Chapter One: How.Stars.Can.Fall.From.Above (about 2 weeks later)
"Dammit...Bri, Nick, can you help us for a second, instead of fighting?" AJ whispered loudly in annoyance.
"AJ, you guys, keep it down, we don't want to wake them up-"
"...yet," Howie finished Kevin's sentence and smiled. The Boys finished unloading their rented van quietly and carried all their luggage to the front door.
"I'm glad we didn't tell them we were coming...I can't wait to see their faces..." Nick smiled. "I've missed Julie soo much..."
"Yes, we know - you've wailed about not seeing her every single day of the tour," AJ grunted.
"I'm gonna wake her up with a kiss..." Nick continued, happily oblivious in his dreaming.
"How sweet," Kevin laughed.
"Okay, who has the keys?" Brian asked.
They all looked at Nick.
"What?"
"Didn't Julie give them to you before we left last time?" Kevin asked.
"Um...But I gave it to you, B..."
"No, you didn't," Brian replied.
"Then I gave it to D..."
"Uh, I don't have any keys, Nick," Howie stated.
"You are so not serious - did you lose the keys!?" AJ exclaimed, glaring at his blond bandmate.
"I...Uh...Well...I thought...Bri or D had 'em...Ummm..." Nick stuttered.
"I can't believe this...we're stuck outside the girls' house at 3 AM in the morning because Nicky here misplaced the keys..." AJ threw his hands up in the air in exasperation and plopped down to sit on his duffel bag."Sarah...?" Jenny whispered loudly from her bed across the room, "Are you asleep?"
"Yes. That's why I'm speaking to you."
"Sorry."
"S'okay...anyways, what?" I turned over.
"What, what?"
"What did you want to tell me?"
"I heard some noises outside...I think it's coming from the front door."
"But the dogs aren't barking."
"So?"
"If there were intruders, you know Kezia, Roky and Darwin would be killing them right now."
"Not necessarily."
"You're just a baby, Jen...It's like, what, 3 AM? May I please go back to sleep?" I turned over again.
"No..."
Jenny got up and dragged me out of bed. I was still half-asleep. My foot hit the cabinet.
"OW! Jenny, please don't run me into anything else..."
"Sorry," she apologized. By now, we had gone out of our door and reached the hallway.
"What's going on?" Chin popped her head out of her room. A sleepy-looking Hannah emerged with her.
"Dude, you guys, what time is it?" she mumbled.
"Jenny says she heard some noises from the front door," I explained.
"But...um...why do we have dogs, then?" Chin asked.
"Funny, Chin...they haven't started barking or anything, but I'm scared..." Jenny whispered.
"We might as well come with you to check - strength in numbers..." Hannah decided, more awake. The four of us tiptoed to the stairs, hoping not to wake up Cathy or Julie...
"Where are...two-thirds...of the members...of this household...going...at 3 AM??" we heard Julie's tired, bewildered voice. We turned to see her and Cathy in the door way to their room.
"Jenny heard noises and we're gonna check them out," Hannah clarified.
"It's too early...let people come in and take our TV...I don't care...I want sleeeeep..." Julie groaned, turning to go back into her room.
"Oh, no you don't...we're all going," Cathy stated, grabbing Julie...and a baseball bat.
"Why the baseball bat...?" Hannah asked.
"You guys need something - I mean, Sarah and I know kick boxing, but what about the rest of you?"
"Oh fine then..." Chin muttered.
"Crap - I'm gonna go get a pan from the kitchen..." Jenny said and ran down the stairs. We followed her. "Got it," she whispered, pan in hand, as we met her at the foot of the stairs.
Ready and armed, we approached the front door. Hannah pressed her ear against it while Chin looked through the peep-hole.
"I hear people murmuring..." Hannah whispered, shivering.
"It's too dark to see who - or what - is out there..." Chin spoke softly. Something banged on the door. We covered our mouths to muffle our screams on shock.
"Shit - what do we do now?" Cathy asked, shaking.
"Umm...umm..." Julie mumbled.
"I say, open the door, scare the crap out of these idiots, and go back to sleep," I stated, groggily. "Whoever is responsible for making Jenny wake me up should die."
I reached for the door handle.
"Are you crazy!?" they all hissed.
"If I get killed, yes," I replied, warily. They looked at me and stood their ground, impromptu weapons in hand, ready for an attack as I opened the door...Immediately, a body that must have been sitting down and leaning on the door, fell on my feet - I never knew I could scream so loud. The body, and four other dark figures, plus my friends behind me, screamed as well in reaction. My hand desperately ran along the inner wall of the house beside the door, trying to find the light switch. I felt the knob and flicked it on.
"Damn, girl - I remember you can sing, but you've got one helluva screaming voice, too!" I heard AJ laugh, massaging his ears.
"What the hell...?" Cathy asked. All the Boys were propped up on their bags in the front door area. AJ had been the one leaning on the door he was the one who fell on me when I opened it.
"Was your purpose to give us all, like, 3 HEART ATTACKS?!?" Chin exclaimed.
"What - we're that ugly or something?" Brian laughed, getting up.
"We just wanted to surprise you girls...we have a break, and we already saw our families...so we came to see you!" Howie explained sweetly.
"I knew they were coming...but Nick never told me exactly when," Julie stated, sleepily.
"You KNEW!?" we screamed at her.
"Don't we get any hugs?" Kevin pouted.
"I don't think you deserve any," I crossed my arms.
"It's freezing and I'm cold!" Hannah exclaimed, ushering us in before anyone could continue arguing."Talk about major P.D.A..." Cathy snickered, pointing to Nick and Julie who were cuddling on the couch in the family room.
"Huh?" Howie asked.
"Public Display of Affection," Chin clarified.
"At least she's not cranky anymore," Hannah added.
"Leave 'em be," I scolded, shooing everyone into the living room.
"Hey, where's Frack an' his girl?" AJ asked.
"You're observant, they need time...aloooone," Jenny crooned, laughing. The rest of us sat and talked for awhile in the family room...The guys were going to stay with us for about a week. They invited us to go down to Florida with them to see them make the "Larger Than Life" music video. Hannah had been planning to go for a summer photography class for about a week or so, which happened to be in Florida. She said she'd change her plans a bit; go down early to get settled, meet us when we came and stay for the video shoot, etc, but then come back sometime after us after she finished the class.
"Hey, not to ruin this little reunion...but it's about 3:45 AM and I'd like to get maybe 3 or so more hours of sleep, if you don't mind..." I got up to yawn and stretch.
"Yeah...I second that idea..." Hannah got up.
"But where do we sleep?" AJ whined.
"Where do you usually sleep?" Chin hinted.
"Oh."
"Yeah...well, I dunno about Nick, but you can do it like last time, two to a room if you want..." I suggested.
"I got the guestroom downstairs! It's closer to the kitchen!!" Brian leapt up.
"Me too!" AJ agreed.
"Hey, D - wanna share the upstairs one?"
"Sure, Kev."
"Then it's settled...Nick can figure something out...g'nite," I yawned and hugged the Boys and headed upstairs. One by one, everyone dispersed to their rooms.~*~*~*~
(The next day)"Morning, sunshine," I laughed, seeing a groggy Kevin walk into the kitchen like a zombie. I was sitting by the counter, eating some Honey Nut Cheerios
"Funny," he muttered, and headed for the fridge. "Why are you up so early?"
"Early? It's after 9 AM - it's not that early..."
"Well, I'm the one tired from months of touring," he yawned as he found an almost empty gallon carton of milk.
"Aww, poor baby," I snickered. He took off the cap and drank straight from the carton. "EW, KEVIN! You freak! What the hell you doing?!" I exclaimed in disgust. He looked at me for a second.
"What?"
"Drinking straight out of the carton??"
"Don't bite my head off! It was almost finished, anyways..."
"What's all the yelling about?" Brian walked in.
"Your cousin has disgusting habits," I informed him.
"Kev - what'd you do now?" Brian laughed.
"Exactly what you do when a milk container is almost empty - drink from it instead if dirtying a glass..." Kevin sounded innocent.
"Aw, Sarah - you can't get mad at him for that! It's like pouring chocolate syrup and milk into your mouth at the same time - it's a man thing!" Brian grinned, beating on his chest as if he were Tarzan.
"I'll never understand guys..." I sighed, rolling my eyes, as Kevin threw the empty carton in the trash.
"Who wants eggs??" a bubbly Chin appeared in the kitchen.
"Chin? Cooking?...I think the sun is gonna collide with the earth!" I snickered.
"You shut up," she smiled, and headed towards the stove. "Nobody answered me...who wants scrambled eggs?" she asked again. Brian was about to reply, when Jenny, who had entered the kitchen, interrupted him.
"Don't do it! I don't want a dead Brian!" she warned, laughing. He smiled.
"You guys are just plain mean," Chin stuck her tongue out at us.
"I'll take a chance with some eggs," AJ noted, joining the group. Chin nodded and grabbed some eggs and a pan.
"Why is everyone up...and why is Chin...cooking...?" a bewildered Julie entered the room hand in hand with a sleepy-looking Nick.
"Am I not allowed to cook or something?" Chin gave a huff.
"We just never see you doing so in the first place," Cathy replied.
"What about that time we cooked for the guys?" Chin retorted. Cathy shrugged.
"I'm hungry - I'll risk my stomach too," Howie laughed.
"But I have cooked before! I've even taken a cooking CLASS!" Chin insisted.
"I'll go for some cereal..." Hannah mumbled, heading towards the cupboards for a bowl.
"But I thought Kevin finished the milk..." Brian snickered.
"There's another gallon in the fridge outside in the garage..." I explained, as Hannah left the kitchen in search for it. We heard whining and turned to see Kezia, Darwin and Roky sitting in the in front of the glass door, whimpering to be let outside.
"Oh...their breakfast time was few hours ago...I'll go feed them..." Jenny muttered, going outside with the dogs. Brian followed."They're demanding little things, huh?" Brian laughed, picking up Roky.
"You should know - you're the one with the rat..." Jenny grinned, pouring the dog kibble into the feeding bowls.
"You calling my Tyke a rat?" Brian narrowed his eyes playfully.
"I dunno..."
"Well...Roky's the fat fluff ball..."
" 'Scuse me?" Jenny turned around to face him.
"You heard me, missy..." he stepped forward with his hands on his hips in mock anger...their faces closer.
"Well, mister, you're the one who gave me the dog..." Jenny began, unsure of what to do - he was too close for comfort. "...So YOU shouldn't be insulting it!" she replied quickly, and turned around.The rest of us had dispersed around the kitchen. Kevin, Julie, Nick and I were watching TV. Cathy and Howie were reading the newspaper (ahh comics ;o) and AJ was puttering around the kitchen as Chin attempted to make scrambled eggs.
"Alex...you're a distraction, you know that?" Chin exclaimed, transferring a set of burnt scrambled eggs into the trash, hoping nobody noticed.
"Oh...sorry..." he smiled, watching her carefully crack another egg into the pan, her back to him. The phone rang.
"Can you get that, please?" she asked, her back still to him.
"Sure, hon." He ran to the screaming phone. " 'Ello?" he picked it up.
"Hello?" a male voice replied. "Is Chin there?"
"Um...sure thing, hang on." AJ covered the mouthpiece of the cordless phone with his hand and took it to the stove area.
'For you' he mouthed to Chin.
'Thank you' she mouthed back, washed her hands, and took the phone.
"Hello?...Oh, hi, Jack!" she smiled. AJ cringed - it was Chin's ex. "...Cool...Yeah...mm-hmm...tonight? Umm...I'm not sure," she covered the mouthpiece and looked up at AJ. "Alex, when are we going to Florida?"
"In about 2 days," he answered, trying to reply nonchalantly. She nodded and continued her phone conversation. He picked up some of the newspaper that was on the counter and pretended to be engrossed in it, but gave up.
"Never mind...tonight's fine...When? Okay...no, I don't really want to see that...you sure? ...okay...that's fine...I guess I'll see you, then. Meet you there? Okay, bye." Chin hung up the phone. AJ was looking at her. "What??"
"That was Jack, wasn't it?"
"Yes, I did greet him by his first name...Is that bad, or something?"
"Not necessarily."
"Don't look at me like that, Alex."
"Like what?"
"Like I've done something wrong."
"I-"
"I haven't done anything wrong. I told you before, Jack and I are friends now, okay?" Chin spoke, trying not to show that she was too upset. She figured he was just watching out for her, because Jack was her ex, and even though she felt flattered and protected by his actions, she felt the need to prove to him that she didn't need him act that way.
"I know, I know...it's just..."
"It's just what?"
"Never mind...you might want to serve the eggs...they're getting cold," AJ changed the subject. Chin sighed and took the plates to the kitchen table.(later that day)
Jenny was sitting on her bed, reading over a journal I had given her for the Christmas before she was 15. She had used it for her trip to Hawaii that she went on for that winter break, and had recently stuffed a bunch of pictures from our trip to Universal Studios [with the Boys] in it as well. She had found it while looking for something in her desk.
"Hey, Brian wants to know if he can take Roky out for a walk," Chin popped her head in the room. Jenny looked up.
"Huh?"
"The boy is just asking permission, dear."
"Oh."
"Is it granted, or not?"
"What? Oh...sure...why not? Roky's his dog, too," Jenny sighed. Chin cocked her head to the side.
"What was that sigh about?"
"Can't I just be tired?"
"No."
There was a silence.
"It was just a sigh, okay?"
"No, that's not okay."
"Why not?"
"That wasn't a normal sigh, Jenny," Chin replied. She noticed the journal on Jenny's lap. A picture of her and Brian was in her hands. "Jenny..."
"What?" she snapped.
"I think I know."
"No you don't...How could you even be sure?"
"I'm not sure, I said 'I think'."
"Oh. "
"Can I state my thesis?" Chin asked, sitting down beside Jenny on her bed.
"Can I stop you?"
"No..."
"Fine."
"K...I think you like someone."
"Is it that obvious?"
"Well..."
"Great, the whole world knows, huh?"
"I didn't say that."
"Well...hmph," Jenny was at a loss for words.
"Look, it's not that bad to like someone."
"It is...especially when they're your best friend," Jenny sighed again.
"I told you that wasn't a normal sigh," Chin smiled, pointing an accusing finger at her friend. "Hey, so you like ME, huh? Oh...wait...maybe Sarah? Julie?...Aw, Jen, why didn't you tell us?" Chin mused. Jenny tried not to laugh. "Don't worry...I know what you mean," Chin assured her. Jenny sighed again. "Girl, you're gonna set a record with those sighs," Chin stated. Jenny smiled again.
"I just don't know what to do..."
She looked at the picture. It was taken just after Brian had taken the liberty of stealing Jenny off my back - I had been giving her a piggy ride when he decided that it was his turn to do so. Both were grinning like idiots in the picture.
"Why not tell him?"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I can't. I told Sarah. She asked me to tell him, too. But it won't amount to anything. And I don't want ruin our friendship."
"Who says it will?" Chin asked.
"Who says it won't?" Jenny countered, still looking at the picture. "I like the friendship. So why not keep it?"
"Wouldn't you like a stronger relationship, though?"
"So?"
"So!"
"So what?"
"Who says he doesn't want the same thing?"
"Who says he does?" Jenny countered again. Chin shook her head.
"I think you should go for it, Jen. You two are seriously sweet together as best friends...it would be perfect if you were with him."
"I'll stick to Sarah's quote...'Nothing is perfect'," Jenny replied. It was Chin's turn to sighChapter Two: Holding.Me.Near
.If.I.Don't.Have.You. Index
~FanFic Index~
*Home*