headphones, michael clifford

christmas and dinner.

Michael was up and making breakfast way before Jade even thought about waking up. He ate bacon with ease as he texted his best friends.

Ashton: Good morning! Allie and Rory are very excited to see their best friends.

Luke: Sierra and the kids are very excited to see everyone! We haven't done something like this in a while.

Calum: Lils says that she cannot wait to see Jade. Cyrus is with us this week, too.

Michael: I believe Jade is still asleep. This week has just worn her out, I can tell.

Michael heard a door open and he set his phone down instantly, seeing a very tired Jade emerge from her hotel bedroom.

Jade gently rubbed her eye as she looked up at her dad, and gave him a lazy smile. "Morning."

"Morning, honey. How'd you sleep?" Michael asked, bringing her into a tight hug. He rested his chin on her head as she exhaled.

She only shrugged, mumbling, "Good" before stepping back to sit down on the island chair. She grabbed a piece of bacon that Michael had made.

Michael felt his phone buzz and he took it out to see a text from Calum.

Calum: What room are you?

Michael: 222.

Jade took another bite from the bacon she was eating and rubbed her hands together to get the crumbs off while Michael made two plates for Cyrus and Lillian.

"Calum is almost here," Michael hummed softly. "With Lillian and Cryus."

Jade lifted her head, and seemed a little lighter on the shoulders. "I'll go change."

She got up from the stool and headed into the room. She shut the door and began rummaging through her belongings.

Moving out of her childhood home was hitting her harder than she thought it would. It was just a house — only it wasn't. It was her entire childhood memory. Every wall mark had a meaning; every scuff, wall scratch, and smell.

She bit her lip harshly and quickly changed. She put on baggy, light washed jeans and a navy blue sweater with a V collar. She put on her navy blue converse to match and heard talking outside.

Jade put a smile on and left her room, only to be engulfed before she could speak.

The scent of mahogany apple filled her lungs and she laughed, wrapping her arms around her best friend — Lillian.

"Hi Lils," Jade hummed, putting her shoulder onto Lillian's shoulder

Lillian exhaled. "Hey, JJ."

The two let go of eachother and Jade gave Cyrus a hug too, ruffling his hair before moving to Calum and giving him a big hug. Calum made sure to hug tighter.

"Hey, munchkin." Calum mumbled. "How are you?"

"So, so." Jade responded, closing her eyes.

Lillian, Jade and Cyrus all sat down on the couch and turned on the TV and started messing with the settings while talking about how fall was fastly approaching.

Jade made note of Lillian's outfit — she was wearing black jeans that stopped just below of her shoe beginning. She had on a brown knit sweater, and a necklace that had the initial W for her boyfriend, Warren.

"Warren says hi," Lillian said softly. "Said he hopes you're doing okay."

Jade hummed, nodding. "Tell him I say thank you."

While watching a rerun of Hocus Pocus on the TV, someone knocked on the door and Michael opened it to reveal Allison, Rory, and Levi — alongside Ashton and Livvy.

Allison instantly jumped to Jade and Lillian. Quite literally jumped straight on top of them.

"I missed you guys!" Allie kissed Jade's cheeks like a french woman. "How are you, Jade?"

Allison sat gently next to Lillian and Jade shrugged slightly.

"I'm okay."

Allison wore medium blue jeans that were sort of flared at the end, with a cropped shirt with a spiderman comic on the front with a red jacket — matching the whole spiderman theme.

Allie frowned slightly and took Jade's hand to lightly squeeze it.

"Hi," Rory smiled as she entered the little couch area, sitting next to Lillian. Lillian instantly gave her a kiss on the head.

"How are you, Bean?" Lillian said, ruffling her hair gently. "Whatcha' been up to?"

"Nothing," Rory shook her head.

Rory was wearing dark blue jeans with a dark red tank top and her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders.

"What about you, Lily?"

Soon after they caught up, Levi came over and sat down next to Cyrus after saying hi to the 2 girls, with a gentle smile.

After a couple more minutes, and scenes of Hocus Pocus, the door was knocked on again. The kids all looked to the door and saw Luke and Sierra walk in first, then the twins — Augustus and Aurelia, alongside their two youngest siblings, Valentine and Sullivan.

Augustus, which is more commonly known as August, rushed to the girls and brought Jade into the biggest hug.

"Hey," He mumbled into her shoulder, despite being taller than her. "How are you feeling?"

Aurelia came in from behind and hugged around August and Jade. Jade hummed softly, "Fine. I guess."

August and Aurelia both knew that was a lie. But they didn't say anything.

Valentine and Sullivan came over to say hi, give everyone a hug, before hanging out with the kids their age.

Hocus Pocus played in the background and Jade finally felt at peace.