Diana officially moves in.

That Monday, as planned, Diana and I woke up at around 6:00 am and left the house by 7:00 am. We went over to her house to oversee the loading of the moving truck she’d hired to get her things. Since her plan was to rent the house, she wasn’t moving everything. Just some important furniture, plants and boxes with everything from clothes to old notebooks and decorative items. She stood there in the living room, watching as her house emptied out, leaving only things like couches, tables and a few kitchen appliances we already had at home.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, standing next to her.

She sighed and reached to take my hand. I held it firmly, reassuringly. “Yeah,” she said. “I told you I’m not too attached to the house itself. I only lived here for like seven years. It’s just… shocking to see, I guess. And counter intuitive, in a way, she chuckled. “Leaving a house I own to live in yours.”

“It’s your home, too, if you let it be. You were in the plans before you even agreed to move in.”

“Not to mention I already made up my mind.” She shook her head. “Don't worry. It’s a strange feeling, leaving this place behind, but I’m excited to live with you all.” She then smirked, squeezed my hand and whispered. “How much time do you give Fern before she wants to move in with us?”

It was an awkward question because, if it were up to me, she’d be moving in tomorrow, but… “A year?” I said sheepishly.

Diana scoffed. “Six months, and I’m being generous. It’d be easier for her since she’s living with her parents and they support her.”

I guess that’s true. Fern did try to live alone for six months. The loneliness and the stress overwhelmed her, which was the reason she moved back with her parents, who welcomed her back with open arms. With that in mind… I’d have to guess that Fern wouldn’t move in with us until she felt like she could stand on her own two feet.

We drove back home with the moving truck following behind us. They left everything outside the house, meaning it was up to us to move things in. By then, the girls were awake and they’d be the ones moving in boxes and placing Diana’s framed paintings, potted plants and other decorations around the house. A lot of those went to the main entrance, which made it look a lot more welcoming than before.

The only one not helping with that was Sarah, whose job was, instead, to help me leverage some of the bigger furniture as we took it up the stairs. Thankfully, I could carry the weight on my own, but holding things like her wardrobe was a bit too awkward due to size alone. Sarah helped me by keeping it from falling off my back.

“We should’ve disassembled it first…” she told me.

“It’s old and glued together, so…”

“Ah.”

We carried things to what would be Diana’s official bedroom, the same one that used to be her unofficial bedroom that barely saw any use. She would normally sleep with me whenever she came over, but now she’d need her own space. Which reminded me that I’d have to tell her to take her shirts and underwear she’d been leaving here from my own drawers.

We had a late lunch, but we still did something a bit more interesting than usual. I made homemade pizza for us. Five, to be precise. I’d been wanting to try my hand at it and Diana’s welcome party was a good excuse. Making the dough took me a while and it wasn’t perfect… but the hunger from the work we put in made up for it. There wasn’t a slice left.

“Ugh, I want to take a nap…” Grace said, leaning against Alice’s shoulder as we sat in the living room after eating. “I’m tired and full. I don’t want to go to university tomorrow, either…”

“A nap does sound good,” Fern said, stretching her arms and shoulders. She looked more away than the others, though. “But then I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night, and I have classes early tomorrow. Not to mention a shift at the coffee shop right after.”

“Mila’s about to fall asleep already,” Diana said, chuckling while looking down at Mila, who was laying on the couch with her head on Diana’s lap. The older woman smiled and gently moved Mila’s bangs out of her face. “She did move a lot today.”

“I’m not sleeping…” Mila said with the voice of someone just seconds away from passing out.

Noelle also let out a big yawn. “I’ll hold out, but I think I’ll go to bed really early tonight.”

“You girls wouldn't be this tired if you worked out three times a week instead of just one,” Sarah told them.

“I’m still going to argue that sex is a fairly good workout,” Alice said, her giggle interrupted by a yawn of her own.

I looked at my phone to check the time. I didn’t want it to be, but it was already 5:30 pm. So against my own wishes… “Hey, Fern? Should I drive you home now?”

Fern grimaced, too. “It’s that time, huh?”

“You sure you can’t stay until tomorrow?” Alice asked her. “We’ll all be leaving early, anyway.”

Fern shook her head. “I didn’t bring another change of clothes, or my notebooks and textbooks. Besides… I don’t want to impose anymore.”

“Can someone smack her on the head so she’ll finally understand she’s not imposing,” Grace said with a yawn. It’s true what they say, they’re contagious.

Noelle was the one who stood up, gave Fern a harmless smack on top of the head while she was on her seat before hugging her from behind.

Fern giggled. “Alright, sorry. I’ll stop. I do need to go back home, though.”

“Okay. Shall we?” It’s not that I was in a hurry for her to leave. Rather… it would be a two hour trip to and back.

“Yes.”

“Oliver,” Alice called my name, reached into her pocket and lobbed a key towards me. I caught it… and noticed it was the key to her car. “A promise is a promise.”

I got a little nervous, but I admit I got excited. “I’ll be careful with it.”

“You know, in Alice-Speak, that means you two are already married,” Sarah said.

“Jealous I beat you to the punch?” Alice teased.

“A little, yeah,” Sarah admitted with a chuckle.

Fern said goodbye to everyone and the two of us left the house in Alice’s RX-7.

Honestly never expected this day to come… and the pressure of driving her precious car was making me reconsider ever borrowing it again.

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