Slightly Bruised and a Little Bit Used

I had been reading a book in my room quietly while Charli watched tv in the living room.

The doorbell abruptly rang. I let Charli get it; she loved answering the door and the phone for some odd reason. I was too into the book and ignored her girlish squeal and the slamming of the front door. Then it was silent.

“What the fuck?” I demanded, feeling sudden heaviness on my back.

I squirmed under the weight, seeing Charli laughing nearby.

“Jeff?” I cried in disbelief as he rolled off of me. He grinned goofily at me. I grinned back and gave him a tight hug. “We haven’t seen you in ages! God, where have you been?” I quickly calculated about 3 months that we had been Jeff-less for.

“You know, around. Chicago, L.A…. my mom’s house.” I laughed.

“How long are you here for?” Charli asked, jumping to join us on my bed. He shrugged.

“Till the next tour, I guess. Two months or so.”

“Where are you staying?” I demanded.

“Uh…I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet,” he admitted. “We only got in this morning.”

“Then you’re staying on our couch!” Charli announced. He grinned.

“Aw, with my two favorite people in the world,” he said, slinging an arm around each of our shoulders. “Did you miss me?”

“Of course we did!” Charli exclaimed. I winced at her voice’s volume. Charli was naturally a loud person, and Jeff’s presence had always encouraged that.

It was a wonder that the neighbors never complained.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I woke up to Charli jumping on my bed.

“What?” I groaned sleepily, complaining.

“Ssh,” she whispered, putting her finger to her lips. “Jeff’s still asleep,” she explained, a broad smirk appearing on her face. I smirked back, following her back to the living room.

She giggled, holding up a camera to show me her intentions.

Jeff was snoring lightly on the couch, mouth wide open.

I stifled a laugh when he mumbled something about pie in his sleep.

She tossed me her camera and I snapped a few pictures as she posed next to him.

He still didn’t wake up.

“Do we still have those mini-marshmallows?” she abruptly asked. I went to the kitchen and raided the cabinets for them.

“Yeah, why?” I asked, returning to the living room with the bag. I handed them over.

“Let’s play a game,” she said, tearing it open.

“Damn it! That was so close!” Charli exclaimed a few minutes later, as a mini-marshmallow missed Jeff’s open mouth and bounced off his eyebrow.

“My turn!” I announced, snatching the bag back. I carefully aimed and the marshmallow went in to join the others we had previously thrown. She got a handful and continued to work on her aim. I also grabbed some.

“YES!” she shouted, landing three in a row.

Jeff jerked awake in confusion at her shouting and promptly proceeded to choke on his mouthful of marshmallows. He coughed and Charli jumped up to smack him on the back.

“Charli!” I cried. “You killed my BFF Jeff!” He glared at me as he spit marshmallow globs onto our living room carpet. He coughed up some more.

“That’s gross!” Charli exclaimed, smacking him again, this time for making a mess.

“Jeff! Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to waste food? Pick that shit up and eat it!” I instructed. He gave me a revolted glare.

“I didn’t know I moved in so you could torture me,” he stated, wiping his mouth.

“Well, then why’d you move in?” I asked, making room for myself on the couch. He shook his head, coughing a little more.

“So I told the guys to come over today,” he stated conversationally, ignoring my previous comment.

“Party!” Charli yelled excitedly, throwing her arms up in the air and almost smacking me in the face. I rolled my eyes and pushed her hand away.

“Are you gonna clean that up, or not?” I asked him, pointing at the marshmallow mess on our floor.