𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 [𝐣𝐣 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥

Waking up this morning was rough. Most of my night had consisted of crying on the bathroom floor as quiet as I possibly could. I ended up in the bathroom for no other reason than the fact that I didn't want to wake up JJ. He had finally fallen asleep and after worrying about me all day, I knew he needed to sleep. While crying quietly was so I didn't wake up Dylan or alert Cooper that I was in the bathroom.

So I snuck back into my bed around 6:30 and watched the sun come up through the small cracks where my curtains didn't cover the whole window. I laid awake for a few more minutes before I closed my eyes and didn't open them until JJ's elbow landed straight onto my forehead. "Ah, fuck." I said, pulling in a breath and moving my head away from JJ. He had been holding me with his one arm and the other one just so happened to be the one he decided to smack me with.

"You okay?" he spoke, almost in a whisper. His eyes stayed closed as he waited for my response. When it took me a beat to answer, he opened one eye accompanied by a raised brow.

"You elbowed me in the forehead. How do you think I am?" He stifled a laugh as he reached to pull me back into him.

"I'm sorry, Lou." Even though he couldn't see me, I rolled my eyes before snuggling into his chest.

We stayed like that for a little while longer before Dylan knocked on my door and opened it. "How about we at least attempt to respect the fact that I'm the adult in the house?" He said as he stood in the doorway, "It's almost 10."

I lifted my head up enough to see him walk away as I held a thumb up in his direction. "I guess that means we have to get up?" JJ asked, looking up at me.

"I'm gonna go shower, you can sleep a little bit longer." I rolled out of his arms and walked to get my clothes together for the day. I looked back at him from the doorway one more time before going to the bathroom.

As I waited for the water to get to the right temperature, I put everyone in a group chat to let them know of everything that has happened and the plans that were following. Everyone responded like I figured they would, letting me know that they would be by in a little while. With knowing that, I stepped into the shower. I closed my eyes as the water hit me. It was warm and it felt like I could stay in there all day. When I realized I was taking too long, I rushed to wash my hair and body and shave my legs before getting out. I slipped on my shorts and t-shirt before heading back to my room to finish getting ready.

JJ was no where to be seen as I opened the door, allowing me to relax and toss the towel on the floor next to my hamper. I looked through my closet for the small yellow dress I had planned on wearing today and the sandals to pair with it. I wasn't sure about the weather so I grabbed a cream colored cardigan as well. I did my hair and put on some makeup before I closed my bedroom door to get dressed.

When I was done, I walked out and down to the kitchen where my brother, JJ, and John B were all talking about whatever while eating some waffles. John B shot me a smile as I walked over to the toaster to put a bagel in. I wasn't really hungry, I just knew I had to eat something or I was going to regret it later.

As I moved to grab the cream cheese from the refrigerator, Dylan left the kitchen mumbling about going to get ready. "So, any news on your dad?" I asked as silence filled the space between us. It was so weird that we had nothing to talk about. There was no reason for nothing to be said.

"Uh, not really." John B responded as he got up to put his coffee cup in the sink. He stopped and pulled me in for a hug as I walked back to the toaster. I wrapped my arms around him and let out a sigh, "I knew I needed to be here for you." He said quietly as he squeezed me one last time. "Besides, JJ was hogging all the Lou time." He said louder causing us all to laugh together.