Happy Endings

09. grill

"We're all fools and worthless liars. Young and unemployable. Lonely, drunk and beautiful."

☼

A week later, Kellin Quinn found himself at his friend Andy's house. More precisely his parent's house, but since the elderly couple spent most of their retirement years abroad, Andy could do mostly anything there as long as it didn't involve setting the place on fire or partaking in questionable slash illegal activities.

So far, neither of those have happened, much to Kellin's relief. It was their favorite hang-out spot anyway, even when they were teens.

That Saturday they wanted to get "the gang" back together. The gang consisting of the friends Kellin's had since forever and his main source of happy moments, besides his daughter. They'd all been pretty busy the past couple of weeks, so a fun little get-together was in much need for everyone.

The six of them spent several days trying to organize each other, given their busy schedules and all, to decide what to do during the weekend they all commonly had free. It was difficult but in the end, they settled for a mixed grill party, plus a karaoke night at Andy's house. Kellin wasn't sure if he was staying for the night plan yet, that all depended on how Penny was feeling, but he was excited for the day nonetheless.

Speaking of, Penny always tagged along whenever the group got together. She'd become the seventh member of their little crew the second she was born, and it was going to stay that way forever. His aunties and uncles loved the child to pieces and they all vowed to have her back no matter what. It warmed Kellin's heart that his kid had so many people to count on. 

He remembers when he told his friends he was going to be a dad. He was greeted with shocked faces and wide eyes and screaming and shoulder-shakes and all of the emotions in the world mixed at once. He'd been so nervous to tell them, not because he feared judgment but because it was all so overwhelmingly new still. He told them before he even told his mom or his sister.

And even though they were all so much younger still, the way they supported him through it all, and through everything that came after, made him so grateful to have them in his life. They were Penny's family just like they were Kellin's and he wouldn't trade that for anything.

Back at Andy's place, Kellin was in the kitchen helping Jack chop vegetables for a special salad he wanted to make. Hayley was sitting on top of the counter beside him, eating away at the small pieces of carrot he was cutting and telling them a story of something that happened at her flower shop that week. Jenna was probably outside with Penny playing with Andy's beagle called Benji on the big patio, while Justin and Andy prepared the meat and veggie options at the grill nearby.

It felt so nice to know they were all at the same place at the same time. Kellin wished for life to always be like that. No job, no responsibilities, just the sound of laughter and the sight of smiles, and the bright sun shining outside with the light breeze coming through the windows, making the distinct smell of homemade meals wrap around him and all his friends. Only one person was missing from that moment to make it perfect, but there was nothing he could do about that.

When the salad was finished, Kellin, Hayley, and Jack headed to the patio. They carried the salad bowls and more snacks to take to the designated picnic table, where they would have lunch soon and that was slowly getting crowded with tasty-looking food.

"Behold!" Jack raised his bowl, earning laughs from the ones near. "Best salad you'll ever have."

"Why would you make a salad? You should've made mashed potatoes or something." Justin whined as he walked closer to the table to inspect his friend's creation.