"Ashlyn, we are leaving soon," my older sister yells from downstairs.

"Coming," I yell back.

I run downstairs with my bag and I see my sister, mom, and Brandon sitting at the table. They are eating breakfast.

"Good morning," I say while grabbing a cup out of the cupboard.

"It's about time you get out of bed," Brandon says, "I never thought you would come down here."

"Oh shut up. Beauty takes time."

Brandon smiles and my sister, Ellie, just laughs, "What beauty?"

"Very funny," I say giving her an annoyed look.

"When will you guys be back?" My mom asks.

"A month," Brandon says, "July 22nd is when we will be back exactly." Brandon is my best friend. He has been my best friend since we were three years old. His family is very close to my family, so that's even better for us.

For the next two weeks we are going to California. Brandon wants us to meet some of his best friends. He is actually in a band with the four of them.

"A month is so long," my mom says. "Just be careful. And call me everyday."

I giggle a bit while sitting at the table, "We will, mom. No need to worry." My mom worries a lot because my dad left her when I was born. He didn't think they were ready for two kids running around, so he left us. She is very cautious about everything now.

"Well I'm going to worry. My three babies are leaving me," she says. She gives me a kiss on the forehead and then kisses the top of Brandon's head. She then gives a kiss on the forehead to Ellie. "Well you guys better hurry up, so you can say goodbye to Chris and Gina." Brandon's parents. They live right across the street from us.

"Yea you are right," Ellie say while standing up from the table, "We should go."

Brandon stands up and so do I. Brandon wraps his arm around my sister and smiles at my mom. They have been dating for about two years now. I never thought it would be weird because Brandon has always been my best friend, but it's a little strange. I approve of it though and I'm happy for them. And Brandon still hangs out with me almost 24/7, so I can't complain.

"Do you guys have everything in the car?" My mom asks.

"Yes, we have everything. We double checked last night," I say.

"Okay, well I love you guys. Be safe and have lots of fun for me," she says while giving each one of us a hug.

"Bye, mom. Love you," Ellie says.

"Love you, bye." Brandon and I say at the same time. We chuckle a bit and we head out of the house to see Gina and Chris.

"Mom!" Brandon yells once he is inside, "We are leaving. Dad!"

"Coming," Gina says from the living room. She walks in and it looks like she has been crying.

"Mom, it's only three hours away," he says. "I'll be back in a month."

"I know, sweetie, but after that you will be there permanently and I'll never see you again."

He smiles and gives her a hug, "I'll visit you all the time, I promise. Don't cry about it though."

She laughs a bit, "Well too late on that one. She lets go of Brandon and gives me a hug.

"Please take care of him. I know how much he loves you and I know how much you love him."

"I will, I promise," I whisper back.

She lets go of me and gives Ellie a big hug. It doesn't look like she says anything to her though.

If I'm being 100% honest I think Gina wants Brandon and I together. She loves Ellie, but she just feels that there is a different connection between Brandon and I.

And I'm not going to lie either, I've always had a crush on him, but I let my sister win. I let her take him away from me because I am too pussy to say anything to him.

"Have fun," Chris says snapping me out of my thoughts. "Don't do anything too stupid."

We all laugh, "We won't, dad." Brandon says.

Each of us give Chris a hug and we say our final goodbyes to them. We leave the house and we get into the car.

Brandon drives and Ellie sits up front with him which means I have the whole back seat to myself.

"Are you guys excited?" Brandon asks.

"So excited," Ellie says. "I can't wait to finally be in the California weather."

He chuckles and looks in the rear view mirror at me, "How about you, Ashlyn?"

I smile a bit, "I'm super excited! Let's get this party started!"

He smiles and backs out of the driveway. Ellie turns the music on and I spread my legs across the back seat while I draw on my notebook.

[3 hours later]

"We are here," Brandon says while pulling up to a very nice house. He parks the car in the driveway and I put all of my shit into my small bag.

The house is really nice, but not too nice. It's exactly perfect for five stupid boys to be living in. It's not huge, but not small. It's very perfect for them.

"This looks so nice," Ellie says smiling and looking at the house.

"Come on. Let's go inside," he says.

The three of us get out of the car and we go to the front door. "The boys are absolutely insane. Just to warn you." Brandon has technically been living here for a month now, but he is always home. He has gotten to know the boys a lot though and they are like best friends.

We go into the house and I instantly hear yelling coming from the room in front of us. It's the living room. The guy with dreads is sitting on the couch with a headset on. He is yelling at the TV while another guy is watching him.

"Yo, Z," Brandon yells while walking in front of the TV. "Can you turn this off?"

"Brandon, it's nice to see you, but I'm about to win. Can you please move?"

Brandon rolls his eyes and turns around to shut the TV off. "Really!" He yells while standing up and throwing the controller on the other side of the couch.

"Really," Brandon says blankly. I chuckle a bit to myself and Ellie gives me a look to shut the hell up. Ellie always thinks that she is better than me and she never has fun. She is like a mom. It's very annoying. "Where are the other two?"

"The kitchen," the guy on the couch says.

"Porter! Edwin! Come out here!" Brandon yells. Two people come out of the kitchen. One has black curly hair while the other has light brownish hair.

"Oh my God!" The one with curls yells while running at Brandon, "My baby is back!"

They give each other a hug and they all start laughing. Brandon was right. They are very insane.

"Alright guys," Brandon says. "This is my best friend, Ashlyn." He points to me and I wave at them. "And this is my girlfriend, Ellie." Brandon points at Ellie and she smiles at them.

"This is Zion," he says while pointing at the guy with long dreads.

Zion walks over to us and shakes our hands, "It's nice to meet you both."

"You too," I say smiling. He smiles back at me and sits down on the couch.

"This is Nick," he says pointing to the one that was sitting down on the couch watching Zion play.

He stands up and gives Ellie a hug. He gives one to me next and damn he is fine. Like very fine.

"This is Edwin," he says. The one with black curls. He is cute too. He gives us a hug and then sits down on the couch.

"And this is Austin," he says. He is the one with light brown hair. He also has paint all over his shirt. He must paint too. He shakes our hands and stands next to the TV.

"It's nice to meet you all," I say. "And thank you for letting us stay here for the time being."

"It's no problem at all," Nick says.

"Yea it's totally fine," Edwin says, "Now we some girls to set our dumb asses straight."

I laugh, "Damn straight."

"Do you guys want to see where you are staying?" Brandon asks.

"Yes please," Ellie says. She looks really annoyed. I don't know why, but she just does. I guess that's Ellie for you.

"Come on," Brandon says.

"I'm actually going to go get my bags first," I say while pointing at the front door.

"I'll help," Nick says while hopping off the couch very quickly.

I smile, "Thank you."

Ellie follows Brandon up the stairs and I go out the front door with Nick. We go to the car and I open the trunk.

"So is this your first time being in California?" He asks me while grabbing a couple bags.

"Yes, actually it is," I say. "I've always dreamed of coming here and now that has came true."

"Well we would love to show you around later if you want. Brandon will probably be with Ellie, so we can keep you company."

I giggle a bit, "Actually Brandon will probably come too. He has been my best friend since we were very little." We start walking back up to the house. "He doesn't usually leave me out when it comes to those two."

"Yea he mentioned that you guys were very close. So that's not weird with Ellie or anything?"

I shrug my shoulders and I stop at the door. "Eh, it's not the same as it used to be, but he really does try to always be there for me even with him having a girlfriend."

He smiles, "That doesn't surprise me. Brandon really is a good guy."

"Yes, yes he really is."

We go inside and Nick leads the way upstairs to where I'm going to be staying. "So this is my room. You are going to stay here because Ellie is staying with Brandon." He puts my bags down on the bed.

"Where are you sleeping?" I ask feeling bad already that I'm taking his room.

"In Zion's room," he says.

"You don't have to give up your room for me. I can sleep on the couch," I say.

He smiles and starts to walk towards the door to leave. "Don't worry about it. This is your room now. Get settled in"

"Thank you, Nick. I appreciate it."

"It's no problem," he walks out of the room and shuts the door softly behind him.

Nick is super nice and I'm really glad that I'm here right now. I'm excited to spend the month here. It really is going to be an amazing time.

I start to unpack some of my bags and then the doors opens up. Brandon walks in and closes it behind him. I smile as I start to organize my clothes.

"Hey, Ash," he says.

I smile, "Hi, B. What are you doing?"

"Nothing really. I'm helping you now." He walks over to me and starts to help me unpack everything. "Do you like it here so far?"

"Are you kidding? It's amazing. It's so beautiful and it's so warm and the boys are really nice."

He grins a bit, "I knew you would love them. They are really chill people until it comes to video games."

I laugh, "Yea I kinda gathered that one."

We continue to unpack my shit and then I stop and look at him, "What is Ellie doing? Why aren't you helping her?"

"I don't know," he says while putting a pile of clothes on the other side of the bed. "I wanted to help you."

"You can go help her," I say while folding a shirt.

He shakes his head no, "Remember. Besties before anything else."

I smile and I throw a pair of socks at him, "Stop being so sweet."

He laughs, "Well it's true. You will always be my number one."

"Forever," I say.