Page 100 of Indigo

“I asked them to come over, sweetie, relax,” Indie says from behind me, placing her hand on my lower back as she finishes the sentence. “Today felt like as good a time as any to restart the tradition, and add on to it.”

Ah. That’s why she had me make lasagna. I was worried we’d be eating leftovers for a week.

“Yeah, chill out, Pax,” Paisley teases, pulling a bag of fresh limes from the fridge.

Josh places two six packs of coronas on the kitchen counter, and suddenly the food’s being plated, margaritas are being blended, beers are being passed around, and the house is full of life.

Once the food’s gone, we decide to move outside, drag the fire pit and camping chairs out of the little shed in the backyard and sit around while we continue to drink and talk shit.

“You just don’t want to leave home,” Paisley teases, throwing her bottle cap at Jagger, who’s still using the same old excuse as to why he hasn’t moved in with Matt yet.

“Piss off, woman.” Jagger laughs, swatting the cap away before it can hit him in the face.

“Why haven’t you and Josh moved in together yet?” Matt asks Paisley, sounding genuinely curious.

It’s a fair question. Paisley and Josh have been dating for a fair while now. Josh and I spoke about it once, maybe a year ago, and he told me she wasn’t ready for that sort of commitment, so he dropped the subject. For all I know, he hasn’t brought it up again.

“Ugh,” Josh starts, darting his eyes at Paisley as if asking for permission to say something.

We all wait for his response, the circle going quiet as the two of them stare at each other.

“I want to move back into Mum’s,” Indie announces, taking us all off guard and removing the heat from Paisley and Josh, which I’m sure was her intention.

I swing my head to the side to look down at her as she clings to my arm. “You do?”

She nods, looking up at me through hooded eyes, the alcohol clearly working its way through her system. We’ve got about an hour by the looks of it before she falls asleep on me.

“Mhmm,” she replies. “And I was kind of thinking maybe you’d move in with me.”

I’m stunned. Why? I have no idea. The two of us haven’t spent a night apart in months, and it already feels like we live together.

My mouth opens and closes as I feel everyone’s eyes on me now, waiting for my answer, even though it wasn’t a direct question.

“Unless you don’t want to…”

“No,” I yell, actually yell, startling everyone by the volume of my voice. “Shit, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that, dammit.”

Indie giggles and rubs my arm soothingly, telling me it’s alright, and I take a deep breath. “Yeah. Fuck yeah. Let’s do it.”

Questions such as, what am I going to do with my house? What is Indie going to do with this one? Who’s couch are we taking? What do we do with all of Lana’s stuff? Run through my mind, but instead of voicing my concerns aloud, I lean down and kiss her, trying to convey without words how in love with her I am, how excited I am for our future, and how proud I am of her for coming this far after everything she’s been through.

As she reaches up, places her hand on my face, and strokes through my beard with her thumb, I can almost hear her repeat my thoughts back to me.

“Love you,” she whispers against my lips, only pulling back long enough to get the words out before ducking back in for another quick kiss.

Hooting and hollering echoes around the backyard as everyone cheers us on, and Indie’s blush as she ducks her head makes me laugh.

“Come on over here, Blue, you look cold,” I say, patting my lap as she continues to turn bright red.

Without hesitation, she gets up and sits herself down on my lap, and the warmth of her body seeps into mine as I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her closer to my chest.

“You know,” Paisley begins, pointing her beer bottle at Jagger. “Mr Reed wants to sell this place, and if Indie doesn’t want it…”

Jagger's eyes go wide as he absorbs the words. “Oh my god,” he yells excitedly, turning to Matt. “We could totally buy this place.”

Matt scrunches his nose and looks around at the backyard as if inspecting it for something sinister.

“Hey,” Indie pipes up, pointing her finger at Matt, trying to put on her stern face, but with the amount she’s had to drink, her expression looks more like she’s trying not to burst into a fit of laughter. “Don’t look at my house like that.”

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