A/N: Hey, guys! Thanks so much for the reviews, favs, and follows! They are appreciated!
I was going to try to make each chapter at least 2,000 words long, but serious writer's block prevented me from making this chapter any longer than 1,750. Eh, close enough.
Next chapter is Lenny's point of view! Hooray!
A fanfic without reviews is a pickle that isn't green.
When I woke up the next day, I could not remember where I was. I though I would wake up in my trailer, ready for another long day of being a singer. Instead, I woke up on a pile of blankets on someone's floor.
"Good morning," Kim said, not looking away from the newspaper in her hands. I looked around. We must have fallen asleep in the living room after watching the movie. Konnie was sleeping on the couch, and Kim was in the kitchen. The clock read around eight in the morning.
"Morning," I mumbled in reply. Standing and peeking out the window to the front yard, I mentally planned a path through the mud and to my car. It really rained hard last night. Several stray branches were scattered in yards and along the road.
"I'm going out to get my bag," I told Kim, who glanced up at the clock and nodded.
"Corey called earlier. He said to come over around noon, and that they'd arranged a little welcome home party for you," she said.
"That's oddly nice of him," I comment as I pulled on my shoes. Corey and I almost never got along when we were younger. Kim just shrugged.
"He's matured since you left, especially since the event."
I paused, my jacket half on. "What event would that be?"
She smiled mischievously, and answered, "You'll see."
I stared for a long time, then shook my head and pulled on my coat. "I suppose I will."
The air was still cold when I walked outside. Of course, it was November. The puddles where iced over slightly, only enough to appear frozen until you stepped on them.
My old house was just down the street from here, but the people who lived there were strangers. Mom and Dad had passed five years ago, and it still blew me away sometimes.
I unlocked my car, pulled out my suitcase out of the truck, and locked it again before heading inside.
The next few hours went by rather slowly. We were all excited for the party. I, personally, couldn't wait to see everyone. I missed everyone so much. The people on tour with me did not even come close to my real friends.
Kim said it was just a party between friends, and that I shouldn't dress too fancy unless I was aiming to impress a certain someone. I knew that she meant Lenny. She was trying to embarrass me, but I simply brushed it off. Lenny didn't like me like that anymore, however childish it sounded. He had moved on. I cannot say that I was completely okay with it.
We arrived at Corey's house at about noon. It wasn't the house I had gotten used to seeing while we were growing up. He had apparently bought his own house. The house was a light blue color, and looked a little larger than a regular home. A classic picket fence surrounded it. As I stepped towards it, I heard barking from inside the fence.
Kim and Konnie grinned widely. "Happy!"
They opened the fence and an energetic German shepherd ran to greet them. I cocked an eyebrow.
"A dog named Happy?" I asked incredulously. Konnie nodded, still petting the canine.
"Originally, it was Lenny's, but he gave it to Laney about a year ago. He said her and Corey needed extra protection because…" she trailed off at a sharp look from Kim. "…Because of something. You'll find out soon."
For the second time today, I was left in the dark.
"Come on, there's cake inside!" Konnie called, already half way to the door. Kim patted Happy one more time, and motioned for me to follow. Happy nipped playfully at her heels and nuzzled my hand as we walked.
"Welcome home!" Corey shouted as soon as I entered. "Okay, now that you're here, come meet everyone again!"
Before I had a chance to speak, he had grabbed my wrist and dragged me over to Kin and Kon.
"Kin, Kon, meet Carrie again!" Corey announced with a grin. The brothers chuckled.
"Met her last night at the girls' house, but we didn't get to talk much." Kin said. Corey frowned, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Since when were you going to Kim and Konnie's house so late?" He asked carefully. They blushed, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
"Oh, look, a random thing that we must leave immediately to do. Bye!" The male twins took off, leaving me in peels of laughter. Corey cracked a smile as soon as their backs were turned.
"I love messing with them," He sighed happily. "Hey, there's Nick Mallory and Mina!"
No more than three seconds after he said that, I was engulfed in a hug from my older sister. I might have missed her the most, but we wrote letters a lot, so it wasn't too bad.
"You're back!" Mina squealed. I could not reply because I could barely breathe. She was a tight hugger.
"Nick Mallory says Carrie Beff is having a hard time breathing."
Mina let go sheepishly, and I nodded at Nick.
"Nice to see you again, Nick. How are you?" I said politely. I didn't know a whole lot about him. Before I left, I would only see him occasionally when Mina invited him over or Nick came to pick her up for a date. Trina eventually got over him for some jock (I think his name was Carl or something), and Mina finally told Mallory about her huge crush on him. Thank God, I felt like I would explode if she kept talking about him and Trina. You can laugh, but it was bad.
"Nick Mallory thinks that's no way to talk to Carrie Beff's future brother in-law," Nick said. Corey, Mina, and Nick laughed as my jaw dropped. It was only then I noticed the nice sized ring on my sibling's hand.
I slowly recovered from the shock, and smiled. "Finally! I though I was gonna grow old and die before you two got hitched!"
The couple blushed.
"Me, too, I was so tired of you two dancing around," Corey said. I shot him a look.
"Don't go complaining about how long it took them to get together. Laney and you took five-ever to start dating steadily!"
"Tell me about it," a voice came from behind me. Corey's eye lit up and he practically shoved me out of the way. Laney was standing there, hair looking a little longer. Corey kissed her cheek.
She hugged me and I noticed something.
"Well, damn, Laney. Everyone got taller while I was gone, except for you," I teased. The redhead girl huffed.
"Yes, but-" I cut her off, finally noticing the silver band on her left hand. Man, I was bad at noticing stuff.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you got married?" Laney smiled. Riffin puffed his chest out proudly.
"Yep, Riff-man is off the market. I can just hear the cries of the women I turned down for Lanes."
Laney and I both rolled our eyes.
"Let's remember that he was a nervous, sweaty wreck when he asked me," Laney said, patting his shoulder. He visibly deflated, pouting as well.
The door opened. A little child's excited babbling reached my ears. Laney looked over her shoulder and smiled widely.
"Hey, I thought you weren't coming," she said to a man holding a small child. Corey took the kid out of his arms carefully, babbling happily back to the baby.
"I wasn't, but Dilly here was getting cranky and I didn't have his bottle."
The voice struck me and my whole body went rigid.
"I knew I forgot something. Be right back," Laney said. I think she went upstairs, but I wasn't focusing on her, Corey, or the little baby that was apparently theirs. Lenny stared straight at me.
"Hi," I greeted lamely. He just nodded with a frown.
"How are you?" He shrugged coldly.
"Can't you talk?" I said through gritted teeth. Lenny completely ignored me. I felt my blood turn hot. Why would he not talk to me? It was so frustrating!
"Say something!" I demanded. He stared blankly at the stairs.
Laney came thumping back down, bottle in hand. She handed it to him, and Corey passed the baby boy back. The tips of Lenny's mouth tilted upward as he held his nephew.
Then he was leaving again. As they said their goodbyes, I placed myself between Lenny and the door. I had to get him to talk to me.
He turned to leave, feeding the nearly asleep baby as he walked. There was no immediate reaction when he reached me.
"Say something, Lenny. Please," I muttered. He blinked twice. It could have been my imagination, but I thought I saw tears.
"You shouldn't talk to me anymore," Lenny said emotionlessly. I took a shaky breathe as the door shut, signaling that he was gone.
"Are you okay?" Corey asked, surprising me. I blinked back tears, and nodded with a faint smile.
"I'm fine. So…you're a daddy, huh?"
"Yep, little Dylan Riffin," he smiled. "He loves his uncle to bits."
"Well, he looks just like him," I said. Laney shook her head.
"Not true. Dylan has blue eyes."
I couldn't quite grasp that Corey and Laney had a kid. That was why Lenny gave them the dog and Riffin matured. It made sense, but still seemed so surreal.
"You know, I'm sure Dilly would love an aunt. Specifically a blue haired, singer, ex-bandleader auntie," Corey said smirking.
"Except that blue haired, singer, ex-bandleader, knows that Lenny isn't interested," I answered. His smile fell.
"Oh. That's going to be a problem," Corey mumbled, and walked off towards the male twins. I glanced at Laney.
"He's trying to set Lenny and me up together, isn't he?"
She nodded as if it was perfectly normal. "Well, it's not like you don't want him back."
I felt my face heat up. "I don't want Lenny back."
"Trick question. I didn't say anyone's name, yet you immediately thought of Lenny," Laney said. I sputtered indignantly.
"B-but we were talking about him! Of course I would think about Lenny instantly," I argued.
She shrugged, smirking slightly. "Keep telling yourself that."