Chapter Ten: I've Got To See You Again

Casie peeked open her eyes to walls covered in artwork and posters of her favorite movies. The feeling of waking up in her own bed was exhilarating. She bunched up the shiny blue comforter under her chin and rubbed her hand down the soft cotton pillowcase under her head. "It is so good to be home" she said aloud to herself. Casie sat up in bed puffing her chest out and stretching her arms as far as she could, when she noticed a heavenly aroma. She got out of bed with her nose leading the way to the kitchen.

The small table had been set with a tiny bouquet of flowers arranged in the middle and a glass pitcher of orange juice beside it. A bowl with scrambled eggs and cheese lay on the counter next to a big pile of bacon. Cara was standing over the stove covered from head to toe in flour flipping pancakes. "Well good morning sleeping beauty" she smiled watching Casie take a seat at the table. "Hope you are hungry. I made your favorite, scrambled eggs and Leila's favorite..." Casie spoke up at the same time as Cara "Bacon!" They laughed at each other for a minute "So is Lei up yet?" Casie asked yawning. "Yeah, she will be out in a sec" she said waving her spatula in the air while humming to her self.

"Oh, I wanted to thank you for trying to save my job, Leila told me you tried to convince them not to fire me" Casie said watching Cara flip the last pancake over. "Your welcome…I am just astonished you aren't upset about it, but let's not talk about that right now. We'll figure something out later, for now let's eat some breakfast" she told her as she carried over the bowl of eggs and plate of bacon.

Leila walked into the kitchen and sat down across from Casie. "Oh, Bacon. Yes!" Leila yelled snatching a strip from the top of the pile. Cara rolled her eyes as she stacked the last few pancakes onto a plate and brought them to the table as well. Leila giggled with her mouth full as Cara stared at her with one eyebrow raised. "Thank you for this wonderful breakfast, Cara" Leila said swallowing her bit down.

"So, what shall we do this weekend?" Cara asked grabbing some bacon before Leila devoured the whole plate. "I don't know. I don't have anything to do now since my job" Casie shrugged.

Leila lifted her head from her plate, "Why don't you paint a picture. You haven't painted since college and I know you miss it."

"Wow, you're right. It has been awhile and not to mention that was what I majored in. I should paint" Casie perked up the more she thought about it.

"You know what. You should paint something for Pete" Cara suggested.

"That's a great idea! Let's all do something for the guys" Leila lit up thinking of Joe.

The girls all shook their heads agreeing; the guys had been there for them through hard times and done so much it would be a nice to give them something back. "Wait, what about Andy? We can't all show up with presents for Patrick, Joe and Pete leaving him with nothing" Cara worried.

They all sat there in silence a minute wondering what to do for Andy. "Let's call Jennifer and invite her over. I really enjoyed hanging out with her in New York" Casie said loving the idea of having another friend to join their group.

"Yeah, she is really sweet. She can make Andy something, after all they have been together awhile" Leila agreed.

"If we spend the weekend making something for the guys, I don't want them over here ruining it" Cara said finishing the last bit of eggs left on her plate.

"Ha ha, yeah and let's not tell them what's going on. It will drive them crazy!" Casie laughed.

Leila slowly slid the iron back and forth pressing lightly on the top of pink iron on letters. She was sprawled out on the living room floor with two black shirts in front, one for her and the other for Joe. There were scraps of paper and edges of letters all over the place forming a halo around Leila.

"What are they going to say?" Cara asked laughing at her huge mess on the floor.

Lifting the iron for a second, "You'll see soon. I found these huge numbers to add also. They are going to be so cute" she rambled.

Cara twisted her head towards the front door hearing the bell ring, "That must be Jennifer" she said leaving to open it.

"Hey, how are you doing? I am so glad you could come over" Cara greeted her.

"Oh, I am great thanks. I brought my stuff for Andy like you said" she told her dropping her purse by the door.

"Cool, you can work in the living room next to Leila if you can find space" Cara pointed her down the foyer.

Jennifer carried her purple bag to the floor adjacent to Leila. She noticed Casie in the corner behind an easel painting on a large canvas. "Hey, how are you?" she asked them sitting down.

"Great thanks." "So, what are you going to make Andy?" Leila asked curious of the contents in her bag.

"Well Andy has been complaining lately of his drumsticks being boring. So, I thought I would decorate some for him. He doesn't have to use them on stage or anything, but I thought it was a cute idea" she said situating herself next to Leila.

Peeking from behind her canvas, "That is so awesome" Casie said.

"Thanks" Jennifer smiled as she emptied her bag and began sorting the supplies.

Leila had finished pilling the paper back from each letter. She brushed the shirts off and leaned away admiring them. "What do you guys think?" she asked holding one shirt up and the other spread across her lap. One had in pink letters "GINNY GIRL" above white numbers, 88. And the other had "POTTER BOY" in green above the numbers, 84.

"Oh, Leila those are so cute. Joe is going to love them!" Cara giggled.

"What do the numbers mean?" Jennifer questioned.

"They represent the years we were born" Leila smiled.

"Sweet!" Jennifer continued gluing colorful pictures and words onto Andy's drumsticks, while Cara and Casie continued their projects.

"What are you making, Cara?" she asked setting the glue on the floor.

"Me? Uh…I'm making Patrick a vintage picture frame with us from the concert in it" she beamed. "It will have a jazzy feel to it."

"That sounds like Patrick" Jennifer nodded.

Cara thought Jennifer was so sweet and she could see her becoming a good friend. She was a petite girl with stacked sandy blonde hair. Her light brown eyes resembled Pete's in a way and darker skin tone. She liked to wear eccentric clothes like they did. "So, Jennifer, how did you meet Andy?"

"Ha ha, that is a funny story. We had gotten into an argument over organic milk in the grocery store one day. Can't remember why or how it got started, but we ended up exchanging numbers. One thing led to another and here I am two years later" she smiled.

"Aw, that is cute" Casie leaned around her canvas again.

"You have been so quiet, what are you painting over there?" Leila asked Casie finally finished cleaning her mess off the floor.

"Ha, I am not really painting anything. It's just abstract designs or marks" she said watching Leila plop down on the couch.

"Cool." "You know, it has been almost a day since Joe has called me" Leila pondered aloud. Pouting a little, suddenly, Patrick's voice could be heard blaring throughout the living room making Cara smile. Leila snatched her cell phone that was playing "This Ain't A Scene" and answered it. "Hey Joe!" "I was just wondering when you were gonna call."

The other girls giggled softly at the coincidental phone call. Leila held back her laughter and smiled as she told him she could not see him. "I'm sorry Joe, but we are busy. Maybe some other time." Leila hated saying no to him, but knew this would make him want to see her more. She finished the conversation and her smile faded as she looked at the others.

"Don't worry Lei, he will be fine" Casie smirked.

"But he sounded so bummed" she frowned thinking of what he must be thinking.

"After seeing what we are making for them, they will understand and be excited" Cara said tossing her a confident glance.

Joe paced back and forth in front of the couch where Andy sat trying to watch a show. "Dude, calm down" Andy breathed firmly. "She is probably just busy."

"But there has to be a reason why she doesn't want to see me" he fretted. "I knew we were moving to fast and now I have pushed her away."

He continued pacing but now breathing heavy from worrying. "Joe! Relax. I think you are over reacting. Leila is crazy about you. Trust me" Andy tried to comfort him.

"How do you know?"

"I could see it in her eyes. They looked the same as Jennifer's, especially when we first were dating" Andy smiled.

Joe sat in the chair across from him, placing his hand on his head. "I guess you're right, maybe I am over reacting a bit."

Just then, Pete and Patrick walked through the door returning from Pete's store, Clandestine Industries. Patrick had been helping him decide on some designs for his next line of hoodies. Lately, Pete had been needing a fresh mind and opinion for his work.

Patrick sank down on the couch next to Andy and saw Joe's worried disposition. "What's the matter?"

Joe leaned back crossing his arms to his chest. "I wanted to do something with Leila, but she said they were busy. I think she is just mad at me."

"And I think he is over reacting" Andy interrupted.

"Wait, did she say 'they' were busy" Pete asked sitting on the arm of the couch by Andy.

"Yeah, she did" Joe looked at Pete in confusion.

"So, I guess if we call Cara or Casie, we'll get the same response" Patrick concluded.

"You know, Jennifer didn't call like she normally does this morning. I wonder if she has something to do with this too" Andy thought aloud.

The guys sat in silence a minute contemplating what was going on with the girls. "I don't think I will ever understand women!" Joe hollered breaking the silence. They all laughed at his frustration, but understood considering they were just as clueless.

Joe had been sulking on the couch for the past two days unable to think of anything else, but Leila. Even watching his favorite TV shows was not lifting his spirits. Patrick even couldn't help, but admit he missed spending time with Cara. And Pete had been so busy with Clandestine that he didn't have time to think about anything else, but Patrick knew it was bothering him not seeing Casie. They hadn't realized how much the girls had had an effect on them until they were forbidden to see them.

Andy walked into the kitchen to get a drink and noticed them acting miserable. "Look guys, they didn't say they were mad at you, so just quit acting like you've been dumped." Pete trotted over to a chair and slid down exhausted.

"What are you worried about? You have Jennifer, a great girl that loves you" Joe sarcastically batted.

"For your information, Joe, I have not heard from her in three days so just stop being a pussy" Andy said getting annoyed. "Fine, would you feel better if I called her and ask what is going on?"

"Yeah, I would!" Joe leapt from the couch.

Patrick and Pete stayed seated in silence watching Joe rush to Andy. In secret, they were just as relieved to hear him calling Jennifer as Joe was. They all listened closely to Andy's conversation, as a grin formed on his face. Staring at Joe, Andy said goodbye to Jennifer and put his phone back into his pocket.

"So…what did she say?" Joe pestered impatiently.

With a wider grin forming, "She said that we are supposed to dress nice tonight and wait in the living room at 6pm for further instructions. She said they have a surprise for us all" Andy exclaimed watching Joe's big blue eyes increase in size. Pete met with Patrick and shrugged his shoulders.

The rest of the day went by incredibly slowly driving the guys mad. It was finally five till six and they were all dressed in different color sports jackets and nice jeans sitting around the living room. Except for Joe, who was up pacing back and forth again. He wore a navy blue jacket and a baby blue shirt underneath making his eyes pop. Patrick had a classic black jacket over a red and black striped shirt and matching red hat. Pete had been playing with his phone laughing at Joe's behavior. He decided to wear his green "Fresh Paint" shirt from Clandestine under a white jacket. Andy had a brown jacket with a solid yellow shirt.

"Why aren't they here? They said they would be here" Joe huffed.

"No, they said to wait for further instructions. We don't know if they are coming at six" Andy corrected him.

Joe's heart skipped a beat hearing shuffling coming behind the front door. A small letter popped out from under and slid across the wooden floor. "What is that?" Pete said watching Joe dive for it like a present on Christmas morning. "It's a letter!" Joe said excited.

The front had written "FOB" in delicate letters. Joe flipped it to the back and pulled a folded in half piece of light brown paper. It had in the same delicate handwriting, "For Patrick". Joe raised his eyebrows in curiosity and reluctantly handed the piece of paper to him. "It's for you Patrick."

Patrick got off the couch and took the paper from Joe. He opened and read aloud,

"Patrick,

There is a fountain of love

That is dear to your heart.

The roses that hang above

Is where you should start.

Guide you friends

To your mothers special place

Full of pennies in heaven

Is where your surprise awaits."

Patrick looked up from the note and stared at the guys blushing. He knew exactly who it was from and where he needed to take them.

"What are they talking about, Patrick?" Joe asked confused.

"We need to go to the Botanic Garden, downtown. It's not far from here" he said a little embarrassed from the sweet message.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Joe yelled rushing for his keys. "I want to know what the heck is going on."

They drove for about ten minutes when finally arriving at the green house. Piling out of the car and heading through the doors, Patrick led the way to the back where the fountain was located. They stopped a few feet away seeing on the rocks that surrounded the fountain had something for each of them. Andy walked up to the decorated drumsticks with pictures and lyrics of his favorite bands on them. Joe held up his shirt Leila made for him grinning from ear to ear. Pete stared at the abstract painting full of colors and textures and noticed some small words in the bottom right corner, "Time stands still when I am with you –Casie." Patrick could not stop starring at the vintage picture frame with a beautiful photo of Cara. It was one with him pressing his cheek against hers backstage of the New York concert.

The guys were all equally stunned by their awesome gifts. And so impressed by the girls going out of their way to do something for them, they almost missed the note that lay underneath the picture frame. "What does that note say?" Andy asked Patrick watching him open it.

"This one says,

Now you have our gifts

And you know how much we care

We thank you for all you've done

You must now return to your lair

There we will be

Dressed to your liking

Waiting for thee

Each our one and only prince charming"

"Wow, they have put a lot of thought into this" Pete said surprised. They all stared at each other agreeing.

Jennifer unlocked the door to their place and scrambled inside quickly with Cara, Leila and Casie at her heels. Fixing their hair and checking their makeup, Casie turned to Leila. "Should we wait in the living room?"

"Uh…yeah I think that will be good" she smiled.

Cara noticed they all seemed a little nervous for some reason, even Jennifer. It is not like they were going on blind dates or something. Cara continually fluffed her hair and straightened her dress. She was wearing a little black and white sun dress with a small black jacket for her shoulders and cute black flats. Jennifer was wearing a beige shirt with a flowing white skirt down to her ankles and wedged heels. Leila had on a short brown skirt with her black "GINNY GIRL" shirt she made and pink converse. Casie had nice blue jeans on with a slinky low cut black top and black boots. Cara laughed thinking they appeared to each be dressed for a different season of the year, but thought they were dressed accordingly to there men's personalities.

The girls froze in their skin hearing a key enter the lock. They shuffled side by side facing the door and watched as the guys entered the room each holding their gifts. Joe was the first to rush to the girls, "That was totally awesome! I love my shirt." Leila pulled her hair around to one shoulder and turned around. "Ah, you made one to match. That is hot!" Joe smirked grabbing and pulling her close. "Go put yours on…we are going bowling tonight. And I am taking you on, Potter Boy" she giggled pushing him towards his room.

Andy walked up to Jennifer and spun her around in a tight embrace. "Thank you I love them." "Do you really?" she smiled. "You don't have to use them at concerts, but I know how you've wanted some fashionable drumsticks, so…" Andy kissed her tenderly on the lips. "I will use them at every concert. Let's get out of here" Andy said pulling her to the door.

"Bye guys, thanks for including me in this" Jennifer waved to the girls.

"You're welcome" Cara waved back at her as the door shut behind them. After waving to Andy, Patrick slowly shuffled up to Cara in a child like manner. "You look really beautiful" he blushed. "And, I wanted to say thank you…for the picture and the thoughtful words you wrote. I really like them."

Cara said nothing but grinned widely and leaned in to kiss him. Patrick closed his eyes loving the feeling of her lips on his. She always knew how to make him relax. His arm found her waist and held her close for a minute before she pulled away. "I want to go out tonight."

"Where do you want to go?" Patrick asked.

"Just a cute little coffee shop down the street…I thought a peaceful place would be good for us to talk."

"Sounds great" he said giving her one more peck on the lips.

"Bye Lei, bye Cas. We're gone" Cara smiled and grabbed her purse by the door.

"Have fun" they both told her as she left the house with Patrick.

Joe ran back into the living room and spun in a circle showing off is new shirt. "This rocks, Leila" he laughed taking her by the waist again. Leila stood on her tip toes and kissed him hard on the lips. "I am glad, you like it" she said. Come on I have some butt kicking to do."

"Let her win, Joe" Pete yelled making Casie giggle. "He won't have to, I will win anyways" Leila said pushing Joe out the door.

The room fell silent with only Casie and Pete left. He lifted the painting and stared at it a second, "I love it and I'm going to hang this in my room."

"Well, I'm glad. I have another surprise for you. I want you to see something" Casie said setting the painting aside and placing her hands within his.

"Oh, and what might that be?" he smirked.

"It's not what you are thinking…come on I will show you."

Casie took Pete to her house and led him inside. "It's in the basement" she smirked. They made their way down the old wooden stairs into a dark cold room. "What do you want to show me?" Pete said batting a cobweb from his face. Casie flipped the light switch and pushed some boxes out of the way making a pathway to the left side of the basement. Leaning against the wall was a large white sheet covering large square things. "I almost forgot about these…until Leila suggested I paint you a picture." "I want to share these with you, because I know how much you like the arts, all kinds" Casie smiled as she lifted the dusty sheet revealing some old paintings of hers.

Pete could not believe all the different kinds that were in front of him. "You did these?" he asked flipping through admiring each one. Pete really liked the one with a blue face and sewn lips; it reminded him of something he had done a few years ago for his clothes line.

"Yes, do you like them?" Casie nervously asked. They were very personal to her and it took a lot to show them to people. "I love them. You're very talented" he grinned sliding his favorite out to get a better look.

"No, I'm not that good" she said shyly. "Don't be so modest. These are awesome; I only wish I knew how to paint like this" he smiled placing the painting back. Pete stood there a minute thinking before an idea popped in his head. "I think I know of a place that needs to hire someone like you."

"Really, where?" Casie asked excited.

Pete took her left hand and gazed into her eyes, "Clandestine Industries."

"What?" Casie said thinking she heard Pete wrong.

"You can work for my store. I have been so busy lately trying to finalize designs. I could really use another person's opinion, one who is creative and can think outside of normal, everyday things."

"But, I don't know anything about clothing lines or fashion in general" Casie frowned.

"Don't worry you leave that up to me, I just need you to focus on the patterns on the clothing. You would be perfect, will you say yes?" Pete asked pulling her close to him.

"Oh, Pete. I would love to work with you. Thank you so much" Casie hugged him tightly. "Let's get out of this basement. I want to go to the movies next for our date."

"Oh so this is our first date?" Pete chuckled chasing her up the stairs. "What can I say, I am a home body" Casie laughed.

She stopped in the living room and hopped onto the couch. She slid her pants legs up revealing the boots underneath. She unzipped them and tossed them across the room. "Uh…I thought we were going to the movies?" Pete asked smiling from the tainted thoughts running through his mind as she exposed her legs.

Casie rolled her pants legs back down and stood up sliding Pete's jacket off him. "Who said we have to leave the house to go to the movies?" Casie giggled at Pete's face as she walked to hang the jacket up in the coat closet by the door.

Casie put a movie in while Pete sprawled out on the couch. She turned the lights out and cuddle up next to him. They stared into each others eyes when Pete sank his lips down onto hers. He rubbed his hand through her soft brown hair and pulled her closer to him. A connection of fireworks was bursting deep within his stomach. Pete loved this woman, but didn't know how to tell her. All he could do was hold on to her with his entire being. Casie felt his passion for her and kissed him back with the same. They stayed lips locked until Casie released, surprising him. "Thank you again, for everything" she said placing her head now onto his chest. "Your…welcome" he exhaled wrapping his arm around her back.