Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 63: Sleepover

"You don't have to stay here tonight, you know. You're welcome to, but if you and Shayne want privacy I won't be offended," Courtney's Dad tells her quietly, when she's helping him clean up after the quiet dinner they'd had with the few people still left at the house – them, Shayne, her brother and his family.

"We did say we were going to stay here tonight," Courtney replies, and she knows it isn't really a point either way, but she isn't sure what else to say.

"Go on, you two aren't subtle, I can tell you want to talk alone," Roger reinforces.

"I'll talk to Shayne," she shrugs.

She doesn't so much talk to him as she does tell him her Dad had given them the out to just go home and she wanted to take it. He agrees wholeheartedly, and fifteen minutes of finishing clean-up and goodbyes later they're in Shayne's car on the freeway, Courtney twisted sideways in her seat so she can keep her eyes on him as they drive.

They don't break their silence for much of the drive. Truthfully, Courtney doesn't feel she has much to say. She'd told him what happened with Brian, and they'd both experienced the rest of the party. They both knew it had gone well. They both knew how nice it felt to have their families mingling in relaxed comfort for so many hours.

"Can we just go to bed and cuddle?" Shayne asks, as they're both quickly unpacking the things they'd taken to her Dad's not long after they get home. It sounds like a perfect idea, so Courtney nods, immediately moving into her getting-ready-for-bed routine alongside his so they can slip under the covers and not move until morning.

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They both sleep in. The party had flowed as perfectly as they could've hoped for, but between the organising beforehand and the hours of socialising, they were a little tired the Sunday morning. Shayne forgoes the gym, instead letting himself remain sprawled across their bed with Courtney's head against his shoulder while his hand softly plays with her hair. They hadn't talked a whole lot the previous night, instead emotionally debriefing through a combination of soft kisses and gentle hands holding them close together.

"Yesterday was great. It was as casual and relaxing as we wanted but everyone was there and it was... everyone implicitly recognised they're all family now. Nath called your siblings' kids his cousins, he was so excited to finally have cousins," Shayne breaks their silence with a meandering statement of satisfaction. She returns the sentiment, letting them talk softly until they eventually find the motivation to step out of bed.

They have a quiet day, to balance out the previous. Their major distraction comes in the mid-afternoon, Shayne's phone ringing. He ambles across the room to grab it from where he left it, tapping the screen to answer it and bringing the phone to his ear as he moves back to sit on the couch beside where Courtney is sat sorting through her makeup brushes.

"Hey Dames," Shayne greets him.

"Hey hey, put me on speaker, want to talk to Court too," Damien requests, Shayne pulling the phone away from his ear and doing just that as he nudges Courtney to get her attention.

"Damimen!" Courtney greets him, Damien laughing in response to the nickname.

"Hey Court. So like, I don't know what else you talked about with Chris when I wasn't there, but I had an idea with the Nathan stuff?" he offers his reason for calling.

"Oh?" Shayne presses, intrigued, Courtney listening as she continues to try and prioritise which brushes need to be cleaned and which just need to be replaced.

"Obviously it'd only be if you guys and Nathan and his parents were all up for it – but since he seemed pretty keen on the whole thing, maybe it'd be worth filming a couple of videos, different games, make a little series of it? I'm sure we could come up with some 7-year-old appropriate games," Damien suggests.