Constant Repeat

Part 8.3

"No buts," Alex said with a smile, "Now go tell your family the good news, we'll be waiting here for you so we can leave."

Ella frowned, "Where are we going?"

"To yours." Matt replied sassily. "You said we could come over when we asked you, remember?"

Ella couldn't even panic about the possible mess in her house because she was feeling elated. "Okay, give me five minutes."

She walked so fast outside with a skip on her step, dialing her sister's number first and she was glad that she answered at the second try.

They had screeched to each other for almost the whole call, and she couldn't even feel sad at the mention of her latest breakup because she was just much more distracted and overjoyed by the prospect of going home.

The sisters had added their mom to the call and the screeching had resumed. Ella had broken the news about Julian to her mom not long ago and it had been a call filled with silent tears, she had tried to give her just enough details for her to understand but Ella couldn't wait to just be in her mom's arms and be comforted by her touch as she told her absolutely everything.

Ella remembered that night unfortunately too well. She had called Alex right after hanging up with her mom and he had stayed with her on the phone until she was yawning and her eyes were closing. Alex was really a sweetheart and she'd never forget his constant support when she was at her worst.

When she came back in, having taken longer than the five minutes she had promised, she was met with all of them chatting in the kitchen.

Alex smiled seeing her shiny pink cowboy hat that read 'Birthday Girl' still perched on her head and most importantly, her smile still stuck on her face.

"Are we all ready to leave?" They all nodded, Jamie handing her bag to her and Alex carrying the camera bag on his back. Matt was taking the 'Happy Birthday' banner and Nick the balloons.

But before they could leave, she went to say goodbye to Dave and he gave her two bottles of his family brand of tequila. 'Rancho de la Luna' it read, just like the studio.

Ella gasped at the sight of the two big bottles of alcohol, "Oh Dave, do you want me blacking out? I'm old now, it's not my 21st."

The bearded man laughed, "25 is young, honey. But if you do black out, please record her." His petition was directed at the lads, which earned him a choir of laughter from them all.

Ella cackled and hugged him, "Thank you, hun. See you in a week!"

They made their ways outside of the studio and stopped right in front of the cars parked there. Alex and Matt's rentals were there so she thought they would all follow her home rather than having her take them in her car.

"Alright, just follow me or Alex. He knows the route perfectly by now." She instructed them, not thinking much about the last statement.

Nick, Jamie and Matt just looked between each other, biting their tongues to not say a thing but they knew they'd be interrogating their best friend more in the future.

They all got in the cars, Matt and Jamie going together, while Alex had Nick as a passenger. It took them a little longer for them to get to Ella's. Traffic was awful and Matt had lost Ella and Alex a fair few times, but nothing a few directions through the phone didn't fix.

When they all arrived at hers, she was glad to see the only mess was a pack of cigarettes and a lighter thrown on her coffee table along with an empty wine glass.

Alex had given her a knowing look, one that silently asked if she had been okay and she gave him a nod and a smile, "It was only one glass while watching a movie, I promise."