Aunt Lauren's house hasn't changed much since the last time I've seen it. We rarely visited her other than on holidays because she and my mom have never gotten along well. Actually, I'm not sure if anyone in my family gets along with my mom well.
She helps me bring my bags and suitcases into the house and puts them in one of her guest rooms. She's letting me have the biggest one because she likes me.
"Okay, Jennifer, that's all the bags," she says, coming into my room holding one last bag. "Anything else you need?"
"No, I think I'm okay," I tell her. "Wait- one thing. Can you call me Jenny? All of my friends on set called me that, and it's kind of stuck."
"Yeah, of course! I like that better than Jennifer anyways," she smiles. "Let me know if there's anything I can do for you. I'm sure you're exhausted after that flight."
"Honestly, I really am thinking about just taking a nap. Unpacking can wait," I laugh.
"Do whatever you need to do. That bed is a queen size, so you have lots of room," she winks. I gotta admit, the bed does look very enticing right now.
"Thank you," I say, and she gives me a little smile before leaving my room and shutting the door behind her.
I open up my bag that is stuffed with clothes, and dig around until I find one of Owen's hoodies and a pair of sweatpants. I change out of my dirty airplane clothes and shove all my bags over so I can jump on the bed. It's only around 5:00, but I am in desperate need of sleep after the day I've had.
I realize that I totally forgot Kitty, and get back up to find her in one of my bags. I hug her close to me as I try to get some sleep.
Surprisingly, I drift off pretty easily. It still doesn't feel the same without Owen beside me, but the sleep deprivation and the outrageous amount of crying I've done today help with that. I'm not sure how long I stayed asleep, but I was woken up by the creaking of my door.
"Hey, sorry," I hear Aunt Lauren say as she walks in. "I ordered pizza, and was wondering if you felt up to eat."
I was still half-asleep, but pizza sounded very good. "Yeah, I'll eat some."
"Okay, what kind do you want? I got half cheese and half pepperoni."
"Cheese, please."
She walks out and a few seconds later comes back and hands me two pieces of cheese pizza on a paper plate. I thank her, and she leaves again. I check my phone as I'm eating, and see that Owen responded to my text telling him I was off the plane. His last message said "facetime when you get the chance," so of course I FaceTimed him as soon as I saw it.
It rang a couple of times before opening up to Owen's smiling face.
"Hi, bugaboo! Thought you'd never call," he grins.
"Sorry, I was sleeping. But it's good to see your face again," I say.
"I am also very glad to be seeing your face. How was your flight? How's your aunt?"
"My fight was very good, actually. I met this old lady who caught me crying over your letters, and she sat with me. I talked to her pretty much the entire flight, I told her all about you and the others, and she told me about her family. Her name was Glen, but she let me call her GG because that's what her granddaughters call her. And Aunt Lauren is good, she's just as I remember her."
"Well, it sounds like you had an interesting flight," he says. "Though, you were crying over my letters? I knew they were good, but I didn't know they were THAT good."
"Oh, Owen," I sigh sarcastically. "They really were good, all jokes aside. Plus, I had just left you, so my emotions were running wild. Can you blame me?"
"No, I can't. I may or may not have cried reading your letter too," he confesses. "But there was no old lady to help me out, just a crying baby who sat behind me. Which did not help. At all."
I cringe. "Sorry, O. Babies are annoying."
"Yeah, tell me about it. I'm just glad to be home now. Not glad to be away from you, but glad to be away from the annoying baby."
"Yeah, honestly, it feels weird being back home. Like, it doesn't even feel like home anymore."
"Well, that's understandable, considering I don't think you ever felt at home there. Charlie, Sav, and I just have that special charm," he smirks.
"I know that was a joke, but you all really do," I laugh. "I just hope I don't have to be away from you all for too long. I mean, it hasn't even been a day and I'm already dying to see you all again."
"Ugh, same here. I'm gonna be cuddling with your blanket all night."
"I cuddled with Kitty my entire nap. It isn't the same as your cuddles, though. Kitty can't play with my hair."
"Is that the only thing I'm good for?" he laughs. "But seriously, Jenny, I'm already missing your cuddles. And maybe the fact that we haven't even been gone a whole day yet and we're already missing each other is really pathetic of us, but oh well. At least we're pathetic together."
"Yes, we are."
We continue to talk as I eat my pizza, and Owen gives me a tour of his childhood room. He also introduces me to his mom, who seems really sweet. I show him around my room also, even though it's pretty bare as of right now other than my bags scattered on the floor. I let him say hi to Aunt Lauren after he begs me to go down and let him talk to her. She was very excited to see Owen again, to say the least.
He watched me unpack a bit because he knew I would procrastinate doing it unless I had someone holding me accountable for it. I got a lot of my clothes unpacked, along with most of my toiletries.
By the time I gave up on unpacking, it was already after midnight. Owen and I were still on FaceTime, surprisingly. Not that I'm complaining, I'd stay on the phone with him all day if I could.
"Jenny, are you tired?"
"Very much so," I say, laying down on my pillow and propping my phone up on the pillow beside me.
"Me too. But I don't want to leave you."
"It's okay, O. You know, we can't stay on FaceTime every minute of every day, even though we probably really want to."
"I know, but can't you make an exception since it's the first night?" he asks, giving me major puppy dog eyes. He knows he already has this fight won.
"Fine," I agree, and his eyes instantly light up.
"It's like we're sleeping right next to each other, but without the actual body there," he says.
"Guess we'll just have to settle for this right now," I agree, crawling under the comforter. "But it's better than nothing."
"You're right. At least I get to kind of make out your face through the darkness," he smiles.
I smile back at him. "Okay, O, get some sleep. I'm sure you're exhausted after flying with that crying baby."
"Oh, yes, I am. Night, Jenny."
"Night, O. I miss you."
"Miss you more, bugaboo."
