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Dream forever in your wonder She'll never sunder Into the day
The house was filled with noise. That was the first thing Alex registered. There was idle chatter that simmered consistently in the background until it resembled static, only to be occasionally interrupted by Sam's distinguishable rolling laughter, and every few seconds, there was a loud bang of something being set down too hard or a wall being thumped against. The entryway was warm, too, as they proceeded through the halls, that was the second recognition. Though, she couldn't actually feel it with sheer terror flowing through her veins like freezing water.
"Are you really shaking right now?" Jake questioned with hardly contained amusement as he guided her forward, that same persistent touch on her lower back searing the skin through her oversized sweater.
Despite the whisper, Josh must have heard his twin because he chuckled gleefully under his breath, earning them both a glare of irritation. "What? No," she denied without much conviction. "Just shut up, both of you."
The truth was, Alex was quite literally shaking in her boots, and the closer they drew to the source of the sound, assumed to be the living room, the shallower her breaths became. She didn't know exactly what she expected, maybe to be run out of town with flaming torches and pitchforks, and no matter how unreasonable that possibility was, it still didn't stop her mind from wandering to the worst.
The threesome finally halted outside the opening, momentarily concealed in the low lighting of the hall, some small solace that mirrored the calm before the storm. However, Alex knew that temporary relief wouldn't last, not when Josh rounded on them, mirth written across his face clearer than the drawings of a picture book. "Showtime, lovebirds," he announced to the couple with a self-satisfied smirk and began trailing backwards into the room. "Guess who finally decided to show up?" The frontman shouted over his shoulder to the still unseen occupants, cutting through the previous conversation and effectively silencing it.
"Asshole," Jake muttered with a disappointed shake of the head at his brother's theatrics. There was no allowing them to ease into the pool from the steps. He'd taken it upon himself to shove them in the deep end instead.
And, even if Josh was an insufferable asshole, his exclamation had effectively brought an end to her attempts at stalling. "Fuck it. Whatever," Alex scoffed with a roll of the eyes and took that dreaded step forward.
All the collected faces were recognizable, even if they weren't altogether familiar. Sam was sprawled out across the carpet with seemingly no care in the world as his head lobbed backward to peer up at them in disinterest. Ronnie wasn't far away in the recliner, feet folded beneath her as deep brown eyes, similar to her brothers, watched on in intrigue. Then, the parents were seated on the sofa, each wearing a cordial, if not hesitant, smile across their aged faces.
"Hi." That's all Alex's brain could muster, accompanied by an all too awkward raise of the hand. She wanted to die of embarrassment in that instant, but when had death ever come calling at the appropriate time?
