The Original High (Koli) ✔️

27: No More Hippie Food

We were nearing the end of the month, headed a little closer towards the summer, and I had gotten the a-okay from my therapist and personal coach that I was ready to leave. And I was more than happy to, of course.

I packed the few things that I had, said my goodbyes to the other patients and my coach as Justin escorted me outside where Vic and Mike were waiting for me by their car. "Thanks. . . for everything." I told Justin as I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. "You made this place bearable."

Justin then chuckled softly and patted my back as he hugged me back. "You're welcome, Quinn."

"I think I'm actually going to miss you." I told him as I let go.

"You better miss me." He said cockily. "But we'll see each other again soon, I'm sure. Though, if you're really planning on going to London, I can't come to visit you there. Restrictions and all. . . so you'll just have to come back to LA for that drink."

"Restrictions." I repeated with a chuckle. "Bad boy."

Justin grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, looking even cockier than he did before. "Well go on, Quinn. Your friends are waiting. Get the hell out of here."

I said my goodbyes to him and met up with Vic and Mike who were waiting, leaning against Vic's car. "Wow, did you cut your hair even shorter?" I exclaimed as I finally saw him.

Vic groaned softly as Mike chuckled and nudged him playfully. "Told you he'd notice, dude." He said, obviously very amused with himself.

"Yes, it's fucking shorter." Vic groaned. "I had an incident with some chewing gum. It's even shorter than yours now, damn it." He then stated with a slight smirk as he pointed at my hair.

I whined as I tried to cover my roots and dead ends with my hands. I hadn't dyed or cut my hair in forever so it must've looked fucking horrible. That was definitely one of the first things I was going to fix when I got back home.

"Alright, well, let's get this show on the road." Mike then suggested as he opened the door to the backseat for me. I gladly threw my bag inside and then climbed in after.

"So, what was that whole thing about London?" Vic asked curiously after he got behind the wheel and drove off.

I snatched the newly lit cigarette from Mike's mouth and took a long drag, letting the smoke run down my lungs, making me feel a little dizzy for a few seconds. I obviously wasn't used to it anymore.

"Hey!" Mike scolded, looking back at me as I coughed.

I chuckled softly and handed it back to him, swatting the smoke away from my face. "Sorry. . . just wanted to know if I was sick of it." I told him innocently.

"And? Are you?"

I sighed and nodded hesitantly. I was probably going to end up picking up smoking again at some point, though. I knew that I usually caved quickly under little amounts of stress. But for now, I was okay. Cigarettes were better than drugs, right?

Eventually I noticed that we weren't driving to my place. . . or more like my sister's place, since I had been staying there. . . but instead Vic drove on to his. I sat in the back, confused, wondering why he was taking me there.

As soon as Vic parked the car in the driveway, he turned towards me. "We kinda expected you'd like some real food after all those months of. . . what did you call it?"

"Hippie food?"

Vic then laughed and nodded. "Yeah, that. So how about tonight we let you order out whatever you like. . . or we'll try to cook it or something." He suggested, that last bit below his breath, probably hoping I would just go for ordering something out.

I snickered softly at his usual behavior. "You? Cook?" I mocked him playfully.

"He obviously means to let mom cook it and bring it over." Mike then murmured.

I covered my mouth, snickering and giggling louder as Vic threw us both an evil glare. He wasn't exactly a great cook, never had been. Though that was partially the result of the way he had lived when he just moved out on his own. He would mostly pick up stuff from the 7/11 or any other place that sold ready, cheap crappy food. Just as long as he had money left to buy parts to build his own guitars. It was good to know that now he had Jaime to take care of his eating habits.

I guess we all had our problems, right?

We walked into Vic's apartment, and instantly Jaime pulled me into the tightest hug imaginable.

"Lungs! Need air!" I gasped, as he held on tightly.

Jaime giggled as everyone laughed and slowly let go of me. "It's really good to see you again. You've done great."

I just smiled a little and shrugged. I had honestly done very little. My therapist and coach did most of the work, right? That's kind of how I saw it anyways.

"Well go on, sit down." Jaime urged as he smacked my ass.

I winced and noticed Vic's eyes widen, followed by his lips curling into a smirk. "Get those dirty thoughts out of your head, Victor." Jaime then scolded his boyfriend.

"Well then don't smack my best friend's ass. . . that's weird, babe. It makes me think really weird things." I rolled my eyes. Yeah, weird, that was totally the word.

Perverts.

That night I told them all about my time in rehab. Though honestly there wasn't all that much to tell. It wasn't like I had been on vacation or something. It was tough and so many times had I felt like giving up, but I didn't. I apologized over and over again for what I'd done, realizing now how selfish I had been.

"You shouldn't feel guilty. It's just the way you felt at the time." Vic stated. "The world making you feel like you didn't have a choice is not your fault."

And I was grateful for his words.

Soon enough, food arrived. We had ordered a little bit of everything from different places, since I just couldn't make up my mind. "This isn't your last meal before you die, you know." Mike pointed out with a laugh, as he watched me snag bits of food from all over the table.

"You never know!" I told him jokingly, my mouth still half full. I then snatched Jaime's beer from his grasp and downed the food I had in my mouth. "God, this tastes good." I exclaimed with a satisfied groan.

Everyone just kind of laughed at me and rolled their eyes. Hmph, they had no idea what it was like eating nothing but rabbit and hippie food for all those months. And those disgusting drinks or smoothies, whatever they were. . . I could never get used to them.

But I didn't have to worry about any of that anymore now. Not as long as I behaved, anyway.

"So, about earlier. . ." Vic then began, a curious grin playing on his lips as he looked at me. "You and Justin were talking about you going to London? What's that all about?"

Right, I probably had some explaining to do on that part. Why was Vic grinning about it, though?