Omniscient POV:
"Seriously Lauren, you have to be cheating!!" Aria exclaimed, paying her 500 dollars in the monopoly game.
"It's that and the fact that you're terrible at this game A," Kingston said, making the group snicker.
"Even with Dylan sneaking and helping you, your ass is still losing," Silas said and Lauren nudged an elbow at him while snickering as Dylan's mouth defensively fell open, his hands flying up.
"Aye now, not too much on boob," Sade chuckled.
"Thank you, Sade."
"You're welcome babes, game night's not for everybody-" the group laughed again as Aria rolled her eyes with a huff and slumped against Dylan's chest. "King, your turn...." After not hearing or seeing her friend move, Sade looked at him. "King?"
If not for a specific person sitting across from him, Kingston's mind wouldn't have trailed elsewhere the minute Silas got up to leave the living room and head into the kitchen. All night, he'd tried his best not to stare at Silas, or at least not for too long. So many things he wanted to say, but that ship had sailed years ago, and it was far too late now.
"Sorry," he then cleared his throat and picked up the dice once feeling eyes on him. "Dammit, I'm in jail," he said once calculating the number from his roll.
"At least you don't owe Lauren a thousand dollars," Aria mumbled, though everyone heard her and chuckled. "I vote for a new game."
"Which one?" Ivy asked.
Kingston subtly watched as Silas came back, smiling at Joi as he sat between her and Lauren. Internally, cringing, he spoke up,
"How about Murder Mystery? We should team up too."
As soon as he said that, everyone sort of glanced at their sort of designated partner and nodded in agreement. Well everyone except Kingston, Hunter, and Kira....
Thirty minutes later, teams were eventually made, and not everyone was too thrilled about it. Joi vouched for teaming with Silas first, in which he happily obliged and Kingston internally scoffed. Of course the two couples there teamed up, then Hunter went with Kingston as Ivy teamed with Kira.
Downstairs with Sade and Lauren, Hunter and Kingston searched the other side of the room, looking for a clue.
"How're you feeling?" She asked him where only he could hear. "With seeing Silas again and everything?"
He sighed, swiping his hand along the wood of the tall bookshelf. "Like shit-" Hunter chuckled, then covered her mouth,
"Sorry-"
"No, it's alright- but it's the truth," he shook his head. "After all these years, what I did still eats me up inside, and I have no one to blame but myself... "
"Everyone makes mistakes though, King, you can't continue to beat yourself up about it."
"Yeah but not a mistake like that Hunter," he said quickly, turning to face her. "Cheating isn't a mistake, not in the moment that you do it.... Unless you were drunk or some shit, there's no excuse- you made the choice to kiss or sleep with that person, knowing full well that someone else's heart was in your hands.... And what the hell did I do with his, the minute I didn't stop myself that night..." Hunter's gaze filled with sympathy as she looked onto her long time friend. "I dropped it and let it shatter, then didn't even bother to try and pick up the damn pieces," Kingston shook his head again and looked away from her, trying to push down the lump arising in his throat.
"You've gotta forgive yourself though King... if you don't, you can't heal and learn from it, and eventually move on from it."
"Then that makes it okay though," he shot back. "And what I did was anything but okay Hunter, Silas didn't deserve that." The blonde tilted her head at the tear trickling from one of his eyes. "He was nothing but the best boyfriend to me... and I basically spat in his face..."
"Have you two seriously not spoken at all since then?" Kingston shook his head again, quietly sniffling. Hunter's mouth curved into a sympathetic pout. "Oh King..."
Kingston chuckled dryly once looking at her then behind him a little,
"Guess we should've gone our separate ways for college like they did huh?"
Hunter glanced behind him as well, and smiled at the sight of her two best friends.
"Honey those two over there are in a league of their own. It's despicable," she said, making Kingston snicker at her comment. Watching them for a second, they both subtly shook their heads.
Lauren was sitting atop the counter of the downstairs kitchen with her arms draped over her girlfriend's shoulders as Sade stood between her legs, rubbing her hands along Lauren's thighs. Their smitten giggles were heard before Lauren dipped her head further down, and the sound of their lips meeting came next.
"Doesn't sound like much investigating going on over there!!" Kingston jokingly exclaimed their way, making Hunter laugh.
Sitting up straight with Sade's hands now on her waist, Lauren turned her body to look slightly behind her.
"You hating?"
"Yep," he quipped with the pop of his lips. "Hard as hell."
Sade snickered. "Too damn bad-"
"Shut up Sade," Kingston chuckled.
Walking over to the couple in the kitchen, he and Hunter discussed with them where other possible clues could be to speed the game along. And though tension was without a doubt in the air, the rest of the night was very chill and laid back.
Never Have I Ever was the last game played, and it was definitely the right choice. Things that most of them hadn't done in high school had mostly been checked off the list now for most of the group, leaving their other friends humorously stunned.
Aria's POV:
The next morning, we'd gotten an early start on the day.
Silas cooked breakfast for everyone and it'd been so long, I'd forgotten just how good that man can make breakfast. Ivy, Kira, and Joi had gotten on the road to head to Tampa right after, leaving the rest of us to catch up amongst ourselves for a little while. The energy between Silas and Kingston was so tense and I really wished they'd just talk to each other.
What Kingston did was messed up of course, but it was years ago, and I miss the seven of us as a group. And even the eight of us with Tina included. I missed that bond, and those laughs we shared. We're grown now, but just like last night, we can still make those memories. And before anyone decides to move away again or have kids, I want us to still enjoy our youth with each other before it becomes years or decades in between us seeing each other.
As of now, Kingston and Dylan had gone out to visit old friends while Lauren, Sade, Hunter, and I drove to Mimi's Bakery. Tina would meet us here and then we'd all head out to the spot.
"I can't put into words how proud I am of you girls," Mimi said to the four of us as we shattered around in the kitchen area. "You've all grown so much." We looked at each other with blushing smiles.
"Well Sade's still like 5'3, so I'm not so sure about that," Hunter smirked, then snickered as Sade pushed her shoulder.
"Don't do her," Lauren pointed a playful finger from behind Sade at Hunter. "She's 5'4 and a half-"
"Babe, that doesn't help," Sade chuckled, glancing behind her. "You could've at least given me another inch-"
"Yeah, she's like six feet, what y'all talking bout?"
Each of us turned to the large swinging double doors with small gasps at the sound of Tina's voice. A cheeky smile took over Hunter's face as Tina walked up to her, sliding an arm around her waist to kiss her cheek. She whispered something in her ear before turning to us with a wide smile,
"Hiii everyoneee!"
"Heyy Tinaa," Lauren and Sade chimed together as she walked over to hug them. She came to me next,
"How're you T?" I said, smiling into our rocking embrace.
"Really good A," she pulled back and I grinned at the genuineness of her smile. "Really good."
"Now I know you ain't taking all that time before coming over here to hug me, Christina," Mimi said from near the oven whilst the rest of us were standing near the door. Dropping her head with a timid smile, Tina made her way over to hug her. Mimi then pulled back from their embrace and cupped Tina's face within her hands. "You just don't know how happy I am to see you again, child," she shined the brightest of smiles before glancing onto Hunter. "And finally back with that one, no less." We chuckled.
"Oh gosh, Mimi," Hunter blushed, covering her face with her hands. Chuckling softly, Tina made her way back to her, then pulled her hands from her face before simply pecking her lips.
Feeling left out, I playfully pouted,
"Dude what the hell, y'all got me fifth wheeling and shit."
"Aw I'm sorry boob, come here," Sade mimicked my expression while coming over to wrap her arms around me. "Poor tink tink," she said, laying her head on my shoulder as her arms hugged me, though mine remained playfully folded.
"You get on my nerves," I chuckled at her mocking me.
"Where is it that you all are headed to?" Mimi asked while smiling at us before turning to the large refrigerator. "Y'all want some treats with you on the road?"
"Yes please!!" Lauren and Hunter immediately said, making the rest of us laugh. "Macaroons and cheesecake please," Lauren chimed, taking a seat at the table.
"We don't exactly know where we're going," Tina said, making everyone eventually turn to look at me. "Aria's been rather stingy with the details..."
"Yeah A, where exactly is it that we're going?" Sade asked, still holding onto me with her head on my shoulder.
"Well I would've thought one of you would've figured it out by now by just looking at who all is in this room..." I hinted, making them glance around with furrowed brows. "We're in Tallahassee again, and it's just us girls...it's also seven years later.... Ring a bell??"
Silence fell as they each looked at each other with clueless shrugs. I smiled to myself and shook my head, waiting for someone to get it.
Of course it was Sade whose head shot up from my shoulder and she gasped.
"The time capsule!! I forgot about the chest!!l
"Holy shit, the chest!" Hunter joined in, and I smiled while slowly nodding as they looked at me with wide eyes.
"Awww, A!" Tina exclaimed with a pouted lip. "I'm gonna cry-"
"Me too, what the hell," Lauren said, her voice already cracking.
"Lord Aria, look what you done did," Mimi said knowingly, making me chuckle and shrug.
~~~~~~~~~
Each of us stood around with tears in our eyes as Hunter sat the chest on the ground, about to open it. Just like when we'd put it there, Tina was kneeled beside her, and I stood next to Lauren and Sade.
She opened the chest and we gathered around as she began taking things out. First was a picture of Dylan and I at the ice cream shop; the very first time we hung out together... Hunter handed it to me, and I brushed my fingers along the paper, remembering that day and who we were back then. Before then, he was sort of an ass with a large amount of social ignorance. I laughed to myself, remembering his crush on Lauren before we'd gotten together. And I then bit my lip, holding in tears once thinking of how insecure I was back then.
It was necessarily regarding looks, but I had no idea just how little I knew of myself then. One of the main reasons Dylan and I broke up in college was because I wanted to truly get to know myself first. And thinking of that, then where we are now... I really did myself a favor and I couldn't be prouder of younger me. I wished to give so much advice to her. To tell her that it'd all work itself out like I hoped.
Tina came to hug me as a tear fell down my cheek, and I hugged her tight, letting more fall.
Afterwards, I looked around, noticing Sade and Lauren looking at the Polaroid picture I took of them. Lauren was covering her mouth as tears filled her eyes, and Sade leaned her head on her shoulder with her bottom lip emotionally tucked between her teeth. I walked up to them to look at it with them, then smiled at the sight.
Lauren was giggling since I think Sade tickled her, and she was turned into Sade, who had the brightest of smiles on her face while gazing at Lauren. The love between them had always been so clear. Even the rest of the group knew that those two wouldn't stay broken up for long. And look what's happened. Almost immediately, that day I saw Lauren in the bathroom of that brunch restaurant, I knew then that it wouldn't be long before they got back together. Just in there alone, their longing gazes told it all, almost as if they hardly even tried to hide it.
And now here we are, years later.... It makes me laugh because they're probably even more in love now than they were then. That in itself is hard to believe if you knew them then. But I honestly couldn't be happier for them either.
"Look y'all," Hunter said through slight sniffles. "It's the letters we wrote to ourselves." She stood and handed them out.
"Now I'm about to be crying for real," Tina sniffled, fanning her tear stained face with a picture of herself and Hunter. "This is too much-"
"Whew, I know," Lauren said, beginning to open hers. "I'm like sobbing just from that picture alone." Each of us laughed, slowly unfolding our papers.
She and Sade held hands while reading theirs, and Tina held mine as Hunter had an arm around her waist.
Silence eventually fell, leaving only the sound of the wind blowing and all of us sniffling while crying softly. Tina squeezed my hand, just as she'd finished hers, and I leaned my head on her shoulder after reading mine.
Glancing over at Sade and Lauren, they'd pulled each other into a tight emotional hug. Very faintly, I heard them whisper 'I love you' to each other, and it made me grin on the inside.
After a while, the mood had lightened as we reminisced on funny times that were shared amongst just us girls. We laughed at the time Sade took off her wig because it was over a hundred degrees outside one day, and when we randomly decided to go to a chain restaurant dressed as guys. Then there was when Tina managed to sneak us into SeaWorld, and when I once burnt the pizza so we ended up having an adventure at Waffle House at three in the morning.
I'd almost forgotten all the crazy shit we did together, and was glad to have this chest to remind me.
Omniscient POV:
All five women had sort of split off into twos to talk some more before leaving the spot. Sade had pulled Aria off to the side, near the car to talk as Lauren sat gazing at the view of the city with Tina and Hunter.
"I have something to tell you...well, show you, I should say," Sade muttered to her best friend, making Aria turn to her with an arched brow. Sade pointed a finger at her as they stood ducked behind the car a bit. "You cannot tell a soul though A, not even Dylan-"
"Okay okay, jeez- why such secrecy?" Aria asked with her hands thrown up in surrender. Sade then leaned in closer to pull out her phone, going to her recent photos. "What's going on?"
"I don't want Lauren hearing so much as a peep about this from anybody, so I'm only telling you for now- I don't trust Hunter not to blab."
Confusion wrote across Aria's face as Sade scrolled to tap on a picture of a very nice ring. Her eyes widened at its detail and size,
"Dear lord, that looks like it costs a fortune-"
"Girl, you don't even know the half," Sade smiled while shaking her head. Aria then glanced up at her,
"Wait, why're y- wait!!" Her smile grew wider. "Oh my god!!!-"
"Shhhhh," Sade hushed her as Aria began to excitedly jump and squeal. "The hell is wrong witchu-"
"Sorry, sorry," she grimaced, now whispering. "But oh my god," Aria quietly cheesed at Sade, making her friend bashfully grin as well. "And bitch finally, it took long enough-"
"Shut up," Sade chuckled while playfully rolling her eyes as she put her phone away.
"So when are you gonna do it?"
"That part I'm still thinking on- there's so many different ways I wanna go about it."
"Ooouuu, tell me, tell me, tell meeee-" Aria excitedly drummed Sade's arm, making her giggle.
"Okay okayyy."
Meanwhile, Lauren, Tina, and Hunter chatted about their future plans for the next few months. Tina was getting into surgery at the hospital in New York since she was always there anyway to spend time with Hunter. And she'd asked what Lauren's plans were career wise, and how she and Sade were going about that.
"I'm trying my best to just take it slow and listen to my body. Since I'm fresh out of recovery, I don't want to do too much to risk anything, though I'm itching to hit the studio or rehearse something- it's been so long."
"Well why don't you?" Tina asked, and Lauren sighed,
"Well I do, it's just frustrating having to always be so mindful and cautious."
"You're scared to push too hard-"
"Yeah," she sighed again, glancing up at the sky. "Then Sade worries about me, even when I tell her I'm fine-"
"T, you should've seen her face when Lauren busted her ass one night in the kitchen," Hunter chuckled, making Lauren timidly shake her head. "Sade damn near had a heart attack-"
"To be fair, I really thought I had it by myself," Lauren playfully defended. "But yeah, Sade, she's.... I don't know what I'd do without her..." Lauren smiled to herself, thinking of her girlfriend and all of the moments they'd shared since getting back together.
She then glanced over her shoulder to make sure Sade was still talking to Aria before turning back around to whisper to Hunter and Tina,
"Okay, I'm going to show y'all something, but you cannot tell anyone...got it??" The two nodded while leaning in as Lauren pulled out her phone. "I'm not even supposed to be telling anyone about it so soon, but I'm afraid I'll explode if I don't show at least one person."
"What is it?" Tina asked, intrigued. Just then as Lauren scrolled to the picture, Hunter leaned in with a knowing smirk.
On the screen was a small velvet box with a luxurious looking ring inside, its rock holding the faintest shade of emerald green. The couple next to her slightly withdrew with shocked and amused expressions,
Tina looked up from the phone at Lauren. "Wait..."
"Ho-ly shit," Hunter muttered, a smile slowly growing amongst her face. Lauren soon matched the expression as they met eyes. "When?"
"Soon," she answered knowingly. "I have a series of gifts slash surprises planned for her for the holidays, and just when she thinks I'm done..."
"You're proposing..." Tina concluded just barely above a whisper, and Lauren nodded, unable to hide her excited grin. "Oh my god..."
"It's about time," Hunter chimed, making the other two chuckle.
~~~~~~~~