Homeward Bound

I took the 6:00 p.m. train on Friday down to Philly. It's borderline insane how much a one-way Amtrak to Philadelphia is (think the cost of a full outfit at Forever 21, including shoes and accessories). When I got to the train station, I saw my Mom's car idling in the lot and jogged towards it. Our family dog, a Cocker Spaniel named Clarence, was in the front seat. His whole body wiggled with joy at the sight of me.

"Hi boy!" I exclaimed, lifting him up in order to sit down in the passenger seat. 

"Someone is happy to see you," my mom said, leaning over and giving me a kiss on the cheek. 

"I'm happy to see him too," I said as we started to pull out of the parking lot. 

"It has been forever, Dani," she replied. "I made your favorite for dinner!" 

I smiled at her predictability, "Lasagna?" 

"Yep!" 

We spent the ride catching up and discussing my Dad's recent biking trip. Apparently my brother had arrived home earlier than me and was already out at one of the local bars with friends. 

When we walked into the house, I took a deep inhale of the familiar scent. My Dad built it in 1985 and it was still to this day my favorite place on earth. It was a ranch-style house on an acre of land, with a log cabin facade. It was the most homey, warm, comfortable place I had ever known. When I was growing up, our house was always the place that everyone gathered. 

After a delicious carb-heavy dinner and catching up with my Dad, I dusted off my old Hyundai Elantra that lives in their spare garage to go meet my brother at PJ Whelihans. The feel of the familiar car, the house and heading to the local bar transported me five years back to high school and I relished in the feeling.

When I walked into PJs, I spotted my brother, Steve, immediately. He was at the bar with his roommate and two high school friends.

"Hey bro!" I said, enveloping him in a hug. He only had about four inches on me, but other than our lack of height and brunette locks we didn't have many physical similarities. His eyes were a striking blue to my green, his hair borderline black to my brown, and his strong features were a direct contrast to my soft ones. 

"Dani you made it!" he shouted, hugging me tightly. 

I greeted everyone else before ordering a beer. Pulling out a stool next to Steve, I settled in and took a long sip of the brew. "See anyone interesting?" I asked him.

"Well, that girl who was Class President of your class, Rachel? She's bartending here now, and appears to be pregnant." 

My eyes widened, "No!" I quickly scanned the bar and saw the back of her, but from my angle I couldn't tell if she was knocked up or not. "Wow. So what else?" 

He laughed, "Nothing, I've only been here thirty minutes. So how's the city?" 

"It's good, but nice to get out. I swear every time I come home I'm shocked at the sheer amount of grass and trees," I said, laughing. 

"Well, they don't call it the concrete jungle for nothing," he smiled. "Have you seen Nick at all?" 

I hadn't told Steve about rekindling things with Nick, however brief it was. Before I could come up with a vague way of telling Steve about seeing Nick, two strong arms embraced me from behind. I craned my neck around to see who it was. 

"Will!" I exclaimed, turning around and giving my brother's roommate a proper hug. "Oh my gosh it's been forever how are you?!" Will and Steve lived together in Baltimore, and I rarely got down to see Steve let alone his roommate.

"I'm good, glad to be mooching off of your family this weekend," he said, smiling. "It's always nice to get a break from the same old scene."

"I feel you," I said. "And trust me, the number of mouths my mom has around to feed is in direct correlation with her level of happiness." 

We spent a few more hours catching up and gossiping about people from high school. By the time we all piled into our cars to head home, it was almost 1:00. 

We tiptoed into the dark house, careful not to wake Clarence which would result in a full-on barking fit. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, and padded into my unchanged bedroom. Right as I turned on the lights, Will walked down the hallway towards the bathroom.

"Night," I whispered. "Are you sleeping on the couch?" 

"Yeah," he said. "I'll be up for a little if you wanna hang out." 

I shook my head, exhausted from the long day. I had also always been attracted to Will, and I was in no state of mind to be tempted. "I'm beat, but I'll see you in the morning." 

I closed my door and sunk into the queen bed. I was asleep within minutes.

The next morning, the smell of bacon pulled me out of bed before 9:00. I walked sleepily into the kitchen, with Clarence tangling up in my feet. 

"Morning," I said to my Dad who was standing over the stove.

"Hey there," he replied without turning around. "Your mother just ran out to get coffee." 

"Mmm," I said taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"You kids have a fun time last night?" he asked. 

"Yeah it was nice, it shocks me though how many people I graduated with who still live here," I took a large gulp of orange juice.

"You could be one of them if you want," he said with a smirk, placing a large plate of bacon on the table. I grabbed a piece from the top and started to chew.

"Ha ha," I said between bites. 

The day was filled with family bonding and helping my mom run errands. They were in the process of re-doing the basement, which apparently involves my mother buying loads of things to help decorate, and then changing her mind on the "vision" every two weeks. My dad somehow didn't get frustrated with her when she did this, but appeared to instead find it endearing. When we arrived home late for dinner with a different paint color, he simply smiled and kissed her cheek. I knew I was lucky to have parents still so blatantly in love after all of these years, but sometimes it felt like so much pressure to try and find a relationship that could mirror theirs. 

When we got home, I reached for my phone that had been sitting on my bed all day. My heart quickened at Nick's name on my screen.

What are you doing tonight? 

I looked at the time stamp, over two hours ago. I quickly typed back.

I'm in Philly this weekend. Why?

I stared at the phone waiting for his response. 

Just wanted to grab dinner or something. Will you be home tomorrow?

I debated lying to him, because I had no clue why he wanted to have dinner. This Nick and Danielle saga was getting kind of ridiculous, but I just couldn't bring myself to walk away.

Yeah. Train gets in at 5. 

I waited a few minutes and when his reply didn't come, I tossed the phone back on the bed and went to join my family for dinner. 


The rest of the weekend passed quickly and before I knew it I was waving goodbye to my mom and navigating 30th Street Station towards my track. I grabbed an Auntie Anne's pretzel for the trip back, and snagged an empty seat on the train. Tilting my head back, I watched out the window as Philly faded away. 

When the train pulled in a little after five, I grabbed my bag and trudged up the steps into Penn Station. I was debating whether or not to get a cab or just walk home, when a guy waving caught my eye. Looking up I saw Nick, standing in the middle of a group of people, holding a white piece of paper with "D" written in black marker.