So Much More Than Nothing (LDR ADU)

9

"ONE MORE DAY! ONE MORE DAY! ONE MORE DAY!"

"I'm running away..." Sherman gruffed.

Laura had just woken up and had spent the last hour running around the house screaming at the top of her lungs like she just rewatched a Doccubus episode. Sherman sat at the kitchen table babysitting a cup of coffee until it became grossly cold. Normally he'd think his daughter was being adorable, but it was 6 a.m. and she had woken him far earlier than he'd wanted on his first of two requested days off. The last thing he needed was his daughter using his belly as a diving board at such an early hour. Or any hour.

"Sorry, Dad. I'm just so excited! Tomorrow is the day I finally get to see her! It's reason to just SCREAM!" The tiny, dramatic teen hopped up onto the island, kicking her legs and squealing.

"Ah! Not until it's less morning if you please!" Sherman winced, feeling sleep begin to drain from his body ever so slowly. "Have you even packed yet?"

"SWEET CHRISTMAS COOKIES AND VANILLA DIPPED DONUTS!" The kicking stopped immediately.

"Oh, yeah! Let's go to New York naked! That's an Internet sensation just waiting to happen!" Her father rolled his eyes.

"She'd actually like that..."

"NOT MY DAUGHTER! I'LL-! I'LL-!" The bigger Hollis jumped to his feet, wagging a finger and reaching in his pocket for his pajama bear spray before his daughter removed herself from the counter and pushed him back into his chair gently by the shoulders.

"Calm down there, Papa Bear. There will be no nudity taking place here in the least bit." She pressed a kiss to her father's cheek, making a face at how stubbly it was. No wonder she was gay. "Wow, Dad. You need to shave."

His only response was an annoyed growl.

"Right. Packing. Got it. ONE MORE DAY!" She bounced off for her room.

AGH.

Laura stared down at the empty contents of her suitcases in disbelief. In all her excitement about dipping into last year's library summer job money to take a trip to New York to see her girlfriend of...3 months, she totally forgot to pack clothes for this event. Wow, 3 months. Had it really only been 3 months? It felt like so much longer than that. 3 months seems so short, but it meant so much. Now they were meeting for the first time. They were lucky; this doesn't happen for years in other long-distance relationships. If only she could pack for this momentous occasion.

"Well, you're going to New York in the summer, you have to take tank tops and shorts, right? And you can't forget the crop tops!" She began pulling clothes out of drawers and tossing them into suitcases. "Oh, this gives me an excuse to finally wear that owl spaghetti top!"

Finally able to get her things together, Laura finished her last-minute luggage session with a very hype Spotify playlist in the background. 2 hours later, she collapsed on her bed, energy drained for the foreseeable future.

Sherman Hollis remained downstairs at the kitchen table cuddling his still full, and cold, cup of coffee, soft snoring making little waves and air bubbles in the liquid.

*10 hours later*

She groaned as her phone rang uncontrollably next to her ear. Sometime during her pass out, Sherman had woken up, came upstairs to find her worse for wear than he was, covered her up and sat her phone close by before closing her door. Classic Sherman. As she stretched and looked at her caller ID. She checked the time. It was 6 p.m.! She'd slept the entire day away; and, now, her girlfriend was video calling her! Groaning, she answered.