Chapter 1: Coming Home

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"Lucy, I say this with all the love in the world, but if I have to hear you talk about how much you're in love with Brandon one more time today, I'm actually gonna punch you in the face," my friend Emily said from across the room, "I get it, he's hot. But he has a girlfriend and he loves her so let's move on from this okay?"

I looked up from my phone, glancing at her sitting on the couch. I got up from the chair I was in, walked over to her and dramatically collapsed across the arm and onto her lap.

"She's not right for him. She's cute I guess, but she's gotta be so bad for him," I whined.

"Bitch, you don't even know her," Emily says, rolling her eyes, "And B is happy dude. If you care about him as much as you say you do, then just let him be with her, and let's find you another guy to obsess over."

I dramatically sigh, moving to sit up next to her. "When are they coming over again?" I ask.

"They texted the group chat that they flew in this afternoon, but Zion snap chatted me and said a few of them crashed so they'll be over at like 8," she replies. I look at her from the corner of my eye, and smile devilishly. "Hmmmm, is that what Zion said??" I tease. Emily rolls her eyes again, but this time I catch a small smile and a blush appears on her cheeks. She responds, "alright relax, it's just snapchat. It's no big deal." I laugh, looking back at my phone, scrolling through Brandon's instagram.

We've been friends with PrettyMuch since they came to California. Emily & I moved here after we graduated high school. We're from a small town in New York, and had only intended to stay for the summer, but we fell in love with the beaches and the people so we moved out here. We had lived in a small little house for a few months, when a bunch of rowdy boys moved in a few doors down.

I saw them a few times when I walked to the park down the street, where they would be playing basketball, skating or dancing. Smiles were exchanged occasionally, but never any direct conversation. It wasn't until our friend threw a party, that we introduced ourselves to them. 

Nick introduced himself first, reaching across the beer pong table at the beginning of the game we were about to play, "I'm Nick, and this is my boy Zion," he said, flashing a smile. He was cute, clearly a bit of a player with that kind of charming smile. I shook his hand, "I'm Lucy," I shouted over the music. "Don't you live a few houses over from us?" he questioned. I nodded, explaining that both Emily and I lived there. "Let's see what you got neighbor," I teased, smiling and shooting the ball. After beating them, I walked over to Emily who was sitting on a couch, surrounded by both familiar and new faces. I sat down in her lap, joining the conversation she was having with Brandon. I noticed his tattoos, and his smile, and from that moment I was hooked. That night we all exchanged snapchats and numbers, and eventually we started hanging out.

I had tried my best to flirt with Brandon over the past year, presumably going unnoticed as I remained in the friend zone. I dated a few boys here and there, but ultimately, I just wanted Brandon. When they left on tour, I told myself I was going to tell Brandon how I felt once they came back. But slowly, a girl named Maggie started popping up on his snapchats and his instagram story. Emily and I spent a night stalking her social media, only to find Brandon's name all over her comments. Now, they were back from tour, coming over soon and I had to be ready to face the music.

"They're heading over once Nick gets out of the shower," Emily called out from the kitchen, where she was placing a plate in the dishwasher. I chuckled to myself, "so we have time then. Nick takes long ass showers." Emily laughed, walking to the adjacent couch and putting a blanket over her. Maybe 10 minutes had passed when the door swung open and Zion's tall figure appeared in the archway of the living room.

"GUESS WHO'S HOME GANG," he shouted with a huge grin, giving me a hug before plopping down next to Emily and nonchalantly placing his arm on the couch behind her. Austin, Edwin and then Brandon followed saying hello before taking seats on the floor and remaining chairs around us. I had been sitting with my back against the couch, and my legs on the rest of it, but I moved it when Brandon walked in with hopes that he would sit next to me. He did not.

"Where's Nick?" Emily asked, looking around realizing there were only four of them. Brandon, who was now sitting on the floor, chuckled before saying, "he was taking too long so we left him and came over." As I opened my mouth to reprimand them, Nick strolled in with wet hair.

"Fuck you guys for leaving me," he said dramatically before sitting on the seat next to me. The rest of the guys immediately responded at once, defending themselves but Nick ignored them and turned to me smiling. "Hey gorgeous, nice to see you again," he said. I rolled my eyes, shoving his leg with my foot. Nick was always so flirty, but I never took it seriously because it wasn't just with me, it was with everyone. "Alright fuck me I guess Nick," Emily joked from across the room. "Sorry Em, I didn't see you behind Zion's huge head," he responded with a smirk on his face. Everyone started laughing, and it felt nice to finally have the boys home.

A few hours passed, and it was around 10:30pm when there was a knock on the door. I looked at Emily confused, and she shrugged before yelling "NOT IT." All the boys followed, all shouting it before I got the chance. I groaned, wrapping my blanket around me and waddling over to the door. I swung it open lazily to find a girl with the same black hair as me, standing on my front step.

"Hi, I'm Maggie. Is my boyfriend Brandon here?"

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