Art Is Dead

"Nat, you lazy piece of crap!"

I groaned and pulled the blankets over my head as a hard, wiry body crashed down on top of me. "Marcus, I'll be much happier to see you in a few hours."

"It's past ten. Jessie wants you to play dolls with her. Actually, she wants Kyler to, but we all know that isn't going to happen."

"Kyler is being a tool. He can be Barbie for a little while."

"I heard about that. So is it true? Are you actually dating that guy?"

I reached out for my phone and tossed it at my eldest brother. He inspected my background photo for a long moment, then seemed to decide that I hadn't manufactured the image of Bo playing around on my guitar while sitting on my bed.

"Famous or not, if he steps out of line I'll wring his neck."

"I knew I could count on you."

He gave me a goofy grin and a gentle punch on the shoulder. "Good for you, Nat. Just promise me you won't become a groupie. Don't give anything up for free."

I laughed loudly. "That is the absolute last thing that you need to worry about. He is a total gentleman. And I don't give anything for free."

Marcus stared at me for a long moment, as if he were debating what would be an appropriate reaction. Finally, he decided to let it go. "Go play with my kid, okay?"

I whimpered pitifully. "But I hate dolls," I whined.

"I know you do. But all you have to do is sit there. She pretty much entertains herself."

"She needs siblings, you know."

"If you let Mom hear you talking like that, I'll break your arm. I am not having another kid without knowing that I've found the girl I want to spend my life with. It might sound cheesy, but that's how I feel. I hate that Jessie had to grow up with two separate households. It wasn't fair to her. I can't put another kid through that. You should learn from my fuck-ups, Nat. Don't go having a baby with this guy when you live in separate countries. A child needs a proper home, and a proper family. Promise me that you'll keep that in mind, okay?"

I blinked rapidly in confusion. My brothers rarely offered me advice, especially about my life decisions. The fact that Marcus was saying these things now made me see how concerned he was about me. I raised my eyebrows.

"Of course I'll remember that. But you don't have to worry about that. I am not prepared for children. Not even close. And I know that Bo isn't, either. He has his career to think about before he starts a family."

Marcus nodded thoughtfully, then ran a hand through his short dark hair. "Good. Just remember that I want to meet this fellow when he makes an appearance in this country. I can't wait to judge him."

"That's funny, because I can't wait for him to judge you," I shot back, laughing.

He rolled his eyes. "Maybe I'll wind up in his act. Come on, get up. You can't stay in bed all day. It's Christmas Eve, be social. I'll keep Kyler under wraps. I brought an entire roll of duct tape for his mouth."

I snorted. "Aw, Santa, you did get my letter!"

Marcus ruffled my hair as he got to his feet. "See you in a few minutes, kiddo. You can't avoid playing dolls forever."

"Want to bet?"

I waited until my brother had left my bedroom before I got out from beneath my heavy covers. I pulled my tangled hair back into a loose ponytail. I checked my phone and found that Bo had continued to text me after I had fallen asleep the night before. Instead of sorting through what he'd said and coming up with a response, I simply called him.

"Mmhmm?" his groggy voice answered the phone with an unintelligible grumble.

"Good morning."

"Feeling better today, Natty?" he asked, sounding immediately more alert. I had told him the night before about the reactions that my family had had to the news that I was dating Bo.

"Yeah, actually. Marcus is here now, and he seems pretty supportive. The rest of them will come around. Especially once they meet you. How long of a break are you taking before you go on tour again?"

Bo chuckled lightly. "You're awful at dropping hints. Just awful. But I am taking a nice long break. And I would really love to come and meet your family for New Years. That is what you were implying just now, right?"

I smiled widely. "Really? Even after my horror stories from last night, you still want to come and see me?"

"You kind of hit the nail on the head there. I want to go and see you. That's the same reason that you came here, isn't it? Nobody else matters."

I sat back down on the edge of my mattress, feeling touched. "That's pretty much the nicest thing I've ever heard."

"You need to get out more."

"You're probably right. Anyways, I have to go and play with my niece. I just wanted to call and wake you up. I'll call you tomorrow for sure so I can wish you a merry Christmas."

"Great. I'll text you later, okay? I miss you, Nat."

I stood up and stretched my free arm over my head. "I miss you too." I hung up the phone and tucked it into the pocket of my pajama pants. I braced myself for the ball of energy that was my niece, and I headed out into the living room.

"Auntie! Come play with me!" Jessie called as soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I need coffee first, Jessie. Then I'll play, I promise."

She nodded her head happily, then picked up a blonde-haired Barbie doll from the carpet and shoved it roughly into a hot-pink plastic convertible. I stepped past her and entered the kitchen, where I poured myself some coffee. I sipped it calmly from my favourite mug as my mother joined me. She placed a bagel in the toaster and turned it on, then dug around in the refrigerator for the cream cheese.

"Bo and I want to come down here for New Years, if you guys don't have any other plans," I told her, breaking the silence.

"Is that so? Well, I'll tell your brothers to come around then, too. I'm sure that they'll want to meet this boy. Look, Nathalie, I'm sorry about how everyone reacted yesterday. It's just not like you to take off like that. It scared me, and I think maybe it rubbed off on everyone else."

"It's okay, Mom. I know you didn't mean anything by it. It's kind of your job to freak out if I don't tell you about something important like leaving the country. You wouldn't even know if I went missing."

She dug a butter knife out of the drawer and opened the container of cream cheese. "I don't know anything about this boy. I don't know if he's trustworthy, or if you were putting yourself in danger. I should have just called you about it, but I panicked."

I set my coffee down on the counter as the toaster released her heated bagel. "Mom, I get it. And I'm sorry that I kept it a secret. I just knew that Kyler would act like a jerk about it, and I wanted to avoid that. I didn't mean to scare you. And as for what kind of guy Bo is, I think you'll like him. I hope you do, at least. You can decide for yourself next week."

She sighed. "I hope you understand what you've gotten yourself into. You're a pretty girl, why couldn't you find a nice boy here?" The bagel was smothered in far too much cream cheese, as she continued to heap it on while she spoke to me.

"I don't feel like this about other guys around here. We hit it off right away, and I knew that I would hate myself if I didn't try, at the very least. If it doesn't work, then I won't have any regrets about it. And I know that it will be hard, but it's not impossible. Remember when Tyler had a girlfriend in St. Louis?"

Mom scoffed. "Your cousin Tyler is an idiot. He dated her for two years before discovering that she had a local boyfriend the entire time that they were together."

I frowned as I remembered that she was right. "Okay, but this isn't like that. Bo doesn't have it in him to cheat on anyone. He knows what Trevor did to me, and he wouldn't hurt me like that. Trust me."

She bit into her bagel and chewed slowly, watching me carefully. She seemed to be calculating something as she stared. Once she swallowed the food in her mouth, she cleared her throat. "Are you in love with this boy?"

"What?" I asked, shocked by her assumption. "Mom, I've only known him for a few months. It is way too early to be saying things like that. I really like him, but that's where it ends. But if it continues in the way that it's been going, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that I will fall in love with him. And it probably isn't too far off. He's the nicest guy I've ever met. And he always keeps me laughing. To be perfectly honest with you, I don't want to go back to life before I knew him. And I want you guys to like him, too."

Mom continued eating her breakfast. "I'm sure that we'll adore him, if he's all you've made him out to be. But you need to remember that your brothers will be harder to impress than your father and I. They love you, and in their eyes no one will ever be good enough. You could be with the most perfect man in the world, and they would still find a fatal flaw in him."

I nodded. "I know. But I think that he'll be able to win them over."

Mom smirked as she finished off her bagel. "Good luck with that, dear."