Esther, Be Tender With My Love

Four

After my parents had fallen asleep, I went downstairs to grab a bunch of snacks for the boys. I worked on my essay for English while they ate and continued looking around my room.

"And done!" I sang to myself as I finished my concluding statement for the assignment. Closing my laptop, I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Hey Esther?" My head turned at the call of my name. "Can we listen to this?" Barry asked, holding up their album, Idea.

"Yeah, go ahead." He gave me an excited smile as he put the needle on the record. He then joined his brothers in sitting on the floor. They shared proud smiles with eachother which made my heart swell with joy. Never did I think that I would be able to witness something like this. It was clear they were proud of all the hard work they had put in to making the album. I whipped out my phone from out of my pocket and took a picture of the moment so I could always look back on it whenever I wanted.

Maurice smiled up at me and patted his hand at the space next to him. I obliged and sat criss-crossed between him and Robin. We sat like that for the whole duration of the album. The boys quietly sang along to the songs, occassionally pointing out parts they liked or disliked and random little facts about the lyrics.

Around 11pm, we started getting tired. Maurice had fallen asleep on my bed with his arm hanging off the edge.

"I don't want to risk my parents coming into my room and seeing three adult men in my bedroom in the middle of the night, so you guys can have the bedroom downstairs. They never go down there." I said. The boys nodded and followed me to the basement. It was composed of a movie room with a full screen projector covering an entire wall with two long couches lining one side of the room, one bedroom, a game room with a pingpong table and table soccer, and a music room where my piano, tenor saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, drum set, and four guitars stayed. "I suppose someone could stay in the bedroom and the other two could sleep on the couches."

"I'm the oldest, I get the bed!" declared Barry. Robin just glared at him. I chuckled at their typical bevaiour.

"There are pillows and blankets in this closet," I opened the door to the closet by the movie library. "I'll let you guys get yourselves settled while I go get Maurice."

"Good luck with that! He's very difficult to wake up." Robin laughed.

--

When I made it back up to my room, Maurice had moved to where he was now facing me on his side in the middle of the bed. He looked so peaceful with his mouth slightly open and his chest rising and falling steadily with the movement of his breathing. I walked over to the side of the bed and softly placed my hand on his face, moving the hair that had fallen over his eyes. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I gently shook his shoulder.

"Maurice wake up." I cooed while admiring his face. His eyebrows furrowed for a second but he still wouldn't budge. "Maurice. Barry and Robin are waiting for you downstairs. Come on." He groaned in a low voice that sent the butterflies in my stomach aflutter. I looked behind me for a second to think of something I could use to help wake him up. Suddenly, I felt his arms snake around my back and pull me onto the bed with him. My eyes widened in surprise as I layed with my face just mere inches away from his. I could feel him breathing onto my neck, making my heart race faster. My brain was freaking out. I'd never been in a situation like this - a hot guy holding me in his arms, our faces so close that if I moved an inch closer I could've kissed him. Oh no, what if his brothers walked in? I then smirked when I thought of an idea to wake him up.

Reaching up, I softly grabbed his face and caressed his cheek with my thumb. His eyes fluttered open and his lips curved upwards in a smirk. His hands found their way to my face, mimicking my own motions. I leaned in to kiss him but right before our lips touched, I pushed myself off him and the bed and crossed my arms jokingly.

"Good morning sunshine, you finally woke up." I smiled wide. Maurice just sat there with an unreadable look on his face as he stared intensly into my eyes. I started to freak out. What did I just do? Is he mad? "The boys are waiting downstairs..." I said hesitantly, looking at the door as if it could help me out of this slightly awkward situation.

Maurice left the bed and slowly walked over to me, his eyes never leaving mine. They held a strange look in them; a look I didn't recognize. Was it hunger? I shivered as he placed a hand on my waist.

"You can't just leave me without a kiss like that." He whispered in a low, gravelly voice. My knees went weak at the trance he had me in. I leaned in and kissed his cheek and quickly squirmed out of his arms. "You're such a tease." He chuckled. He trailed behind me as I made my way towards the door and smiled to myself. I almost kissed a Bee Gee.