Junebug - (On Hold)

Ch. 3 - The Welcome

"Dude you weren't supposed to hit her in the eye!"

"You think I was aiming for her eye? I think we all know my aim is not that good, Miles!"

I'm standing their shocked at the sight before me. All three of my brothers crouched behind the couch all with their respective nerf guns trained on me. I was trying to figure out why three adult men keep nerf guns in their apartment when they begin to unload another round on me.

"That is what you get for being so late! You were supposed to be here over an hour ago!"
"Yeah, you had us worried sick!"
"You didn't even text us to let us know you would be late you fool!"

A shriek escaped my lips as I tried to escape the wrath of my brothers' foam bullets. The sudden cease fire told me that they finally ran out of ammunition. I barely had time to let out a sigh of relief before I found myself tackled on all sides by a huge group hug. My face was squashed against Finn's chest and my arms were pinned to my sides as all three of my brothers squeeze the air out of my lungs. I allow myself to melt into their crushing embrace. I really had missed the dummies.

"But seriously, Junebug, don't you ever scare me like that again."

Xander has always been very protective of me. Our dad died when I was 9 years old, he was 16. Ever since our dad passed, Xander has kind of taken it upon himself to watch out for all of us.
I suddenly felt bad for making him worry. He must have sensed my guilt because he squeezed my hand and planted a kiss on the top of my head before breaking out of the hug. The pressure on me released and I was finally able to take a full breath of fresh air. Besides the fact that my ribs were being crushed, my face had been smooshed against Finn who, I must say, went a little heavy on the cologne today.

"Hey Finnegan, you might want to lighten up on the perfume there, bud. Unless your goal was to suffocate an innocent bystander like me."

A few small giggles escaped me as Finn's brow dipped in a scowl. He hated it when we called him Finnegan.

"First of all, it is not perfume. It is cologne. Real manly. And secondly, it is not overpowering you just have a weak little girl nose. Right guys?"
Finn looked towards his older brothers for some backup.

As I tried to hold in another burst of laughter at Finn's weak attempt to insult me, Miles scoffed and held up his hands.
"Hey we were all thinking it, little man. She was just brave enough to say it."

Xander chuckled at our antics as he moved to grab my suitcase from where it was abandoned by the door. Not my fault, I had to escape imminent nerf doom. He raised an eyebrow at me once he noticed the princess plastered all over the front of it. My shoulders lifted in a shrug as I turned to inspect the apartment. It was a lot easier to do when foam projectiles are not hurtling at your face.

The first thing that struck me was how strangely clean it was. Sure there were a few stray cans laying around, not to mention the nerf bullets that currently littered the floor, but it was overall fairly tidy.

"I see Finn is not in charge of the housekeeping here." I said with a smirk. Finn is the closest in age to me, and, out of any of my brothers, he is the easiest to get a reaction out of. He is also very strong, a fact that seemed to slip my mind when I decided to pester him.
My smirk was promptly wiped off my face when Finn charged me and threw me over his shoulder. As Finn jumped up and down the toque I had been wearing fell off my head onto the floor, along with some change that had been in my pocket.

"Who's making the mess now? Hey, Junie? I always knew you were the slob of the family."

I couldn't respond through the laughter that was filling my throat. Finn finally relented once he noticed how red my face was.

"That's what you get Junebug. Watch your back cause next time I may have to resort to some more serious means if you cross me again."

I immediately knew what he meant. Tickling. There is nothing I despise more than being tickled, and all my brothers knew it. I threw my hands up in the position of surrender at the threat, and it was evident by his smile that Finn was placated.

Xander put his hand on my shoulder as I tried to enter the living room, effectively halting my steps. A questioning look passed my face as I tried to figure out his problem. His eyes flicked down to my shoes. Still not understanding I raised my eyebrows at him and scrunched my nose in confusion.

"Okay, first off, stop doing that with your face because it is either the cutest thing I have ever seen, or you just look constipated and I can't decide which. And secondly, take off your shoes Juniper, you are gonna track mud in."

"But we always wear our shoes at home, besides it is, like, bone dry out there. Trust me, there is no mud."

Honestly, I just didn't want to part with my black combat boots just yet. They were broken in just right, and most importantly, they completed my outfit. I spent half an hour putting this outfit together and my camo joggers would simply not have the same affect without my boots.

Seeing my hesitation, Xander chuckled.
"Hey, it's my house, my rules, baby. You are here to relax. Trust me, you will feel a lot comfier once you lose those clunky things."

It was hard to hold back an offended gasp at his words, my boots were not clunky, but nonetheless I took them off. The carpet was surprisingly plush, and I could help the pleased smile that spread across my face as my socked feet sunk into the ground.

"Okay, what? Why is this carpet so comfortable? Like this is unreal."

Xander chuckled. "Trust me, I know, Junebug. Do you really think I'm that strict about whether you wear your precious boots inside my house? I just wanted you to experience the strange euphoria of an extremely cushy carpet. I laid on the floor for hours when we first moved in. I honestly don't think I have ever loved anything more than I love this carpet."

Miles just shook his head at the dreamy look that Xander held in his eyes while Finn sighed like he had heard this spiel one thousand times before. Warmth bloomed in my chest as I took in the sight of my brothers before me. One deeply in love with a carpet, the other two staring at him with amusement dancing in their eyes. I dug my toes into the threads of Xander's precious carpet and tried to appreciate it to the extent that he obviously did, but I don't think I'll ever find anything as comforting as the presence of my crazy brothers.