...And Stop Waiting Up

"HAILEY!" Jack screamed as I walked in the door.
"JACK!" I screamed back.
"I missed you!"
"Missed you, too?"

The black haired boy glared at me and sat down on the couch, pouting. I'm guessing he heard my voice raise an octave at the end of 'too'.

"Jack," I sat next to him, "You know I missed you. It's impossible not to."
"Awwwwww" he cooed.
"Don't go all mushy on me, Barakat." I warned.
"Don't go all mushy on me, Barakat." he mocked.
"Jack, mockery isn't nice. Especially when you're mocking someone who can kick your ass." Alex commented.
"She can't kick my ass."
"Oh, yes. Yes she can."
"Whatever."

Alex waved to me and went back to watching whatever was on MTV at the moment, his hair still wet from showering. I looked towards the stairs to reveal Rian, still half asleep, probably up from the smells of food in the kitchen.

"Kara? Is that bacon I smell?" he mumbled.
"What, Ri?" she asked.
"BACON? ARE YOU MAKING BACON?"
"Yes, and no need to yell, you're starting to sound a bit like Chase."
"I'm not starting to sound like Chase."
"Yeah, you are. You're grumpy and stuff."

The buzzcut boy rolled his eyes and flopped onto the couch next to Jack and took the remote from him.

"Hey..." Jack whined, reaching for the remote.
"No." Rian slapped his hand.
"Ow! Hailey! Rian slapped me!"
"Rian, it's not nice to slap children."
"I'm not a child!"
"Fine, it's not nice to slap a man-child."
"Better."

I shook my head and went into the kitchen to help Kara make large amounts of food for four hungry men. Or, I don't know what to call them...they really aren't men and they aren't children.
I ran upstairs and changed out of my sweaty running clothes which consisted of a black sports bra and purple running shorts. I grabbed a pair of jean shorts and a yellow tank top. I went downstairs and into the kitchen to help Kara with the gigantic breakfast she had been preparing.

"Karabear." I sing-songed, picking up a spatula and flipped a few pancakes.
"Hail Storm." she sing-songed back, putting more bacon in the pan.
"Hi."
"Sup"
"Nothing, just flippin' some pancakes."
"Same, but I'm frying bacon."
"BACON IS THE MOST MAGICAL FOOD IN THE WORLD!" Zack shouted as he got plates out of the cabinet.
"I can fully agree." I answered.

Unlike Kara, I'm not a model and can eat whatever whenever I want. Including bacon, chips, icecream, M&Ms, Snickers, etc. you get my point.

"I wish I could eat bacon...." Kara said, sounding quite sad.
"It's okay, you can eat bacon for today. It's the exception." Rian mumbled into her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Kodak moment...." I whispered, chuckling softly.
"Shut up...." Rian whispered, copying my tone.
"Never!" I shouted, throwing a steaming hot pancake at him.
"Fuck is that hot!"
"No duh, it just came off the pan."
"Okay." he said, through a mouthful of pancake.
"Guys," Kara said, "food."

Everyone rushed into the kitchen, grabbing the plates Zack sat out and lined up infront of the island in the center, waiting anxiously.

"Okay, Jack, get 3 pancakes, 4 strips of bacon, and a glass of chocolate milk." I ordered, "same for the rest of you."
"Fine." everyone mumbled unhappily.
"If there are extras, they will be split between everyone. Got it? Good."

The guys grabbed the pancakes, bacon, and chocolate milk in an almost assembly line fashion. Hm, I guess my taking order in the kitchen is good.
When everyone had gotten their food, we sat down at the large dining room table [courtesy of Isobel Gaskarth] and stuffed our faces.

Yes, Zack and I were eating again, our stomachs are bottomless pits that need constant feeding or we will die.

"Fuck, this is hard." Kara said as she tried to bite into a piece of slightly overcooked bacon.
"That's what she said." we chorused.
"Why does it always happen to me? Why, why, why, why?"
"Because you don't live here constantly." Alex pointed out.
"Hailey, you're one lucky bitch."

The house we live in? It's my house, bought my me, bills paid by me. Well, most of the bills are paid by me. I agreed to let them live here if they paid the cell phone bills and the electricity bill. So, in order to have a place to live, they agreed because I don't think they wanted to live with their parents at 23 or 24 years old.

"Jack, you need to pick all of the dishes up and put them in the dishwasher." Kara said, pointing to the contraption under the counter.
"Alex, you clean the griddle and pans, Rian...." I said, trying to think of something for Rian to do, "Rian. You help Jack since he's barely capable of doing so."
"Fine." he grumbled.
"See! You sound like Chase more and more everyday." Kara laughed.

He shot her the bird and went to help Jack. The brunette just laughed and continued putting the syrup, milk, and butter away.

All's well in the Killip/ Gaskarth/ Barakat/ Dawson/ Merrick household.