Vacation

Cuddles and Cooking

I open my eyes to a woman screaming. I jerk up looking around. Everyone's asleep on the couch, and I realize the scream was from the TV. I sigh, and lay back down onto a warm pillow. A Brandon pillow. I jump back up, and take a breath.

It's just Brandon. I'm fine.

But Brandon confessed his love to me earlier. Yesterday? I look outside and notice the darkness. Looking at my phone, it shows five in the morning.

Good enough. I walk into the kitchen and rustle through the counters until I find the ingredients for biscuits and gravy. The fire yesterday didn't do much to the stove, it just made the ceiling a little dark above it.

I get to cooking, listening to music through headphones so I don't wake the others. I hum and dance a little to a couple of songs I really like, and in what felt like two minutes, everything was done. I nod at my work, and turn around, seeing Brandon with an ice pack on his face sitting at the counter watching me.

"How long have you been there?" I ask, pointing at him.

"Longer than you'd have wanted me to be." He replies.

"Oh, let me see your nose." I say, walking towards him.

"If you poke me, I swear I will punch you." He says halfheartedly. I smile and nod, sitting in the stool next to him. He turns the stool so he's facing me, and I remove the ice pack, making Brandon wince a little.

"Luckily, there's no visible bruising. I'm sure it'll hurt if I touch it though." I flash a smile, showing my teeth.

"Don't try it, Sweet cheeks." He grumbles in response.

"Kidding. But how does it feel when it isn't being poked?" I run my thumbs under his eyes again to see his reaction. He doesn't flinch, but he does close his eyes and lean into my hands a little. I chuckle, and remove them. "It's good to see there's no bruising under your eyes."

"Well, it feels sore, but it doesn't hurt if that makes sense." He says.

"No that does not make sense." I reply.

"Well ok. So it feels like it would hurt if it got touched. Like I know.ut will hurt if it's touched. But it doesnt hurt just sitting here." He says, trying to twist his words into understanding. I nod, finally getting it.

"Okay, well that's good then. It should feel better in a couple weeks." I say, rubbing under his eyes with my thimbs again. This time, he groans, and leans into my hands fully, letting me hold his head up. "What are you doing." I ask him with a giggle.

"I'm tired, so I'm letting you hold my head for me." He replies, his voice a little muffled from my hands being on his cheeks.

"Well if you're tired then you should go lay down, huh?" He nods, and stands up, walking back to the living room, and onto the couch. I put lids on all of the food, and sit down with him.

He pulls me closer, pressing play on another Final Destination movie. This one's the carnival one. I find myself nodding off, my head hitting his chest. After doing this a couple times, Brandon lays his hand on the side of my head. "Sleep." He says, and so I do.

*BRANDONS POV:*

I watch Athena finally fall asleep after trying to keep herself awake while watching the movie.

Bridgett starts stirring, simultaneously waking Lucas and Derrick up. She lays with her head on his shoulder, and her feet near Derricks side. Derricks curled up around Bridgett's leg, and Lucas is in a sitting position, his head leaned on the back of the couch while his feet stretch onto the ottoman in front of him.

They all stretch and yawn around the same time, walking into the kitchen in search of food. They completely ignored Athena and I cuddling on the couch. How rude.

As Bridgett walks back out of the kitchen a couple minutes later, she almost drops her plate when she sees me.

"Oh my God. Are you actually cuddling her? Did she cuddle you in her sleep? Did you pull her to cuddle you while she slept? Also did you cook this? It's amazing." She rambles.

"Um. Yes, I'm cuddling her. No she cuddled me while she was awake, I would never do that, and no, she cooked that earlier." I try to answer all of her questions. "Is that all?"

"Yes." She sits, and looks a bit thoughtful. "You know, now that I think about it, this is definitely Athena's cooking." She says around her biscuit.

I nod, and look at the sleeping girl in my arms. Her mouth is slightly open, tiny snores coming from it, and her nose scrunches up every few minutes. I smile when she grumbles about cherry flavored bananas, and feel Bridgett's gaze.

"You really love her, don't you?" She asks, dipping her biscuit in her little puddle of gravy.

I nod, "yeah. I do." I run my fingers through her hair, and her eyebrows, which we're scrunched up before, relax.

"She loves you too. She may never admit it, but she does." The pink haired girl says, swallowing the last of her food. "Well I'm going to go shower and brush my teeth. See ya!" She hops up, disappears into the kitchen for about a minute, and then she heads upstairs. I shrug, and go back to the movie.

Forgetting the guest bathroom was downstairs, I jump when I hear Bridgett running down the stairs with a handful of clothes and a towel in her arms.

"Stupid stairs." She grumbles as she walks into the bathroom, a confused Lucas walkig into the living room.

"What's she mad about?" He asks, not caring in the least about the girl in my arms.

"The bathroom's downstairs." I say, laughing a little.

"Sometimes I wish she would just kiss me like you did to Athena. I know she won't, she literally hates me, but a guy can wish.

"Personally, Bro, I think she likes you. She seems like the kind of girl to be like that when she likes someone. I wasn't thinking when I kissed Athena, and my confession kind of just came out. I got lucky that she reciprocated the feelings." I shrug the best I can with Athena in my lap.

"And that's why you two are all up on each other now?" He points between us.

"No, we were up this morning and we sat on the couch together and she kept dozing off on my shoulder so I told her to just sleep there and then she's kind of wiggled herself into my lap."

It was true. In the time she had fallen asleep, she's managed to move into my crossed legs and cuddle into my neck. Her legs are cured up in between our stomachs. I pet her hair, and look back to Lucas. I notice that Derrick has walked in the room and sat on the couch as well.

"Get it bro." Derrick chuckles, watching the movie.

"Sure. Thanks." I roll my eyes and laugh at him. Since he's joined our group, it's been so much more fun, but sometimes I feel like he's eyeing both of the girls, and I'm not sure if I'm totally okay with that, especially not since I've confessed to Athena.