All of these stars will guide us home - Ed Sheeran (All of the stars)

I had been home for a couple of weeks and loving every second of it. I felt so content being back there, and I had been really stewing on the thought of coming back. It would be nice to experience the seasons fully again, and watch my siblings grow up. I had missed out on so much with all of them.

But that day in early July, I was lying on the deck of my parents’ house under the warm sun, watching my dad barbeque dinner, while Eve, Brody, Lucy, Scott and Sammy were in the pool. I had just gotten out because I was extremely pruny and I felt like attempting to get a tan.

I felt relaxed and refreshed. I was feeling good finally.

My phone buzzed from the ground next to my lounge chair, I picked it up and saw that it was a 416 number. I shrugged indifferent and answered it.

"Hello?" I asked lazily

Hesitation on the other end, "Josie?" the voice asked.

My eyebrows knitted together, "Who's this?" I asked.

He chuckled, "its Tyler!"

"Ty?" I asked, sitting up.

"Yeah!" he laughed, "Man, I've missed you! What are you up to?"

"What number are you calling from?" I asked, getting up as casually as possible and going into the house, bypassing my step-mom in the kitchen cutting up strawberries.

"My mom's house, I'm home for a while," he told me, and I could tell he was smiling.

Memories came back to me of all the fun we had months and months before. I knew that I was still missing him...but hearing his voice made it more intense. I really did miss Tyler.

More then I probably wanted to admit.

"That's good to hear, Tyler," I told him, climbing the stairs to get to my room at the end of the hall.

"Are you home?" he asked me.

I walked down the carpeted hall to my room, opening and closing my door swiftly, "Toronto home? Yeah, I am."

"Awesome!" he cheered, making me smile to myself, "Let’s hang out, Josie!"

I grimaced, not wanting to be rude to him. Even though I had missed him...I didn't know if this would be the best idea. Even though I knew I really did want to see him.

"I don't think that'd be a good idea, Ty..." I said letting it drift off.

He scoffed, "Come on! Please! I've wanted to talk to you for months! Just coffee. Starbucks! One of those frap things you fucking like so much."

I laughed softly, "I don't think that would be a good idea, Tyler."

He sighed, "Why?" he whined.

I bit my lip, "Because..." I said drifting off, knowing he knew what I was talking about.

"Josie...I wanna sit down with you and explain things. I want to talk to you now that there has been months of a cooling off period. I know you, and I know you're not over it, and I'm not saying that you should be. I just want to talk, and see you again. We were such fast friends, Josie, and I can't forget that. I told you, I can't just erase you. None of us could, and we haven't."

"I texted Demers," I blurted out, totally interrupting him.

Tyler laughed, "I know. He texted you back but you never responded."

I grimaced, "I re-blocked his number. I just wanted to tell him I was sorry about the trade."
"I figured," he said playfully, "We were all with him when you sent it. You shoulda seen his face, it was hilarious. He was like 'Holy Fuck Josie texted me!' And we were all like 'No fucking way!' And it was true and then we all tried to get a hold of you and nothing."

The tears started to well up, "I'm sorry," I told him honestly, "I wanted to text when you got injured and when your playoffs ended...but I didn't know what to say...especially to you, Tyler. And especially to...him. I just couldn't do it."

Tyler was silent for a moment, and I was worried he had hung up because I couldn't hear him at all. I pressed the phone closer to my ear and finally I heard a small sniffle on his end.

"Ty?" I asked.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, and I heard movements. He sniffled a couple more times before I heard a small sob from his end. And I felt terrible in that moment. And it hit me that I left them in such a lurch. I left them hanging this whole thing. I literally moved so that they wouldn't be able to find me. How much of a fucking coward could I be? Hearing Tyler now after months of separation...I really missed him and wanted to see him. I didn't even care if he tried to explain himself. I just missed him.

I smiled a little, "We can get coffee, Ty."

"Really?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah," I confirmed, "Just...tell me when. You can text me. I'll unblock you," I said with a small laugh, which made him laugh as well.

"I'm so sorry, Josie," he said quietly, "I've felt like such an asshole for months...we all have. And I've just missed you so much, and I was so worried you were gonna hang up."

"I thought about it," I cut in.

He laughed, "I figured. I'll let you get back to your family, I'll text you in a few minutes, you know, to give you time to unblock me."

I breathed out a small laugh, "Never gonna let me live that down?"

"Well no, not unless you block me again," he said.

I laughed loudly, "I'll try my hardest, you dork."

His laughter on the other end subsided, "I'll text you in a few, okay?"

I nodded, "Talk to you soon, Ty," I said before disconnecting the call.

I went to my contacts and found his name quickly; I went in and unblocked him before leaving my room with my phone in my hand. As soon as my feet hit the floor of the downstairs hall my phone buzzed with a text from Tyler.

From SeggySeg
Around 7pm? Wanna come to Brampton or me go to T.O??

I'll go to Brampton!

From SeggySeg
cool, there's a starbucks on worthington. Meet u there!

See you!

I walked back into the kitchen and saw Callie still cutting the strawberries into halves.

"Hey," I said, leaning against the counter top.

She smiled but didn't looking away from what she was doing, "Hey back. What's going on?"

I shrugged and looked at the salad on the counter, "Nothing," I said simply.

Her chuckle made me look at her, "Don't think that I didn't see your face when you came in here from outside, Josie."

"What do you mean?" I asked, as casually as humanely possible.

I heard her put down the knife and the strawberry so I looked at her and she was smiling at me, "You were all wide eyed, kid. Like you weren't expecting to be talking to whoever it was. Was it him?" she asked.

I shook my head, "No...it was Tyler actually."

She whistled lowly, "Tyler. What's he saying?"

I shrugged, "I'm going to meet him later. For coffee."

"Are you ready for that?" she asked quietly.

I hummed, "I mean, it's been months, right? I've really missed Tyler...I've really missed all of them, Callie. I just...I dunno...I want to see him."

She wrapped an arm around my shoulder and I leaned my head against hers, "You were a mess that night when you called me, Josie. Me and your dad...we can't forget that."

"Neither can I," I sighed, "I'm not saying that I'm gonna forgive any of them. I just...I just wanna talk to Tyler and see how everything is. I felt so bad not checking in on him after the injury and the playoffs...I left them too, Callie. And I feel bad about that...I dunno. I'm not saying we're all gonna be friends again or anything...I just miss him is all."

Callie removed her arm from shoulder and turned me so I was facing her, "I know, kid. I know that. I just...don't want to see your emotions getting messed up. You're starting to be the old Josie again, and I know that the whole thing was hard on you, so I don't want to see you going through that again is all. We love you, and we'll support any decision you make. But I know the guys hurt you by not telling you about her, and he hurt you by not telling you about her. So...I just don't want to see you hurt like that again."

"Just like they can't forget about me, I can't forget about them," I told her softly, wiping away some of the fresh tears that began to fall down my cheeks, "Even if I do start talking to Tyler...that doesn't mean anything about me and him.I just wanna see Ty for a bit, and hear what he has to say."

She smiled slightly at me, "Then you do what you need to do. Are you gonna tell your dad?"

I shook my head, "No. I don't need him freaking out over nothing. Once I figure things out I'll talk to him...but until then. Please don't tell anyone, Callie," I begged.

"I won't," she promised, just as the sliding door opened and my dad walked in.

"What's going on here, ladies?" he asked, carrying a plate of steaks and chicken.

Callie dropped her hands from my shoulder and sighed, "Nothing, Josie was helping me out and got something in her eye, I was just checking it for her," she said, brushing it off.

Dad nodded and placed the plate on the island in the kitchen, "Well, dinner is done, I'll call the others inside to make their plates," he said, throwing the both of us a smile before going back outside.

I looked at Callie and sighed lightly, "I'll need to leave around quarter after six or so," I said, "meeting him in Brampton."

She smiled as the door opened and everyone came inside, "Don't worry, it'll all be fine."

I sighed and nodded once, hoping that she was right.

Notes

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