We stayed in Texas a couple more days but then it was time to go home. The guys had to start planning out their next tour and the girls had to go back to work. I had learned so much about my family and my life before I had been taken away from it all.
My middle name had been Kaleigh when I was born, but my "adoptive family" had told me I had never had a middle name. My first word was "bite" and I would walk around biting everything and everyone I saw, Alice said.
When it was time for us to leave, both her and Carter had tears in their eyes. "We just got you back," Alice said as she pulled me into a hug. "Please stay with us?"
Carter nodded. "Yes. We will support you. We want our daughter back."
I smiled as tears slid down my cheeks. "I would love that, but you have to give all of your attention to Janie now. And I am very happy living in California with them."
"We'll take very good care of her, Mr and Mrs. Ly-ly," Jimmy said coming up behind me.
Both of my parents smiled at him and I couldn't help but laugh. He had won them over immediately and Jimmy was ecstatic about meeting them.
I hugged them one last time. "I'll keep in touch, I promise."
On the long drive home, I got to hear Jimmy's chill-causing voice up close and personal. We were about five hours into the drive and listening to the radio when Afterlife came on.
I was mouthing the words and drumming on my knees without missing a beat. It was right before Jimmy's singing part and I nudged him. "I love your voice in this, Jimbo. Gives me chills every single time."
When it came to Jimmy's part, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and sang "I am unbroken, I'm choking on this ecstasy! Break me, unchain me! I need another chance to live!". He sang it perfectly and I shivered making everyone laugh.
"You have an amazing voice, Jim-jam," I said making him smile and he hugged me.
"Thank you, Ly-ly. And you've got killer drum skills," Jimmy said.
Johnny nodded. "And I can't wait to test your bass-playing skills as well."
I smiled as I curled up and laid my head in his lap. "I'll show you some time after we get home."
Home. That's what I thought of Huntington Beach now. I would never think of Ireland that way anymore. Home is where your family is and these people who had taken me in and loved me when they hadn't even known me, were more of a family than those child-stealing bastards would ever be.
We stayed in a hotel that night but the next day we were only a few hours from Huntington. We were almost there when I noticed Zack looking in the rearrview mirror quite frequently and with a confused look on his face. Gena must have noticed this too.
"Zack?" she asked putting her hand on his arm. "What's going on?"
Still looking in the rearview as much as he could without taking his eyes off the road, Zack said, "There is a dark green car that's been following us."
Me, Jimmy and Johnny all turned around to look out the back window. Sure enough, there was a green car behind us.
Johnny turned back around. "What makes you think it's following us, Zack?"
"I noticed it when we first got to Texas but I didn't think anything of it until I saw it behind us again on our way back home," Zack said. "And it's been following our car. Not Matt's."
I looked at the car again hoping to see who was inside, but they were too far back and the window was just tinted enough that you couldn't see through it.
Jimmy put his hand on my shoulder. "Do you recognize it, Ly-ly?" he asked.
I shook my head. "No, but that doesn't mean I don't know them."
We were only fifteen minutes from Huntington so we decided to go ahead and go home. Johnny had called Matt and informed them of what was going on. Matt had told them not to take me to his house but I would be going to Johnny's instead, since he lived alone.
Both cars pulled up to Johnny's house and I saw the green car come up behind us and then pass by us.
I sighed. "Maybe they weren't following us after all."
"No, I don't thinkk so," Zack said. "Them being behind us for that long is no coincedence."
Matt nodded. "I agree. I think Eliza should still stay here for tonight."
"But Johnny can't protect her by himself," Jimmy said. "Leana is still gone so I'm going to be staying here with them."
Johnny glared at his friend. "What makes you think I can't protect her?"
Before Jimmy could answer, I turned to Matt. "Why do I have to stay here? Why can't I go back with you?"
Val put an arm around me. "Because we don't want this person to know where you live. If they stop by our house looking for you, we can tell them you're not there."
"But they know I'm here. They saw us," I said.
"That's why Jimmy and Johnny are gonna be here to protect you, Lizzy," Brian said. "We're not going to let anything happen to you. I promise."
The rest of them nodded in agreement and I relaxed some. I knew that I would be safe here.
After we got our bags out of the car, me, Jimmy, and Johnny made our way to his house as Zack and Matt both drove away. Inside Johnny's house, he showed me to the guest bedroom I'd be staying in.
I walked into the room and dropped my bag onto the bed. I turned when I heard the door shut behind me and I saw Johnny standing there, leaning against it.
He smiled at me and made his way over to hug me. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly. My heart was racing just from his touch and I knew I was falling for him.
Johnny pulled my face up to his and he kissed me gently. "I'm never going to let anybody hurt you, Eliza. You're safe here."
I kissed him harder than he had kissed me. When I pulled away, we were both smiling. "I know you wouldn't, Johnny. I'm so glad I'm here with you."
Johnny leaned down to kiss me one more time but there was a loud knock on the door and we heard: "JOHNNY! You better not be violating my Ly-ly! Or I swear to all that is holy I will come in there and castrate you!!"
I laughed as I moved around Johnny to open the door. Jimmy was standing there, bouncing from one foot to the other. When he saw me, he pulled me out of the room and moved me behind him.
Johnny glared at him. "What are you doing, Jimmy?"
"Protecting my sister," he replied.
"From me?!" Johnny said. "We weren't doing anything, you tall moron."
Jimmy scoffed. "Oh please. Then why did you have the door shut?"
I rolled my eyes and stepped in between them. "Ok that's enough, you two. Come on," I said, looping my arms through theirs. "Let's go watch a movie."
I sat on the couch in between both of them and we watched Jimmy's favorite movie, Jacob's Ladder. When it was over, I yawned and the guys both looked down at me.
"It is kind of late," Johnny said. "Lets go ahead and get to bed."
I nodded and stood. "Where's Jimmy going to sleep?" I asked.
"I'll stay on the couch," Jimmy said. "And Johnny is going to stay in his bed. Right, Short Shit?"
Johnny rolled his eyes but he agreed and followed me up the stairs after I said goodnight to Jimmy. When I got to the room I'd be staying in, Johnny stopped and kissed me.
"Goodnight, Lizzy," he said before he walked down the hallway to his bedroom.
I closed the door behind me and got ready for bed. Once I was laying down, I let my mind wander to thoughts of Johnny.
We had been kissing more lately and spending a lot of time together. My feelings for him grew more and more each day and I wanted to call him mine. I was going to have that talk with him and finally tell him how I felt.
I'd tell him I love him.
The next morning, I was awoken by banging on the front door. I quickly stood and pulled my jeans on and a t-shirt. I made my way downstairs to find both Jimmy and Johnny down here standing by the door. The banging had stopped but had started up again once I had entered the room.
Both men were looking at me with wide eyes. "We looked out the window but we don't recognize the person," Johnny said.
"But the green car is in the driveway," Jimmy added.
I moved passed them and stretched so I could see through the peep hole in the door. "Oh my God!" I said when I recognized the face on the other side.
With my heart beating faster than ever, I quickly unlocked the door and flung it open.
"Ricky?!"

Notes

Sorry for the late update, guys. I've been having issues with "motivation" for writing. But thanks to my mini-me, Miss Jimmy Sullivan, I'm getting it back.
Comments and cookies, my loves <3