Twenty Øne Møments with Yøu

Chapter 7

I startled awake when I heard a knock at the door. I hadn't even realized I had fallen asleep. "Hey Nat, come on in," I said, a week smile on my face.

"Hey, sorry to wake you. I brought you some Starbucks. Peppermint hot chocolate, your favorite," Nattie said, holding out a Starbucks hot chocolate cup.

I got up and walked over to her. "Thanks. I'll be right down," I said, tucking my bright red hair behind my ear and exposing my tear-stained cheeks.

"It's ok, take your time. We understand. Although, Bryan is talking some pretty big game about being able to beat you in Just Dance," she said with a smile.

"Tell him I'm gonna change then I'll be right down to kick his ass," I said, also sporting a smile.

"Will do."

She closed the door and walked away. I got out my comfy pink yoga pants and my new breast cancer awareness shirt and changed real quick. I threw my hair in a low ponytail and headed downstairs, hot cocoa in hand. "So, Bryan, you ready for this intense Just Dance battle?" I asked as I walked into the living room, taking a sip of my hot cocoa.

"Oh, yeah. Didn't prepare," Bryan said.

"Any good Just Dance champ is always ready. Come on, you better back up that smack talk."

"Oh, I will. Let's do this," he said, getting up off the couch.

And I beat him. I kicked his ass and then some. "Oh, what's that? I think that's the sound of victory. Do you hear... oh, wait, you wouldn't hear it because you're a LOSER!" I said.

"Shut up. You got to choose the song," Bryan mumbled.

"Fine, Mr. McCrybaby, go ahead and choose the song, then we'll see who's the real champ."

He chose Nine in the Afternoon by Panic! at the Disco, aka one of my favorite bands other than Twenty Øne Piløts. And, once again, I won. "See? Real champ, right here," I said.

"Ok, fine, you're better at Just Dance than I am, just please, no more bragging," Bryan said, taking a drink of his watermelon-flavored sparkling water.

"But, my dear Bryan, that's one of the privileges of being champ. You get to brag about it," I said after taking a sip of my hot cocoa.

"She's right. Sorry bro," Brittany said.

Bryan muttered a "fuck" under his breath and sat on the floor by Liz's feet. I went over and sat on Josh's lap. "So, you're feeling better?" he asked as I laid my head on his chest.

"Yeah, a little bit. The funny thing is, this was supposed to be a really good day, and it was actually pretty horrible."

"Hey, the important thing is, we're all here together having fun now."

"Yeah, you're right. That's all that matters. I love you, you know that right?"

"I love you too. To infinity and beyond."

I curled up into his lap, and he didn't mind, although I'm sure it was crushing his legs. "Hey, did you guys know Brendon adopted a daughter?" Josh asked everyone.

"Yeah, her name's also Chloe. I'm so happy for Brendon. He's been miserable since Sarah left. He needed another person in his life, because none of us were getting through to him," I said with a smile. (A/N For people who haven't read my Fall Out Boy fanfiction, and if you haven't you should, but I digress, I wanted to let you know that my books labeled Quartet Chronicles are all connected. I'll point the connections out each time. Anyway, this is a hint to my Panic! at the Disco fanfiction, A New Hope. If you haven't read it, you should. Ok, sorry for the long note. Back to the story!)

"Yeah, I'm glad he's happy now. Maybe he'll actually talk to people now. I just can't believe it got so bad that he wouldn't even talk to Kenny and Dallon about it. He tells them everything. They're his best friends," Tyler said.

"I know. That'd be like me not talking to Tyler about something," Josh said.

"Or me, Brit, Nat, and Chloe not telling each other something," Liz said.

"Or me not telling Bryan something," Robbie said.

"Ok, yeah, I'm gonna end this conversation right now, because it's kinda getting depressing," I said, "I think we've had enough of depressing stuff today."

"True. Ok, next order of business, anyone?" Nattie asked.

"Uh, what is there to do? It's, like, eight o'clock,"  Bryan said.

"I don't know. It was a long day, I'm ready for bed. Plus, I have to teach in the morning," I said.

"Yeah, bed sounds pretty good right now," Brittany said.

"Nat, are you gonna go back to your apartment?" Robbie asked.

"Uh, yeah, probably. I should probably make sure Fifi let Sadie out last night. I like her and everything, but Fifi is NOT the best roommate," she said with a frown as she pulled on her Mario Vans.

"I still love the fact that your roommate is named Fifi and your dog is named Sadie. Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Liz asked.

"Yeah but it's like how Gerard and Lindsey named their dog Susan and their daughter Bandit. Anyway, I should probably get going. Bye everyone!" she yelled.

Everyone got up and hugged her before she grabbed her keys off the table by our front door and walked out into the brisk fall Ohio air. "Ok guys, I'm going to bed. I probably won't see you in the morning, but I'll definitely see you tomorrow after work," I said, heading toward the stairs and deciding to just sleep in what I had on.

I heard a chorus of goodnights and agreement on going to bed. A few minutes after I crawled into bed, Josh came in. "Hey babe?" he asked as he changed into a pair of pajama pants and crawled in next to me.

"What's up sweetheart?" I said, snuggling up to him.

"I love you."

I smiled. "I love you too."

And with that, after the horrendously long day I'd had, I fell right to sleep.