austin, I’m Lydia,” she said with a smile. Harper could tell she was hiding her inner fangirl because Austin Carlile was talking to her.

Harper was surprised how fast she got used to the boys. It was like they weren’t part of one of her favourite bands when they were sitting on her couch.

“Look, there’s Satan!” Alan observed. He moved to the floor and Satan immediately sat in his lap. “I told you he was real,” Alan said to Austin.

“Why the hell did you name your cat Satan?” Austin asked with a laugh.

“It’s a long story,” Harper said, sitting next to Alan.

“So Austin, how are you liking the single life?” Lydia asked, moving closer to Austin.