All In The Name Of...

Home Sweet Home

-Skipping to November 13th-

"You guys up for pancakes?" Dj asked when I walked downstairs with Axl, our hands intertwined. For now, we were still staying at his place, but not for too much longer if everything was on schedule.

Today, we were heading out to the contractor, who had been mercilessly working on our restoration. We were going to find out if the house was ready or not; since Axl had ordered a rush on the rebuild, it was definitely possible for it to be completely ready already. We had been told to come back today to see what the verdict was, and so that was what we were going to do.

"Sure thing, buddy," Axl answered happily. I was glad to see that Axl and Dj were close friends at the end of the whole ordeal. I think I was happier for Axl, though, who normally didn't go out of his way to make a friend out of anyone. He and Dj could be brothers now, and that almost completely made up for what had happened.

Dj made everyone some killer blueberry pancakes, and we sat around with some Van Halen blasting in the background. "You two think your house is gonna be ready today?" He seemed a bit sad, and I didn't blame him in a way. We'd all grown closer along the last month.

However, I shrugged. "Hopefully. Not that we don't love you, Ashba, but it'd be pretty damn nice to have the place back." Axl nodded in agreement. "Now, I'll get the dishes, okay?" Both Dj and Axl gave me a look for just volunteering to clean for them, but it was my personal way of making sure I felt like I'd earned the room I was sleeping in.

So, that's what I did; washed all the dishes and cleaned everything up whilst the boys watched whatever was on television. After that, I made my way upstairs, took a shower, and started to get myself ready to go to the contractor, Mr. Camizzi; it was always helpful to dress more professionally with these types of things.

"You seem kind of anxious," Axl noted toward me when he came up the stairs. I was looking intently in the mirror as I put my lipstick on. "Why?" He took my free hand and held it in his, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "It'll be fine, Stella."

Shrugging, I grabbed my leather jacket and put on an expectant smile. "Because I want my house back, babe." Again, it wasn't like I minded staying with Dj Ashba; in fact, he was probably the most fun roommate I'd ever had. That being said, it would be nice to have our house back before Thanksgiving.

Once the two of us were ready, we made our way out to Mr. Camizzi's office. As ussual, he was full of cheer the second he saw us, though it only looked partially sincere. "Mr. and Mrs. Rose!" he squealed happily when we walked into the office, smiling. "How are you both?"

Axl rolled his eyes, if for no other reason than to keep his badass exterior intact. I, however, was going to be the nice one. "Mr. Camizzi, it's so great to see you again!" I hugged him and kissed his cheek politely, and we followed him into his office. I sat down on the other side of his desk, but Axl just crossed his arms and stood behind me, eyeing the short man.

"So," he mumbled out casually, "What's the verdict?"

Pulling out a piece of paper and the plans for our house, Mr. Camizzi explained how the damage wasn't as terrible as we had originally thought. "Over the last month, I've had a team of experts restoring the house not only to its original state but also to your new requests." I gave him a questioning look and then just looked at Axl, whose expression remained unchanged.

"They've been doing their absolute best just for you!" He was watching Axl at the last part with almost too much of a smile, and I dreaded to know what Axl may have said over the phone. "That being said, I am happy to announce that once you write out your check, I can give you the new key to the house, and it is all yours."