Seize the Day

Johnny opened his eyes and saw Lacey staring down at her necklace. He chuckled a bit, and she jumped.

"Mornin' sweetie," he said.

Lacey smiled stupidly and said, "Hey."

He laughed again, and he moved a piece of her hair away from her eye. She smiled, and he kissed her cheek.

Cady burst through the door of the bus, with Jimmy and Zacky trailing behind her. She was clearly fuming, and her eyes were red. Lacey sat up, the sleeve of her shirt falling below her shoulder.

"Cade?" she said. "What's wr"-

"Don't fucking start!" shouted Cady. "I really, really don't wanna fuckin' talk about it!"

Lacey's eyes swelled with tears, and Cady rushed to her side.

"Lace, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it!"

Lacey brushed away the tears and waved her hand. "I know," she cried. "I'm sorry for being such a sensitive ninnymuggins."

Cady laughed. That had always been her favorite word, and Lacey knew it. Johnny sat up and rested his chin on Lacey's bare shoulder.

"Ninnymuggins?" he questioned.

"Inside joke," giggled Lacey. She turned and put her cheek against Johnny's. Jimmy came up and put his hand on Cady's head.

Brian jumped into the room, his arms spread wide. "Hey!" he shouted. He stopped short when he saw Lacey and Johnny. "Whoa, sorry. Did I interrupt?"

"A little," said Zacky, flicking Brian's temple.

"Ow, damn! Fuck!" shouted Brian as he attempted to escape Zacky's rain of continuous terror.

Lacey giggled again. "You guys are like brothers," she said. "How do you survive?"

Brian jumped on their bed and put his nose against Lacey's. "I'll tell you how," he whispered. "It all started back in kindergarten when"-

"Okay, okay," said Johnny, pushing Brian off the bed. "We've heard enough."

Brian rolled from the bed all the way to the other side of the bus. Cady doubled over with laughter, and Jimmy and Zacky were equally as amused. Lacey and Johnny stood up, and Johnny went to pull Brian from the floor.

"We should get some breakfast," suggested Cady, recovering from her fit of laughter.

"I think that's an excellent idea, m'dear!" shouted Jimmy. "And grab some ice for my hand."

"What happened to your hand?" asked Lacey.

"Some guy"- began Jimmy, but Cady cut him off.

"Run in with a tree," she mumbled. "I don't think it's too serious."

Lacey held up an eyebrow but said, "Where's Matt?"

Johnny tensed up. The guys all noticed, but Lacey said nothing. Brian slid his arm around Lacey's waist and chuckled.

"Matt, my good lady, is having the time of his life in your bed," he said. "Actually, he's holding the fort just in case."

Lacey looked at all the eyes staring at her. "It's okay, you can say his name." She glanced down at her feet. "We should go get Matt. I'm sure he'd like to eat, too."

Brian led the way, skipping like a fairy, to the dorms. Lacey and Cady laughed, but the guys rolled their eyes. It wasn't as funny to them until he ran into the glass door of the lounge.