A/N: Hi. Let me know in the comments if you were expecting this. You'll see what I mean.

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The weekend passed slowly. Trisha and Oliver had written their phone numbers on my hand on Friday, and they were still there, slightly faded. Trisha only had a permanent marker with her, so I wasn't sure when those phone numbers would wash off.

I was only working three days this week, but I was working longer and in the middle of the day, getting off around 5:00 PM.

Today was payday. I'd hardly slept the night before, knowing I'd soon be able to see how Stacey reacted to my absence in the last five months.

I ended up going to work a little early, as nothing in the house was calming my nerves. I drove slowly, listening to Brahms, trying to pass time.

I checked in once I got to Walmart. My boss (I could never remember his name) handed me a check.

"Good job this month, kid. Glad to have you on board."

I smiled. Here it was, in my hand. The ticket to Stacey.

Well, first I'd have to cash it and then stop at the nearest store with phone chargers, but then I'd know. I'd find out what kind of things she may have texted me. But what if she hadn't texted me at all? What on earth would that mean?

Surely she must have. At the very least, she would've asked where I went.

It really upset me that I'd done this to her. Not long after she confessed to me about that Brody kid and we promised to stay in touch and see each other when the year was over, and here I was, not doing my part. It made me feel sick.

My shift went slowly. I stacked things on shelves, directed customers to what they were looking for, and sometimes just stood there staring off into space.

"Hey," I heard Ricky's voice say. He patted my shoulder, making me jump.

"Oh hey," I responded.

"First payday, right? You gonna talk to your girl soon?"

I smiled a little. "I hope so. She's been blocking everyone's numbers, I think. She probably blocked me too."

Ricky shrugged. "If she really cared, she wouldn't do that."

"Well then she must think she's the only one who cares."

"Like I said, you've just got to tell her what happened and how you feel. Trust me."

"Thanks."

"For?"

"The advice. I don't always talk to people that much."

Ricky chuckled. "I'm just helping a guy out."

I smiled.

"When do you get off?" he asked.

"Five o'clock."

He nodded. "You're almost done."

"Yep."

"Well, I'll see you around. Good luck." He left, giving me a flash of his charming smile. I wondered if Stacey thought my smile wasn't charming enough. She'd probably prefer a guy like Ricky anyway, especially after I lost touch.

After another agonizing half hour, it was time for me to go. I wondered if I should just stay, since I suddenly felt very afraid. I'd spent the last five months not knowing what she thought, and it was horrifying to think I was going to find out soon. It was almost easier not to know.

I left the store and drove to the bank to cash my check, after which I headed to some small convenience store to find chargers. I could have gone back to Walmart and used my discount, but that felt weird. Walmart was also further from my house.

I left the store and headed home with a knot in my stomach. As soon as I got home, I bent my head over the new charger and got to work trying to open it. I paid no attention to my surroundings, but luckily I didn't hit any trees.

I made it to my room just about the same time I managed to pry the cord from the annoying plastic stuff. I plugged my phone in with fumbling fingers and sat on my bed, waiting for it to come to life.

Any second now.

And there it was. The white apple in the middle of a black screen, signifying that my phone was alive again. I drummed my fingers on my leg until my lock screen appeared, a picture of some artistic bubbles. Very aesthetic, I know.

I hurried and typed in my passcode, clicking past a few reminders such as software updates and other things I didn't care about. Then a ton of texts came in and my phone froze. I groaned.

I waited for it to stop being frozen and clicked on iMessage. I wanted to let Stacey know what had happened as soon as possible. Before I even read any of her messages, I typed a speedy reply.

sorry my phone died

"For five months?" a voice behind me said.

I jumped and tumbled off of my bed and onto the hardwood floor, ripping the cord from the wall. I jumped up just as fast, ignoring the new pain in my knees and my head.

There, in the doorway...

Stacey was standing in my doorway.

Why was she in my doorway? Why was she in my house? Why was she in this town? Why was she in this state? I struggled so hard to collect my thoughts.

She was so beautiful. Her hair was longer and seemed to have gotten a little darker, and her skin a little paler, probably due to the dark winter months, but her eyes still shone just as brightly.

She also looked really confused.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, also confused.

"Did your mom not mention we were coming for Christmas?"

I shook my head. "No, she didn't." Then a smile broke on my face and I rushed forward to hug her.

It was really awkward, since she didn't hug me back at first. Then, seemingly hesitant, she hugged me back.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. "I'm so sorry." I said it again and again until she pulled away.

She looked at me, not smiling. She looked expectant. It was then I noticed she also looked a little skinnier, even though she was thin before.

"I'm sorry," I said again. It was hard to think, as I still wasn't sure if she was actually here. My next words came out in a rush. "My phone died and my mom broke all of the chargers and I couldn't buy a new one so I got a job and I've been waiting so long to talk to you and I just..." I trailed off, not sure what to say.

Stacey furrowed her eyebrows. "All of that just for a phone charger?"

I nodded. "Do you hate me?"

She opened her mouth to respond when I heard my mom calling me from downstairs. I looked at Stacey for a few more seconds, but it seemed like she was expecting me to leave the room and find my mom.

"I'm sorry," I said again before I left.

I found my mom in her room, pulling out some spare blankets from her closet.

"Why didn't you tell me they were coming?" I asked before finding out what she wanted.

"It was a surprise," she said, laughing.

"Heck yeah, it was."

Mom laughed again and handed me a few quilts. "Take a few of these to each of the guest rooms, please."

I nodded and left the room. Our guest bedrooms were in the basement. There were two of them. Stacey had a total of six people in her family, so I wasn't sure how that was going to be divided.

As my face was mostly covered by the stack of blankets in my arms, I had to walk very carefully down the stairs. On the way down, I bumped into a body.

"Ah!" I yelled, blankets flying from my arms as I grasped for the hand rail.

There was Anthony, smiling evilly below me.

"What the heck?" I said. "Are you trying to kill me?"

He ignored my question. "What do you think of this surprise?"

I shrugged. "It was certainly very surprising."

He chuckled. "Have you seen her yet?"

I knew he meant Stacey, so I nodded.

"How'd that go?"

"I fell off of my bed."

Anthony snickered. "And?"

"I hugged her."

He raised his eyebrows. "And?"

"That's it. Mom called me downstairs."

"What are you gonna do next?"

"I don't know. I feel like she's not in the mood right now."

Anthony actually looked a little sympathetic. "She's probably just tired from the trip. Give her time."

I nodded and gathered the blankets he'd made me drop. I took them to the guest rooms, finding Stacey's parents in one and her siblings, Kayla and Kyle, in the other. I just smiled and greeted them before I headed back up to my room, not sure what I was going to do. It was all so surreal. Surely I was dreaming.

Stacey wasn't there when I arrived. I wasn't sure if I should go find her or not. I felt like she didn't want to be bothered.

Hopefully I could make things right before they left.

I sat back on my bed and plugged my phone back in, my head spinning. I opened up my texts and typed in the phone numbers on my hand to start a group conversation with Trisha and Oliver. I let my thumbs hover over the keyboard before I typed a message.

Stacey is in my house....

I received responses nearly immediately.

Oliver: Is this Logan?

Trisha: INVITE HER TO THE PARTY.

It felt so weird to be texting anyone after my long five months without a phone, especially friends. I only ever texted my cousin Check, Anthony, my mom, and the occasional lab partner. And Stacey.

Me: Yes it's me. And I don't know if she'd want to go to the party.

Trisha: Well neither do you but you're still coming.

Me: I feel like she's upset.

Oliver: Are you with her?

Trisha: Why would she be upset?

It almost made me dizzy texting two people at once. The questions came two at a time.

Me: I saw her a few minutes ago but she seemed...distant.

Oliver: Okay, we need to back up a little. Why is she at your house?

Trisha: Oh true.

Me: They were thinking of moving to Ohio...or Oregon. They were going to come up to check the place out anyway but my mom decided to let it be a surprise as to when they'd be coming. I came home and just about fainted.

Oliver: Oh wow.

Trisha: That explains a lot.

Me: Like...?

Trisha: When you asked me if Oregon was nice and then acted all disappointed when I said it was.

Oliver: So are you gonna bring her to the party?

Me: I don't know. I guess I'll ask.

I decided then to go back to my messages with Stacey and see what she'd been saying over the past few months. Even as I scrolled up, tears came to my eyes as the things my eyes skimmed over.

August 5th

11:57 AM

Hello? You've got nothing to say about that?

12:04 PM

Guess not. We're leaving now.

7:30 PM

We made it back.... Are you okay?

7:35 PM

If this is a repeat of last year's reunion and you've been killed in a car accident I'm seriously gonna flip.

7:36 PM

I haven't heard anything so I'm going to assume you're just busy.

10:37 PM

Goodnight.

August 6th

8:04 AM

You there? You still haven't read my messages....

August 13th

6:01 AM

Logan?

6:02 AM

I miss you so much.

6:03

I have school tomorrow. Brody will be there, if that means anything to you.

September 1st

3:30 PM

I really need to talk to you.

October 14th

2:24 PM

Okay, Logan. I'm not sure where you've disappeared to and I'm done embarrassing myself acting all desperate. If you have a reason for leaving me for so long, be sure to let me know.

2:25 PM

Bye....

That was it. Thirteen messages. That honestly wasn't very many but considering I wasn't texting back, I couldn't blame her for being hesitant to text me again.

Tears were streaming down my cheeks. Stacey was here, in my own house, and I wanted nothing more than to be able to talk to her like we did over the summer. But that was something I didn't think I could do, at least not right now.

Somewhere downstairs, Mom called me down for dinner. I just got up and locked my door. I couldn't face Stacey now, and I couldn't face anyone else with these tears. My doorknob was rattled a few times, and people tried to get me to respond, but I just stayed silent and eventually someone muttered, "He must be asleep. Let's leave him alone."

I stayed up for a while, reading the old messages between Stacey and me from over the summer. Eventually I stopped crying and I did drift off to sleep, welcoming the peace.

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Oh. My. Gosh. Stacey is here?

It might seem like a sudden thing, but I'd been planning for it to happen that way.

But she doesn't seem too happy to be here.... What does it mean? :I

Well, more stuff is gonna happen. Quite a bit more. Stay tuned! Also, vote! Thanks!

~Hannuh 웃