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chapter song edward sharpe and the magnetic zeroes: home "oh, home, let me come home / home is whenever i'm with you"
1984
"Baby," Nikki hollered up the steps, "you got the last of the boxes?"
El was in a daze as she looked around her bedroom for one last time. Boxes were stacked against the walls that enclosed her most precious memories of the last four years. She couldn't believe she was saying goodbye to her first home. Most of hers and Nikki's shared belongings had already been moved to the new house, but there were still the lingering few boxes and totes of clothes and shoes and whatever else El had hoarded in her room over the years.
She glanced to the window seat adjacent to her bed and felt her chest constrict as she recalled the echoes of laughter bouncing off the wall from one of the many nights her and Ezra had taken solace there.
"Would you hold still?" El spit out through a mess of giggles as she attempted to pull Ezra's hair through a cap.
"It tickles," he groaned through his own laughter. He wanted some blonde highlights, something about how it'd make him look cool.
"I'm almost done, just hold on," she huffed, her cheeks aching from smiling. "Of all the things you think could make you look more punk rock, I don't think this'll be it."
"I think you're just a hater who doesn't want me to live life in my best form," he joked.
"You should've just pierced your lip or your nose or something on that level of stupid, not this level of stupid."
"If all else, I can just dye it back. Fuck off," he replied, chuckling.
"I really think this is just a cry for help. You've officially hit your midlife crisis at 23," El said.
"Oh, piss off," Ezra replied. He was silent for a minute, and then he said, "Do you think it's really over this time? Do you think she's gone for good?" His voice was weak, timid. His heart was officially broken.
"I don't know, bubby," El's voice gentle, trying to be as comforting as possible, "but I do know that you will find your person someday and you'll know without a doubt that they won't leave. You'll never question it."
"Do you think you'll ever find it?" He wondered, genuinely curious about the state of his sister's love life.
El thought for a moment as blood rushed to her cheeks. There had been some mindless flirting and teasing exchanged between her and a certain Mr. Nikki Sixx that had fueled some hope in her. She really liked him, found his shyness endearing and the way he'd stutter around her sometimes was precious. But, there were certain times when, feeling courageous from the whiskey streaming through his veins, Nikki would look at her like she was the only one in the room and it was... intense, to say the least.
