Punch-Drunk Love

I was jolted out of my peaceful slumber by some song with a breakdown playing obnoxiously loud throughout the van. I sat up, pushing my eye mask up to my forehead, and glared at the laughing boys in the row in front of me.

“You guys suck,” Jess said from her spot on the other side of the bench.

“What?! We can’t hear you!” John yelled, only ensuing more laughter.

The pair of us rolled our eyes, and after the song ended, they turned the volume down and composed themselves. I rubbed my eyes, not caring if I messed up my makeup, and pulled my eye mask completely off.

“I’m so glad I get to sleep in my own bed tonight,” I said throwing my hair up into a messy bun.

“Me too,” Jess said sitting fully up, “It’s such a tease though. We have to go back out and do Cali for the next week.”

“Let’s just hope it flies by,” I said crawling over the bench and plopping down next to Stephen.

“Please tell me you aren’t bringing Brian to our families combined lunch this afternoon,” he said hopefully, “I don’t want to be a third wheel.”

“Nah, he’s going to dinner with his family. So we can laugh at John and Miranda the whole time they act like giddy school kids,” I said causing him to laugh, “I don’t see why they couldn’t wait until next week to do this.”

“It’s because we’re their babies,” he said mocking his mom’s voice, “Do you think it will be awkward with your mom and dad there together?”

“I sure as hell hope not,” I said twisting my face, “I think they can be mature about everything.”

He nodded in agreement, and opened his Macbook doing god knows what. I looked out at the scenery passing the van, and smiled at the familiarity. It was around 10AM, meaning we were less than 30 minutes away from Phoenix. Jess and I mindlessly chatted and in no time we were pulling up in front of John, Stephen and I’s houses. We hopped out, not bothering to grab anything but our backpacks, and waved as the band drove off.

“I love off days in our hometown,” John said as we started up our walkways, “See you in like 4 hours Sadie.”

I waved to the brothers, before punching in my garage code and swiftly walking to the door. The warm air washed over me, and I smiled as I walked into the kitchen. There was a note on the counter, claiming my mom had gone grocery shopping, and I immediately retreated into my room. I plugged my almost dead phone in, along with my macbook, before heading into the bathroom to take a shower.

My shower was near 30 minutes long, because I couldn’t stop savoring the relaxation of a non-rushed shower. I stepped out of the shower, and dried off before putting my robe on. I wrapped my hair in a towel and put lotion and face moisturizer on before heading out in my room. I made my way into my closet, and put on some underwear, before deciding to take a short nap before getting ready.

I let my hair out of the towel, and combed through it with my fingers as I slid into the heaven I knew as my bed.

======

“Do you ever wear clothes when we’re home?” was the first thing I heard as I woke up.

“Do you ever not sneak up on me?” I groaned into my pillow.

“Maybe you should be more alert,” Stephen said starting to jump on my bed.

“Okay, I’m up,” I said pushing him off of my bed, “Is it time for lunch already?”

“We’re supposed to leave in 20 minutes,” he said standing up, “So you should probably get ready.”

“Wanna pick out my outfit?” I said retying my robe, “But no dresses.”

“I swear I’m your sassy gay friend that’s straight,” he said starting off to my closet.

I laughed at him, and walked into my bathroom, trying to decide what to do to my hair. It was fully dry, since I had slept so long, so I chose to straighten it as quickly as I could. When I was done, I skipped putting on foundation and lined my eyes with my black eyeliner.

“Here, just throw on your black zip up to block the wind,” Stephen said throwing me a pile of clothes.

He closed the door, and I took my robe off replacing it with the clothes he had picked. My dark jeans were topped off with a bright blue cami underneath a gray swing tank with a shark on it. I sprayed some body spray in front of me and walked through the mist before slipping on my flip-flops that matched the camisole.

“Let’s do this shit,” I said making Stephen sit up, “Is my mom even home yet?”

“I heard the front door while you were changing,” he said as I grabbed my phone from the nightstand.

I nodded and closed my door as I followed him down the stairs. My mom heard our feet against the tile in the entryway, and dropped what she was doing to engulf me in a hug.

“My baby,” she said causing Stephen and I to laugh, “How are you? I’ve missed you so much!”

“I missed you too Mom,” I said as she ended the hug, “I’m good, excited to finish this tour in the next week!”

“I can’t wait to have you home,” she said grinning and kissing my cheek, “And Stephen, you get a hug too. I haven’t seen you in ages.”

Stephen obliged, and as they separated the doorbell rang. We all grabbed our stuff and walked out to greet The Gomez’s and Miranda. I was hugged by Mr. and Mrs. Gomez, and of course Miranda.

“Us parents will drive together, and then you guys can go do whatever after lunch,” Mrs. Gomez said surprising us.

“We’ll take my car,” Stephen said unclipping his keys and motioning for us to follow him to the garage.

“I call sitting by Miranda!” I said as Stephen unlocked the car.

“No, I get to sit by her, she’s my girlfriend,” John said pulling her closer to him.

“You sit by her at dinner,” I said dashing into the backseat, “I’ve been surrounded by mainly testosterone these last 3 weeks, I need some estrogen!”

“Fine,” John said pouting and climbing into the passenger seat.

I laughed and rolled my eyes, before buckling up, and pestering Stephen to put the stereo on. He obliged, and I turned to Miranda immediately. I asked her questions about what she had been doing, but she was more interested in hearing about tour.

“It’s fun, but I miss home and you,” I said causing her to laugh, “And John misses you too. We have lunch talks about you all of the time!”

I could see John blush from his seat, and heard Stephen chuckle.

“I miss him too, I can’t wait for them to be home for a while before the next tour,” she said smiling widely.

“See I told you she wasn’t going anywhere John!” I said patting him on the shoulder, “You’re more than that hyperactive weird kid from the band.”

“You weren’t supposed to repeat that,” he said turning bright red.

“But that’s why I like you, silly,” Miranda said with a wink.

“And we’re here,” Stephen said cutting off the sappy couple, “Thank god, I felt like I was going to catch something while sitting between those two.”

“You’ll get a girl again soon, bro,” John said clapping him on the shoulder, “So you don’t have to be too jealous.”

Stephen rolled his eyes, and we walked to the entrance of the restaurant where our parents were all waiting. I engulfed my dad in a hug and we quietly caught up while we waited for our table to be prepared. Once it was, we all navigated through the dim establishment and took our seats.

I sat next at the end of the table with Stephen to my right, and my mom to my left. Miranda was between Stephen and John, while Mrs. Gomez sat across from me. Our dad’s respectively sat next to their wives, or soon to be ex-wife in my dad’s case, and we all rattled off our drink order.

“This is her first time meeting our parents,” Stephen said leaning over to and whispering.

“That’s why she seemed nervous,” I said glancing at her playing with her napkin, “And why she dressed so nice compared to us.”

“You know my holy jeans are pure class,” he said with a fake glare, “But yeah, it’s going to be awkward city.”

“I bet John get’s the hiccups as soon as conversation starts,” I said laughing at the small nervous habit he had.

“One of them will spill their drink,” he said as we eyed the two warily.

“Will you two stop plotting about us already?” John said making us sit straight up.

We just smiled innocently, and were approached by the waiter for our food orders. We ordered, and as she walked away the questions started pouring out of our parents mouths. And of course, like clockwork, John started hiccupping.

========

“Stephen, I’m really really sorry about spilling my water,” Miranda said as we walked out of the restaurant, “I just got nervous about meeting your parents.

“Miranda, it’s fine, seriously,” Stephen said unlocking the car, “Sadie and I figured one of you guys would spill a drink anyways. You guys are so awkward, yet adorable.”

John lightly punched his brother in the shoulder from his spot in the backseat, and the four of us drove back to the Gomez’s where Miranda would be hanging out for the rest of the afternoon, as well as me.

=======

We all ended up in the basement and watched a few movies together, while just relaxing. I had fallen asleep sometime during the third movie, and only woke up to my phone vibrating against my thigh. I sat up and smiled as Brian’s name was lit up on the screen.

“Hello?” I answered in a whisper so the others wouldn’t wake up.

“Hey babe,” he said with a smile in his voice, “Why are you whispering?”

“I was watching movies with Stephen, John and Miranda and we all fell asleep,” I said cracking my back, “What time is it anyways?”

“A little after 8,” he said making my eyes widen, “But hey, wanna hang out? My parents went to some company thing, and I’m all alone with my siblings tonight.”

“Poor thing,” I said laughing, “I have my house to myself, my mom has a redeye to Atlanta for business. Wanna come over?”

“I’ll see you in five,” he said eagerly, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I said smiling and hanging out.

I shook Stephen awake, and told him I was heading home and that I’d see him tomorrow. He nodded, and stood up walking me upstairs so he could go to bed. I walked across my lawn, and as I went to unlock my door, Brian’s truck pulled into the driveway. He jumped out, and jogged to me pulling me into his arms.

“You act like we haven’t been together everyday for the last three weeks,” I said as he placed his lips on mine.

“I just can’t help that I love you so much,” he said smiling and entering the house behind me, “Movie’s up in your room?”

“Like always,” I said as he followed me up the stairs.

He stripped his jeans off, and I disappeared into the closet to put on one of my oversized sleep shirts. I walked back out, and he already had a DVD in and the pillows propped up. I smiled at him and he pulled me into his side.

About halfway through our movie, he was playing with my hair, and the comfort I felt made me lean up and kiss him. He returned the kiss, which started out softly, and I felt him slide his tongue over my bottom lip asking for entrance. I gladly allowed him it, and we were soon in a full on makeout session. I was still hovering over him, but it didn’t take long for him to flip me over and hover over me.

We parted shortly, and I looked into his eyes, giving him the permission we were both searching for in each other. I slid my hands under his t-shirt, and guided it off with ease. He did the same with my shirt, and nipped at the sensitive skin along my collarbone and neck. I bit my lip as a soft moan escaped my lips, and pushed my hips into his.

It didn’t take long for us to both shed every layer of clothing we had on, and lose ourselves in a tangle of limbs and sheets.