Song of the chapter: Wake Me Up by Avicii
Emily's POV
"Austin, wake up," I said as I sat up in bed and stretched.
"Mmmmm," he groaned in response.
"It's-" I paused and checked the time on the bedside clock. I shrieked. "Noon! I have to be at Quinn's in fifteen minutes!"
"For what?" Austin mumbled as I grabbed my crutches and went as quickly as I could over to the closet.
"I'm helping her decorate for her Halloween party. I told you that already."
"Cut me some slack, I'm half dead right now." He yawned and sat up, scratching his bare chest and then running his hand through his hair.
"I can't believe I woke up so late, I slept through the alarm!" I exclaimed as I threw on clean undergarments. I chose a red t-shirt and jean shorts before slipping them on and throwing my hair in a bun. "Why was I so tired?"
"Probably from all that fun we had last night," Austin smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.
"You're sick."
"You love it," he said before swinging his legs over and standing up. "How long are you going to be gone?"
"I don't know, a few hours at least," I said as I washed my face in the bathroom. He followed me into Lucy's room, who was fast asleep in her crib. I bent to kiss her head. "Have fun with daddy today, baby. I love you." I went back to our room and grabbed my phone and purse. "I'm out."
"I'll carry you down the stairs, it'll be easier," Austin said.
Under any other circumstances I would have argued, but I was in a rush so I relented and climbed onto his back, him carrying my crutches in one hand.
"If you drop me, so help me God-"
"Relax, I won't," Austin snapped. "When have I ever dropped you?"
"Yesterday evening!"
"Oh, right."
When we got to the bottom, I slid off and took my crutches from him. "Don't forget to feed Pancakes."
"I won't, now go," he said, kissing my head. "I'll see you later."
"Bye!" I waved before leaving through the door that connected the garage to the house. I hobbled to my car and climbed in, throwing the crutches in the back. I had a week left in the cast and then I had a walking boot for a couple more weeks, which wasn't nearly as bad as the crutches and wheelchair, but it still wouldn't be fun.
"I have five minutes, oh my god, I'm going to be so late, oh my god," I repeated to myself as I turned onto the main road that took you further into Miami. "Quinn's going to kill me!"
My phone rang and I pushed the button on my dashboard for hands-free. "Hello?"
"Hey, Emily."
"Quinn! Oh, I'm so glad you called. I'm going to be a little late, but I just left my house a couple minutes ago."
"Don't worry about it, Emily. I was just calling to ask you if you could pick up some black and orange streamers from Dollarama? I thought I had more than I actually do."
"Yeah, I can do that. Just one pack?"
"Two, please."
"Sounds good."
"Thanks, Emily, I'll see you in a bit!"
"Later, girl!" I pressed the button again to hang up and continued to drive. It took me fifteen minutes to get to a Dollarama that was really only a few minutes away from our place, but the traffic was insane because it was around everybody's lunch break.
I crutched inside and went to the decoration section. As I was looking, I heard a voice. "Emily?"
I glanced up and saw a girl that looked familiar. She was dressed casually in jeans and a green oversized sweater, her hair in a side braid. "Cassidy?"
She laughed and hugged me. "Yeah! How are you, I haven't seen you in so long!"
I hugged her back. "I'm good! How are you?"
"I'm good, thanks," she smiled. "I actually moved back to Miami recently."
"Is everything okay?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, everything is fine," she said quickly. "I just missed home, that's all. I'm still in my band, though, we're just not doing work right now."
"Oh," I nodded, understanding now. "Well, it's good to see you again."
"You, too. Shopping for Halloween?"
"Yeah, I'm picking up some decorations for my friend. I'm helping her decorate her house today."
"Cool! I love Halloween," Cassidy smiled. "What did you do to your ankle?"
"Um, I tripped over my daughter's toy."
Cassidy hesitated. "Yeah, I heard you and Austin had a baby."
"We had a little girl 2 years ago in April. It wasn't planned," I admitted.
"How is she?"
"She's really good," I smiled. "It's been hard, but I'm glad we kept her. She's our whole world."
Cassidy grinned. "You seem happy, Emily. I'm glad for you guys."
"Thanks, Cassidy," I said as I hugged her. "I really have to go though, I'm already running late, but it was nice talking to you!"
"You too! Maybe we can hang out sometime?"
"Sure," I smiled. I gave her my number. "Call me. You can even meet Lucy."
"That's a pretty name," Cassidy said. "Sounds good, I'll definitely do that."
"See you around," I smiled as I grabbed the streamers and crutched to the register.
After I paid and got back to my vehicle, I went as fast as I could to Quinn's. I was really surprised to see Cassidy. The last time I saw her was when Austin and I had went to Melody's Diner last year, a couple weeks before I got pregnant with Lucy. It was nice to see her though, I had always liked her. She was a sweet girl.
When I finally got to Quinn's, I pulled into her driveway and got out, grabbing my crutches and the streamers, and heading up to the front door. She opened it before I had a chance to ring the doorbell or knock.
"Hey! Long time no see," she laughed as she hugged me. It was true, I hadn't seen her in a while, but she was a gorgeous as ever. Her long bleached hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing jean shorts with a blue tank top, her favourite biker boots on her feet. "How's the ankle?"
"It's getting better. I've got a week left with the cast and then I have to wear a walking boot for a couple weeks," I told her as we made our way into the main part of the house.
"Damn, that sucks," Quinn said. "Want something to drink before we get started?"
"Water is fine," I told her. "Where's Sher?"
"Jace and Leah took her out for the day," she replied, handing me a glass. "It's easier to decorate without her running around."
"True," I said then grinned. "So, how are things with Jesse?"
Quinn choked on her water. "W-what?"
"You heard me. What's going on with you two?"
She blushed. "Nothing, really. We haven't hung out that much since I met him."
"But you like him."
"I never said-"
"Oh, come on, Quinn, I can see it in your eyes. You totally like him."
She struggled to think of something to say before she sighed. "Okay, fine, yes, I do like Jesse. But I don't think he would ever go for me."
"What? Why not? You're a total knockout!"
She gave me a pointed look. "Well, thanks, but I also have a two year old daughter, and most guys don't go for girls of the punk look either." She gestured to her pierced nose where a ring went through one side, and then her ears, where piercings went all the way up on both, and a bar went through the top of one ear.
"Quinn, just because you have lots of piercings and a daughter doesn't mean he won't date you."
"I'm not done." She lifted up her shirt to reveal a belly button ring, and then turned around and lifted up her ponytail, where a tattoo of a flower rested on the back of her neck.
"I didn't know you had a tattoo," I said.
"I got it last year."
"Well, look on the bright side. At least it's not a picture of something creepy, like a snake eating someone's head."
She looked at me and laughed. "Oh, Emily, you never fail to amuse me."
"I try," I teased. "But seriously, Jesse likes you."
"Really?" She perked up.
I nodded. "Really."
"Hmm. Well, maybe things will go somewhere then," Quinn smiled. "But enough about me. Let's get decorating!"
After twenty minutes of hanging up streamers, I grabbed a paper ghost. "Where do you want this?"
She inspected it. "I think it would look good on the wall over there. That's where I'll have the punch and everything."
"Sounds like this is going to be quite the party," I commented as I grabbed the tape.
"It's like a thing we have every year," She explained. "Some of my friends come over, and my family, aunts, uncles, some of Jace's friends, Leah's friends, and then you guys. Your parents and Austin's parents are more than welcome to come as well, Taylor and Alex, too."
I nodded. "Thanks. I'll definitely ask them."
After we finished decorating most of the house, we sat down to rest. "That took forever," Quinn said.
"You should have came to help decorate our house," I laughed. "It took us four hours to do the inside and outside."
"Your house is humongous, though," Quinn pointed out.
"Valid point, but that's not always a good things. I almost lost Lucy in it once."
Quinn started laughing. "What?"
"I did!" I laughed. "But I found her, so it's all good."
"Oh my god, Emily, I never would have thought you would lose Lucy You're you!"
"I know, I would have thought it would be Austin to do it first."
"No kidding!" Quinn exclaimed before we both burst into a fit of giggles. It was fun hanging out with Quinn again, since I hadn't done it in so long. This Halloween party was going to be awesome!