Living for the Music

Seth let out a long sigh before pulling away. “Do you want to get set up for the night?”

“It’s only 12:30,” I replied.

“So? We can still… watch a movie or something, but we could also be ready to fall asleep at any time.”

I shrugged. “Sure, whatever works.”

Seth disappeared into his room and came back carrying a pile of blankets and pillows. “We don’t have any actual sleeping bags,” he admitted, “but I figure I can make a pretty good nest out of these.”

“And where am I sleeping?” I asked.

“On the couch,” he replied in a duh voice.

“Um… no. I want to floor,” I objected.

He rolled his eyes. “No, you don’t. The floor’s hard and… not soft.”

I smirked at his lack of an argument. “Then you take the couch. I seriously want the floor.”

Seth let out a long sigh. “Tell you what. Let’s make one pile of stuff and we can share.”

I grinned at him. “Okay.”

Together, we spread the largest blanket out on the floor and piled pillows around the edge. I threw the remaining blankets inside the squarish circle and nodded happily. ‘That’ll work.”

Seth shrugged. “If you’re sure.”

“Yeah. I’d probably end up falling off the couch or something. It’s safer this way.”

He laughed as he handed me one last pillow. “In case you need it.”

I nodded, throwing it on one side of the nest. “I’m gonna go change,” Seth told me, heading towards his room. “You can use the bathroom, if you want.”

I rummaged around in my bag and finally found my pajamas shoved in a ball at the bottom. I pulled them out before making my way across the room to the small door that led to the bathroom. I quickly stripped off my jeans and pulled on my black sweatpants. I threw on my shirt and pulled my hair back in a quick ponytail before pushing the door open and heading back out.

Seth was even quicker than I was. He was already lying sprawled across one side of the nest, head resting on one of the many pillows. He glanced over when I came in and burst out laughing. “Where did you get that shirt?” he managed.

I glanced down at it. Come to the dark side – We have cookies was written across my chest. “Are you serious?” I asked. “These are all over now. It’s, like, David and Goliath or something.”

He stared at me in surprise. “Seriously? I’ve never seen that one before.”

“Oh, if you think this is funny, you should see some of the other ones,” I smirked. “There are ones I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing.”

“Really?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah,” I assured him. “You can check out their website sometime if you really care.”

“Maybe I will,” he shrugged.

I put my dirty clothes back in my bag and laid down next to Seth. I grabbed the pillow and set it on top of another one, forming a little platform for my head. I grabbed a whole handful of blankets and spread them out on top of me.

“Hey,” Seth protested. “You can’t hog them all.”

I let out a huge, exaggerated sigh and peeled off the top layer, throwing it at him. “Hey,” he repeated in the same indignant voice. I smirked at him, snuggling deeper under the makeshift covers. I closed my eyes, waiting for Seth to make his move.

A moment later, I yelped softly as I felt him work himself under the covers with me. I managed to flip around and found myself face-to-face with him. “Is this okay?” he asked. I could feel his breath on my face and I shivered slightly before nodding.

“Yeah,” I muttered, closing my eyes again.

I could hear the smile in Seth’s voice. “You tired?”

“Not really,” I mumbled.

“You want me to put on another movie?” he asked.

“I dunno,” I replied. “I don’t care.”

“You want to talk?”

“I don’t care,” I repeated.

He sighed softly. “Well, is there anything you do care about?”

“Not as long as I don’t have to move,” I answered.

He chuckled softly. “I guess that could be arranged.” He reached out and stroked my hair with one hand. “I missed you, Sophie.”

“Sure you did,” I whispered. “Like you didn’t have any friends in England.”

“No one came anywhere close to being you,” he assured me.

“What about Taylor?” I suggested.

He let out a soft sigh. “Taylor is… complicated.”

I was intrigued now. I opened my eyes, propping my head up on my arm. “What do you mean? You are going out with her, right?”

“Well… not exactly.”

“Then why…”

“It’s a long story.”

“We have all night,” I countered, watching him expectantly.

“You really want to know?” Seth asked.

I nodded eagerly. He let out a defeated sigh, and began to talk.