They spent the next couple of weeks on repeat... Same old, same old.
Stevie was in the restaurant almost every day, along with Levy who came in after school a couple of days a week and stayed all night on Fridays to help her.
He told her that he wanted to pick up extra shifts to save money for the trip his friends were all planning to take to Hawaii in July, but he was also there to chaperon... Or at least, he felt like he was sometimes.
Something didn't settle well with him when it came to the way one of the cooks looked at his mom... Ben was constantly searching for some way to talk to her and flirt with her, which just pissed Levy off more than anything else.
He didn't like it, but he also didn't mention anything... especially not to his dad, who was too busy to even worry about what his wife was doing at work.
Lindsey was in rehearsals most days of the week, so he was gone most mornings and coming in late in the evenings. He was less than an a month away from hitting the road and he was dreading it already...
He hated leaving her behind, but he also couldn't convince her to join him anymore, either.
~~~
"How were your tryouts?" Stevie was rushing through the kitchen, wearing her servers apron with a tray in one hand and a notepad in the other.
Slipping through the crowded room to get to her office, Kash nodded lightly. "It was good." He assured, carrying his backpack through the door to toss it on the desk. "I think I made the team." The youngest added, lingering in the doorframe as he watched the chaos flow around them.
Stevie didn't have time to pick him up from school, and Lindsey didn't answer the house phone when she called, so she asked Ben to grab him before he started his shift... She needed help and it felt like her other half had already packed his bags and hit the road, even though he hadn't yet.
"Oh, that is so exciting, baby." She was looking down at the order that she'd just scribbled down, trying to make sure she could read her own writing before she handed it off to the cooks on the line.
"Only a week left before summer vacation, right?" Ben was just washing his hands, getting ready to throw on his apron and get to work.
"Yeah, I'm excited." Kash couldn't wait- he'd been talking about it for weeks. "I'm going to Arizona." He announced, a big smile on his face.
They used to all go out there for a couple of weeks at the beginning of June, but since Stevie was so busy at work and Lindsey was leaving, there was no way the five of them would make it out to see her parents. So even though she was sad not to have the entire family, Barbara let the boys know that they were still more than welcome to come out to visit and Kash was signing his name on the dotted line instantly.
"I bet Jess and Barbara are just as thrilled." Ben assured with a gentle smile on his face.
Stevie giggled lightly, nodding her head in agreement. "They're counting down the days, too." She held out the piece of paper, smiling once more when Ben took it out of her hand to get started on the order.
"Thank you, sweetie." His green eyes met hers for a brief moment and then they both went their separate directions to finish up the afternoon shift.
Letting his jaw settle, the younger man turned his attention towards his brother. "What happened at tryouts?" Levy had been leaning back against the serving station, watching that entire moment since he didn't have any work.
