Take Me Back to Start

Jolie’s hair was up in a messy bun with strands falling down. She wore an old t-shirt that, at this point, she wasn’t even sure if it was originally her shirt or not. Each of her hands were covered in paint and she had a couple of smudges on her face. She was in the painting mode as she worked in the extra room that was converted into a small studio for her. There was music playing in the room as she focused.

“Damn, I forgot how good you were,” a voice made Jolie jumped and twirl around towards the door. She hadn’t even heard it open. She was too lost in her thoughts. But, she saw it was just Jimmy making her relax.

“Thanks, Jim Jam. It feels good to be working on art again. I didn’t do anything when I was with Alex. He thought it was a complete waste of time,” Jolie honestly said as she turned back around to make a couple strokes.

Jimmy was quiet for a moment watching her work. “Tell me to fuck off if you don’t want to talk about it, but how are you doing? When it comes to Alex?” he asked carefully.

Jolie gave him a small smile appreciating his concern. “I’m getting better every day. There’s days when I feel like myself, but then there’s other days when I get lost in my head. I feel good though. I’m not letting Alex control me anymore,” she tells him with a bit of pride in her voice. She had come a long way and was working hard to move on. “Honestly, I missed you guys a lot when I was gone. It’s been incredibly helpful having our Avenged family around to help me. I don’t know where I’d be without you guys.”

“Don’t get me crying, Jo. Seriously, you know I hate that shit,” Jimmy mumbled sniffing a bit.

“Jimbo, you make my dull world so much more colorful. I’m lucky to have you. Everyone is lucky to have a spoonful of Jimmy,” Jolie genuinely says, “There’s nobody quite like you.”

Jimmy pulled the small girl into his arms holding her tightly as he tried to keep himself from crying. He loved the small girl in his arms. He was so happy to hear his friend was feeling better. The progress was clear as day in her eyes. What meant so much to him was hearing her vocalize how much he meant to her. It made his heart swell. This family they all created was something beautiful. Something bigger than just friendship.

In order to lighten the mood again, Jimmy smirked a bit to himself and pulled away from Jolie. “In other news, Brian’s been pretty concerned for you, hasn’t he?” he tried to prompt the girl, “Matt says Brian can’t keep his eyes off of you.”

The brush Jolie was using stopped for a moment before she slowly started moving again. She shrugged her shoulders not sure where Jimmy was going with his point. “You know Brian. He can be a drama queen at times,” she says easily like it was the most obvious explanation.

Laughter started to fill the room as Jimmy shook his head. “Are you serious? Do you really not know Brian’s been in love with you for like fifteen years?” he asked in disbelief. After all this time, he had no clue how Jolie could just not realize. He was further shocked when she blew him off, saying he was wrong. She didn’t believe Brian felt that way about her. “Jo, he’s been gone on you for as long as I’ve known you two. I thought he was going to finally admit it when he asked you to prom, but then he played it off like he was just being a friend,” he added.

At first, Jolie wouldn’t accept what Jimmy said at all. As much as he tried to explain all the little times Brian very clearly tried to show his feelings, she wouldn’t believe it. Jimmy tried to explain Brian was scared to ruin their friendship and be vulnerable, but it didn’t matter. Jolie was stubborn as hell and she didn’t want to accept the truth. Instead, she forced a conversation change. “What do you think of this piece?” she asked gesturing towards the painting. Jimmy sighed letting the conversation go and stepped closer to look at it.

Even after Jimmy left, Jolie couldn’t get his words out of her head. It was driving her crazy. Brian couldn’t be in love with her. Finally, she was frustrated enough that she went to the one person she knew would tell her the truth and definitely know: Papa Gates.

“Hi, sweetie! I didn’t expect to see you tonight. Come on in,” Suzy opened the door of the Haner residence letting Jolie into the house with a big smile and small hug.

“Sorry to show up suddenly. I was wondering if Papa was home,” Jolie asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice that wouldn’t have normally been noticed, but the Haners knew better.

“Don’t be silly. You’re always invited here at any time,” Suzy honestly replied.

“Unless it’s three in the morning. Then I want my beauty sleep,” Papa Gates’s voice came from the kitchen. Suzy walked in slapping his shoulder playfully as she sat at the counter with a cup of tea. Papa Gates was finishing drying off the dishes from dinner. Jolie sat down with Suzy at the counter with a small laugh. Papa Gates’ glanced over his shoulder giving her one look before saying, “This isn’t just a visit. What’s going on?”

It never ceased to amaze Jolie how well Papa Gates knew her. One look told him everything. She never thought of herself as such an open book, but growing up with Papa just meant he knew the way to translate. But still, she was hesitant to come right out and ask. Instead she softly began, “It’s about Brian…”

“What did Junior do this time? Knock up a crazy chick?” Papa laughed. Suzy quickly shushed him in defense of Brian.

Jolie laughed softly, but it clearly didn’t calm her nerves. So, Suzy reached over giving her hand a squeeze. “It’s just…Jimmy was at my house earlier. He tried to tell me that…Brian had a thing for me or something,” she finally said, “But he’s got to be wrong. We all know Syn loves women, plural.”

Papa Gates turned around with a laugh. He had the towel in hand still as he leaned his back against the counter, so he could look over at Jolie. “Jimmy finally cracked, huh? I’m surprised he lasted this long. You know he’s good with secrets, but this one was driving him crazy,” he said easily like it was obvious. Jolie looked at him in confusion before glancing at Suzy, who also looked unfazed by the conversation. “Jolie, you know my son has been chasing you since you two were kids. We’ve all known he loved you. We were just waiting for you to realize,” he adds.

“That’s ridiculous. You know he isn’t the kind of guy to fall in love, especially with someone like me. He looks at me like a little sister, like McKenna,” Jolie argued.

“Let me tell you, Jo. If Brian looked at Mac like he looks at you, we’d have some creepy incest shit going on here,” Papa teased trying to lighten the mood before saying, “Brian’s a complex guy. He’s been stuck on the same girl for his entire life. He’s watched her date other people and even move away. So, he’s learned to drown his problems in other women and booze. That’s just Brian. This shouldn’t be surprising to you. If you’re honest with yourself, you can see how he’s always been trying to make the move, but he’s been too scared. Your friendship means the world to him. Being with you, if only as a friend, is something he could do if he had to. He never could deal with it if he told you how he felt and you refused to even be his friend.”

In an instant, Jolie was completely overwhelmed. She had expected Papa Gates to laugh at her when she brought up Brian’s feelings. He would tell her Jimmy was lying and she’d go home. Instead, she was frozen in her seat trying to comprehend everything. Suzy leaned over to give her hand another tight squeeze. “This doesn’t have to change anything, honey. Brian is perfectly content being your friend. I know you’ve had an awful last couple of years. If this is too much, you don’t have to say anything to him,” she said comfortingly.

Papa Gates leaned over the counter to look Jolie in the eyes. “He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself. You just got to think about yourself, okay? Just think it over,” he said lightly. Jolie was already lost in thought, remembering all her interactions with Brian.

“So, you’re moving in with him?” a twenty-three-year-old Brian Haner Jr asked Jolie as the two of them laid in Matt and Val’s backyard. They were having a going away party for her. They were all taking her move to heart. It was only to LA, but it was further than any of them had ever been apart. The group of best friends had lived their entire lives together in Huntington Beach. Now, one of them were leaving. Not only that, but moving in with someone they all hated. Alex was always on his best behavior around Jolie’s friends, but they all knew something was off. She couldn’t see it thought.

“Yeah, I’m moving in with him. It just makes more sense, you know? He works in LA, so I couldn’t ask him to move to Huntington. I really like him and I want to be with him more than just whenever he can come visit,” Jolie answered honestly while looking at the clear blue sky.

Matt, Val, Johnny, Jimmy, and Zacky were all inside. Johnny had passed out hours ago from too many Long Island Martinis, a weakness of his. Meanwhile, Matt, Val, Jimmy, and Zacky were playing a team game. At some point, Jolie had wandered outside and Brian followed along.

Brian was quiet at first when Jolie admitted she was certain about moving. “So, this is it?” he asked in quiet voice. He sat up facing the small girl with his eyes locked on her. She sat up along with him and gave him a small.

“It’s not the end, Bri. You know that. It’s just the beginning of a new chapter. I’m not leaving you guys behind. I love you all too much for that,” Jolie promised easily. Brian reached out and cupped her cheek lightly. He rubbed his thumb softly against it. She couldn’t help, but lean into his touch a bit.

“Jo…I don’t want you to leave. I think I-“Brian was cut off before he could finish what he was saying, Zacky came running outside cheering.

“I won, motherfuckers!” Zacky cried out, “Who’s next?”

Jolie laughed loudly pulling away from Brian and starting to stand up. “Nice work, Zee. I’ll take on the next round in a second,” She offered and then glanced back at Brian. “What were you saying?”

Brian stood up without even looking at Jolie. He forced a smile and chuckled to himself, but there wasn’t any humor behind it. “It wasn’t important, Jolie. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go enjoy this last night of you living in Huntington,” he changed the subject and headed towards the back door. She was going to stop him, but Zacky was already pulling her inside as well.

Notes

A heartfelt moment and some Haner Fam comfort! <3 Making some more progress on the romance part.