WALLFLOWER // B.E

fifty-six

billie

another month has gone by. it's now christmas day.

my birthday was a week ago, and i spent a majority of it doing final exams, which was great.

juniper surprised me with a home cooked meal (which, as college students, is amazing in and of itself) and flowers. i had quickly realized it was one of my favorite recipes from my mom, and junie had almost guiltily admitted that she had asked my mom for it.

she's so fucking cute, man. the little things like that makes me fall in love with her all over again.

since my birthday, juniper has been jokingly calling me a cougar. in between our birthdays, it seems like there's a two year age gap, (she's eighteen still, while i'm now twenty) when there's actually only a year and a month age gap.

"just admit you're with me because i'm young," she teased as we walked hand-in-hand into her grandma's new house, which her and archer have settled into nicely. "though... nine times out of ten, you still act as if you're younger than me, so i dunno," she added, which made my jaw drop further.

we've been enjoying our time off from school. we've spent the past week at her grandma's house with her grandma and archer, and it's been great. later today, we're going to my parents' house to spend the rest of christmas with them. we'll be staying there for a little over a week before coming back here to start school up again.

"billie! junie! wake up!" archer yelled excitedly as he jumped onto june's bed. "it's christmas! you have to wake up!"

juniper groaned as she buried her face into her pillow; her hand, which was already placed on my lower back, pulled me closer to her. if archer wasn't still jumping on the bed, i would tuck my head under her chin. instead, i placed my hand on her chest and cooed a gentle "baby."

she whined, but it was muffled by her pillow, which she still had her face stuffed in. archer plopped down beside her, his knees poking into her back. "junie! come on!"

she turned on her side to face him, and she pulled him to lay down, which made him burst into a fit of giggles. she gently pushed me back some, then pulled archer over her to plop him in between us. she reached over him to pull me close again so that the three of us were bundled together. she tucked his head under her chin.

"go back to sleep. it's too early for this," she mumbled. "i promise you, baby, your presents will still be there in an hour or two."

"please, let's get up now!" he pleaded.

"no."

he turned to me, and he looked at me with big, puppy dog eyes and a pout.

he looks just like juniper when he pouts like that. specifically, that day she was sick and was being really clingy.

it's hard to say no to that.

"maybe you should get up, junebug," i murmured.

"no! if we get up now, both of you will get cranky, and i'm not doing that today," she huffed. she pulled us closer, and within less than a minute, she was back asleep.

i sent archer a look that said i tried, and he pouted, but eventually fell back asleep too. i pressed a kiss to his forehead, and i kissed june's knuckles since it was the only thing i could get to, before i went back to sleep as well.

✧༺♥༻✧

two or so hours later, me, juniper, and archer are sitting in the living room with their grandma. we each have a glass of hot chocolate in our hands. me and junie are sharing a blanket as we snuggled up together on the couch.