"I still can't believe you talked us into this," Laurel said, staring at Ty and Lucy in front of them in line. "I haven't been back here in years."

"I just found it ironic that the homecoming game coincided with your homecoming. Plus, isn't it cool to see where your girlfriend came from, Jared?"

"Yeah," Jared agreed, his arm wrapped around Laurel. "This school is unreal."

His words caused her to look around, at the campus of the school that housed her for four years of her teenage life. It was the same as she remembered it; the stables, the different sports fields, the dorm buildings, the expansive school. Everything was immaculate, just like it had been when she was a student. Then she turned back to her group and cozied into Jared.

"So, what's the plan when we get in there?"

"My family saved spots for us," Lucy said, frowning. "But only Ty and me. Plus it's close enough I can see my sister."

"We didn't know you were coming until it was too late to ask them to save you guys a spot too," Ty added.

"It's fine," Laurel told them genuinely, squeezing Jared's hand. "We'll be okay. You guys go."

Then it was their turn to pay their admittance fee. Ty paid for him and Lucy, then Laurel paid for her and Jared, as Ty and Laurel got alumnus discounts for themselves and whoever they brought. Once inside, they split up so Lucy and Ty could go find her family and Jared and Laurel could find somewhere to sit. Some of the teens gave them wide eyed looks as they made their way through the crowd, towards the bleachers.

When they passed the concession stand, Laurel made him stop so she could get some water and a pretzel with cheese, along with a Twix bar. He grabbed popcorn and a Coke, then they continued on to their quest for seats. That's when they were met with their first complication; Christopher Grace and Sadie Michaels.

"Laurel?" he asked, staring at her with wide eyes as the girl he was with - who had been staring at the field - snapped her eyes to the brunette standing in front of them.

"Hey," Laurel answered softly, gripping Jared's hand as tightly as she could as she stared at her ex-boyfriend.

"How have you been? What are you doing here?" Sadie asked, raising her eyebrow at her former best friend, her questions going from sounding curious to brash.

"I've been good, how about you?" Laurel answered, ignoring the latter question.

"What are you doing here?" he asked instead, both of them ignoring the man with her.

"It's a football game," she said, raising both eyebrows. "And I am alumni. I am allowed to come back for sporting events and what have you. Plus, it's the homecoming game."

"You aren't welcome here," the blonde said, no hesitation in her voice. "You left all of us behind for bigger and better things. And you shut us all out a few years ago."

"And you know why," Laurel responded, suddenly feeling angry.

"You killed your sister," he said, then his eyes widen and he stammered. "I mean-"

"Okay," Jared finally said. "Enough. I've heard enough. If you feel cut out and abandoned by her, then just ignore her. Go on with your night. You have no right or reason in attacking her for simply coming back for a football game."

"And who are you?" Christopher asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Her boyfriend," was the answer. "And I'd appreciate it if you just walked away now."

"And I'm Christopher, her ex-boyfriend."

"I'm his fiance, Sadie," she said, showing her hand that held a huge diamond ring.

"So you guys did get together," Laurel said, slightly amused. "You told me time after time I had no reason to be worried, but the second I go out on my own and leave you two behind, you end up engaged. I'm not even surprised, assholes."

With that, she stepped around them and pulled Jared with her. The rest of their walk was silent as she fumed and ignored all the stares as they got more into the crowd of students and fellow alumni who either recognized her as Laurel James - the past student - or him as Jared Padalecki - the actor. He chose to also ignore them, focusing on not tripping and on making sure his girlfriend was okay.

She eventually found them a good spot and sat down, letting go of his hand just to tear off a piece of her pretzel and dip it in the cheese, then shove it in her mouth. A sigh was audible to him when she swallowed, then she turned to him.

"I dated Chris for six years. We were high school sweethearts and we broke it off when he decided that traveling and business was more important than me. I didn't want to be like my mom when she was with my dad. And I met Sadie in eighth grade, at an open house for the school. We clicked. And we were friends until about a month after Kendall died."

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her as if she might break.

"Yeah," she said, grinning. "You snapping was great, but holy shit, I actually called them assholes."

"Yes," he laughed. "Yes, you did. It was pretty hot."

She laughed and leaned over, kissing him quickly. They didn't make a big show of it - as their relationship wasn't really public yet and PDA wasn't something either of them was a big fan of - and then she leans against him, closing her eyes and relaxing.

"Thank you for agreeing to come," she whispered, her hand squeezing his thigh. "It means a lot."

"It's no big deal," he told her, rubbing her arm. "Plus, you're meeting my boys tomorrow, so I figured it was a good time to see more of your past."

"Yeah," she said. "I'm actually nervous about meeting them. What if they hate me?"

"They won't hate you. They'll absolutely love you, just like I do."

"Oh my god, Laur?" a girl's voice said, distracting Laurel from responding to her boyfriend. "Is that you?"

"Haley?" she asked back, instantly recognizing the voice. "Megan, Kim, Catie, Layla?"

"No way!" the now blonde Kim responded, throwing herself at the older brunette who was now standing.

There were squeals and laughter as the six of them hugged and laughed and reunited. Jared watched - amused and anxious - as she got along better with women that seemed to be about five or so years younger than her. Then her eyes widen in realization that their sixth member of the group wasn't there - and also that Jared had no idea who they were.

"Guys, this is my boyfriend Jared. Babe, this is Haley, Megan, Kim, Catie, and Layla. They were Kendall's best friends back when she went to school here. The seven of them were frequently at my apartment."

"There's only five," he pointed out, confused.

"Right," she said, turning back to them. "Where's Ali?"

"She's in New York, actually," Haley told her. "She finally made it."

"Oh my gosh!" Laurel exclaimed. "Sit down, we need to catch up."

And so for the first quarter of the game, the six of them gossiped. They shared stories about how they had been over the last three years, what the had done. All of them were in relationships, whether it was with a man or a woman, and were all very excited to tell the woman they viewed as their older sister. And she told them all about cooking and being on set of Supernatural and even how she and Jared had gotten together. He'd chime in every so often, asking about them when they were younger and even about Kendall, which none of them had a problem with.

Eventually, they got called away and they all hugged goodbye, exchanging numbers - she even got Ali's number to call her and catch up - and telling each other it wouldn't be so long before they all caught up again. Once they left, Laurel sat back down and thought for a second, then turned to him with wide eyes.

"I love you too," she said, almost surprised at the realization. "Of course I love you."

And then he pulled her in for another kiss, this one lasting a little longer than it probably should have, but neither of them could find it in them to actually care. When they broke apart, they went back to watching the talented team kicking ass on the field. At about five minutes left of the quarter, Laurel noticed more familiar people approaching them, and a small smile covered her face at the sight of her English teacher and the athletic director, along with the superintendent.

"Mrs. Moore!" she exclaimed standing up and rushing ovwr to them. "Mr. Atkins, Mr. Stryker! I've missed you guys."

"You can call us by our first names now, Laurel," Mr. Atkins laughed.

"Um, Craig?" she asked, and when he nodded, she turned to the other two. "Victoria and Jeff?"

"You got it," Victoria confirmed. "Now, we have a proposition for you."

"Oh no," she murmured, knowing where this was going and knowing that Jared was about to hear something incredibly embarrassing about her past.

"Don't say that, it might be nice!" Craig laughed.

"No, it won't. But go ahead and ask anyways," she laughed.

"Will you come down and crown the homecoming queen? All of them agreed, along with last year's queen. She didn't even want to be here and she's already gone. She bolted the second we suggested you," Jeff said.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Let me finish my water and fix my makeup, then I'll be down. Still the same place where I had to go last time?"

"Yes," Victoria said, reaching out and squeezing Laurel's shoulder. "See you in a few, Laurel. Thank you for this."

"No problem," she told them, turning back to her boyfriend with a sigh.

He looked sort of confused as she sat down and finished her water in one drink, then pulled out her lip gloss and a small mirror.

"What was that?" he asked. "Why are they letting you crown the queen?"

"Because I," she started, then mumbled the rest of her sentence.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you," he teased.

"I was homecoming queen, okay?" she said, looking up from her mirror. "I didn't even want to be, but Kendall got super into the whole campaign and everything, including the muffins and the buttons and everything, so I went with it. I never thought I'd win, but I somehow did. And I was buzzed when I got crowned queen, so at least I know why I was picked; I was the party girl with lots of 'friends'."

"Oh my god," he laughed, squeezing her thigh. "My girlfriend was homecoming queen."

"Shut up," she mumbled. "I've gotta go. We'll meet at the concession stand as soon as I'm done?"

"Sounds good. I love you," he said with a grin.

Her sour mood melted as she grinned at him like a dork, "I love you, too."

alice's note

that's all i'm writing bc holy shit it's a lot and it took me forever to even write this. and it's so weird to think that six months ago, i never expected my life to be like this. and now i've ruined like all of my friendships and i'm just so sad all the time. yikes.

[ 12.20.16 ]
[ edited | 4.2.19 ]