All My Life (Sequel to Starting Over)

Chapter 1

(Before we start.... I know, I know, I hate to start off a story by talking but it has to be done. I wanted to check up on you all and see how you are doing in recent news of the pandemic going around. I want to make sure everyone stay safe during a this time, you know staying inside, social distancing. I hope you guys have taken this time to relax, spend time with you family, maybe even pick up a new hobby. As some of you may know I work in a hospital so I don't get the option to stay home or I would. With that being said I am taking some time off so I'm hoping to get some good work done on the story and PLEASE PLEASE submit chapter ideas, I'm desperate! No idea is a bad idea or this story is going to be 20 chapters long. Also since the whole crew is on lock down right now I'm kind of stuck at a stand still, there's only so much I can write about them stuck at home and i have no idea of how the social climate is in California right now so idk, I'll try my best. Anyways I hope you guys are excited and enjoy the chapter! ❤️)

"Is everyone ready for dinner?" Courtney asked as she stood by the front door of the hotel room, sliding her jacket on. Shayne locked their room and we started down the hallway slowly, "I'm actually starving, let's go!" I exclaimed, linking my left arm with Courtney's and my right with Sofia's and pulling them down the hallway, leaving Damien and Shayne to push a still sleeping Lucy in her stroller. Everyone had already left for the restaurant so I called up an Uber for the 6 of us and we stood outside the hotel waiting. "I honestly should have changed, it's getting a bit chilly." I said, pulling the oversized jacket I'd borrowed from Damien around me tightly. "I told you you could have used some of my clothes, I brought like 3 outfits for each day." Courtney responded, shaking her head at me. Just them the Uber pulled up and I hoisted Lucy out of the stroller and got into the car while Damien collapsed it and stuck it in the trunk.

We rode to the restaurant in relative silence, only briefly commenting on how tired everyone was after the last 2 days. By the end of the car ride, it was decided that the 3 of us would be spending the night and we'd be leaving with them tomorrow night when the convention was done. It's a really good thing that Courtney has all of those extra clothes because they will be put to use. We pulled up outside and I instantly smiled. "I'm so excited that I didn't miss 'buca' day!" I exclaimed, jumping out of the car with Lucy in my arms and walking up to the restaurant. (for those of you who don't know which I doubt there are any, there's a restaurant they always go to at Vidcon that has become an inside joke to them, so that's the restaurant they're at right now) we walked into the restaurant and we didn't even have to ask a server where our friends were because we heard them right away.

"being disruptive as always I see." I said as I walked up to the table, causing everyone to look in my direction. "oh you know it." Ian laughed as I leaned down to give him and pulled way without the baby in my arms, it would appear Uncle Ian and Lucy time has already started. I made my way around the table saying hi to everyone else before settling into my seat to the right of Ian who was at the head of the table. Damien parked the stroller on the corner of the table between Ian and I and took his seat on the other side of me. We looked over the menu briefly as we already knew what we were getting. The waitress brought our drinks and took our orders before leaving us to be loud once more. "sooo, it's been decided that our guests are staying the night!" Courtney announced, taking a drink of her water. "aww yay!" Noah said, putting an arm around the back of Sofia's chair and giving her a kiss on the cheek making her blush. He does this all the time, he makes little gestures of affection in public because she gets so embarrassed, it's actually quite adorable.

After dinner, everyone went back to the hotel rooms to get ready for that nights party, including Sofia who turned 21 about a month after Lucy was born. There were some cute little shops in the area so damien and I decided to go for a walk before we went back to the hotel room to relax for the night. Damien isn't much of a partier and my presence is the perfect excuse for him to watch movies in his pajamas and go to bed at a reasonable time; loser. We walked for about an hour and by the time we got back to the hotel, everyone was about ready to leave. I walked up to Sofia and gave her a hug before pulling away and looking her up and down. "Have fun and don't drink too much because tomorrows an early. Oh and stay near Courtney whatever you do, also-" Sofia cut me off by smacking my hands away from her shirt which I was subconsciously trying to close as it was too open for my liking. "I'll be fine, Syd." she smiled and gave me one last smile before they left. "they grown up so fast." I sighed and I felt Damien's arm slip around my waist. "she'll be fine, now come on, they have a great selection of Disney movies to choose from."

We woke up at 7, partially because Lucy started crying but also because we wanted to go for breakfast in the lobby before we started getting ready. I say up with my eyes still closed and listened; silence. I turned to find that the other bed and the cot we got for Sofia were empty and I began to panic. "Damien..." I rocked him lightly, nothing. I pushed him a little harder till he woke with a start, looking around frantically. I pointed to the bed, "can you call someone and see where they are, we have to be at the convention center in 2 hours." I groaned as I took off my shirt and began to feed Lucy. He nodded, talking to the desk to grab his phone off the charged. Her clicked around the screen for a bit before hold the phone to his ear. It rang 3 times and he was about to hang up before Shayne's broken voice came through the speaker. "hello?" it asked, groggy and confused.

"Shayne, dude, where are you?" Damien asked, putting the phone back up to his ear, from this point I could only hear one side of the conversation which was just a string of 'okay's. He ended the conversation with a simple 'bye' and hung up, turning to me. "they crashed in Ian's room." he said to me simply and began to put clothes on. I nodded and finished feeding Lucy before putting my shirt on, swaddling her in a blanket and throwing on some scandals before we made out way over to Ian's room. I knocked and stepped back, waiting for an answer. A barely awake Ian opened the door and turned to walk back in without so much as a 'hi'. "oooo, tough crowd." I said jokingly, walking in and throwing myself onto the first bed where Sofia still was. I guess she shared the bed with Ian while the others took Damiens bed. "absolutely stop that right now." she groaned, burying her head deeper into the pillow. "aww did someone not listen to me and drink too much?" I said in a baby voice to which she shot me a glare.

"it's ok, coffee will fix that, let's go get breakfast." I said a little softer, rubbing her back. I've had my fair share of hangovers and I know she's suffering, but I mean come on what kind of sister would I be if I didn't tease her. She nodded compliantly and stood up, he eyes still half shut. She was still wearing the lowcut top and skinny jeans that she wore last night but her makeup was smudged beyond repair. "but first wash your face, they don't let racoons into the hotel. I giggled and lead her into the washroom. I looked over my shoulder to the other bed to see Courtney was now awake and her red lipstick was all around her mouth. "you too pennywise, get in here." I said went to grab Courtney as well, leading her into the washroom and sitting her on the side of the tub beside my sister. We sat there in silence while they scrubbed the makeup off their face with the face clothes the hotel provides. By the time they were done the towels were ruined and I was ravenous, complimentary breakfast here we come!

The convention finished at 3 today and the hotel was letting us check out at 4 so we had to rush back to the room and pack as fast as we could. The elevators were of course out of service so we left the stroller in my car and I had to carry the baby up to the 7th floor. On any other day this would be fine but a mix of Courtney's fitted pants and heel boots are working against me. By the time I'd reached the room I was a panting sweaty mess. I walked into Courtney and Shayne's room and sat down on the bed with a thud, turning Lucy around to sit on my lap so she was facing outwards. "tired?" Courtney snickered and I shot her a glare. "she's heavier than she looks and these shoes are not as comfortable as you made them out to be. I can't wait to get into pajamas again." I sighed and laid back on the bed slowly, lifting the baby to my chest.

Over the next half hour the room was a whirlwind, everyone was running around. Damien went back to his and Ian's room not long ago to pack his small amount of stuff and before I knew it we were checked out and back on the road. Damien drove home this time while Sof sat in the back with Lucy. The ride was quiet, we sat listening to the radio with the windows open, filling the car with warm September air. It was relaxed, calm and for the first time in the last 2 days it hit me. "were getting married." I said out of no where pulling Damiens eyes off the road and towards me. "yeah... Yeah we are, aren't we." he said with a slight chuckle and went to take my hand only to pull back. "wheres your ring?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "it's a little too big, we've gotta take it down a size." I said to which he nodded and took my hand in his again. "we'll do it right away." he said, bringing my hand up to his lips and kissing the back of it before setting it back down into my lap where it stayed the rest of the ride home.