When We Were Young

After a couple of days, Nancy was heading to Linda and Zacky’s place. Apparently the guys were in Los Angeles to try to work on the new album so Linda organized a girl’s day at her place. Movies, chitchat and wine were the order of the day and even though Nancy tried to decline the invitation, she ended up accepting. JJ was with her grandparents, so Nancy didn’t even have to worry that much about her daughter.

She knocked on the door and smiled widely when Linda opened the door, letting her in.

“Look who’s still alive!” She exclaimed.

Nancy walked inside and noticed Lacey standing up from the couch.

“Finally we get to see you for more than five minutes!” Lacey said, hugging her.

“Come, sit down and make yourself comfortable.”

Nancy looked around and sat down on the couch. The last time she went to Zacky’s apartment, it wasn’t that big but enough for him and Linda to live together, now they were living in a bigger house. Nothing compared to her small house in Portland.

“Do you want anything to drink?”

“I guess I’ll wait a little.” Nancy answered and chuckled.

“Good, eating first is better.”

“So, how’ve you been?” Lacey asked, “Johnny wouldn’t stop talking about you the other day. I have to come back with some news, or he’ll get upset.”

Nancy laughed and crossed her legs, “Oh, Johnny. I see he hasn’t changed much.”

“Are you kidding? He’s exactly like the last time you saw him before leaving.” Linda said, “But what can we do? This girl here chose him, so we gotta stick with him, you know.”

“Poor Johnny.” Nancy laughed and shook her head. “I’ve been good, really good. It hasn’t been easy at first then I got used to Portland and here I am.”

Lacey nodded slightly. “We thought you’d keep in touch with us.”

Nancy’s heart sunk at her words and she slowly nodded. “I know, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t want to disappear completely but things got complicated and–”

“It’s the past, Nancy. We get it. The break up hasn’t been that good, we know. Trust me.” Linda said, “Now you’re back so why don’t we just forget the past?”

“So you’re back for good?” Lacey asked, raising her eyebrows. Nancy could tell there was hope in that facial expression.

“I–” Nancy started speaking and shrugged, “I have no idea. There are a few things I gotta do here before leaving and when I do them, I have the feeling I won’t be able to leave, so I guess we’ll wait and see?”

“That’s much better than nothing.”

Someone started ringing the doorbell like a crazy person and Nancy frowned, looking at the girls.

“Jesus Christ, who’s this?!” Linda asked, but when she opened the door, she couldn’t help but smile.

There was Valary holding what appeared to be a heavy box, she gave it to Linda and took a deep sigh. When she finally turned around and she noticed Nancy, she screamed and ran towards her, hugging her.

“Nan-Nan!” She exclaimed, happily.

Nancy smiled and hugged her back. “Hey, Val.” She said, pulling away to look at her for a moment, but the blonde quickly hugged her again tightly.

“I’ve missed you so much, Nancy.”

The two, just like Nancy and Linda and Nancy and Lacey, were good friends before her departure, but their friendship had always been deeper than with the other girls. They were always there for each other, since day one.

“Dude, why you gotta carry her like that?” Valary asked, noticing how Jimmy was holding Nancy. She was on his shoulder and she could see nothing since her ass was facing Matt and Valary.

“Because he’s an ass.”

“You’re the ass, baby.” Jimmy said, giving her a small ass pat. He put her down and Nancy rolled her eyes before turning to Val.

“I’m sorry. Like I said, he’s an ass.”

Valary smiled at her after glaring at Jimmy, who simply laughed. “You’re just jealous.”

The blonde rolled her eyes and Nancy chuckled. The two girls sat next to each other on the worn out couch of the basement, ready to attend the nth band practice. It was like a rule. After school there was always band practice and if somebody didn’t attend it, that somebody would have to snacks and dinner for everybody the next time. But this rule didn’t exactly apply to the girls since they were usually the ones who’d have to buy all the food while the guys were busy playing.

The food was already on a table, ready to be eaten. Zacky glanced at the bags on the table every now and then, which made both Valary and Nancy chuckle.

At some point Brian looked at Nancy and gave her a small smile before focusing on his instrument, that smile, however, was seen by Valary. The girl smiled widely and turned her head to her friend.

“So, care to share what’s going on between you and Haner?”

“Nothing’s going on between us.”

She lied. A couple of nights before they kissed each other and since that night, he was the only thing in her mind and apparently, she was the only thing he could think about.

“You can’t fool me, Nan-Nan.”

“Stop it with that nickname. There’s nothing you need to know.”

“Never.” Val said, “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

“So what’s up?” Valary asked Nancy, when she finally pulled away from the brunette. “We have like four years of stories and news to catch up on. Linda, where’s the wine?”

After three hours, Linda, Lacey and Valary were tipsy, while Nancy stopped at the second glass of wine. They were laughing at old memories and the brunette couldn’t help but smile. She’d missed this. A lot. Raising a kid by yourself and working hasn’t been the best for Nancy’s friendships. She had a few acquaintances in Portland, but none she could consider friends and this was something she truly missed. Having someone, other than her grandmother, to tell her about her life, her insecurities and pretty much everything. She used to have Jimmy, but it wasn’t the same thing.

“Girls, girls. Do you remember that time when you almost ended up at the hospital because you fell from that tree?” Lacey asked, talking about Linda, who glared at her jokingly.

“Oh my God!” Nancy exclaimed and laughed, “And Zacky almost started crying.”

“I’m sorry, can we talk about that time when we caught Brian and Nancy naked in the back of the tour bus?” She said and immediately everyone started laughing.

“In my defense, it was summer and it was really hot back there.” Nancy said, then she met Valary’s gaze and she suddenly felt uncomfortable, even if the blonde seemed to be amused by that memory. It was a funny story and on another occasion, she would’ve added something else, but it wasn’t the case. Not when she was kind of aware that Brian was dating Valary’s sister now.

“Uh, Linda… Where’s the bathroom?” Nancy asked, getting up.

“At the end of the corridor, on the right.”

Nancy thanked her and headed towards the bathroom. She locked the door of the bathroom and sat on the edge of the big bathtub. She didn’t exactly need to use the bathroom, she just needed an excuse to walk away for a little bit without sounding too suspect. Finding herself think about Brian – and Michelle – wasn’t exactly the best.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and noticed a missed call from an unknown number, a message in the voicemail and two texts.

Nancy, it’s mom. Brian came over, he wanted to see you. Grandma brought JJ upstairs, he didn’t see her. I gave him your phone number. Call him!

Nancy sighed heavily as she read her mother’s text. Mary was right, she couldn’t wait any longer. Not when she was catching up with the others like this.

She read the other text and a small smile appeared on her lips.

Not sure if you started to check your voicemail, so I thought I’d text you as well. Check your voicemail! – Brian

She laughed and shook her head. He still knew her well. She’d always hated receiving voicemails and even leaving them. She thought they were pointless. She decided to make an exception that time and started listening to Brian’s message.

“Hey, Nancy. It’s me, Brian. Uh–Yeah. I stopped by but I found your mom. She said you’re out with the girls. Good. Good.” He stopped speaking for a moment, then continued. “The other night you ran away and I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Oh yeah, your mother gave me your phone number. Uh–yeah, that’s it. Call me if you want. The guys would like to see you again, so maybe we could organize something? It’s up to you. Bye.” Brian stopped talking, then quickly added something else. “It’s Brian. Haner. Synyster Gates, you know. I dunno if you know other Brian’s. But it’s me.”

Nancy chuckled softly at that voicemail. That was probably the best voicemail she’d ever gotten. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, knowing she had to do it. Now or never.

Thank you for the voicemail. I’d like to meet the others, but there’s something I want to tell you first. Do you think we can meet up? Feel free to pick a date and the time. Anything’s fine to me.

It didn’t take her long to receive a reply from Brian, he texted right back. She wondered if he was waiting for her reply, but her common sense let her realize that maybe he was simply holding his phone for another reason.

Is tonight at 9 PM good? We’re still at the studio, but I should be back by then.

Nancy squeezed her eyes shut for a moment until a hard knock on the door scared her.

“Jesus!” She exclaimed, hearing Linda’s laugh from the other side of the door.

“Just making sure you’re alive!”

“Not for that long if you scare me like that.” She said and sighed heavily, “I’ll be out in a minute!”

“Alright, quick!”

Nancy licked her lips and looked down at her phone. Her heart wouldn’t stop beating fast and she started to think that maybe it wasn’t because of the scare, but mostly because of the meeting with Brian.

Sounds good. Can’t think of any quiet place where we can speak without being interrupted so think of something and let me know, please?

I thought of something. I’ll text you the address asap.

That was it. With a quick exchange of texts, Nancy finally decided to tell Brian the truth. She only hoped she wouldn’t run away again.

Notes

Here's chapter five, hope you enjoy! What do you think is happening in the next chapter? :D

Thank you to the new subscribers and thank you Hollie for your comment! I'm really glad you enjoy my writing style :)

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