The Elephant Tattoo.

Five

 Picture is half of Noelle's Bedroom.

The rest of the day wasn’t actually spent sleeping like I’d planned. Keaton had texted me asking if I was okay, and shortly after, Wes did the same thing. The definition of okay didn’t seem to exactly describe my mood, so I told them the truth and said no. No, I was certainly not okay. When you’re with a guy for that long, it feels like forever. I’d given him everything, and he’d thrown it away in a matter of three or four texts.

The boys actually ended up coming over for a little bit. My mother was more than pleased to have them over, which baffled me after I told her what happened at their party. I’d changed into pajamas, which consisted of a large t-shirt over a pair of froggie pajama shorts. The boys also dressed down a little, since we’d decided on watching movies and ordering pizza. My mother had left shortly after they’d arrive, saying something about selling a house.

“It’s her dad.” Wes blurted, staring at the screen with disinterest. I smacked his arm.

“How do you know?”

“I’ve seen this movie before.” He sighed, reaching for another piece of pizza. Despite the fact that Wesley had told me about how healthy he eats, he was on his fourth piece of pizza.

“Well,” I started, trying to come up with something. “You’re a jerk.”

“You’ve been dubbed the jerk.” Keaton agreed, picking a piece of sausage off of my pizza and popping it into his mouth.

“Oh, come on. It was obvious!” Wes defended.

“I thought it was the other dude, with the black hair. The hot one, ya know?” I crossed my arms over my chest. We were watching Red Riding Hood, and Wes had just spoiled the entire movie for us.

“No, I wouldn’t say I know, because I didn’t find him hot.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Keaton agreed.

“You guys have horrible taste in men, then.” I said, fake-pouting. The two of them laughed and then started arguing over which movie to watch next. The next thing I knew, I was being tackled from behind. I screamed, but it soon turned into a laugh as I was enveloped in the smell of my brother. He had the best smelling cologne there ever was. I'd always vowed that I'd buy my boyfriend that cologne so I could smell him all of the time, but never went through with it.

“Brendon!” I wiggled out from under him, which left him perched on the couch between Wes and Keaton. “What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow.” I was so happy at the moment, just seeing my big brother again.

“We got here sooner than expected.” Brendon shrugged. “Who are your friends?”

“Oh, that’s Keaton and Wesley Stromberg. They’re not quite as famous as you.” Both Wes and Keaton looked extremely shocked, and I had to laugh. Apparently they hadn’t figured out by my last name who my brother was.

“Guys, I’m pretty sure you know who that is…” I prompted, trying to get one of them to speak.

“Your brother is Brendon Urie?” Keaton was the one who spoke up. I nodded happily.

“And that’s my wife, Sarah.” Brendon said, motioning towards my sister-in-law. I squealed happily and ran to hug her. Sarah and I had always been extremely close. When I reached her, we hugged each other so hard, I doubt either of us could breathe.

“I can’t believe you’re related to Brendon Urie.” Wes was staring at the floor in shock. I yawned softly and wrapped my arms around myself. By now, after watching maybe six movies, it had to be after 10.

“Yeah, it’s great. Can we go to bed now?” I asked, glancing around the room expectantly. “You can have the rest of the pizza if you want, Bren.” Brendon nodded, reaching for a piece. Sarah joined him.

“Alright, yeah, lets sleep. I’m super tired.” Keaton agreed.

“Mom is letting you have boys sleep over?” Brendon asked skeptically. I nodded.

“She knows they’re just friends. Plus I have a boy-“ I stopped myself from saying it, but it still brought me a fresh wave of pain. “She knows they’re just friends.” I repeated. Brendon looked at me in a concerned way for a moment before shrugging.

“Just remember, I’ll be right down the hall if you need me.” He said. I smiled and nodded. It’s been a while since he’s been able to say those words to me.

“Goodnight.” I called to the two of them. After everyone else said goodnight, we all headed up to my room. One of the perks of having a mother who makes so much money off of selling houses was that we had a big fancy house of our own. My room was no exception. The room was easily the size of a school classroom, and it had several more pieces of furniture in it than a normal room would.

“Okay, so one of you can take the bed with me, and the other can take the couch.” I said, wondering who would choose what. The two looked at each other for a moment, and I wondered if they were trying to decide by telepathy.

“Wes should take the couch.” Keaton said finally, surprising us all. “He kicks and rolls around in his sleep.” Wes sighed, probably realizing that Keaton had a point. With that, we all got comfortable and Wes turned off the lights. My bed was against the wall in a corner, and I took the side closest to the wall. Despite my expectation of something interesting happening while I slept, we all just slept normally.

 I was so confused when I woke up. It felt as if I was trapped, being held down against my will. I lifted my head to glance around and figure out what the weight was. As it turned out, Keaton had one of his arms thrown out on top of me. He made the funniest face when he slept that I almost laughed. Heaving Keaton’s arm off of me, I sat up and was surprised by the sight I met.

Wes dominated that couch. I’d never seen anyone look as uncomfortable as he did in that moment. His head was hanging off of the side of the couch, and he had a leg thrown over the back of it. He was half way to being upside down. I felt Keaton stir next to me as I made my way towards the end of the bed to get off. He made a funny sound that made me freeze. I didn’t want to wake him up. Once his breathing deepened, I crept forward and then slid off the bed. Though I hadn’t made a noise sliding off, I made a noise when I hit the floor. Keaton shot up in bed, looking around frantically. When he saw me on the floor, his expression of confusion was priceless.

“Noah, what are you doing down there?” He whispered. I stood up and straightened my pajamas.

“I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“Why are you guys whispering?” Wes asked from on the couch. Apparently I’d woken everyone up when I hit the floor.

“God, you guys can go back to sleep if you want. I just wanted to get a drink.” I lied. I didn’t actually have a reason for getting out of bed; it just felt like a good time to get up.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get comfortable again.” Wes complained, rubbing at his neck. I sent him a sympathetic look.

“I’m sorry about that. You looked really uncomfortable.” I agreed. Wes’ expression seemed to brighten for some reason.

“You were watching me sleep?” He winked at me, and I couldn’t help but flush at the accusation. Technically I was, but it wasn’t because of the reason he thought.

“I’m gonna go get that drink now.” Awkwardly, I wrapped my arms around myself and shuffled towards the door.

“I bet you are, Princess.” Wes called as I left. When I shut the door behind me, I slapped a hand to my forehead. How could I have been so stupid and said that? I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea, but he already seemed to have it.