~ * A Week After Graduation Night * ~
Nick slid his key, the one his girlfriend had had made for him, into the door knob, turning it and unlocking the door. He smiled as he stepped inside, smelling the food that was being prepared. "Rae?? Zack?? Mrs. Larson?" he called out. He chuckled as Rachel came bounding down the stairs happily.
"Nickers!" Rae flung herself into his arms, grinning. "You hungry? 'Cause Momma's making a truck load of food! It should be done soon and once Brittany, Shannon, and Ryan get here we can eat."
Nick rubbed his stomach, "Great, 'cause I'm starvin'. Where's Zack?"
"Upstairs, getting ready," she answered as she led him into the kitchen, where her mom was slaving over the stove. "You're coming to the 4th of July bash, right?"
"Of course, where else would I be?" he grinned, before turning to Rachel and Zack's mom. "Hi, Mrs. Larson. How are you??" he gave her a hug as she smiled up at him.
"I'm good, Nick. You?"
"Great. Can't wait to eat this awesome food. Need some help?"
Mrs. Larson looked at him admiringly, before getting some plates down from the cabinet and handing them to her daughter, "How about you two set the table," she smiled.
Rachel nodded and thanked Nick as he took the plates from her, while they headed into the dining room.
Brittany showed up a half hour later, apologizing profusely to Mrs. Larson for being late, but she'd gotten stuck at work later than she'd hoped.
"It's not a problem, Hon," Mrs. Larson smiled, just as her son came down the stairs and stepped into the kitchen, hugging his girlfriend in a hello.
"How are you?" Brittany smiled up at Zack as his mom left the room and went to her bedroom to change her clothes, since they'd gotten dirty from cooking all day.
Zack squeezed her closer as he kissed the top of her head, "I'm pretty good. What about yourself?"
She nodded in agreement as they headed into the living room to watch TV with Nick and Rachel until Shannon and Ryan showed up and dinner would be served.
Fifteen minutes later the doorbell rang, breaking everyone's attention from the television.
"I got it," Zack offered, releasing Brittany's hand and heading towards the front door, pulling it open quickly. "Hey, you two. Get your asses in here, so we can eat."
"Zack, you could talk nicer to your friends," Zack heard his mother shout from the kitchen area.
He laughed and let Shannon and Ryan in, who were grinning at him, playfully.
"Yeah, Zack," Shannon punched him in the arm. "You could speak nicer to us."
"TOM!!" Brittany screamed, jumping up from the couch and running into the entryway, with Rae behind her.
"TOMS!!" Shannon yelled back at the two, and they all hugged, not having seen each other since graduation. Not like that had been an incredibly long time, but still...
"Women," Zack, Ryan, and Nick - who'd joined them - rolled their eyes in unison.
The girls merely laughed.
"You know, we still wanna know where the hell this 'Tom' nickname came from," Nick gave them a weird look as they all headed into the living room.
Rae, Shannon, and Brittany just looked at each other and started cracking up.
~ * Later That Night * ~
They all sat around the table, completely stuffed, though satisfied from the wonderful meal they'd just eaten.
"That was excellent, Mrs. Larson. Completely wonderful," Brittany complimented, pulling her hair up into a ponytail because she was feeling rather warm in the nicely heated home.
Shannon nodded, beaming as she agreed, "Yeah, it was great! Thank you so much!"
Everyone else expressed their gratitude as Mrs. Larson just laughed it off.
"Oh, you guys... I enjoyed cooking for you all. If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna clean up now," she stood and gave all of the "children" a stern look as they began to get up to help her. "No, sit here, or go outside, or do whatever... but you're not helping. This was my little 'congrats for graduating' dinner. You don't need to do anything."
Brittany smiled over at Zack as his mom left the room, taking some dishes with her, "I love your mom, she's so sweet."
Zack smiled, "Yeah, she's great."
Rae snickered, "That's not what he was saying last night, when she wouldn't let him call you before cleaning his room," she directed the comment towards Brittany.
Britt laughed as she glanced over at her boyfriend, "Aww... mommy wasn't being very nice, Zacky??"
"Shut up," he blushed, before turning to his sister, "Keep your mouth shut."
Rae laughed, feigning fear, "Oh no, what's Zack gonna do now?"
Nick laughed at his girlfriend's antics, pulling her out of her chair and onto his lap, "You better cool it, Rae, or Zack might lose his temper and hurt us all."
Zack rolled his eyes with a laugh, "I don't like you guys."
By now Shannon and Brittany, who were the most hyper at the time, were cracking up at the stupidity of the conversation, while Ryan snickered at his girlfriend who was practically falling out of her chair with giggles.
"Calm down, Shan," he soothed jokingly, as if he were talking to a baby.
This only sent her and Brittany into even more laughter, which soon got to Rae, and pretty soon all three of them were laughing so hard they could hardly breathe.
"Okay, I think you all need air!" Nick declared, gently pushing Rae off his lap, by her hips, and standing up himself. "Everybody up! And out... Get out!"
The three girls staggered to their feet, laughing even harder at Nick, and ran to the front door, stepping outside. Soon the guys had joined them, and since the girls had begun to calm down, they all began to walk down the street joking around with each other, not really knowing where they were going, but just having fun being with each other.
"If you wanna be somebody..." Brittany started, stopping in the middle of the street that nobody was driving on.
Shannon followed her lead, "...If you wanna go somewhere."
"...You better wake up and pay..." Rae sang, and then all three joined together, "Attention!"
Pretty soon the three of them were dancing through the street, singing, which turned into rapping Eminem songs. But they were white chicks... not very talented in the rapping industry. The guys just stood there laughing at the silliness of them. They were slowly making their way down the street, the girls dancing the whole way and the guys walking at a "safe" distance behind them.
Brittany screamed as Zack came up behind her and grabbed her, pulling her onto a side-street. The funny part was, nobody seemed to notice, because Ryan had grabbed Shannon, and Nick had grabbed Rae, all of them taking their girlfriends down different roads.
"Zack, it's dark out here, I don't like it," Brittany cringed as they made their way down the forsaken street.
Zack made an 'I'm manly' face, flexing his muscles jokingly, "That's what I'm here for!"
"Ha! Sure, Zack..." she walked ahead of him, calling out, "I'd be better off on my own." She was, of course, joking, so when she turned around and realized Zack was no longer with her, and she was alone on the dark, petrifying street, she suddenly panicked. "Zack, this isn't funny! Where are you??" When she received no answer, her heart began to thud faster. Where was her boyfriend?! "Zack!!"
~ * ~
Nick tightened his hold on Rae's hand as they walked through the lit town. They'd somehow taken a street that had led them into town, near all the antique shops. It was pretty, right on the river, but slightly chilly and Rae had forgotten to bring her jacket.
"You okay, sweetie?" Nick asked when he noticed her shiver.
Rae smiled, still hating to rely on other people. She was far too independent. "Yeah! I'm fine!" she chirped, trying to conceal the chatter of her teeth.
Nick laughed and took his coat off, wrapping it around her shoulders, before putting his arm around her, "No, you're not. Just admit it, Rae. It's okay to need something from me every now and then," he smiled down at her.
She rose her eyebrow, "Nick, are you insinuating something?" she giggled, joking.
He sighed, "No, Rachel, for your information, I wasn't."
"Rachel? You never call me Rachel."
Nick bent down and kissed her temple as they continued to walk, "I love you."
Rae smiled up at him, touched by his sweetness, "I love you too."
"I think there's a talk pending between us."
Rae sighed, knowing this was coming at some point in time, "Me too."
~ * ~
Shannon giggled as Ryan pulled her down a side-street, away from their friends. "Where are we going?" she whispered sneakily.
"Wherever the road may take us," Ryan joked, trying to sound corny and succeeding.
"Nice," she laughed. "Nice. Y'know, we haven't hung out for a few days now. You've been busy, haven't you?"
Ryan shrugged, "Yeah, I suppose so. Been packing everything up to move into the apartment."
"Has Zack been helping?"
"Yeah," Ryan nodded. "It hasn't been too bad."
"Has he decided if he's gonna move in yet?" Shannon asked, grabbing Ryan's hand in her own.
Ryan was moving out of his family's house and into his own apartment and he'd offered a room to Zack, if he wanted to share the apartment and pay with him. Zack had said he'd think about it, not really knowing what he was going to be doing yet, now that he was out of high-school.
"No," Ryan shrugged. "I think he's having a hard time deciding."
"I wonder why."
He shrugged again, "He's been acting different lately."
Shannon's eyebrows creased in concern. She was very close friends with Zack, but they hadn't seen each other since graduation, since they'd both been doing their own thing. Since Ryan had been with him almost every day since graduation, she figured if he was sensing something going on with Zack then it was probably true. "That's odd. He seems fine tonight. What do you think it could be? Him and Brittany are okay, right?"
Ryan sighed, not really knowing what could be wrong with Zack, himself. "I think him and Britt are doing just fine... they seem like it, right?"
"To me."
"Yeah, me too. But I dunno... he seems good tonight. But he's been acting strange. I can't even explain it."
Shannon sighed, "You don't think..."
"...that he got in touch with Mike again?"
She stopped walking and released Ryan's hand at the thought, "Lord, I pray we're wrong."
Ryan nodded in agreement, "Me too."
