Here's to New Beginnings

When we walked injnto Brian's house, we were greeted by a very excited Michelle.

"Hi best friend!" She said excitedly as she hugged me.

"Hiii" I replied, excited to see her again.

"Ok, enough of that. Let's take a fucking shot!" Brian said as he walked past us and into the kitchen.

Michelle and I watched from the other side of the kitchen as Brian pulled out three shot glasses and a bottle of Jack Daniels.

"Ohhhh no" I said as I backed away from the counter. "I haven't drank heavily since the last time I was home. I am NOT ending my night hugging the toilet!"

"Oh come on. You'll be back to drinking us under the table in no time" Brian said as he poured the shots. "Go big or go home, sister!"

Michelle laughed. "I bought a case of Coke for you to wash it down with. I knew this was coming".

"See! This is why I love her!" I exclaimed as I walked to the fridge to grab a Coke.

Brian, Michelle, and I picked up our shot glasses.

"To the return of our favorite troublemaker. May she be as fiesty as ever!"

Michelle and I laughed as our glasses clinked together. We downed our shots, the liquid burning from my throat to my stomach. I chugged my Coke afterwards and let out a hiss.

"Fucking Jack, man." I said with a shudder.

Brian laughed. "It gets ya every time!"

I grabbed my cigarettes and headed out back with Michelle. We sat down at the patio table and made a little small talk before Michelle addressed the elephant in the room.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly.

I shook my head. "Not tonight. I promise I will tell you everything, I just want to enjoy a night without all of that bullshit. Besides, I'm sure Brian would love to tell you all about it. He had a lot to say" I said with a chuckle, remembering the string of cuss words that flew out of Brian's mouth.

Just as Michelle was about to speak again, we heard someone running through the house.

"You better brace yourself", she said with a giggle.

Just then, the patio door came flying open and Jimmy ran out of the house.

"LILY BEAN! MY LILY BEAN IS HOME!" He yelled as he pulled me out of my chair. He suddenly pulled me back at arms length. "WHY didn't you call me!?" He shouted as he pulled me back into his chest.

I laughed at his antics. "Sorry Jimmy bean. But I'm home for good".

"FINALLY!" He yelled excitedly.

We heard a few more sets of footsteps coming through the house and onto the patio.

"What the fuck is all this commo- LILY!?" Johnny said, surprised.

He stood there, staring at me like he had seen a ghost. I just stared back, giving him my best 'are you stupid' look.

"Well if you aren't gonna go hug her, I sure as hell am" Zack said, pushing past Johnny and pulling me into a hug. "Welcome home girl", he said as he gave me a squeeze.

"Thanks, Zee. It's good to be home" I said as he released me from the hug.

Johnny snapped out of his trance and gave me a hug. "I can't believe you're really here" he said excitedly.

"Share the love, Johnny. Dang!" Lacey said as she pulled me out of Johnny's arms to give me a hug herself.

I stood talking to Michelle and Lacey as Johnny, Zack, Jimmy, and Brian stood talking beside us.

"So, has she seen him yet?" Johnny asked Brian.

"Yes, I have seen him" I said as I turned to the group of men that were gossiping like a bunch of girls.

"Damn, I would have liked to seen the look on his face. How did it go?" Johnny asked.

As I was about to reply, Matt walked out onto the patio. "The look on who's face?" He asked curiously. As he walked farther onto the patio, he saw me standing between Michelle and Jimmy and stopped in his tracks.

"Oh, Lily. Hey, you made it out" he said surprised as he started walking towards me to give me a hug.

"Yeah, Brian doesn't take no for an answer" I replied, rolling my eyes. Matt let out a chuckle.

As I was pulling away from Matt, I heard Zack say "I bet it went a little something like that".

I looked over at him and Johnny, who had shit eating grins plastered on their faces. I gave them a pointed look and they just continued to grin, causing me to roll my eyes.

Brian rounded everyone up to head into the kitchen to take another shot. As he poured up the shots, I decided to speak.

"Ok, before we begin this crazy night I just want to say one thing. We will NOT be talking about crazy exs or the issues that I have in my life. Tonight is going to be a fun, drama-free night of getting drunk and if you don't like it, you can leave now".

"Can she do that?" Johnny whispered to Brian.

"I think she just did" Brian said with a laugh.

Once everyone had their shot glasses, we all held them up in the air for a toast.

"To the return of our precious Lily bean and a crazy night of getting fucked up" Jimmy said. We all clinked our glasses together and downed our shots.

"Oh! And before I forget, don't get too drunk tonight. Everyone gets to help me move tomorrow!" I said with enthusiasm.

The guys groaned. "Shit. I already forgot about that" Brian said as he slumped his shoulders.

"Where are you moving to?" Lacey asked excitedly.

"The Haner rental house" I said, watching the grins spread across all of the guys faces.

"Damn that house has a lot of memories" Jimmy said with a laugh.

"All of those kick ass high school parties we used to throw" Brian said as memories of the rental house came flooding back.

As I looked around the group, my eyes locked with Matt's and the most prominent memory of the rental house came flooding back. It was there that Matt had told me that he loved me for the first time.

I looked away from Matt as I felt the heat rise to my cheeks and decided to follow Johnny outside for a cigarette.

As the night went on, we drank more and more. It didn't take long for me to get drunk. I was currently dancing the night away with Johnny, playing air guitar and singing my heart out to Stranglehold. The night was much needed and I was definitely enjoying myself.

"LILY! Let's take another shot!" Brian called from the kitchen.

I made my way over to Brian and I took one more shot with him. When I turned around, I ran right into Matt.

"Ok, I'm cut off. Don't let me take any more shots, Matthew" I said with a giggle.

He laughed as he grabbed onto my shoulders to steady me. "No more shots. Got it" he said with a laugh.

Not long after, everyone started dropping like flies. Jimmy passed out on the couch, Zack on the floor. Lacey took a very drunk Johnny home, and I stumbled my way upstairs to pass out in the guest room. As I was walking down the hall, I ran into Matt coming out of the bathroom.

"Whoa, where are you going in such a hurry?" He asked with a chuckle, putting his arms on my shoulders once again to steady me.

"I'm going to bed before Brian finds me and tries to get me to take another shot", I replied.

He let out a deep laugh. "Well in that case, you better get moving. I'll see you in the morning. Good night, Lil". He said as he pulled me into a quick hug.

"Good night" I replied in a whisper as I snuck down the hallway.

Matt let out a chuckle and started walking down the stairs as I entered the guest room. I quickly changed into my pajamas and climbed into bed. For the first time in a long time, I went to sleep genuinely happy.

Notes