Finals had come and gone. Between her job, where she picked up two more shifts a week, studying, and actually writing her exams, Ellie had little time to think about the whirlwind of a personal life she had found herself dealing with. These two weeks of distractions had been a blessing: Ellie was glad to have something productive to focus all of her time and energy on. Though when Ellie woke up on the Friday before Christmas, with no pressing tasks to accomplish, she felt the weight of all of her emotions crash down on her before she had even left her bed.

Katie was knocking softly at Ellie’s door upon hearing her friend curse aloud from across their apartment. Despite the fact that Ellie had kept herself busy with work and her exams, Katie felt that the pair had become closer since that day they had brunch. Ellie had broken down after receiving that phone call and they promptly returned back to their apartment. By 2 pm they had half finished a bottle of cheap vodka that they had picked up on their walk back from the diner and had written an email to Ellie’s boss requesting a week and a half off at Christmas due to a family emergency. Her request had been granted within the hour; a perk of being a model employee. Ellie planned to use that time off for a trip to Chicago with Katie. Any free time the friends had they spent together, talking more about their legitimate childhoods and finding more to bond over. Ellie wanted to continue that in a stress-free environment where she was isolated from her past.

“Ellie, I’m coming in,” Katie said softly as she turned the doorknob slightly and pushed on the door. Ellie was still under the covers, laying on her back with her right arm flung dramatically over her eyes.

“How can Christmas break be here already?” Ellie groaned as she shifted to her left to make room on her bed for her friend, who casually flopped down on her stomach beside her.

“You can’t seriously be sad you’re finished finals,” Katie teased, knowing very well why Ellie was missing the distraction that school brought.

“Oh hell no, I’m not sad that those are over. I’m pretty sure that Social Justice exam kicked my ass.”

“Shut up, you’re that pesky kid that always says that but still maintains first class standing. I want to kick your ass for how you always do better than me on every test and assignment.”

“Yeah well, you’re not the only one who wants to kick my ass these days, ’tis the season,” Ellie scoffed. “I’ve got a whole list of people back in California who all of a sudden want me back in their lives and won’t take no as an answer.”

“Have you returned any of their messages or calls?” Ellie was silent following her friend’s question. She really wasn’t ready to face all of the people she had been avoiding.

“I told Matt I was busy with exams and I would call him when I had finished them, but other than that, no. I assume Matt relayed the message.”

Katie was almost annoyed at how nonchalant her friend was acting with respect to the recent events in her life. She understood that a lot of past grievances were being brought back into the forefront of Ellie’s focus. However, had Katie been in that situation, she would be glad to have the chance to fix all of her broken relationships, especially since it was clear Ellie regretted letting all of them crumble and fall apart.

“Here’s the plan. I’m going to go make coffee. You’re going to haul your ass out of bed, we’ll sit down, enjoy our coffee and make a game plan. You have a lot of phone calls to return.” Katie took her friend’s groan as a rebuttal, but didn’t take the time to reply. She knew Ellie would join her as soon as the smell of coffee filled the apartment.

Katie was honestly surprised at the knock on their front door. Living in a secure building definitely limited the number of unwanted visitors they received; it was usually the building manager stopping by to deliver some sort of notice that required entrance to their unit. She didn’t think twice about opening the door before checking the peep-hole to see who was on the other side.

“Hi, is uh, Ellie home?” A tall sparsely tattooed man stood before her, his right hand rubbing the back of his neck to show his discomfort. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and tucked his hands in his pocket as Katie just stood there, grinning at the man like a fool.

“Yes, of course! Come on in!” Katie side stepped twice to let the man in and go get out of the way of Berkeley, who had since appeared at the door to greet the man.

“So you must be the mystery man from the other night,” Katie assumed. Ellie’s friend had dropped to his knees to pet the dog and had referred to him by his name and the only person that had met the dog that Katie didn’t know as well, she figured, had to be Zack.

“Not that night Katie, the night before,” Ellie groaned at her friend’s pesky persistence in nosing about her personal life. Ellie went straight to the coffee maker, which had since finished brewing, and poured three cups of coffee as Matt reached out a hand for Katie to shake and introduced himself.

“Damn girl! This is the Matt you slept with?”

“Wait, she knows?” Matt asked as he joined Ellie in the kitchen. Ellie muttered a ‘Jesus Christ’ under her breath and handed her two friends their cups of coffee. She was met with a look of pure concern from Matt.

“Matt, she’s the only one who knows and it's only because you guys showed up unexpectedly at the end of the month. I had to explain who you all were, and Katie just got the full story.”

“Only knows because you guys showed up, I can’t believe this bitch leaves me in the dark all the time! But damn Ellie, if this is the one you gave up, I hope the other guy is at least half as good looking as this one is!”

“He’s not,” Matt quipped, his dimples visible from the cheeky grin on his face. Ellie dropped her jaw a little and playfully back-handed his arm.

“He is, but that’s beside the point. What the hell are you doing here Matt? How’d you get into the building?”

“I buzzed apartments on the floors you don’t live on until someone answered, told them I just moved into your apartment number and I’m having trouble with the new key I had cut. It was scarily simple. Security needs to up its game in this building.”

“Okay, so why are you here? It’s days before Christmas, shouldn’t you be at home with your family?”

“By the look on your face, I’d say you figured it out,” Matt said, noting the look of realization that washed over Ellie’s features. “Besides, Zack doesn’t have the black card that’s funding my little Miami trip.”

As soon as the words were out of Ellie’s mouth, it had clicked. She was both furious and flattered that he had gone to these lengths to have her return to Huntington Beach for the holidays, but at the same time, she had wished he had respected the fact that she had never returned a phone call after the one that interrupted her brunch with Katie two weeks prior. She had forgone her last few years without his influence; he wasn’t there to share her successes or help her overcome her failures. She had spent the last three Christmases away from California, two were spent in Miami and one in Chicago, so when she had received that phone call from her father, requesting she come back to the west coast for the upcoming holiday, she was skeptical.

“I’m sorry he dragged you into this, Matt,” Ellie started, keeping her eyes focused on the slowly emptying cup of coffee in her hands. “If he wanted me to come back so terribly maybe he should have come to see me himself, or at least spoken to me once since I moved out here.”

Matt winced at Ellie’s harshening tone. He hated seeing that she had grown so distant from her father. He was the only blood relative the girl had, but he understood that Mr. Brandt had been quick to a harsh banishment when Ellie finished high school. Ellie had every right to be angry at her father for holding her mistakes against her so severely, but it had come to the point where Ellie needed to let that slide and hear Matt out.

“Katie, can we have the room?” Matt asked, making eye contact with the blonde as a silent plea.

“Of course,” Katie nodded as she spoke, “I’m going to hop in the shower.” Katie placed her far-from-empty coffee cup in the sink and reached over to gently squeeze Ellie’s hand, which was rested on the counter, before disappearing into the back half of the apartment. Matt silently made his way over to the couch, with Berkeley hot on his heels and sat, motioning for Ellie to join him.

Ellie cautiously followed Matt across her apartment. She suddenly felt like her stomach was going to drop out of her body at any moment. The lump that formed in her throat stole all of her focus, as she did everything she could not to cry. Matt may have always been the more serious of the group, but it was rare that his serious tone was laced with compassion. She was preparing herself for the worst news, and by the way Matt fidgeted with the hem of the bottom of his shorts as he waited for her to join him, he was mentally preparing himself as well.

The conversation was really a blur. Ellie was so distracted trying to brace herself that she couldn’t even focus on Matt’s words. She found herself trying to run through as many scenarios as she possibly could, coming up with how to react to each outcome that when she heard the words heart attack she snapped back to full attention.

Her father had suffered a heart attack. Her father had suffered a life-threatening event, and here she was, on the other side of the damn country, refusing to call the man back. If she thought she had felt guilty over the fistfight that caused the rift between her and her father, she realized at that moment that she had never truly felt guilt. She felt like she was being buried alive. She felt an invisible weight on her shoulders. She found herself needing to focus on her breathing as her vision narrowed and became dark and cloudy in her peripheral.

Matt watched as Ellie fought the tears that were welling up. She nodded a few times before gingerly getting up from the couch and making her way to her bedroom. Matt followed, keeping his distance and not offering any conversation so as not to push Ellie over an edge. Instead, he went to Ellie’s closet as she went to her dresser to pack her undergarments. Matt honestly had no idea what he was doing as he pulled clothes off of their hangars and folded them on Ellie’s bed for her to pack. She offered no guidance or protest towards Matt’s actions, just sent him a small appreciative smile when they made eye contact.

Matt heard the shower turn off and the bathroom door open moments later. He waited long enough for Katie to get dressed before walked across the hall and knocked on her bedroom door. Katie had Ellie’s toiletries packed, as Matt had requested, just as Ellie was finishing placing her clothes in her suitcase. It took Ellie another five minutes to pull her dog’s travel crate out of the hall closet and have his belongings packed. It amazed Matt how fast she had managed to pack, considering the number of weekend trips they had taken in their youth that she had spent hours packing for.

Katie helped bring Ellie’s belongings down to her car. She hadn’t asked any questions on what was happening, but could see in Ellie’s fragile state that what her friend needed was to return home. Katie hoped that Ellie would be able to use her time at home over the holiday to repair her broken relationships, but was nervous for her friend nonetheless. Ellie hugged her friend and hopped in the passenger seat, clearly in no emotional state to be driving. Katie reached out to Matt as well before he got into the car, sliding her phone number into his hand and quietly asking for him to keep her updated on her friend for the duration of her time in California. “Ellie’s lucky to have you, Katie. Thanks for taking such good care of her these last few years,” Matt smiled lightly, his dimples showing ever so slightly. Matt waited until Katie was out of sight in the parking garage before putting Ellie’s car in reverse and following his friend’s directions towards the airport.

Notes

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry this update is so overdue. I had the hardest time writing this chapter. This is actually the third version of the chapter that I'm posting, and I'm still not 100% happy with it, but you all deserved the update, so here it is!

So, Ellie's heading back to California. Did anyone expect her father to reach out? Any predictions on how their reunion will go?

As always, I love hearing from you. A million thank yous to everyone who comments/subscribes/votes. You all rock.
xx