❛ SUPERMARKET FLOWERS ♪ ❜ - z. herron

fifty-one: the car analogy.

I walk out of Corbyn's bedroom, tiptoeing, making sure to not wake up Jonah, Eben, or Jordan. Corbyn decided that he "had" watch not only 2 Beatles documentaries but the Elton John one as well. He called me, forcing me to come over because he, quote, "couldn't watch it alone." As I quietly walk through the house, I noticed all the pictures hung on the wall. It's full of all the adventures the boys have been on together. Some look so old, times when Jack didn't even have his iconic tattoos. While others look so recent, they could have been taken yesterday.

"You wanna keep staring at the pictures or do you just want to come into the living room?" A voice calls from a few feet away, hidden by the wall.

I jump out of my skin, trying to catch my breath. I walk down the hall, turning left to see Jonah and his cat, the bright light of the TV illuminating them. "Next time, please warn me."

"It's like 2 am, why are you here?" He pats down next to him, motioning for me to sit down.

Jonah and I are probably the least close out of the entire group. Not by choice or anything; it's just we both don't really talk. I'm incredibly comfortable around him, but I'm lost when it comes to minor stuff like his favorite color or favorite movie.

"Corbyn made me watch like 4 hours worth of movies," I huff, sitting down next to him. Wes scurried under my arm, begging for attention. "We both thought you'd be asleep."

"Nope, I'm finding out about the wonders of the underwater world," He reaches out. He gently pets his animal as it falls asleep. "Who knew the animal planet could be so exhilarating?"

"What's wrong? Clearly, you don't seem as excited as you sound." I ask, reaching over to grab a blanket from a nearby chair. I lay it over my lap, asking with my eyes if he wants it.

He shakes his head, but I place a little piece over his knee. He sighs, taking a deep breath in. "Stuff's just been hard recently."

"What do you mean by that?" I cock my head.

"Music wise, we haven't been doing half bad. But, management has just been on my ass about Gianna." He says, twiddling with the ends of the blanket.

"Who's Gianna?"

"Naomi, my girlfriend. I just am not in the mood to deal with her and she hates when I call her that so..."

"What's going on with that?"

"Are you an undercover interviewer?"

"If I was, I'd be doing a trash job."

He slightly laughs, a smile being brought back to his face. "Yeah, no taking down notes, no nothing."

"I should start taking classes." I grin, "But actually, tell me what's up."

"Well, Neither of us are there anymore. Physically, I guess.-"

"Ew." I gag.

"Not like that, like we are there physically. When we hang out, we are both there." He emphasizes. "But mentally, we aren't. I mean, we talk about absolutely nothing and are never on the same page."

"Are you frustrated or do you want to end it?"

"I don't know. I care about her but it's literally like talking to a wall. Not once have we had an intelligent conversation and it's frustrating, but, aren't you supposed to be able to get through the bad times?"

"I guess. Nate and I are finally in a good place after being in a constant runt. But It's different if you can't connect. Why is management on your ass?" I say, petting Wes, whose head is now leaning against me.