Won't Go Home Without You

“Mike?!” I called from the kitchen, standing in front of the fridge and staring at the assortment of foods and drinks. “Wan’ another beer?”

“Is that even a question??” He yelled back, laughing loudly.

I rolled my eyes, grabbing three bottles of cold Coronas and making my way back outside. I lived right on the shores of San Diego, and my little beach house had a porch with a screen door in the kitchen that led straight to the sandy beaches. Right now, the screen door was pushed open, and a beautiful, cool breeze was swirling into the house, smelling like ocean air and home. I smiled to myself as I stepped outside, squinting at the bright sun and my flip flops slapping the heels of my feet.

“Your beer, sir,” I giggled in a fancy accent, handing the condensed bottle to Mike, a tall, lanky guy with dozens of tattoos and thick, dark hair. He wore a pair of sunglasses and a cigarette was dangling in between his lips. He was leaning back in his lawn chair with his stunning girlfriend in his lap. Alysha was a short, petite girl with a blonde bob and sexy tattoos littering her body. She smiled at me before taking a sip of her own beer. I knew she liked to take her time when it came to drinking alcohol.

“Thank you, my dear,” Mike laughed, taking the beer from me and popping the cap off the top by hitting it on the side of the arm chair with a quick crack. He brought his plump lips to the brim, sucking down a huge gulp.

“You haven’t forgotten about me, have you?” A whiny voice chirped from behind me.

“How could I forget about my favorite roommate?” I said sarcastically, turning to glare at Kellin behind me. I handed him his beer and he flashed me a bright smile. I plopped down into the lawn chair next to him, sighing and pushing my sunglasses up on the bridge of my nose. I grabbed the bottle opener next to me and opened my beer, immediately taking a swig of the drink. It was mild to me, running down my throat quickly with a small burning sensation before settling in my stomach like warm soup.

“You say it like you don’t even mean it,” Kellin pointed out, pouting at me and batting his eyelashes.

“That’s because I don’t,” I told him, earning a laugh from Alysha and Mike.

“Oh, that’s not true, you know you love me!” He squealed, rising up from his seat and scurrying over to me. He jumped on top of me, burying his head into the crook of my neck and his bony ass digging into my thighs. “Admit it, you love me,” he said, spilling some of his beer on the ground in the process.

“Kellin, I swear to God!” I laughed, trying to push him off of me while holding my bottle in the other hand. “Get your ass off of me!”

Kellin giggled wickedly, his blue eyes squinting in the sunlight. His freakish pale skin was glistening with sunscreen, (he burned easily), and the mop of black hair on his head brushed his shoulders. He wiggled in my lap for a few seconds before jumping up, swaying his hips when he walked. “You can’t deny it,” he sang, sinking down into his chair.

“Shut up,” I laughed, turning my attention from him to the beautiful ocean 100 feet from us. The water today was exceptionally blue, and my neighbors weren’t around so it was like we got the whole beach to ourselves.

“Hey, Sofia,” Mike called out to me, and I turned to look at him with slightly raised eyebrows. “What time did my brother say he was coming?”

“Vic still had to pick up Dani from a photoshoot, and once he did that he was meeting Jaime at some liquor store to “stock up”,” I said, using air quotes. “So, like around 2… it’s 1:30ish now.”

Mike sighed and nodded, his arm tightening around Alysha. She smiled at him, bringing her head down to leave a kiss on his cheek. He smirked at her, running his fingers through her hair with his free hand. They were so adorable, I swear.

“So, okay, Sofia,” Kellin said, catching my attention again.

“What?” I said with a small laugh, taking another sip from my drink.

“So, I was at the music store the other day looking at some old vinyls, right, and I was just minding my own business, y’know, flipping through the Red Hot Chili Peppers section,” he explained with a smile pulling at his lips.

“Oh my God, it was him again, wasn’t it?” I squealed, watching Kellin nod frantically and giggle.

“Yeah, he came up to me and he was all like, ‘Need any help?’” Kellin explained with a slightly deeper voice to match the guy who worked there. “And I finally got his name! Tristan!”

“Tristan?” I squealed again. “That’s a cute name, do you think he’s gay, too?”

“Duh!” Kellin scoffed. “I totally saw him checking out my ass; I was wearing my extra-tight skinny jeans that day, but that’s not the point!”

“You mean, there’s more?” I edged him on, my own smile growing with every second.

“He asked me for my number,” he said coolly, earning yet another squeal from me.

“And I gave it to him, okay, and then I left right after that, and let me tell you, that fucker called me when I was about a block away from the music store.”

“Are you serious?!” I exclaimed, covering my mouth when a loud giggled escaped.

“Yeah!” He gushed. “He was like, ‘I wanted to make sure you didn’t give me a fake number,’ then after that, I swear, we talked for hours.”

“Kels,” I smiled, “I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks,” he beamed, taking a quick swig from his beer. “Maybe I found the one.”

“Maybe,” I said, “Did you invite him to the party today?”

Kellin blinked for a few seconds, staring at me as if I was speaking in another language. “What?”

“Did you invite him to the party?” I repeated.

“Fuck!” he groaned, slamming his beer down onto the armrest of his chair. “I didn’t even think about that!” I sighed with a small laugh, watching him jump up from his seat, already digging his phone out of his back pocket. “I’m such an idiot,” he grumbled while typing in this guy’s phone number. I smiled at him again before getting out of my chair, walking over to the open grill. The silver grill had smoke and a delicious barbeque smell wafting from it, and a smirk grew on my lips at the thought of the person behind it.

“Hi Tone Bone,” I mused, walking around the grill to meet him. I wrapped an arm around his waist and left a quick peck on his cheek. “Ha! I kissed the chef.”

“You’re a block of cheese,” Tony smiled at me, returning my kiss with a threatening snap of his tongs, waving the weapon in my face. I squealed and dodged it, almost spilling my beer in the process. Tony was a scary-looking guy with a huge, loving heart. He just recently cut off most of his hair, (he had this floppy Mohawk thing before), and now it was pretty short. Wearing a short sleeve Keystreet shirt, and khaki bermudas, you could easily see his skin, which was completely covering in beautiful tattoos.

“Asshole,” I teased, inching my way back over to him. “So, how’s the cooking goin’?”

“Just fine,” he grimaced, turning a couple hamburger patties and hot dogs. “Say, when is Jaxin getting here, I kinda want to eat some of my own food instead of your guys’ murdered animals.”

“You mean your bunny food?” I laughed loudly, pushing my hair to the side.

“Yeah, my bunny food,” he smiled softly, going along with my jokes.

“Don’t worry your little vegetarian heart because there he is,” I told him, pointing at the sliding door. Jaxin, a well-built guy with sandy hair and lots of tattoos, walked in with Tony’s girlfriend, a short girl with a nice smile, shoulder-length, dark brown hair, and a skinny frame. “Hi Erin!” I squealed, watching her wave at me with a huge grin on her face.

“I brought the bunny food!” Jaxin called, holding up a bag full of groceries.

“You got him in on that, too?” Tony scowled, glaring at me.

“C’mon,” I giggled, “It’s funny!”

Tony simple shook his head, returning his attention back to flipping the meat. “Hey, Sofia,” Jaxin greeted me, handing me a couple grocery bags full of chips, beer, and Tony’s “bunny food” which really consisted of vegetarian hotdogs and hamburgers. “Congrats on the new job!”

“Thanks!” I beamed, setting the bags on the table behind us.

“Hey girl!” Erin squealed at me, opening her arms for a hug. I squealed back and ran into her arms, squeezing her tightly. “Congrats! Are you excited?”

“Definitely!” I smiled, leaning back to look directly at her. “I’m practically a tattoo artist!”

“You are a tattoo artist, I mean, c’mon, you definitely deserve it! You’re one of the most talented artists I know… there was no way you wouldn’t get hired for the job,” Erin gushed.

“Thanks, you’re so sweet, but I’m not that good,” I said modestly, bringing her close for another hug. Erin was one of my good friends, even though we’ve only known each other since her and Tony first started dating. We instantly clicked, and we make sure to hang out at least once a week.

“Hey, are you going to hog my girlfriend for the whole entire party or what?” Tony whined from behind us, pouting and crossing his arms. Erin rolled her eyes and giggled, skipping over to him and immediately wrapping her arms around his waist and pecking his lips.

I sighed, scanning the patio and watching my friends with a feeling of content. Jaxin had made his way over to Kellin, was had just gotten off the phone and he was pouting like the little baby he was. Jaxin was smiling at Kellin and throwing jokes here and there, trying to make him smile. Mike and Alysha were exchanging whispers and kisses, and I was probably correct about my prediction how they were never going to get out of the honeymoon phase. Tony placed a kiss on Erin’s forehead and swayed her side to side, staring into her eyes like she was the only girl in the world. Right as I began to feel a little bit lonely, loud shouts and laughs could be heard from the kitchen. Instantly, a smile stretched across my face. The party was here…

“Party’s here!” Jaime screamed, standing triumphantly from the screen door with a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and a bottle of Smirnoff in the other.

“Jaime!” I shouted, setting down my beer before running over to him. He laughed loudly, pulling me into a hug with the bottles of alcohol still in his hands. “Mi bebé,” I cooed.

“Cállate o te hago cosquillas el estómago,” he threatened with an evil grin. I squealed in terror, laughing hysterically when he set the bottles on the floor and threw me over his shoulder.

“Put me down!” I yelled with a giggle, kicking my feet.

“Never, you deserve it!” Jaime chuckled, digging his fingers into my hips. I screamed, squirming in his arms. Tears formed in my eyes and my face was hot with blush, and I was laughing like there was no tomorrow. I could hear the amused laughter from everyone else, and that made me want to murder Jaime even more.

“Put me down vaca,” I whined with a giggle, punching his back with my fists. Jaime finally obliged, letting my feet touch the ground. I sighed, batting my eyelashes rapidly so the tears in my eyes would go away.

“Do you really think I’m a cow?” Jaime pouted, staring at me with his puppy-dog eyes.

“No, te amo,” I smiled, grabbing the alcohol from the floor.

“Te quiero más,” he said genuinely.

"Eres dulce,” I giggled, pinching his cheek before walking away from Jaime to set the bottles he brought on the alcohol table.

“What’s all the screaming about?” A smooth voice questioned. I turned slowly, watching as Vic’s girlfriend, Danielle, walked through the open screen-door. She was gorgeous, to say the least. She was tall, with long legs that seemed to never end. She practically radiated beauty, and I always found myself comparing myself to her. I was short, around 5’3”, where Danielle was closer to 5’7”. Her hair was auburn, long, and picked up the breeze perfectly, where I had long, frizzy, wavy black hair that was hard to handle. My eyes were a boring shade of brown, and I had thick eyebrows, where Danielle had gray eyes with little hints of blue and nicely trimmed eyebrows. I inherited my mother’s Mexican caramel skin, where Danielle’s skin was pale with scattered freckles. She was thin, with thighs that didn’t touch, where I was more on the curvier side, which in my eyes, made me too fat. She made me want to shrink and hide under my bed. But there were more reasons why I always compared myself to her.

“Sofia had the nerve to call me her baby, so I tickled her to death,” Jaime chimed in. Danielle looked down at me, offering me a big smile. I shyly smiled, waving before looking down at the patio floor and walking into the kitchen through the screen door, where I knew he’d be.

“Dani, if you’re coming in here to yell at me again like you did in the car, I’m not the mood,” Vic grumbled, his back turned while he rummaged through my fridge.

“It’s just me,” I said quietly, walking up behind him and leaning on the granite countertop.

Vic quickly spun and looked at me, a big grin stretching across his face. “Sofi,” he smiled.

“Hey, Vic,” I breathed, my heart fluttering in my chest. My eyes instantly locked with his warm, brown orbs. Vic had beautiful, tanned skin and toned arms. He was little bit on the shorter side, but still taller than me. He had long, wavy, dark hair that he always wanted to hide with either a beanie or a snapback. His smile was always truthful and genuine, with straight, white teeth. His smile seemed to understand you, even without your explanation.

“Congratulations on the new job,” he told me, the smile never leaving his face.

“Thank you,” I giggled, my cheeks already reddening.

“When can I come in and get my very own custom “Sofia” tattoo?” He teased.

I laughed, my smile growing even bigger. “We all know you’re a tattoo virgin for a reason, your skin is too precious to be ruined.”

“But if it’s your tattoo, then I would be proud to lose my tattoo virginity to you,” Vic said, his teeth sinking down into his bottom lip. I watched him biting his lip, my heart beating faster. Vic seemed to notice my state, so he winked at me, looking past the screendoor to our friends on the patio before turning around and walking down the hallway of my house, disappearing past a corner. I followed him, meeting him in a secluded hallway where our friends couldn’t see us. He immediately cornered me against the cold wall, pressing his lips against mine and placing his hands on my hips. His big hands travelled up my body, cupping my face gently, his calloused fingers grazing the skin. My eyes dropped closed, and I moved my lips against his slowly, just to savor the moment. Once we were both satisfied and out of breath, he pulled away, tracing his lips down my neck where he left chaste kisses, causing a little content sigh to fall from my lips. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered on my skin.

“I’ve missed you, too,” I managed, forgetting that our friends were probably outside waiting for us. Especially Danielle. Vic’s girlfriend.

Notes

Hi c: sorry if this is boring, I just wanted to introduce the plot and the characters
comment and tell me what you think?