F***in' Arizona

"She Will Be Loved" (Chapter 11)

*Author's Note: Hi, hello, this is just a warning that there will be some content in this chapter dealing with suicide that may or may not be triggering for some readers.

After leaving the airport, Maya, Ari, and I went to grab something to eat and catch up. Ari was supposed to take an uber to his parent's house, but since he ran into us, I offered him a ride instead. I wanted a chance to catch up with him without Maya being there.

When it was time for us to part ways, I dropped Maya off at her parent's house and started making my way to Ari's.

"It's really good to see you again Nova," he says looking over from the passenger side.

"I know right, not enough people tell me that," I say back, joking.

He laughs his signature laugh that I have come to love and miss and it's like we are picking up where we left off the last time we were face to face.
I missed just being in his presence, just seeing his smiling face, watching his familiar movements, and smelling that fresh laundry scent that always surrounded him.

"Seriously, it's good to see you too Ari. Last time was what? Summer after high school graduation when everyone was getting ready to leave?"

"Yeah it was. Shit, I can't believe it's been that long already. We're already halfway done with college. We're fuckin' adults Nova! Can you believe that? Feels like just yesterday that we were in the tenth grade."

We made it to Ari's parent's house and were sitting in the driveway in my dark blue Chevy Cruze just chatting and laughing.

Back in high school, we used to have some of the best car conversations. We would talk about everything, laugh about everything, cry about everything (mostly me crying cuz I'm a sap), share our fears, and share our hopes and dreams for each other. We truly were best friends.

"Hey, why don't we finish this conversation inside? I kinda want to get out of these clothes and wash off the staleness of the airplane. Plus, I know it's been a while since my family has seen you," he says opening the passenger side door without waiting for my response.

"Uh, yeah sure, I guess. It's been a while since I've seen the family. Wait, are they all here?"

"I know Dakota is here for a few weeks and Georgia is probably here too. The only one who shouldn't be here is Montana."

As we make our way up to the Matthews' family large Midtown located home, I start to feel a little out of place. Like I didn't belong in this neighborhood. This area was all old money. Old money meaning passed down money. As in, the ancestors of these people all had money and their money stayed in the family and it came from people who owned people.
That type of money. Some of the original founders of this city lived in this area once upon a time.

Ari knocks on the door and we stand there for a minute before a handsome man appears.

Scratch that.

A fine ass man appears.

"Dak!"

"Ari!"

Ari drops his stuff on the ground not caring if it landed on porch bugs or not. The two brothers embraced each other and stayed that way for a few moments before finally letting go.
Ari gathers his stuff back up and walks past his older brother and walks inside the house leaving me to try and make conversation with the oldest male Matthews child.

Dakota looks over at me and grins before throwing his arms open wide.

"Nova! It's been so long since I've seen you! Which is too bad because you look good," he says suavely.