Your Guardian Angel (BxB)

Chapter 14: Christmas

It's Christmas morning (my favorite day of the year), and I can smell the food cooking downstairs before I even open my eyes. We've got company coming over today, my Uncle Andrew (Dad's older brother), Aunt Taylor, and their son Jamie. Dad mentioned it a few days ago and I've been looking forward to it. Grandma and Grandpa are only staying for today, but everyone else is staying with us until New Year's Day. Being curled up in my bed where it's warm, smelling good food and knowing that I don't have to go to school for a while is one of the best feelings in the world. I open one eye to check the time on my phone: 10:37. Whatever. I sigh and pull the comforter over my head. It's a holiday, I don't need to get up right away.

I don't know how long I fell back asleep, but I suddenly hear the sound of something banging on my bedroom door, followed by the door swinging open and footsteps on the carpet.

What the hell was that? I'm still half-asleep and I don't have the energy to investigate the noise. Did I just imagine it? Yeah, maybe I'm just still dreaming. I go to roll back over, when I hear footsteps approaching and somebody starts roughly shaking me.

"Wakey wakey, little dude! It's after eleven, get your ass up!" An excited voice shouts, then the shaking stops. Fuck, that's not how I want to be woken up. A figure steps back, but because I don't have my glasses on, everything's blurry and I can't make out who it is. It's definitely not Dad, his voice isn't that raspy and I can hear him talking downstairs. Plus, he never bothers to wake me up when I have days off, regardless of how late I'm sleeping in.

I groan and grab my glasses. I turn to face the skinny, bleach-blond haired guy standing at the foot of my bed, staring at me with a dopey smile on his face.

"Morning, dude. Been a while, how you holdin' up, man?" He greets me.

"Oh, Joey. Hey." I say, yawning. Joey's my cousin, Jamie's older brother, and he's...well, he's an interesting guy. Joey dropped out of high school during his junior year, was a pothead (probably still is), and overall just didn't seem to have any real plans for life. But the guy's super chill, nice as hell and fun to hang out with. There's a reason I always used to say he was my favorite cousin when I was younger. He moved out to California with some of his friends a couple years ago. We talk every now and then, but the last time I saw him in person, I was eleven and he was nineteen. It's been a while.

"Seriously? That's it? Goddamnit man, I flew all the way up from Cali 'cause I haven't seen you guys in...what, four years, and that's how you're gonna greet me? Y'know, when we were kids, every time I was up, you used to follow me around like a lost dog, telling everyone how I was your favorite cousin, and this is how you treat me now? I'm heartbroken." He scoffs dramatically, placing one hand on his chest. He's still as sarcastic as ever.

"The hell are you talking about?" I ask, my voice groggy. I slowly sit up, my eyes still heavy with sleep. "I've only been up for like, not even a minute, I didn't even know you were gonna be there." I reply, rubbing my eyes. Of course I'm happy to see him. How could I not be? But I'm still half-asleep, I'm not ready to be having conversations. Joey starts laughing and reaches one hand out to ruffle my already messy hair.

"Ah, man, you're funny. C'mon, I'm just playing around. I missed ya, little dude." I roll my eyes at the stupid nickname. He'd always call me that when we were younger, nice to see some things haven't changed.

"I know, I know, I missed you too, man." I stand up, stretching. "So, I haven't seen you in years. What's new?"

"I finally got my GED. It was rough, but I did it." He begins proudly. Ah, good for him. "But other than that...not much. Been pretty busy with work, so have my buddies. Rent ain't exactly cheap in California, y'know. But the place pays decently, and it gives me something to do so I'm just not sitting on my ass all day." Sounds like he's doing pretty good for himself. I'm glad to hear it.