Sleeping With My Best Friend - (Complete)

Chapter 25 - Home for the Holidays

***** Three Months Later *****

Berkley walked into her house and saw her older brother Keagan sitting on the couch with his arm wrapped around his fiance Hallie and his hand resting on her huge, round belly. Berkley still couldn't believe he was going to be a Dad, but seeing Hallie's belly made it suddenly feel real. The last time she had seen her, she wasn't even showing yet.

When Keagan looked up and saw Berkley standing there, he smiled, immediately getting up and walking over, scooping her up into a tight hug and spinning her around. When he put her down and stepped back, she noticed how much he had changed in just a few short months. He already looked older and more mature somehow. Maybe finding out he was going to be a Dad had done that to him.

He was also more tan than usual and his muscles were even bigger than the last time she saw him, like he had been hitting the gym a lot. His brown hair had grown and gotten a little too long and shaggy too.

"Someone needs a haircut," Berkley teased, ruffling up his hair and he smacked her hand away and then pulled her into a headlock, rubbing his knuckles deep into her scalp. She squealed and then stomped on his foot, making him loosen his grip enough for her to slip out of it while he was distracted by the pain, before pinning his arm behind his back.

He easily got his arm out of her hold and turned the tables on her, pinning her arm behind her back. "Is this what you were trying to do?" he asked with a teasing laugh.

Keagan was the reason Berkley had always been tough and able to defend herself, because growing up, he had treated her the same as his guy friends. He didn't take it easy on her because she was a girl and she appreciated that.

They wrestled back and forth for a minute, until they heard their Dad's deep, booming voice coming down the stairs, "Children! Settle down!" he laughed.

"Dad!" Berkley shouted, walking over and giving him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Man, I haven't seen you in forever."

"Yeah, sometimes it feels like you're a thousand miles away just like your brother here. I guess you're getting too busy for your old man these days."

She let out an exhale. "I'm sorry. Classes have been taking up all my time, but I plan on making up for it while I'm home on Christmas Break. I promise I'm gonna be here as much as I can."

Her Dad smiled and said, "That would be nice Peanut. I'm looking forward to finally getting to spend some time with you. So where's Dean?" he asked, looking around. "I haven't seen him in forever either."

She cleared her throat before saying, "He's not here."

"Well, when's he coming over?" her Dad pushed.

"He's not," she sighed, turning around and walking towards the kitchen, getting a pop out of the fridge.

Keagan laughed, "What do you mean he's not? Why wouldn't he?"

Berkley took a drink from the can before shrugging and looking back down at it, fidgeting with the tab.

"We ummm, we had sort of a fight I guess, and haven't seen or talked to each other in like three months," she said quietly.

Her brother furrowed his brows and scrunched up his nose, looking confused. "You're joking right?" he asked.

She shook her head, sitting down on a bar stool next to the kitchen island and letting out an exhale. "No, unfortunately not. That happens all the time though doesn't it? People drift away from their old high school friends when they go off to college. It's normal."

Keagan scoffed. "Yeah, but you guys are way more than just some old high school friends and you know it. You two have been inseparable since you were babies. I can't believe you aren't even friends anymore," Keagan told her, shaking his head in disbelief as he ran a hand up through his hair.