"Thank you loads, it means so much. Really, Robert." Avery grinned at the goofy boy next to her who had just helped her unpack all of her stuff from home, back in Chicago. "It's no big deal, baby! I'm always open to help out a friend." Avery laughed at Robert's word choice, specifically the way he said "baby" in such a casual way. She had only known the boys for about 48 hours and they had already completely won her over.
Avery and Robert walked into the living room, where Alex hummed and did the dishes, and Austin and Zach argued over what to watch on TV. "Alex, what in the world are you doing dishes for? That's my only talent!" I scolded. He grinned cheekily at me before going back to his humming and concentrating. "Avery, will you tell Zach that the game is more important than the new episode of The Fucking Big Bang Theory?" Austin struggled to keep the remote away from the bulky boy sitting next to him.
"Big Bang is on? It's Thursday! I can't believe I almost forgot!" Avery plopped down on the couch in between Austin and Zach. It was incredible and scary how quickly she had become comfortable with the four boys. So far, she loved them all. Robert was the happy, exciting one. He always wanted, no needed, to be doing something, and if it didn't make everyone happy, then it wasn't good enough. Zach was always teasing not just Avery, but everyone. He was very particular about everything, and he seemed to enjoy arguing, which may have been why he was majoring in law. Alex was the sweetest one, and whenever Zach or Robert would pick on her, he put his two sense in and stood up for the first female to ever be in their little family.
Austin, however, was different than the other boys, and Avery couldn't really put her finger on it. He was the one who kept everyone together, the dad of the group. He was quieter than the other boys, but when he had something to say, he said it with confidence and ease. When Austin spoke, he had a way of gathering everyone's attention. His words had meaning, whether it was humorous, or moving, or inventive, or whatever else you could come up with. Unless he was crabby, which was exactly what was happening in this situation.
Avery, naturally, was very drawn to Austin, but she would never admit it. In fact, Avery didn't even know that she would be so infatuated with the curly haired boy with the beautiful smile and anger issues. Austin was unsure about Avery. He was trying to be as welcoming as he could, and of course he thought that she was beautiful, just as the rest of the boys did, but him and his crew had a close bond, and he didn't want any girl to break that. Little did Austin know, he would soon become more and more welcoming to this girl than he ever would have thought, and she truly would belong. She was about to become family, and the boys never would have imagined that it would mean so much.
And so, they all huddled together on the couch and watched the Big Bang Theory. Zach eventually stopped complaining about the game that was on, and Alex finished the dishes, and Robert was quiet for the whole thirty minutes that the show was on. And Austin, every once in awhile, would discreetly brush up against Avery's skin. A tradition was made, and every Thursday for thirty minutes, everything was alright.
