'Sup, guys? So... life. It happens. Everyone thank the-compulsive-tea-drinker for threatening me with great bodily harm if I didn't update. If you're curious why I dropped off the face of the Earth for a few years, read the Author's Note at the bottom. For now, read on!
Brady's POV
I didn't know what to expect when we arrived at Katie's house. Obviously, we had been here before. Quite a few times, actually (enough to make Mr. Carter jokingly complain about us eating all of his food).
But this time, Katie wouldn't be alone. Lydia would be there.
The change was evident as soon as we drove up the street. A little sedan sat in the driveway, and it wasn't Mr. Carter's police cruiser. Did Lydia already have a car? That would make seeing her a lot easier; she could drive to see me half the time, and I could run to see her the other half. Once she knew I could just run, of course.
I struggled to remember as much as I could about her. The first time I saw her was through the glass window of that burning house – it had taken Seth, Collin, and Embry to keep me from going in after her.
And then… she jumped.
Just like that. She had thrown a rug out of the way to clear the flames, and she jumped with her unconscious friend, right into my arms. That already told me so much about her: she was cunning, determined, loyal, and courageous to the point of stupidity. I loved all of those qualities. They made me want to get to know her even more.
I held her hand, talking to her after she fell unconscious. It almost killed me when the ambulance took her away.
But my friends were there for us. Katie stayed in Lydia's room until she woke up, and Seth and Collin waited with me outside the door. They were both ecstatic and terrified with me; ecstatic that I had imprinted, terrified that she was hurt.
It had only been a week since that god-awful night, and Katie and Lydia were already best friends. Further proof that, someday, Lydia and I would be perfect together.
Of course, getting there would take time and effort, and we would face bumps along the way. Every couple does. I mean, look at the hell Katie and Seth had to go through, just to get together.
Seth didn't bother knocking on the front door. He had his own key already.
Jeez, how do you prepare to meet the girl of your dreams?
"Just breathe," Seth whispered. "They're upstairs. I'll go get them and break the ice for you."
He hopped up the stairs before I could say thank you.
"It'll be okay, man. Chill," was Collin's oh-so excellent advice. I heard Seth talking to the girls on the landing.
He was leading them down.
Shit, shit, shit…
Then Seth came around the corner with an arm around Katie, with Lydia trailing behind.
Jeez, has she always been that freaking beautiful? I mean, come on! How had I forgotten this? Her shiny, dark brown hair was in a ponytail, showing off her face. I couldn't tell you what she was wearing – hell, she might've been naked – because I couldn't take my eyes off her face. Especially her eyes. God, those eyes…
Collin broke the ice for us. "Jeez, did Seth have to save you guys from the monster in the closet? Took you long enough. Where's the food?"
I could almost see Katie virtually slapping her palm against her forehead. Instead, she sighed, "One track mind, as usual. That's Collin, the perpetually hungry one with the bad jokes."
Collin visibly bristled, but I could see the smile he was trying to hide. "Hey! My jokes are fantastic. I always make you guys laugh."
"Sure you do. And the one next to him is Brady."
Her eyes focused exclusively on me, and I was done for. They were big and wide, like she was surprised. Maybe she recognized what I already knew instinctively.
I managed a casual wave, and a smile after saying, "Hey."
Smooth.
"Guys, this is Lydia."
She smiled at us, and gave a tiny wave.
I felt so awkward in front of her. So clumsy. Like this was my big chance to make a great first impression with Lydia, and I was screwing up big time.
Talk to Katie, I told myself. She'll lead you in the right direction.
"Couldn't wait 'til I was here to break out the guitar, huh, Katie?" I said with a big smile. "I thought we were just watching movies today."
"We are," Katie replied with a smile of her own. "Lydia wanted to hear a song, so I played for her."
"Really? Then you should bring her to our jam session tomorrow," I suggested.
"You guys all play instruments?" Lydia asked curiously. Yes! I piqued her interest. We weren't even five minutes into the first meeting, and I was already setting up the second. That's got to be a record or something.
"Let's go sit down and get some food," Collin interrupted. "And yeah. I play drums, Katie plays guitar, Brady's on bass, and Seth is learning how to play the piano."
"That's so cool," Lydia replied as we all moved to the living room. There was already a pile of movies on the floor, so the girls must have already picked one out.
"Yeah, but it's even cooler when Beast comes over, 'cause he can do all sorts of awesome things with a synthesizer. But he's always glued to Leah these days," Collin said with a frown.
"Speaking of Beast and Leah, where are they?" Katie asked.
"They were making out on the couch when I left, so I think it's safe to assume they're going to be late," Seth laughed.
"Fine, as long as Leah doesn't bitch about whatever movie we choose," Collin said quickly.
"Hey, Katie and Lydia are here, so we'll still end up watching a rom-com anyway," I said.
"Alright, truth time," Lydia said with a big sigh. "I hate romantic comedies. Can we watch a good action movie? Like Die Hard, or something?"
"A girl who likes action movies?" Collin said, dumbfounded.
"Marry me," I said blankly.
"Chill, guys," Katie said, rolling her eyes. "That doesn't mean she doesn't like romance. She just likes a few fights."
"Yeah, I really like romantic movies. Just the romantic comedies… there's just something about them that bugs me. I think it's the fact that nothing like that ever happens in real life, and the movie plays it off like, 'This happens in real life all the time, no big deal'. It's ridiculous to even think half of the stuff that happens in those is even remotely possible," Lydia explained.
"What about Scott Pilgrim?" I asked excitedly. "It has epic fights, and awesome music, and it all revolves around romance."
From what Lydia said, she should love that movie. It was one of Katie's favorites. It didn't take long to figure out she had a thing for musicals.
"I love Scott Pilgrim!" Katie exclaimed.
"Never heard of it," Lydia frowned.
"Scott Pilgrim Versus the World?It's one of the best movies ever, you'll see," Katie reassured her.
In less than ten minutes, we were all gathered around the TV with plenty of snacks (Lydia's eyes had widened when we came back from the kitchen), and the beginning credits for the movie were rolling. By some miracle (or Katie's ninja skills), Lydia was sitting between me and Katie, and it took all of my self control not to throw my arm around her shoulders like Seth had done with Katie. He was such a lucky bastard…
It was more entertaining to watch the girls instead of the movie itself. Lydia gasped and awed at all of the right moments, and Katie sang along to every song.
As the ending credits rolled, Katie turned to us and said, "Well, we demolished the snacks. Should I go pick up a pizza or something?"
"Yes," Seth, Collin, and I all replied at once. Katie and Lydia giggled for some reason.
"Come on, Seth," Katie said, still laughing. "You're driving me."
"Sure thing, beautiful," Seth replied happily. With that, they got up and left.
"Oh yeah, sure, don't even ask us what kind of pizza we want," Collin grumbled, rolling his eyes sarcastically.
"Would it really matter? I mean, I'm pretty sure you guys would eat just about anything that wasn't poisoned, and even then…" Lydia laughed.
"That is not true," I insisted playfully, seeing my chance at some excellent flirt time, "I have standards. These guys don't, but I do."
"Oh, really? What kind of standards?" Lydia asked devilishly. Oh yeah, this girl knew how to flirt. Thank god.
"Anchovies. I hate anchovies. If Katie and Seth come back with anchovies, I'm making Seth eat every single one."
"If they bought anchovies, wouldn't it mean that Seth probably likes them? Not much of a punishment."
"It would be after I poison them."
"I think Katie might have a problem with that."
"Naw, I'd just promise to take her to Coachella."
"You just killed her boyfriend, and you want to take her to a music festival in California?"
"No way, I wouldn't kill Seth! He's one of my best friends! I would only poison him enough to send him to the hospital for a few weeks."
"Wow, what a great friend."
"Aren't I?"
"Ugh!" Lydia and I looked away from one another to Collin as he threw up his hands and got up. "I'm going to go – call someone. Beast. Yeah, I'm going to go call Beast and see where the hell him and Leah are."
With that, he went out the back door.
Lydia blinked. "Was it something we said?"
"Naw, he's just been in a funk lately. He'll be okay," I assured her with a smile. She couldn't know that he was just upset about the imprinting. Yet. Knowing she'd be in on the secret soon cheered me up a lot, though.
She didn't look very assured, so I said, in my most gallant voice, "No worries, lovely Lia, he'll be fine."
"My name is Lydia," she said firmly with furrowed brows.
"I know," I recovered quickly. "Do you not like nicknames? I just took out the 'y' and the 'd,' or do you spell it with an 'i' and a 'd,' because I know some people do that."
I quickly shut my mouth before I kept rambling, trying to gauge her reaction.
"Oh. Well, yeah, if it's just a nickname, I guess," she said with a shrug. "But what's with the 'lovely' part?"
Well, they say honesty is the best policy. "Isn't it obvious?" I said with a smile.
She blushed a little and looked away, rubbing her left arm. But before I could say anything else (like ask her on a date), the front door opened. Katie and Seth couldn't be back already…
"Hey, losers! Where's dinner?"
Oh god, Leah's here. And it was going so well…
"Jeez, Lee, at least say 'hi' first," Beast said as he and Leah walked into the living room.
"I did. I said, 'Hey, losers.' Where's Seth? Him and Katie get sick of you guys already?" she said, flopping on the opposite couch by the TV.
"Hey, Leah, hey, Beast. They're getting pizza. They'll be back in about twenty minutes," I said.
"Got it. Where's doofus?" she asked, looking around the room.
"Leah, there are a lot of people you call doofus. You're going to have to be a little more specific," I smiled. I glanced at Lydia, to see how she was handling the unholy terror that is Leah, and she seemed okay. A bit on edge, but everyone is around Leah. After she and Beast imprinted on one another, she had become a lot less angry. But Leah was still a bitch at heart, and we all had the feeling she always would be.
Which is a pain in everyone's ass except for Beast. He seemed to love it. Poor bastard.
"Number three of the three stooges."
"Oh, Collin. Out back."
"Tch. Whatever. What movie are we watching next?"
"First things first. Leah, Beast, this is Lydia. Lydia, that's Leah and Beast," I said quickly, knowing I wouldn't get the chance for a formal introduction before the ensuing argument.
"Hello," Lydia said politely.
"Hi. So what movie?" Leah said succinctly.
The ensuing argument was something to behold, as Leah argued for "Black Swan" and I argued for "The Avengers." Beast was, naturally, on Leah's side, but Lydia was silent. Leah and I went at it for what seemed like half an hour when Seth and Katie finally came home with the pizzas.
"Oh hey, we're watching "The Avengers"?" Katie asked excitedly as she walked into the room.
Leah and I turned around to see Lydia sitting in front of the DVD player, with "The Avengers" menu screen splayed on the TV behind her. "You guys seemed busy, so I just popped it in," she said with a smile that can only be described as wicked.
"Marry me," I heard myself deadpan again. Leah smacked me upside the head.
Well, that took longer than I initially thought. So basically, I went to big-girl college (one of the top universities on the west coast), had a job, and a boyfriend, which left zero time for this story (or anything else, really). I've graduated now, which you would think would leave a lot of time to write, but trying to find a full-time job and planning a wedding leaves the whole "time" thing a little short. And yes, I am getting married :D
So, after my ridiculous hiatus, what do you think? This story is definitely about developing multiple characters and relationships, and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. So, review questions! 1. Who is your favorite character so far and why? 2. Who is your least favorite character and why? (If you all say Ethan, I will be disappointed) and 3. Predictions, comments, questions, concerns?