By the Light of the Moon

chapter two

     The following morning, I woke up first, as always. The floor is basically invisible, as it's covered largely by beer cans, pizza boxes, newspaper pages scattered about, napkins, toilet paper, trash bags, loose guitar picks, I could go on. I usually take it upon myself to clean around the boys as best as I can without waking them up- it's tradition at this point.

     I slowly rise from the couch, the boys always let me sleep there, and check the wall clock. It reads twelve thirty, and by the looks of the sun pouring through the openings through the living room curtains, the boys should be waking up sooner or later. 'I'd better get a move on', I think to myself.

     I step around the mess and the boys that managed to pass out on the floor and make my way to the bathroom to freshen up and clean that space first. I close and lock the door behind me, and turn on the lights. 'Yikes...' I cock my head to the side as I get a good look at myself. My hair was sticking up on one side, my face a bit puffy, my breath really rough from last night's antics.

     I lean over the counter and turn on the faucet, splashing my face with water, shaking my hands out before running them through my hair. Then I grab my spare toothbrush and get to brushing my teeth.

     After tidying up my appearance and then the bathroom, I open the door and make my way down the hall to see if anyone's trashed the spare rooms. Cracking one door open after the other, not a soul in any room. At least my work isn't too tough this morning. I make my way to the last room in the hallway and don't even bother being quiet, as I assume no one will be there. I'm almost sure I saw everyone on the floor in the living room-

     "Ah- shit..." I whisper, panicked, and I hid behind the door. I should have been more quiet, because in the room lies Dave asleep in bed in the corner by the window. He only slightly stirred, thankfully.

     I crack the door open a bit wider, and slower now, so as not to wake him up. He's never the most pleasant in the mornings. I creep in, peeking around to see if he tracked in any mess with him. My slow footsteps allow me to realize the only mess here is the empty bottle of liquor on the floor- right next to the pile of his clothes...

     'God dammit, Dave,' I shut my eyes and lean my head back, 'please for the love of god, don't wake up.' I look down to the floor and lean to pick up the bottle, sighing. This is the fifth bottle this week- it's currently Wednesday. As I come up, I glance back over to the bed. I'm met with Dave's face turned directly at me with a lazy, half-lidded gaze.

     I jump and let out a small noise, nearly dropping the bottle onto the floor, "Fuck- Dave you freaked me out, I thought you were sleeping!" He weakly snickers and grumbles out a soft reply, "Well, you're not as quiet as you think," he runs a hand through his tangled mane and shows a crooked smile.

     "Oh... well, I-I'm sorr-" I manage a rushed apology, but he cuts me off, "No- it's no worries Diana," he lets out the words with a breathy sigh, "better than Cliff, it's like the kid's got lead feet." I shake my head, laughing lightly in agreement.

     "You cleaning again?" He asks me, to which I nod wordlessly. He pauses for a moment, then continues. "How 'bout I help?" his eyes meet mine, and they don't falter. I drop mine first, letting them wander to the window- anywhere but on him, laying in bed, his fluffy hair perfectly amiss, his bare chest slowly rising and falling with his even breath-

     "Well- cause y'know," he quickly corrects, "you're always the only one doing it"

     "If you want to," I answer without missing a beat. Weird. It's never awkward with Dave. It never is with any of the boys. Dave nods and starts to sit up, the sheets moving with his body. I quickly turn on my heel to face the wall, I don't want to let this get any weirder than it is right now.

     "Um- you can freshen up and just meet me in the living room," I say quickly, fumbling with his empty bottle in my hands.

"Right, got it," Dave gives a small laugh and lets me leave the room. What was that about?' I let my mind wander. None of the boys have ever been like that with me. At least not that I can ever remember. It's always been the same dynamic- just me and the big brothers. That's all it ever was, anyone could see that. Maybe Dave just wants to be helpful... I shouldn't make it weird- I'm overthinking.

     Secretly, of course, I'm a girl surrounded by a bunch of guys that are older than me, taller and stronger than me, extremely talented, with lots of passion and heart, and of course- they're beautiful. Oh barf- if they ever heard me say that, they'd all laugh in my face. But hey, I have eyes, I'm not crazy to recognize that my friends happen to be good lookin' dudes. I'm always pretty introverted with my thoughts and feelings.

     That may be the only downside to having a bunch of dudes as friends- we don't talk too much about what's on our minds. It's just something that never comes up. We'll have a heart to heart here and there, but it's when we're already stupid drunk, and no one will ever touch it again in the morning. I guess it's the unspoken rule. The only time I ever really hear about their thoughts and feelings is in their music- that's when they're the most honest.

     I let my mind wander aimlessly to distract myself. I sift through the trash strewn about in the kitchen, throwing things into trash bags when need be, putting plates and glasses into the sink, and so on. Until I hear a rustling behind me. I whip my head around to see Dave stuffing paper towels and a pizza box into the trash bag leaned up against the wall. I half smile, thankful for his help.

     "Do you want me to take this out? It's getting kinda full," he offers, looking dead into my eyes. I immediately drop his gaze, focusing on placing another empty glass into the sink.

     "Oh, yeah, thanks," I look back up to see if his eyes are still there, "and, Dave, y'know you don't have to help and all, you can get back to sleep if you want- we all had a pretty long night..." I let my voice trail as I realize he hasn't looked away, instead his eyes are glued to mine, with yet another crooked smile playing at his lips.

     "No, it's not fair," Dave starts, "it was your party last night, and you've gotta get up before everyone else and clean up the mess we made?"

"Well I don't mind, I always clean up," I shake my head in protest.

"Well then, you shouldn't mind if it's a team effort this morning, right Dee?" he interjects, turning his head to the side, not letting his eyes lose mine.

     I felt my face heat up again. 'Fuckin hell...' I curse myself, pursing my lips and turning my face, knowing my cheeks are bright red. "Cool," Dave nods, his smile growing wider, "and after we're done cleaning, if the assholes aren't up yet, we can go pick up donuts and shit for breakfast?"

     I look back up to him, shocked at his offers, "Really?" I ask incredulously, trying to play defense now. I'm one of the guys, it's always been that way, I can't let my thoughts get to my head...

     "What?" he retorts, "You always do it anyway when no one else is up, you really don't like a little help?" I shook my head, "No, I know... Just seems out of character for you, that's all," I say, letting a smile grow on my lips as I explain.

     "Gee, thanks Diana," he shoots back sarcastically, "well I'm gonna take this bag out to the road, we're gonna clean the living room, and then we're gonna go pick up some food. 'Kay?" He rests a hand on his hip and stares at me, waiting for a rebuttal. I simply nod and put my hands up in surrender,

"Alright, alright, you've got it," I say casually.

     I can't let my guard down, these are my buddies, and the last thing they want is a girl getting all weird on them. I've earned my place with the guys, they've always told me I fit right in, that I'm another piece of the group. I can't let myself slip just because Dave wants to be nice all of the sudden. Get it together, Diana.

"Alright, let's do it," he says finally.