Love is a Luxury

I woke up the next morning with John’s arms wrapped around my torso—a feeling I didn’t realize I missed so much. I unraveled myself and walked downstairs. A majority of the kids had left, but there were still a few stragglers that remained passed out cold on the floor and couch.

I didn’t bother making breakfast, considering I wasn’t about to make a huge meal for people I didn’t even know, and just grabbed a granola bar and ate it peacefully at the kitchen table.

After I finished my food, I walked back upstairs and eased into my room, shutting the door quietly behind me, trying not to wake up John. While gathering up my clothes to get a shower, I knocked a bottle of perfume over, causing a loud noise. John rolled over, and not being used to sleeping in my bed, rolled right off the side of the bed, causing a loud thump.

I tried my hardest to fight back laughter as he groaned in pain. “Fuck you, I can hear you laughing,” he mumbled, which made my laughter uncontainable.

He finally got up off the floor and wrapped his arms around me, giving me a long and slow kiss. “How about we go and conserve water together?”

---

After we had gotten out of the shower and gotten dressed, I noticed that the last few people had left, and Jimmie was awake. “Olivia, make me greasy food, please,” he said, laying his head on the table. I laughed and made him a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich as slick as possible with oil, and a less greasy version for John and me.

We ate in silence, and put our dishes in the sink. About that time, Mom pulled up in the driveway, getting out of the truck to let Colby out of the backseat. He came running inside and hugged all of us before going into the living room to watch cartoons.

“Hey kiddos,” Mom said as she walked in the door. “Jimmie, I expect you to clean this up whenever your hangover wears off,” she said, noticing the mess.

“Yes ma’am,” he said, not lifting his head up off the table. She shook her head at him and went off to her room.

“So, what do you wanna do?” I asked John.

“Well, I could think of a few things.” Jimmie let out a disgusted groan as he realized what was suggested.

“Do you think the boys are up yet?” He shrugged, grabbing the car keys out of the bowl.

“Let’s go find out.”

---

The boys were in fact awake and only had minor hangovers. “Hey, baby momma,” they greeted me as I walked through the door with John. I waved and sat down next to Ross on one of the beds.

“How’s little one doing today?” He asked.

“It’s doing. It doesn’t really moving after I fed it though. It usually doesn’t though.”

“It? You make it sound like an alien.” Jared laughed.

“Hey, I hate not knowing the gender. Sometimes I’ll call it a boy, sometimes it’s a girl. I am so ready to know.” I groaned.

“Do you get kicks and stuff?” Halvo asked.

“Nah, just little flutters. The doctor said I should be able to feel it within the next month though.” He nodded and left it at that.

“So what have y’all been up to since the last time we met?” I asked. With that, they started filling me in on the past three months, how they've been, working on touring, writing new music, etc. Shane told me how school was going, and Ross told me about his girlfriend. It’s at that moment that I realized I actually missed all of these boys and how big of an impact they put on my life. These were the boys that were meant to be in my life.

“How long are y’all staying for?” I asked, bracing myself for the answer.

“We’re leaving tonight.” Garrett said rather quiet, knowing that it would hurt me. “We’re working on a new record. We think it’s gonna be really rad,” he added, lightening up the conversation.

“Oh really? That’s awesome. I’m sure it’ll be great,” I smiled.

“Yeah, we’re really hoping it will be.” He smiled back. John put his hand on my knee and gave me a sympathetic look, grabbing his hand and lacing his fingers through mine.

“So, I could really go for some food,” Gibbs said, walking through the door.

“Agreed,” Shane said. And so we all piled into the van and took our journey.