You're My Everything

Packing up all of your things and moving was always a weird experience, no matter how often or how little you do it. You end up going through all of your things, throwing out scraps of paper and other assorted garbage that fills up your drawers and closets. Even if you don’t intend to, it’s like starting over again, getting rid of old baggage and old memories.

Of course, while packing, it is inevitable that you will come across so many important memories that you once held. Sometimes these memories could be good, but there was also the possibility that you could also come across one you would rather leave in the darkest corners of your mind.

Memories can come in the simplest forms, such as ticket stubs from a first date or a picture. They can also come in forms that are much more powerful, such as letters or something that hold the all familiar smell of someone who was once important to you. Smell is such an important and overpowering sense, and most of the time people don’t realize just how much it can affect them.

Ellie was fully aware of how powerful the sense of smell was. She could still remember unpacking all of her things her freshman year of college. She was putting all of her clothes away in her dresser and closet when she came across an article of clothing that was unfamiliar at first. As soon as she unfolded it and got a full look at it, she knew exactly who it belonged to.

It was Brian’s shirt, one of his favorites in fact. She had no idea how it had gotten mixed in with all of her clothes, but when she found it, it was like a punch to the stomach. Ellie could remember bringing the shirt up to her face, his smell overwhelming her and bringing her to her knees.

Yes, the sense of smell can make you feel like someone is right there beside you, even though they’re half way across the country. It can make you realize just how much you’re hurting inside from losing that person, and it can make you realize that you no longer have possession over your own heart.

That was back when Ellie was at one of her darkest points in her life, and just that one insignificant thing made her feel terrible for a week. People always underestimate the smallest things in life, but Ellie didn’t. She knew that the most powerful things often came in the smallest packages.

It was moving day for Matt, and even though he was moving just across the street, it didn’t making moving any easier or more fun. It also didn’t help that Matt had neglected to pack up most of his stuff, leaving Ellie to do all of the work. At this point, she was kind of wishing that she had to work a twelve hour shift instead of packing all of the useless junk Matt had in his room.

Ellie was just taping up another box when all of the boys came walking in to take anything she was done with. Brian walked over to give her a quick hug and a kiss, but she quickly pushed him away with a laugh.

“Eww, you’re all disgusting and sweaty,” she said as she wiped her cheek. Even though she hated packing, the weather couldn’t be worse to move in. It was almost one hundred degrees outside, and since all of the doors in Matt’s new house were open for the move, she was sure it was pretty hot in there, too. At least she got to sit in air conditioning. She noticed everyone else was just as sweaty as Brian was.

“Hey, look at these!” Zacky called as he flipped through a stack of pictures he found lying on Matt’s night stand. Matt walked over to look over his shoulder and got a fit of hysterical laughter.

“Look at your hair, Zacky!” Matt said through his laughter. Ellie came over to look, too, and she saw that Zacky’s hair was about three different colors in the picture. He was playing his guitar, so it must have been taken at one of their very first shows.

“You know he always had a different hair style every week back then,” Brian said as Zacky flipped to the next picture. This time, Zacky was the one who burst out into laughter.

“You look like a vampire here, Matt,” he said, reveling in the fact that he could get back at Matt for laughing. “I forgot you used to make yourself look so pale when we used to perform, and look at how much eyeliner you were wearing.”

“Yeah, yeah, flip to the next picture,” Matt said. The next one was of Matt and Ellie when they were younger. Ellie was about four and Matt was about six.

“See, at least there is one cute one in there,” Ellie said with a smile as she took it out of Zacky’s hands. “I’m taking this so you don’t shove it in the back of a drawer again. I forgot you had huge dimples when you were that young.”

“Hey, you two should keep this one,” Zacky said as he turned to Brian and Ellie. He was referring to the picture that was underneath the one of Ellie and Matt. They both looked at it and saw a picture of the two of them when they were younger. They definitely didn’t look like they belonged together, as Brian had weird hair and was dressed in black while Ellie had pig tails and was wearing a dress. “You both look so awkward in this picture that it’s almost worse than the one of me with my hair.”

It was true, they both looked pretty awful. Ellie was missing a few of her front teeth and Brian was tall and awkward, but they both were wearing huge smiles. Ellie grinned when she took the picture from Zacky. All that time ago, she never would have thought her life would be the way it was now, or how much shit she had to trudge through for so long to get here.

“I’m glad you don’t wear those pig tails anymore,” Brian said as he followed Ellie into her room so she could put the pictures on her dresser. “I don’t know if we could be together if you did.”

“That’s real nice,” Ellie replied. She knew Brian was joking around with her. “But it’s okay because I don’t know if we could be together if you didn’t learn there were other colors besides black you can wear.”

“Ouch, point well taken,” Brian said with a laugh. “I do have a serious question to ask you, though.”

“Ask away,” she said as she sat down on the edge of the bed. They both knew that in talking to each other, it would delay them having to go back to helping Matt move.

“You’re definitely not working tomorrow night, right?” Brian asked. “And if you’re not, you promise me you won’t make any plans?”

“No, I told you I had these two days off, and I won’t go in if they ask me to,” Ellie said. She gave him a sly smile. “Are you planning on taking me on a date or something?”

“Yeah, actually I was,” Brian replied. Ellie was actually joking with her last statement, so when he said he had planned a date for her she was just a little bit surprised. Ellie loved Brian, and with that, she had accepted long ago that he wasn’t exactly the romantic type. “I figured it might be a good way to start things off again. We technically didn’t date last time, and look how things ended up.”

Ellie and Brian really hadn’t spent that much time together in the two weeks he had been back. She was working all the time, more than usual in fact. It really sucked that her hours had picked up in the time that Brian finally came back from tour, but there was nothing she could do. So, getting straight to the point, neither of them had received any action yet, and Ellie could tell that Brian was getting sexually frustrated. She was sure this was the longest he had gone without sex since he was a teenager, but she gave him a lot of credit for being so loyal to her.

“Wow, I’m surprised,” Ellie said. “How many times have you ever taken a girl out on an actual date?”

“Not many,” Brian admitted, even though it made him sound like the biggest player ever. He was getting older now, though. He had his fun, and now it was time to start changing his ways. “But I guess that means you should consider yourself special.”

“Are you telling me all of these things just because you think you’ll be getting extra lucky at the end of this date?” Ellie said. She wasn’t done teasing him just yet. “Because, you know, no respectable girl sleeps with a guy on the first date.”

“Really?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Not even if I told you I cashed in the favor Zacky owed us? Tomorrow night he’s going to stay with Johnny, so we have the house all to ourselves, and there’s a chance an expensive dinner with champagne might even be involved.”

“You’re making it really hard for me to keep up my morals,” Ellie said as Brian came in close to try and kiss her again. She just ducked underneath him to escape, though. “You’re still really disgusting, by the way. You’re not getting anywhere near me until you take a shower.”

“And you love to torture me, don’t you?” Brian called from behind her as she started to make her way back to Matt’s room again. She just gave him a smile over her shoulder, which caused her to almost bump into Zacky.

“You two didn’t just have sex did you?” Zacky asked loudly. Ellie sent an alarmed glance over to Matt, who was busy assorting through his stuff in the far corner of his room. “You were gone a lot longer than it takes to go put a picture in your room.”

“No, we didn’t,” Ellie hissed. “And you might want to keep it down. Matt is still trying to get used to the fact that we’re actually together now.”

“You have no idea how much this is killing Brian,” he said with a laugh. “It’s actually kind of funny since I’ve never seen him this out of sorts.”

Ellie wasn’t going to pretend that the thought of Brian discussing their sex life with Zacky was just a little bit disturbing, but she guessed she was going to have to get used to it. “Part of the reason he’s in that situation is your fault,” Ellie said as she pushed past him. She didn’t really want to talk about this anymore.

“Yes, and I am repaying you for that tomorrow night,” Zacky said as he helped her put a bunch of papers into a big box.

“I’m grateful for that,” Ellie said. “But seriously, Zacky, you have to stop thinking we do it everywhere, like just a few moments ago. I know all of you live on a tour bus and hear everything that’s going on with each other, but I’m definitely not like that. There’s just the thought of someone listening in that ruins the whole mood.”

“Oh please, Ellie,” Zacky said with a laugh. “I’ve heard everything there is to hear, from the screams to the groans.”

“Zacky!”

“I’m just joking with you!” Zacky yelled as he covered his head with his arms. Ellie threw one of Matt’s pillows at his head.

“What are you talking about?” Matt called from across the room. Ellie opened her mouth to say nothing, but Zacky quickly beat her to it.

“We were just talking about her and Brian having sex,” Zacky said innocently. Ellie could have killed him at that moment, she really could.

“Ellie doesn’t have sex,” Matt said as he made his way across the room with a packed box.

“Oh, come on now,” Zacky said, trying to hold in as much of his laughter as possible. Ellie wished Brian was in here at the moment to help back her up. “Don’t be stupid, Matt. Ellie’s almost twenty four.”

“So,” Matt said. “It’s kind of like when you think about your parents. In my mind, my parents never have sex, and neither does my sister.”

“Matt, she’s dating one of your best friends,” Zacky said. He really did love making Ellie miserable. “One of the best friends that you live with on a tour bus for a good portion of the year. This means you know very well what his habits are.”

“Zacky, is there something wrong with you?” Ellie asked, sending him a angry, pleading look. She was afraid that Matt might actually punch Zacky if he didn’t end this conversation now. “I like to think that my brother had never had sex in his life, even though his wife is pregnant, and he likes to think I’m going to be an innocent girl for the rest of my life. Let’s just end this conversation now before it ends in physical violence.”

At that moment, Brian walked back into the room, and Matt’s gaze switched between him and Ellie a couple of times. By the look on his face, he was definitely thinking about Brian’s history with girls and the fact that he was now dating his sister.

“You know, maybe it’s not such a good idea I’m moving out,” Matt said. He was clearly thinking that if he stayed here, he could keep them abstinent for the rest of their lives. “I mean, you guys don’t really want me to leave, do you?”

“Yes, I want you to leave,” Ellie said, pushing Matt out of his room and to the stairs. She had enough of this. “Just think of it this way, if you do decide to stay here, there is a very good chance you might hear things you don’t want to. And anyway, if you don’t leave, I will because I’m not going to put my relationship on hold just because I’m living with a bunch of idiots.”

Of course, Ellie was referring to Zacky and Matt.

“Okay, okay, I’ve heard enough,” Matt said as he ran down the steps as fast as possible. Ellie shook her head as she walked back into Matt’s room. She watched Brian smack Zacky on the back of his head.

“Nice going, asshole,” Brian said. It didn’t stop Zacky from laughing, though.

“Hey, I’m just making it hard for you,” Zacky said as he picked up a box to take it across the street. “It’s about time you had a challenge. When it gets too easy, that’s when it gets boring.”

Ellie just shook her head and turned to look at Brian. He gave her a sympathetic look. “They’re always going to give us a hard time, aren’t they?” Ellie asked as she returned to packing everything. She knew none of the guys were going to take it easy on them, but, at the same time, she didn’t think that they were going to make it this hard, either.