When We Were Young

Nancy was getting used to get up early in the morning to pack her stuff and that morning wasn't any different. When she was still living in Portland, she didn’t think she owned so much stuff but now that she found herself having to put everything in brown boxes, she wondered how most of that stuff got into her house. Gladys helped her as much as she could, but Nancy quickly convinced her to just stick around to cooking food or to just leave and visit her friends so she could pack everything without feeling guilty for leaving her grandmother.

A day after she got back to Portland, Nancy met Jack Harris at the grocery shop. He was one of her co-workers and maybe one of the few friends she had in that city. Her grandmother told her many times that the guy had a thing for her, but Nancy ignored her words. The two went out together a couple of times, but only as friends. She had no time for a man and pretty much everything, Jack included, knew this. But it didn’t mean he stopped liking her. When she told him she was moving back to California, he was heartbroken and made her promise to come see him every once in a while and to return a favor he asked her one day at work, he ended up helping her pack all her stuff.

Getting some help wasn’t that bad at all, it helped her getting stuff done in half time. The stuff from JJ’s bedroom was completely packed, now she only needed to pack the stuff in her room and then she’d be ready. More or less.

That morning, early as always, Jack parked his car in the driveway and knocked on the door. As always, he had breakfast and after eating the food, Gladys went to visit one of her friends, while Nancy and Jack started packing her stuff. Most of the boxes were going to California with U-Haul, while other boxes, the ones with the most important stuff, were being put into her car.

Jack had just put one of the boxes into the trunk of Nancy’s car when he turned his attention to Nancy.

“Hey, remember the place I always stop by to get breakfast?” He asked and when she nodded, he started speaking again. “You won’t believe it, but I think I saw one of the best guitarists ever. I swear!”

“Oh yeah? Who is it? Slash? Jimmy Page?”

“Why would Jimmy Page be here in Portland?”

“I don’t know? And why would Slash be here in Portland?” Nancy chuckled and redid her bun before taking a sip of water. “So tell me, who did you see?”

“Synyster Gates. You know, the guitarist from Avenged Sevenfold. Remember that band I like and told you about? Their drummer died in December. What a bummer.”

Nancy’s heart stopped beating for a moment as Jack mentioned Brian’s stage name. There was no way he was in Portland, right?

“Are you–Are you sure it was him?”

“Nah, not really. If it was him, he really looks shitty in real life.” He commented and chuckled, “But he really looked like him. I wanted to ask him for an autograph but he didn’t exactly look very friendly today.” He shrugged and walked away, leaving a shocked Nancy on the front door.

She licked her lips and shook her head, Brian wasn’t in Portland and if he was, he probably would’ve called her. Deciding to ignore Jack’s words, she went upstairs to grab another box.
This time there were clothes in it, her maternity clothes, which meant the box would go in the U-Haul truck. She noticed Jack walk outside with a box filled with old pictures and books she had packed the night before, and she left her box in the living room. The guys from U-Haul would come get the boxes the next day, so Gladys suggested to leave them there until they came.

Nancy heard Jack speak to someone; at first she thought he was speaking to a neighbor or something, but when she walked out of the house, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Nancy! See? I told you I saw him this morning.” Jack yelled and motioned for her to move closer. “Nance, this is Synyster Gates.”

Brian thought he got the wrong address when he saw the blonde man walk out of the house, but when he saw her, he knew it was right. She looked great, even if she was sweaty and wearing what appeared to be old sweatpants and... Shit, he thought. She was also wearing one of his hoodies. He hadn’t seen it in years; he gave it to Nancy back when they were together and apparently she still had it.

“Brian.” She whispered as she took some steps towards the two men. “What are you doing here?”

Brian was about to open his mouth when the man spoke again. Usually he had no problems with fans but this time he wanted to punch him in the face and he wasn’t sure if it was because he was helping Nancy or because his face seemed to be even too perfect.

“Wait. You two know each other?” Jack asked, raising his eyebrows, his eyes moving from Brian to Nancy and viceversa. “What… How. Really? Why have you never told me anything, Nance?”

“Uh, yeah. We know each other. Remember I’m from California?” Nancy answered and looked towards Jack, “We were…” She looked at Brian, unsure of what to say. Were they friends? She didn’t know. “Friends.”, she said anyway. It was for the best. It’s not like she could say ‘Jack, I forgot to tell you that my daughter’s father is the guitarist from that band you like so much’, right?

“Yup, we’re friends and if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a word with my friend, dude.”

Jack looked at them slightly confused, then nodded. “Yes, of course. Go ahead. I’ll go grab a few boxes and finish this.”

“Actually, I really think you should leave.”

“Brian. What the hell?” Nancy glared at him, “I’m so sorry, Jack. He’s an ass.” She said, looking at her friend and feeling extremely sorry for Brian’s behavior, “Maybe you can come tomorrow? I’ll call you.”

“Yeah… Sure.” Jack said and walked inside to grab his jacket. When he walked outside, less than 30 seconds later, he glared at Brian. “I was gonna say it’s been a pleasure to meet you but not really.” He said and Nancy bit her lips, almost tempted to smile, but deciding to hold back. “See you, Nancy.”

“Bye, Jack.”

“Likewise.” Brian said and smirked as he watched him drive away, then turned his attention to Nancy. “Really, Nance?” He said, mocking the way Jack called her earlier. “Isn’t he a bit too perfect for you with his blonde hair and blue eyes?”

Nancy raised her eyebrows at his words, both surprised and upset. Even maybe a little shocked. “Why are you being such a dick?” She asked, “And what the fuck are you doing here?”

Brian stared at her for a brief moment. “Chill, Nancy. I was just asking about your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Whatever.”

Nancy took a deep breath and kept looking at Brian. “You look like shit.” She said, noticing how he looked tired. “What are you doing here?” She repeated.

Brian shrugged at his question, “I wanted fresh air.” He simply replied. “So, are you inviting me in or shall I just sit here outside?”

Nancy was tempted to say something sarcastic and very Brian-like, but she held back.
“Come inside, I wanted to make some coffee. Want some?”

Brian nodded at her question and followed her inside. He left the bag on a box and then looked around. There were boxes everywhere but from what he could see, the house was really nice. Very different from her parents’ house in Huntington Beach. It wasn’t big, but enough for a family of three; and definitely enough for Nancy, her grandmother and JJ. He sat down on a chair in the kitchen and rubbed his eyes, he hadn’t slept much the night before and now he was exhausted.

The smell of coffee made him open his eyes and smiled when he noticed the big cup of coffee in front of him. He immediately took a sip of it and licked his lips, then looked at Nancy who was sipping her coffee from her cup. It was then that he noticed the hoodie she was wearing.

“That hoodie still looks good on you.”

Nancy frowned and looked down at what she was wearing, realizing that the black and grey hoodie she put on earlier that day was his. Shit, she thought. She had found it earlier that day and she decided to put it on for God knows what reason. When she moved to Portland she used to hold it at night, his smell still on it able to calm her down, but now it smelled like vanilla and cherry. She didn’t say anything about the hoodie and crossed her arms over her chest.

“So, are you gonna tell me the real reason why you’re here?

“I told you, I wanted fresh air.” He said, “I don’t know. I guess I wanted to get away for a while and I didn’t know where to go so yeah, I decided to come here so I could help? But I see you already have your boyfriend helping you out.”

Nancy rolled her eyes, “Again, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s just a friend.”

“Whatever you say.”

“I mean it. He’s just a friend. I haven’t had a boyfriend in… Well, a very long time.” She said saying the truth. She hadn’t been with anyone since they broke up. Brian looked at her and was tempted to ask more, but her words stopped him. “Anyway, you said you wanna help.
Then help. Feel free to finish your coffee first and if you wanna use the bathroom, it’s the second door on the right. I’ll be upstairs.”

Brian watched her walk away and closed his eyes for a moment, sipping his coffee. Once he finished off his coffee, he left his jacket on the chair and walked upstairs, stopping here and there to see some of the photographs that were hanging on the wall. There was one of Nancy’s father when he was a kid, then one of Nancy as a baby and little boy he didn’t know, one from Nancy’s parents’ wedding, and another one of Nancy but this time she was a little bit older and she holding a newborn JJ. He smiled sadly, wishing there was at least one picture of him and Nancy the day JJ was born.

He shook his head and heard a few noises coming from a room, so he walked inside and noticed Nancy sitting on the floor, busy using tape to close the boxes. He looked around and despite the whole room was a mess, he could still see some things that made that room Nancy’s room, like the book she was reading on the nightstand, a picture of John and Jackie Kennedy on the wall and a guitar on the floor. He wondered if she still played the guitar. He could still remember the first time he tried to teach her how to play the guitar and how she ended up becoming really good at it. Not as good as him, but quite good.

“I’m surprised you didn’t call our daughter Jackie.” He said, nodding his head towards the John and Jackie picture, then he sat down in front of Nancy.

She chuckled at his words and shrugged, “I wanted to, but Jackie Kennedy would’ve been just too much for her. What kind of a mother do you think I am? I love her too much to give her such a name.”

Brian smiled softly at her answer, “Well, thank you for not giving her a stupid name.”

“It’s not a stupid name. It’s just that, that name with my last name are too much, but you’re welcome.”

"I mean, Joan Kennedy kinda reminds me of John Kennedy, but that's just me. Anyway you're right. Jackie Kennedy sucks. Jackie Haner sounds much better."

Nancy looked at him for a moment without saying anything, pushed the box aside and grabbed another one. It was filled with books, both hers and JJ’s. This box would end up in the U-Haul truck. She looked around and pointed a finger to a box not far from Brian was sitting.

“You can put those CDs in there, if you want.” She said, moving her finger to a stack of CDs.

Brian nodded and started putting the CDs in the boxes, but not without stopping to see if he could recognize some record. He found some old records, but also new ones. Nothing about Avenged Sevenfold. He wondered if she threw those albums away. Maybe she did. He was so lost in thought that when Nancy’s phone, that was on the bed behind him, starting ringing he jumped scared.

“The fuck?” He said before grabbing the phone and handing it to Nancy.

She looked down and frowned when she noticed an unknown number was calling her. The area code said the call came from California, but nobody really called her from there, and she had all the numbers saved. Immediately thinking maybe someone was calling her because something happened to JJ, she picked up.

“Hello?”

“Is he there?”

Notes

Hi! Are you surprised that Brian's in Maine? And who do you think just called Nancy? :D

As always, thanks to Hollie, forREVer-A7X and Avengedlover for the lovely comments. I'm really happy you enjoy my story <3 I really like writing it and it's my favorite so far, so I'm really glad to have such a great feedback from you. It really means a lot <3