Falling for a Star (Complete)

Chapter 25 - Back Home

***** Brenley's Point of View *****

The Uber driver pulled up in front of my house and I tipped her before getting out and taking my luggage out of the trunk.

"Thank you," I said, as she nodded and drove away with a wave.

I turned around and looked up at the small, two-story ranch style house I had lived in my entire life and for some reason it felt like it had been forever since I had seen it, even though it had only been a week. After staying at Dylan's huge mansion, my house felt tiny now in comparison.

I stood there looking at it, taking a deep breath in and letting it out, thinking about the fact that the last time I had stood there looking at my house, I had been about to set out on an adventure across the country. I remembered how nervous I had felt about going so far away from home all by myself, and now here I was a week later, standing in the same spot and feeling like a completely different person. How could so much change in just one week?

"Meow."

I looked down and saw the neighborhood tomcat that I called Gus, purring and rubbing against my leg, like he was welcoming me home. I bent down and gave him a few pets and a scratch under the chin before making my way up the sidewalk. I looked over at my black 1998 Honda Civic two door coupe that was parked in the driveway. It was a rude awakening to come back to that old jalopy after riding around in a Lamborghini and a stretched Porsche limo all week.

"Hello old girl," I said to my car, giving the hood a pat as I walked by, opening my front door and dragging my heavy suitcase in behind me.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH! YOU'RE HOME!" I heard Ellie scream, before she bolted off the couch to give me the tightest hug of my life, her dark auburn hair suffocating me as I hugged her.

I pulled back and looked at her green eyes and her tan face that was dotted heavily with freckles. "It's good to see you too Ellie Belly," I laughed. "Did you really miss me that much?"

"Of course I did!" She squealed loudly before saying, "Oh my gosh. I've been dying for you to finally come home so you can fill me in on ALL the juicy details without your Dad listening in. I wanna know everything!"

"Speaking of my Dad, is he home?" I asked, looking around.

"No. He's at the library. Now spill," she demanded, grabbing my suitcase and lugging it up the stairs for me. Even though I was two inches taller, she was definitely stronger than me. I followed her up to my room and unzipped the suitcase.

"Here's your clothes back. They're all clean because Dylan's housekeeper Rita insisted on washing all my laundry for me before I left. She's such a sweetheart."

"Forget the clothes. You can keep 'em. I want to hear everything," Ellie said, flopping down onto my bed. "Like why you decided to come home a day early? Did something happen?"

"Yeah," I said with a sigh. "A LOT happened actually."

I started hanging the clothes up on hangers in my cramped little closet and putting the shoes away in my shoe rack.

"Focus woman! I need details!" Ellie shouted, with a laugh, throwing a pillow at me. "You're killing me here!"

"I don't even know where to start," I said as I plopped down onto the bed beside her and let out an exhale, grabbing my stuffed giraffe and clutching it to my chest. "Dylan is ........ Dylan is," I started to say, swallowing hard and feeling an ache in my heart from saying his name out loud. It made me realize how much I missed him already and it hurt knowing I would never see him again. The next thing I knew, my eyes were burning and filling up with tears.