Warning: Mentions of sex.
A/N: Just a one-shot inspired by Halsey's "Drive" and Ryn Weaver's "Here Is Home."
Note: I'm always pretending Nikki never moved to Nunavut. I didn't write this with a specific timeframe in mind, but if you were to put a time on this, it would likely take place before the gang's senior year or something.
The suburbs were suffocating. They never truly felt like home, not to Nikki.
So, during the long and humid summer nights when there was nothing better to do, she would hop in the beat-up car her parents used to drive and she'd cruise around the city. She caught glimpses of her future around here—the neon signs, the billboards, the traffic lights, and the influx of people made her long for the days she would one day spend in Tokyo, New York, London, and Paris.
She dreamed big and worked hard (but never as hard as Jen), knowing that after working hard enough she'd be where her dreams put her. Unlike Caitlin, always the girl with her head in the clouds, Nikki didn't waste her time fantasizing about things she didn't see working out for her.
After a week of riding solo after her shifts at the Khaki Barn, a place she couldn't stand for much longer, she decided to spend nights traveling with Caitlin and Jen. They didn't travel far—still staying close to Toronto—but they fled far enough where Nikki didn't feel chained to suburbia.
Riding with the girls was the best thing she ever did. The three of them liberated each other, even if it was through making hungry snack stops at convenience stores, throwing their hands up in Caitlin's red convertible, or shouting the lyrics of DawgToy songs. They played silly games and checked out insanely hot guys together, especially Caitlin, having exchanged numbers with plenty of guys out on the open road. Nikki and Jen just rolled their eyes and laughed, because they wouldn't have it any other way.
Nikki loved her girls. She was home with them.
After a month, when July finally made its arrival, she would ditch her home as often as she could. As long as she wouldn't hear her parents' sparring over Nunavut anymore. Nunavut would never be home for them, and her parents' arguing certainly didn't make their home feel like one anymore.
She appreciated the long nights in Jonesy's car, the one he shared with Jen, because he showed her a different side of the night. While Jen and Caitlin showed her how much friendship the night could bring, Jonesy showed her love—the concept gravely missing from her household. (She refused to call it home.)
He took her to concerts and danced with her, he rode with her to nowhere and gave her hickeys along the way, and he caressed her thigh to let her know that he was there and he wouldn't be going away so easily.
Even though she could breathe easy with Jonesy just like she did with her girls, he could make her breathe hot and heavy in seconds. After ditching their clothes and giving each other love in the backseat of his car one night—breathing heavy—he cuddled her and told her that even though her parents' separation would be painful to endure, things would be better one day. He reassured her that she was never alone and whenever she needed to talk or escape, he would be there. He also joked that he'd "also be here for her ass," a joke that caused her to laugh and playfully hit him.
Regardless, she was grateful for his love, humor, and comfort. Jonesy was another home for her. He was a person she someday hoped to share a home with.
The black-sky nights she spent with the entire gang were a breath of fresh air. They owned the city streets they walked together, giving new life to the buildings they passed. There was a certain magic about them when the six of them explored Toronto together, something untouchable.
She always smiled her brightest with the gang, whether it was with food stuffed in her mouth at a fast-food place or during a movie (or any movie) they all talked through. They kept her from asphyxiating on the suburbs or due to her parents.
This summer she spent away from home, away from what brought her down, made her realize that home was never an object, never a foundation with walls and a roof. No, home was the love and care from her friends.
Home was spending nights with Jen and Caitlin, cruising with the top down and having each other's backs. Home was the way Jonesy made her believe love was real and it was hers for the taking. Home was the way Jude and Wyatt never failed to make her happy and keep her head high. Home was the six of them sharing their hopes and dreams and knowing they would end up where they desired because they believed in each other.
Home was with them, where Nikki truly belonged.