I knocked on the door and stuffed my hands into my pockets. it was still a bit chilly outside from the slight breeze that was starting to take over the winter chill.
the sun was out, but the warmth wasn't enough to calm my nerves. I couldn't help but focus on the chilling of my spine as the breeze ghosted across my skin and formed bumps to rise all along my arms.
the knot in my stomach was growing tighter and tighter.
I waited for a bit until I finally heard muffled voices on the other side of the door. It sounded like the guys were over.
I took in a quick breath as I saw the doorknob turning.
"J-Jezabelle?" José stuttered out.
I was glad it was him who answered the door to Carlos's house because I wasn't sure if I could actually see Carlos right off the bat. not with these nerves.
"oh my god," he said in a whisper.
"hi, José," I smiled. "long time no see, huh?"
he chuckled a bit before reaching out and pulling me into a tight embrace.
I hesitated for a moment, but slowly began to lift my arms to return the hug as I felt my nerves easing up on me.
José gasped quickly and pulled away, holding me, delicately, at an arm's length and looking down to me.
"oh my god, I'm sorry for hugging you so tight...you don't look so good. are you okay?"
"I feel so much better now that I'm home,"
José smiled widely and looked back up to me before pulling me in for another hug - a lot more gentle this time.
I rolled my eyes at how he was treating me, but I couldn't really blame him. I would act the same when hugging someone I hadn't seen in a while.
"come on in," José said. "we were just taking a break from our workout,"
I scanned the room quickly and spotted the back of Jake, Lance, Marwin, Alex and George's heads as they sat at the kitchen table, leaning over a plate of food.
I smiled at the sight of them but quickly scanned the room for the missing person.
"he's in his room," José spoke softly. "he only leaves for food, workouts, and practice,"
I nodded and then walked into the kitchen. I poked the back of their heads at the same time, very quickly.
"José? what the-" Marwin turned around and quickly shut up when he saw that it was me. "Jezabelle!" he nearly shouted.
"that's me," I replied a bit awkwardly.
I didn't know how to act knowing that I had hurt everybody by leaving so abruptly.
Alex stood up, stumbling over the leg of his chair in the process, and then looked over my appearance.
"you look a little different. maybe going away isn't meant for you. you belong here," he chuckled.
I couldn't agree more. there was no place like home.
"welcome back," Lance stood up to hug me. "Kara has missed not seeing you,"
"Noel, too," Marwin added.
"Giannina tambien," said José .
"are you here to stay?" George asked me.
by this time, all the guys stood up and were surrounding me.
"yeah, I'm back," I said with a slight smile.
