It seemed as though we got all worked up and nervous for no reason at all. When Ned walked through those gates and we saw that trademark American grin beaming at us, it was like seeing an old, familiar friend who we had known for years. Sure, for the first couple of seconds there was the awkwardness of who he hugs first, he also probably thought “What the hell have I done” upon seeing the signs we’d made to greet him and he was undoubtedly curious as to who the flamboyant gay man was with us (who was my cousin). Once those little obstacles were overridden, it was business as usual.

We made our way back to the car with Ned’s backpack in tow and whilst on our way we took the customary photos which bemused onlookers as we proudly displayed our signs. Kristy pulled me to one side whilst Rach and Mark did the polite exchange of asking how Ned’s flight was. Kristy and I lagged behind which is when Kristy whispered to me “Oh my God, I forgot how good looking he was!! This is weird. Do you think it’s weird?” To be honest, I didn’t know how to respond to that. I guess the answer was yes, it was weird. There we were, 6 months after our return from Thailand, our whole lives had been turned upside down and yet we had uprooted ourselves to accommodate Ned’s arrival in Australia by relocating to a new house where we could all live together and this was for the sake of somebody who we had met briefly in Thailand. So maybe Kristy was right, the situation was a little weird and probably more than a little weird for her so I agreed with her but I also added that perhaps this time around, weird could also be a good thing and we both agreed that regardless, it was going to be quite an experience, be it weird or wonderful.

On our drive back to the house, Rach being the ever accommodating person that she is, played Tenacious D to bring back Thailand memories for Ned but the poor guy was jet lagged and looked exhausted from his sudden arrival in Australia and not to mention his nonstop partying in Sydney. Ned didn’t seem to get excited over the music much to Rachy’s disappointment but we soldiered on with more talk of our new house and what we had in store for Ned for the evening.

We swung by the “bottlo” on our way back to the house. Ned could not stop laughing at our Aussie slang and thought the term “bottlo” was hilarious and particularly lazy! It’s funny when you have somebody from overseas on your home turf as you suddenly become aware of how foreign you seem to them and vice versa and this ended up being a constant source of amusement for all of us.

With all the alcohol we bought, you would have assumed the breweries were going on strike as we stocked up and all of the alcohol we had was just to accommodate ourselves. It started off with a carton of Singhas and then we thought we needed to get champagne to celebrate so we also bought a bottle of that. We then insisted that we needed vodka to drink in between and at that point Ned demanded we also get jagr for old times’ sake. So, needless to say, we were set for a rather interesting evening.

When we arrived at the house, we showed Ned around his new home and he absolutely loved it. He seemed to be returning to his old self as the minutes went by too which was a relief as I think we all started to wonder if he was okay as he was much quieter than usual. Once Ned was reasonably settled in (which consisted of dumping his backpack on the floor of his room and taking a quick shower), we resumed our usual positions out the back and opened our first Singha for the evening. We sat and chatted for ages. We retold the stories we’d told one another a hundred times before and yet we still laughed and hung on one another’s words as if we didn’t know what had happened next. I couldn’t even begin to describe how it felt that night with the sun going down, with the candles flickering at dusk, with familiar melodies playing in the background a Singha in hand and some of my favourite and most treasured people surrounding me. It was magical and what’s more, I was really starting to feel at home again.

We had ordered pizzas and with the pizzas came my sister and then after my sister came our other friends who, with open arms, welcomed Ned not only to Perth but into our tight knit group of friends. He seemed to be a hit amongst everyone but yet our Thailand conversations and the events that unfolded since Thailand kept our little group a bit segregated but in saying that, it was nothing that we weren’t used to seeing as we had managed to segregate ourselves since being back. Rach and Ned hit it off really well and it seemed as though they spent the entire evening chatting. They realised they had many things in common. They shared the same taste in music, they shared a love for beer, and they also had a similar outlook on life. Watching them together made me realise that this was probably the first time they had sat down together and had a proper conversation with Ned being able to understand what Rachel was saying as he would always joke that by the time we would ring him when he was in the States, we were already very drunk and with Rachel’s Aussie twang, he could never understand a word she said.

As the night wore on and became more and more messy, it appeared that everything was going better than we could have hoped. That was, until, Kristy not so discreetly got my attention and gestured for me to follow her inside. I did exactly that, giggling the whole way which may have given the secret mission away. We got inside and promptly ran into her room where we sat (or, more accurately, fell) on her bed. Kristy told me that she thought Rach and Ned were going to get together as she thought there was a lot of chemistry between them. I played along with her prediction and in doing so we then created all sorts of scenarios in our heads of how the next few weeks were going to play out with Ned and Rach. That’s the thing with Kristy and I, when you get us together we sometimes forget there is a thing called reality and so we can easily get carried away in one another’s thoughts which isn’t helped by the fact that we egg each other on. In fits of laughter, I saw a glimmer of something in Kristy’s eyes which showed me that she wasn’t finding the whole situation as funny as what she usually would. It was then that I realised that she was more than just attracted to Ned. I didn’t press the issue at the time as I was in no state to but in the back of mind, I thought to myself that things were about to get a whole lot more interesting seeing as Kristy had just recently started seeing one of my best friends who she had been infatuated with since we were in high school. To be fair, the infatuation was very much mutual and the two of them getting together was somewhat of a milestone seeing as they had been messing about with one another for years without getting anywhere. As if reading my mind at that moment, Kristy decided that we should call him and invite him over so we did just that – not really thinking the whole thing through. As I said, that’s what Kristy and I are like though. We tend to do things on a whim and deal with the consequences later.

The mood amongst everybody became more mellow as it neared 3.00am and in front of us sat two empty cartons of beer, two empty bottles of vodka, an empty bottle of jagr, an empty bottle of champagne and an empty bottle of frangellico (all of which was consumed by Rach, Ned, Kristy and I). Doug, Kristy’s unofficial boyfriend, arrived almost on cue as he brought with him some joints to share around which immediately ignited a friendship between him and Ned. The joints made things much messier though as we all ended up dancing around, turning the music up very loud, running through the house, screaming the words to songs, laughing like mad and just generally being young, stupid and ignorant.

At some time after that (as I am sure you can appreciate, the details of that night are sketchy due to the amount I drank), I noticed that Ned had been gone for awhile so I went in search of him. Kristy, Lisa and Rach came with me. We found him trying to pass out in his bed, at which point we all did what every other normal person would have done and played stacks on. Ned started taking videos of us all rummaging around on his bed which we instantly realised probably wouldn’t give off the right impression for his friends and family back home so we decided to leave him be. As we all went to walk out of the room, Ned called me back in. He pulled me down onto the bed with him and we lay there in darkness for ages while he hugged me. I could tell he was smiling and he probably also sensed that I was too. There was no uncomfortable feeling between us nor did we find it odd to be lying in one another’s arms. It all felt completely natural. He then said to me “Ali, I’m so glad I got to meet you. You’re amazing. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.” I knew that was Ned’s way of thanking me and at that point, he didn’t need to say thank you. Him being there was enough. Him making me smile again and remember what it was like to feel like myself was thanks enough. After laying there with Ned a moment longer, I got back up and went back outside to share a cigarette with Doug while everybody contemplated calling it a night and heading home. Seeing as Doug isn’t the brightest spark at times, I was shocked that he straight away came out and asked if there was anything going on with Kristy and Ned. I acted dumb, not wanting to give too much away so I tried to dismiss the remark...after all, there wasn’t anything going on with them and I didn’t think that Doug needed to know the whole sordid story of how they got together in Thailand. I was actually surprised as he was one of the very few people who hadn’t heard all of our Thailand stories and that turned out to be a good thing as Doug has quite a temper on him and can be so unpredictable at times that it’s best not to provide him with anything that will get him riled up. Even with me dismissing his comment, he pestered me more. After knowing someone for 20 years, they tend to know when you’re keeping something from them and this was the conclusion Doug came to without me saying anything at all. I guess in saying nothing though, I said everything. By this time, everybody had gone home or to bed so the only ones left standing (and I use that term loosely) was Doug, me, Kristy and my sister. As Kristy and I were having trouble walking, let alone talking, we decided that we too should call it a night as we had wanted to show Ned around a bit the following day. We all said our goodnights, tried to clean up to no avail and then passed out in a matter of seconds when we got to our rooms.

When I woke up the next morning, feeling very much worse for wear, I lay in bed to collect my thoughts as well as trying to piece together the previous night’s events. I let my mind wander at I even giggled at the antics that occurred, the fits of laughter we found ourselves in and the shenanigans we got up to. I realised that I was right; we were definitely in for a very weird and wonderful few months with Ned. The only thing was, as I lay there with a smile on my face whilst trying to coax my body out of bed, I had a very strange, unsettling feeling looming inside of me which I couldn’t place. I tried to dismiss it but it wouldn’t go away. Trying to forget about it, I did what I always do when I want to escape my emotions...I took my mind back to us being on the beach in Thailand which then made my mind wonder and I began thinking of Lee and the unsettling feeling floated away just as quickly as it had came as I pondered what Lee was doing at that exact moment. I then heard the kettle boil and realised Kristy must have been up. It was time to start yet another day.




(Note: I tried to upload some photos onto here but couldn't figure out how and my eyes are hurting from staring at the screen for too long!)

Attached Images

IMG_1207.jpg (94.0 KB, 31 views)

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I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it’s not some place you can look for. Because it’s not where you go … its how you feel for a moment in your life. If you find that moment … it lasts forever.

He is quite cute. Not as cute as my Dave of course.............. he may be reading this !!!!!!

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Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.

What a treat - switch on the PC on a Friday evening after a c*** week at work and see the next long awaited JBR instalment from Ali. Trouble is, you end up just wanting more!

I'm on an alcohol free night and I feel quite drunk just reading it.

Cheers!

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Alison

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It's Better to Burn Out than just to Fade Away!

Alison, sounds like a very crappy week! And no alcohol?? What are you thinking! hahaha

I will try get another one up today which should lead us up to the end! What are you all going to do when they're finished?? More importantly, what am I going to do?!

And Jax, yep, Ned is quite hot! When I introduced him to my family (well, not my whole family due to the arguments but my Uncle and Aunty and cousins), my Aunty dragged me aside and said "Ali, he is absolutely gorgeous!!!! He's got to be one of the most handsome men I've ever seen! He looks like he's right out of Bold and the Beautiful!!!" hahahahaha I was like "WHOA - hold up there! You're married!!!" but yes, he was quite a hit. He's also a fantastic guy. He's intelligent, head strong, worldly, had a hint of arrogance but in a good way and would never back down from an argument which created A LOT of tension between he and I and many others. You'll read more about that in the JBRs though as that's next!!!

__________________
I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it’s not some place you can look for. Because it’s not where you go … its how you feel for a moment in your life. If you find that moment … it lasts forever.

I've just uploaded some photos from the night but they aren't the best as we didn't have the camera out much...we were too occupied with drinking and reminiscing!

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I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it’s not some place you can look for. Because it’s not where you go … its how you feel for a moment in your life. If you find that moment … it lasts forever.

Ali

He is gorgeous, if only I was 20 years younger :) right come on we need the rest of the JBR you cannot keep us waiting too long this time

Sharrie

I will try not to. I'm halfway through the next one now so should be done soon.

I spoke to Kristy on Saturday about the JBRs after she read the last one. She keeps on laughing at how I can remember all of this!! She also asked how the hell I was going to manage to include everything that's happened since then and to be honest, I've got absolutely no idea now!!! I think I've already missed out a few things here and there but never mind! I'm going have to come up with a way to shorten them from here on in though!!!!!

Glad you're liking them (still!) and that you're also liking the look of Ned too! I'm sure he'd be pleased! : )

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I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it’s not some place you can look for. Because it’s not where you go … its how you feel for a moment in your life. If you find that moment … it lasts forever.

Hi Ali

NO don't shorten them, we love them, hurry up cannot wait to read more

Sharrie :)