Long Live the Kids

Haley's POV
​I had been wide awake ever since about 5 AM. Around 7 AM I decided I wasn't going to fall asleep anymore and decided to get up. I felt like a little kid on Christmas' Day, except for the fact that our Christmases hadn't exactly been something worth remembering for years. For me, today was better, because Alex and the guys were finally coming home, even if it was just for two weeks.
​
​​​​​They wouldn't come home for hours but as I couldn't sleep anyway, I might as well do something productive. ​I had planned on cleaning the house before Alex came home, but hadn't found the time or energy over the past few days. ​So why not clean the house at 7 AM?
​
​​​​​First, I made myself a cup of coffee and filled a bowl with cereal and milk​​​ but after I finished those I forced myself to at least try and make the house look slightly presentable before Alex came home. Rachel and I usually just couldn't be bothered to really clean the house and even though it wasn't that messy, it wasn't exactly clean either.
​
​I started off by putting all of the dirty dishes on the counter in the dishwasher and started it. I figured vacuum cleaning wouldn't be the best idea at this hour with Rachel and Cameron still asleep upstairs, so I decided to start putting all kind of stuff back in the place where it belong.
​
​"What are you doing?" I heard a voice behind me, while I was putting some books that had been on the coffee table back on their shelf. I turned around to find Rachel, for whom it was a normal schoolday, in the doorway.​​​​​​​​​​
​"Cleaning" I replied, getting back to what I was doing.
​"I thought we gave up on that" Rachel said.
​"Yeah well, I want the house to look at least presentable for Alex" I shrugged.

​​​​"As if Alex doesn't know us better than that" Rachel mocked.
​"I couldn't sleep anyway. Shouldn't you be getting dressed?" I asked her.
​"Probably" she replied. "Can't I stay home? I want to be here when Alex gets home!"
​"No you don't, you just don't want to go to school​​​​​​​​​​​​​​" I replied.
​"But..." she sputtered.
​"Rachel Jones, go get your annoying ass dressed​​​​ or you'll miss your bus" I said, more seriously this time.
​"Fine!" she sighed before heading back upstairs.
​
​I interrupted my cleaning session to make Rachel coffee and breakfast, as she would definitely miss her bus if she had to do it herself.​​​​​​ 10 minutes later Rachel came back downstairs and after having breakfast and quickly downing her coffee, she was just in time for her bus.
​"Tell Alex I said hi!" she yelled, while putting her denim jacket on.
​"Will do. Behave yourself!" I replied.
​"I can't promise anything" Rachel replied just before I heard the front door slam shut behind her.
​
​I continued cleaning until I thought the house looked good enough, which was around 11 AM. I made myself another cup of coffee​​​​​​​​​​ and sat down on the couch, going through Netflix for something I could watch and settling on a new Supernatural episode.
​​​
​​​Alex's POV
​​​We were finally on our way home. Only a couple of hours until I would finally see Haley again. I couldn't wait. Jack, Rian and I were watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in the front lounge. Zack had disappeared into his bunk shortly after we departed, probably already missing Jenna.
​
​I did feel bad for Zack and kind of wished we hadn't tried to set them up. Not that it was our hopeless attempts that did the trick, but they might have caused Zack to look at Jenna differently. I already hardly saw Haley, but at least I basically lived with her. Besides both Zack and Jenna being on tour a lot, Jenna also happened to live on the other side of the world. What are the odds of the two of them actually working out?​​​​ Not that I would say that to Zack though.
​
​"Earth to Alex!" Jack interrupted me from my thoughts.
​"Hmm?" I answered.​​​​​​
​"We were talking to you" Rian said wryly.
​"Oh.. What were you saying?" I asked. "I spaced out, sorry"

​​​​"We were saying that it might be fun to have a barbecue tonight, with the girls" Jack said.
​"Uhm, yeah sure" I replied. "What about Zack though? He'd be the only one without a partner. Won't that be awkward?"
​"Well, maybe, but we can't exactly​ say he's not invited either" Rian replied.
​"That's true..." I replied.
​
​"You guys do know these bunks aren't soundproof, right​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​?"
​We all turned around when we heard Zack's voice behind us.
​"Look, thanks for worrying about me, but I'm fine, really" he said. "I mean, I wouldn't say fine, but I can handle a barbecue."
​"You're right. Sorry" Rian said, and Jack and I nodded in agreement.
​
​​​Zack sat down on the couch next to me.
​"Haley, Tay and Cass are my friends as well and I haven't seen them in ages. There'll be plenty of people to talk to. Unless you three want your girls to yourselves, that is" Zack said wryly.
​"Okay, okay, you made your point. We'll try not to worry about you anymore" I nodded.​​​​​​​​​​​​
​After that we went back to watching Harry Potter, watching The Prisoner Of Azkaban once it ended.
​
​"Seems like we're almost home!" Jack suddenly exclaimed, pointing outside.
​Buildings we had seen so many times while driving home were all around us. We were about 15 minutes away from home. The bus driver would drive to the garage our bus belonged to, where our girlfriends would pick us up. As for Zack, he would drive with Cass and Rian.
​
​Tay's POV
​Haley, Cassadee and I were​​​​​​ waiting at the garage where the boys would be dropped off. We were all way too early, but well, we were just so excited. After waiting for about 20 minutes the familiar black bus turned the corner. We all got up from the table we were sitting at. Seconds after the bus had stopped Jack, Alex and Rian came rushing out of the bus, up to us, followed by a not-as-enthusiastic Zack. As soon as Jack got to me, he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly. I too wrapped my arms around his waist.
​
​"I missed you so much" he whispered in my ear before kissing my forehead.
​"I missed you too" I replied, talking into his chest.

​​​​​After a moment Jack let go of me. Rian and Alex were still greeting their girlfriends, while Zack was awkwardly standing next to them. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
​
​​​​​I quickly went to hug him as well. Jack had told me things between him and Jenna had been going well but that Zack wasn't so sure they had a future. Either way, Haley and Cassadee decided not to go through with finding him another girlfriend​​​​​​​​. After a few seconds I let go of him.

​​​​"Are you okay?" I asked him.
​"We're not allowed to worry about him" Alex, who had finally let go of Haley, said, causing Zack to give him a look.
​"Yeah, I'll be fine" Zack nodded. "I'll see her in two weeks anyway​​​​​​. I'll survive." He winked.
​I turned back to Jack, wanting to suggest he'd go get his stuff, but he was hugging Haley tightly. I suppose I couldn't blame him. They hadn't seen each other in quite some time.
​
​"So, hey" Alex started, causing us to turn to him. "We were thinking about having a barbecue tonight. Are you all in?"
​"And where is this barbecue going to take place?" Haley asked, while we all nodded.
​"Well, I sort of said we could do it at our house" Alex muttered. "That's not a problem right babe?"
​"As long as we stay outside. I just cleaned the whole house" she replied, causing Alex to start laughing.

​​​​"You? Cleaning? The house?" he mocked.
​"Watch your tone if you want to throw a barbecue" Haley teased. "But fine, as long as Rachel and Cameron are invited as well."
​"No problem!" Alex exclaimed.

​​​​"Okay, now go get your stuff. We're gonna have to go grocery shopping if you want to have a barbecue" Haley said.
​"Yes mother" Alex replied.
​"Shut up" Haley replied.
​"Aren't you two a cute couple?" Jack joked, causing both Haley and Alex to give him a look.
​​After that they all went to get their stuff from the bus so we could go home.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​