Hello, my dears! I'm back for a bit of fluff before I sweet-talk myself into writing the next chapter of Broken Masks!
This one is based off a tumblr prompt from the lovely ilikedthewayhegaveback, and the request was for a big sleepover with Amy, Simon, Kieren, Jem and possibly Philip- so obviously much fluff ensues!
Hope you enjoy it, and I'll try not to take too long in updating the big fic, I promise xD
Note: The films mentioned in here are obviously Disney's Brave, Up & Mulan, in that order. Bet Jem's gonna love that xD
As usual, not my characters or settings, but I do love to have fun with them!
Enjoy!
What a Night!
Simon offered to help, but really the best he could do was stand aside as Amy bustled about, a restless whirlwind of merriment and petticoats. Besides, all she was really doing at the moment was gathering every single cushion in the bungalow and scattering them across the living room, so she didn't exactly need an extra pair of hands.
"You sure about this?" he called out from his position by the window, glancing out at the rapidly darkening sky.
"Yeah!" she said cheerfully, beaming at him as she relocated his pillows to the floor by the TV. "'Course! We've been planning this for weeks!"
"Yeah, I know, but…" he shrugged, looking guiltily down at his feet. "I mean, you sure you're okay with, well, us?"
He didn't name any names, but Amy already knew exactly which 'us' he was on about. She rolled her eyes. "Now you stop that, McPouterson," she chided, picking her way across the cushions and standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "I've said it a million times already, and after this I will not say it again! I. Am. Fine."
Simon smiled at her as she reached up to straighten his collar. "Really?"
"Yes, really," she grinned, tut-tutting as she brushed off the shoulders of his lumpy jumper. "Although heaven only knows why he'd go for you with this granddad couture you're rocking!"
"Worked on you, didn't it?" Simon joked, tucking a flyaway hair behind her ear.
"Please, it was the accent and the music did it for me," she countered with a smirk. "I just had to put up with your hideous clothes along the way!"
Simon chuckled, glancing up at the photo on the wall. Amy's beaming face, her arms wrapped around Simon and Kieren's shoulders as she squished their pale faces together for the shot- of course, this had been before the colour had returned to her cheeks. "How long d'you think he'll do that? Put up with me, I mean. Ow!" he whinged as she delivered a sharp smack to the back of his head. He glared at her stern face and rubbed the sore spot resentfully as the incorrigible Miss Dyer continued to lecture him.
"Now that's enough of that!" she said firmly, waggling her finger at him. "No more of this miserable, brooding, 'boo hoo I'll never be good enough' attitude! You're tall, dark and handsome and that boy fancies the pants off you so just relax, okay?"
Simon raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay! I got it! Jesus."
She looked prepared to launch into another lecture, but fortunately he was saved by the bell- the doorbell, to be precise. Her serious face dissolved into one of excitement and she bounded to the door, Simon close on her heels. She paused with her hand on the knob, glancing back at Simon meaningfully.
"Happy smiles, no brooding, okay?" she said, and her face brightened. "Snuggle with your boyfriend, that'll cheer you up!"
Simon raised his eyebrow. "You sure you want me 'snuggling' with your BDFF in front of you?"
"As a mature, independent woman with a new beau of her own, I don't think I'm the one you should be asking," she said with a wink, and yanked the door open before he could say another word.
His unspoken question was answered as Jem Walker's bored face regarded them from the doorstep.
"Couldn't we have done this at our place?" she complained, brushing past them into the house, the bottle of cider under her arm swishing. "Y'know, where actual human people buy actual human food?"
Kieren hung back, grimacing at his friends. "She gets moody when she's hungry."
"Aha! Well, no problems there!" Amy chirped, putting her hands on Jem's shoulders and steering her towards the kitchen. "You're not the only human in the house anymore, sunshine!"
As Jem's protests at being manhandled faded round the corner, Kieren closed the front door behind him and smiled shyly at Simon. "Hi."
"Hey," Simon grinned, putting his hand on Kieren's neck and leaning in. The younger man leaned in at the same moment and their lips met, brushing lightly in a welcoming kiss. To be honest it was a lot tamer than anything Simon would like to do at this moment, but for the sake of his boyfriend's little (or big, whatever) sister in the adjacent room he showed restraint. Plenty of time for 'other stuff' when they had the house to themselves.
Kieren pulled away and leaned his forehead against Simon's. "Did you talk to Amy?" he asked, worry clouding his features.
"Yeah. She's fine," he said, smiling reassuringly.
"You sure?" Kieren asked, uncertain. Simon got the feeling there was something else on his mind besides Amy-centric guilt, but he didn't ask for details. He'd tell him when he was ready.
"Hope so- otherwise I just got blunt-force head trauma for nothing," he muttered, swooping down to plant another kiss on Kieren's confused frown before the sound of Jem's loud footsteps had them springing away from each other.
When Jem and Amy emerged from the kitchen they were carrying enough snacks to stock a bunker in a nuclear apocalypse. Jem's moody glare was gone, replaced by an ear-to-ear grin at the prospect of the deliciously unhealthy feast to come.
"This is more like it!" she said, flopping down on the sofa with her haul and popping open her first can of Pringles, even smiling at Amy as she dropped her own armful beside her. As the doorbell rang again- no doubt signalling the arrival of the third human in their party- Amy got up to answer, tossing Kieren a wink and mouthing: 'Girl's only human!'
"I don't even know who any of those people are!"
"Then what the Hell are they teaching you these days?"
"That doesn't sound grumpy old man-ish, at all," Kieren muttered, Amy giggling beside him.
Simon glared at him. "Kieren, she doesn't know who Gregory Peck is!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger accusingly at the youngest Walker (who was too busy rolling her eyes to care).
"Well, she is only twenty-one," Kieren reasoned, although it still boggled his mind to think of his baby sister as his biological elder. "I didn't even know who he was 'til you made me watch all the films back to back."
Simon mumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'philistines' and continued to rattle off a list of old Hollywood stars in his forlorn attempt to educate Kieren's disinterested sibling. The ex-disciple had spent the last ten minutes trying to talk them into watching a couple of the old American classics, the films that had first sent him swooping off to the States in search of his own taste of Hollywood magic. Unfortunately, Jem would not be swayed.
"Please say you've at least heard of Marlon Brando? No? Humphrey Bogart? Feckin' Hell, what do you even do all day?!"
Kieren was so busy grinning at the exchange that it took him a moment to notice the tremors.
He looked down at his hand, noticing the way it trembled against the arm of the sofa. He glanced up to the assembled party, shaking his hand out when he was satisfied that no one was looking at him. He didn't want to worry anyone.
The shakes had been getting worse by the day. He did his best to hide them around other people, scared of anyone jumping to the wrong conclusions like he had the first time he'd looked at his reflection and found bile seeping from the corner of his mouth. He'd been petrified, frantically scrubbing away the black stain as if removing the evidence could clear away the implications.
He glanced sideways at Amy, curled up beside him with her head against a smiling Philip's shoulder. He needed to talk to her, and soon. Just not in front of everyone. Not yet.
"Are you two quite finished?" Amy demanded, rolling her eyes at the bickering pair.
Jem (who was on her feet and nose-to-nose with Simon at this point) turned her glare on Amy. "I'm not watching some dusty old flick where half the actors have been dead for fifty years!"
"And I'm not watching two hours of mindless violence with no plot and bad special effects!" Simon countered, eyeing the DVD in her hand with disgust.
"It's going to be a long night…" Philip murmured, cowering further from the heated battle of wills. Kieren couldn't say he blamed him.
In the end, when Jem and Simon couldn't reach a peaceful agreement, it had been up to Amy to call a ceasefire and decide the viewing material. This, of course, meant their movie night had just become a Disney night. Whether she really wanted to watch Disney films or she just wanted the entertainment of making Simon and Jem sit through Disney films was anyone's guess. Although if pressed, Philip would opt for the latter.
As Amy popped in the first DVD (apparently they were kicking off the evening with Brave) and flopped back onto the sofa, he extended her arm and she happily snuggled into the space at his side. He couldn't restrain his goofy grin as she nuzzled her head against his shoulder.
"Jesus, Jem, it's like you but Scottish!" Kieren laughed. Philip reluctantly looked away from Amy's jolly face to the screen, watching the feisty red-headed protagonist arguing with her mother about the etiquette of weapons at the dinner table. Well, Kieren did have a point.
"Shut up!" she said indignantly, slapping his arm playfully (although with a hint of malice. Clearly she still wasn't happy about the whole Disney situation). Simon chuckled quietly from his chair, letting his hand dangle off the arm and smiling as Kieren twined their fingers- and ignoring the daggers in Jem's eyes as she turned her gaze on him.
"Those two are going to be at each other's throats all night…" Philip muttered.
Amy looked up, and grinned her infectious grin. "Well, we'll have to do something about that, won't we?"
Philip raised his eyebrow, but couldn't stop a smile spreading across his face. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!" she said enthusiastically, prodding him in the chest. "Come on, they're both spending the whole evening with me! If you don't think they're gonna be the best of friends by this time tomorrow," she smirked and winked. "Well, clearly you don't know me."
"Well, you're the beautiful genius," Philip grinned, kissing her forehead.
"And don't you forget it," she said firmly as she turned her attention back to the TV.
Philip smiled as he looked back at the screen, tuning out the sounds of dissent from the other end of the couch. It wouldn't last for long.
Amy Dyer always got her way.
"Oh, my God, you're crying!"
"I'm not crying, you're crying…"
"You both are," Kieren grinned, sniffling slightly.
"You too, evidently," Simon said, wrapping his arms around Kieren's waist from his new place beside him on the sofa. They'd shifted their positions a bit between films, mainly because Jem wanted to be closer to the food table. Simon wasn't complaining.
"Yeah, you two pussies are," Jem snorted, although clearly the snort was designed to hide a sob. "I'm fuckin' fine."
"Yeah, sure yeh are," Simon smirked, tightening his arms around Kieren and blinking against the uncomfortable dryness in his eyes.
"Christ, it's only been on five minutes!" Kieren laughed, but it was choked off by a dry sob.
"Everyone knows the first five minute are the saddest part," Amy sniffled, burying herself further into Philip's side. Philip tightened his grip, attempting to be tough and protective (although his trembling lip gave it away).
Simon watched the screen, seeing the manic little girl and the shy young boy grow old together before his eyes, weathering all the ups and downs the world threw at them. All the pain and setbacks, all the happy times, growing old and enjoying their quiet life with each other, content enough to forget their childhood dreams of adventure for their new life, the one they shared. Wow, his eyes were really stinging now.
"Simon?"
He blinked, looking down. Kieren had his face tilted upwards, frowning at him. "You alright?"
"What? Yeah," Simon said, swallowing and turning his eyes back to the screen. "It's just… good music."
"Right," Kieren said, and he didn't sound even remotely convinced. Even though Simon didn't offer any further words, he still felt grateful as Kieren lifted his hands to squeeze Simon's forearms as the now old woman staggered up the hill, her frail bones failing to carry her to the top.
"Pussies," Jem whispered, choking back a sob as the woman lay on her hospital bed, the battered scrapbook open on her lap.
"Aye," Simon said, a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob escaping his throat as her husband stood by the bed, his eyes wide with sadness and love as he looked down on his wife's feeble form.
He saw Kieren wipe at his eyes as the old man sat alone in the chapel, the lone balloon hovering at his side amongst the flowers. When he pulled his hand away, he wiped it hastily on his shirt. For a second, Simon could have sworn he saw something black staining his fingers. No, must have been his imagination.
Dead boys couldn't cry.
"I'm sick of that bloody song," Kieren grumbled as Amy held up the next DVD, glowering at the cover.
"Spoilsport," Amy chastised. But after so many votes against, there really wasn't much more she could do. She put Frozen back in the cupboard and ran her finger along the shelf, eventually settling on another title and hauling it out for everyone's inspection. "How about this little classic?"
"Sure," Kieren sighed. He really couldn't be bothered with decisions right now- his head was killing him.
Amy beamed, bending down to put in the next film as Jem and Philip completed their thumb war for the last packet of cheese and onion crisps (Amy had made sure to buy Walkers. She'd got a good laugh out of that). Film ready to play and Jem the proud owner of the last pack, they all settled down once again. Kieren fell back into his space beside Simon, resting his throbbing head on the Irish man's shoulder as the film started.
By the time Mulan was on her way home from the matchmaker's, Kieren felt Simon's arm relax around him, sliding down from his shoulder to hover on his waist. His hand grazed his hip, and he jumped.
"Alright?" Simon asked, frowning.
Kieren nodded dumbly, his eyes wide. He tried to narrow them down to a more human size when he glanced back at Simon's concerned face. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."
Simon nodded, returning his hand to Kieren's side and turning his eyes back to Mulan as she sang to her reflection. He wasn't convinced, but that was okay. Kieren would tell him, hopefully soon. He'd just rather know what was going on for himself first. He looked down at Simon's hand, now resting against his hip once more.
For a second there, he'd actually felt it.
"Oh, come on, Mymon, it's the easiest dare I could have given you!" Amy laughed, Jem giggling at her side.
By the time the clock had rolled past 11 p.m. they'd given up on the Disney marathon. The TV stood silent in the corner as music (chosen by Jem, Kieren and Simon in alternation) poured from the hefty boombox beside it. The motley crew sat in a circle on the floor, the empty cider bottle in the clear space between them pointing expectantly at Simon.
"Ridiculous…" he muttered, but stood up and slunk grudgingly away to his room.
Kieren giggled, his voice uncharacteristically high pitched. With Jem, Amy and Philip making their way steadily through the booze supply he'd taken her up on her offer of sheep's brains- he didn't want to be the only sober one at the party, after all. Even Simon was getting at least slightly hammered (although he was kind of a grumpy drunk, so you couldn't really tell the difference).
"This is gonna be good," Jem snickered, shoving another handful of Quavers in her mouth.
"Be nice," Kieren beseeched, but the grin on his face undermined any sincerity.
"Yes, Jemima, be nice to the beau!" Amy crooned, wrapping her arm around Jem's shoulders and pulling her against her side, wagging her finger at her. "Kier'll put on his sad puppy face if you make his boyfriend cry!"
Kieren rolled his eyes as Jem fought her way out of Amy's grip, giggling drunkenly. He turned his head to Philip, who was grinning at the scuffling pair with a face full of tipsy contentment. He still wasn't much of a talker, that much hadn't changed. But there was something different in the way he carried himself now. He let his shoulders slump from their rigid hold more often, he let his face relax into smiles instead of frowns when he wasn't speaking. It was easy enough to see what had inspired the change when you saw the way he looked at Amy, eyes wide and warm like she was the only thing he could see. Kieren still didn't know how exactly this unusual relationship had come to be (and to be honest Amy was a little stingy with the details, so he guessed there was a pretty embarrassing tale to be told), but when he saw the smiles on their faces it was enough for him to put aside his questions. Amy was happy, and that's what mattered. And Philip loved her.
His eyes wondered to Philip's stomach, seeing past the layers of shirts to the place he knew the scar would be. He wondered how it was healing up- Dr. Russo had had to make quite a rushed job of the stitches, after all. Not much time for precision when you're bleeding out on a table from a gaping scissor wound. He thought of the bullet he'd helped Simon pick out of his shoulder. Perhaps the ex-disciple had more in common with the soft-spoken ex-council rep than he knew.
He heard a clatter from behind him as the door to Simon's room opened and wobbly footsteps staggered through.
Speak of the devil.
He turned round, and almost sent his shrivelled heart into cardiac arrest with the force of his laughter.
"Are you sure that's all of them?" Amy asked between snickers, biting her lip as Jem's guffaws sent her collapsing into the former zombie's lap, eyes scrunched closed and arms wrapped around her stomach.
Simon attempted to cross his arms huffily, but quickly realised the many layers of jumpers padding his body wouldn't allow it and settled for his hands on his hips. "Yeah, it's feckin' all of 'em."
Kieren bit his lip and hugged his sides to keep them from splitting. He stood up, walking over to his boyfriend (who would most definitely be blushing if he had a blood flow) and bumped his massively padded shoulder, snorting as the slight impact almost overbalanced him.
"You look so…" he giggled, Simon's grumpy frown only making him laugh harder. "…Cuddly!"
"Jesus," Simon grumbled, burying his chin in the many folds of thick wool at his throat.
Kieren laughed, wrapping his arms as far as they would go around the Irish man's pillowed torso and burying his face in his chest. It felt like how he imagined cuddling a sleeping polar bear would feel- warm and soft enough to make you want to sink deeper into the heat and hibernate there, although not without a touch of fear that the owner of the pelt would get pissed off and bite your head off. When he felt one of Simon's swaddled arms wrap around his shoulders and pull him closer he grinned against the wool, clutching handfuls of it in his fists and sinking deeper into the warmth.
…Warmth?
He cleared his throat, pulling away and smiling shyly at the assembled gathering who'd just witnessed him snuggling into his boyfriend like some kind of lanky ginger kitten. He hastily returned to his spot in the circle, not looking up as a still bulked-out Simon carefully negotiated his way to the floor beside him.
He was warm. I could feel it…
No, not him. The jumpers. Simon couldn't be warm- he was still about as dead as they came. But the layers of thick wool he'd buried his face in had a warmth all of their own. And he'd felt it.
He dragged himself back to reality, watching as Simon twirled the bottle. As it spun to a slow halt, the neck pointing towards Jem (whose raucous laughter was immediately replaced with abject horror), Kieren allowed himself a grin as Simon leered at her.
"Well, well," he smirked, and Kieren bit back a laugh as he saw his sister gulp nervously, obviously regretting laughing so obnoxiously. "Payback time."
Simon had had good times over the years, and had an appreciation of many things. Fine wine? Fantastic. Great poets and good literature? Beautiful. The look on Kieren's 'badass' little sister's face as he dared her to go into Amy's room and put on her biggest, prettiest, frilliest dress (with at least three petticoats)? Priceless.
As she begrudgingly went to meet his challenge- let it never be said that Jemima Walker chickened out of a dare- with Amy towing her excitedly to her no doubt bursting wardrobe, Simon chuckled and turned to Kieren, wondering if he was getting as much enjoyment out of this situation as he was. He frowned as he noticed Kieren staring at his hands, his brow furrowed. Simon looked down and noticed his pale hands were trembling.
"Hey," he said softly, reaching out clumsily with his padded arms and covering Kieren's hands with his own, stilling their shaking. "You okay?"
Kieren nodded, twitching his lips up into a smile and looking up at him. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just…"
Either he didn't know, or he didn't want to say any more. Either way, Simon didn't want to drag it out of him, especially not in front of a still drunkenly swaying Philip. "The brains?" Simon offered. The excuse was there for the taking if Kieren wanted it, if he wanted to discuss the real reason for his shakiness later.
Kieren nodded, smiling gratefully. "Yeah, probably," he laughed, rolling his eyes. "Real lightweight, me."
Simon wrapped his bundled arm around his boyfriend's neck, pulling his unresisting form into a lopsided embrace. Kieren snuggled into his pillow-y torso happily, and Simon made a mental note to do the jumper thing when they were alone more often- it certainly brought out Kieren's cuddly side. He was about to jokily suggest it to the tipsy teen and gauge his reaction when he heard the sound of Amy's door swinging open. The three men looked up, and their jaws dropped.
"Yeah, shut up," Jem grumbled, her hands bunched in her skirts and her feet shifting awkwardly.
Simon bit back a grin. While he couldn't deny that her bright red cheeks and grumpy expression were exactly what he'd been aiming for and pleased him greatly, even he had to admit that she actually looked gorgeous. Though the pastel pink dress with its billowing underskirts and satin ribbons was about as un-Jem as could be, she somehow managed to pull it off. The flower Amy had stuck in her hair definitely completed the look.
"You look moregeous!" Amy chirped, ruffling Jem's hair and ignoring her muttered protests.
"Beautiful," Philip agreed with a grin, Kieren nodding along.
"Yeah?" she said, obviously reassured by the praise. She smiled slightly, straightening up and un-bunching her hands from the fabric. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I look pretty fuckin' hot, if I do say so myself."
She flounced back to the circle, her skirts flowing and ribbons fluttering. If she was trying to recover her dignity, she was doing a pretty bang-up job.
Or at least she was, until her foot snagged on the unexpectedly long petticoats and she fell flat on her face.
"Don't say a word," she snapped from the floor as Simon burst into laughter.
"Alright, I'm thinking, I'm thinking…"
Philip had his eyes screwed shut in concentration, the rest of the circle watching him carefully. Jem sat in a nest of ruffled skirts, stuffing her face with crisps and trying her best not to drop the crumbs all over Amy's dress. Beside her sat Simon, still wearing about twenty jumpers and looking a bit like a human beanbag- Amy discreetly snapped a picture of the two of them when they weren't looking. That was the Christmas cards sorted this year!
Kieren sat between Simon and Amy, smiling at Philip happily, although Amy couldn't miss the tiredness in his eyes.
"Psst!" she hissed, nudging his leg until he looked at her. "Alright, BDFF?"
"Yeah," Kieren said, smiling. He glanced back at Simon and spoke again a low whisper. "But I need to talk to you later, in private- talk when they're asleep?"
"You got it," Amy whispered, leaning against his shoulder and nuzzling her head against his neck. Something was clearly weighing on her bestie's mind, and she'd help out in any way she could. For now she just cuddled up to him, putting a hand on his knee and squeezing it reassuringly. Meanwhile, on her other side, her boyfriend fumbled for an answer to Jem's question.
"Come on, then," Jem urged, punching his shoulder. "Most embarrassing thing you've ever done, spill it!"
Philip scowled. "Can I do a dare instead?"
"No going back!" Jem declared. "You said truth, so truth it is! So go on, out with it!"
"Well…" Philip began haltingly. "I don't know, too many to choose from…"
"Pick a good one, Philly!" Amy bubbled, giggling as he glared at her and nudging him playfully with her foot.
"I suppose there was the time I used Mum's computer," he said, wincing even before the story had properly started. "It wasn't my idea, it was Vicar Oddie, back when he first suspected that she was working with the…" he trailed off, gesturing to Kieren and Simon. "Y'know, the PDS sufferers. He wanted me to try and find out how many of you were back in Roarton…"
"So I looked through her folders," he continued, ignoring the mixed looks on the listeners' faces as he recounted his lowest moment. "I found the one I wanted, but it was password locked and I was trying to get into it when Mum came back in."
"Busted," Jem said in a sing-song voice, although she looked disappointed. "Is that it? That's the story?"
Philip shook his head. "No. Not all of it."
Simon raised his eyebrow. "So, did you tell her why you were snooping around on her laptop?"
Philip winced. "Not exactly."
Amy's eyes widened. "What did you tell her?"
His brow furrowed, and when he spoke his voice was layered with disbelief, as if he honestly couldn't believe what he was saying. "I told her I was watching pornography."
The laughter that burst forth from the circle could have split the sound barrier. Jem collapsed against Simon just as he fell backwards, lying down with her head on his padded stomach as they both roared with laughter. Kieren and Amy held onto each other, their bodies shaking as they laughed themselves breathless, their stomachs hurting as they laughed harder with every addition to the story by a mortified Philip.
"Told her it was how I de-stressed… I said I was a sex addict…"
"Stop it, stop it!" Amy gasped, struggling for breath as tears rolled down her cheeks from her scrunched up eyes. "I can't breathe!"
In the end, they were all too out of breath to keep playing.
"Remember that, Jem?" Kieren asked with a grin, nudging his sister with his foot.
They were sprawled about the living room, the bottle abandoned on the floor along with too many empty crisp packets to count. Kieren and Jem lounged on the sofa, his feet in her lap atop the many layers of skirts. Simon sat beside him on the floor, his legs stretched across the carpet, his head tilted back with his eyes closed as Kieren ran his hand through his hair absentmindedly. Across the room Amy sat perched on Philip's knee, giggling as she doodled a moustache on his face with a Sharpie. He just grinned at her, offering no resistance. He seemed happy enough to just stare up at her and occasionally make a sarcastic comment as she decorated him to her hearts content.
Jem nodded, grinning at her big (or little, whatever) brother. "Yeah, I remember. Mum and Dad had a fit whenever we did that!"
"Did what?" Amy asked, her interest piqued.
"We used to build dens," Kieren said, beaming at his sister. "Whenever we were home alone or Jem had a bad dream- we'd gather up all the blankets and duvets we could and just build caves and tents to hide in. Remember that time we basically took over the entire living room?"
Jem burst out laughing. "Yeah, I remember- Mum had a right go at us!"
Amy leapt up from Philip's lap, startling Simon so much his eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright. Amy grinned manically at the Walker siblings.
"That is the best idea I've heard all night!" she crowed, clapping her hands excitedly. "Let's do it!"
Kieren frowned. "Wait, do what?"
"Build a den, Dumb-Dumb! It's either that or we all sleep on the boring normal floor like unimaginative uni students!" she bubbled, grabbing his hand and pulling him up off the sofa. "First thing's first, you lot go round the house and collect all the blankets you can find- at least all the cushions are already in here! I'll get the string!"
"Okay," Kieren said, shaking his head and smiling as she raced off to the kitchen. "Well, fort-building it is…"
"Well I don't care what you lot say, I think this is the best thing ever built by anyone ever!" Amy declared, nestling into her little nest of pillows.
Simon laughed, looking up at the tent-like roof (and quietly praying that the string holding the blanket wouldn't detach from the light fixture in the night). "It's certainly an interesting way to sleep."
"Cosy, too," Kieren said, grinning and snuggling against Simon's side.
"Christ, get your own pillow fort, lovebirds!" Jem called, throwing a couch cushion at her brother's head. "Swear to God if I wake up and find any of you lot snogging next to my head I'm getting the Glock!"
"Noted," Kieren laughed, tossing the cushion back at her.
"I don't mind risking it if you don't," Simon murmured for Kieren's ears only. Or at least that's what he was going for, but obviously he was a loud whisperer because he immediately felt a large pillow wallop the side of his head as Jem swung it at him. "Hey!"
"I'm serious- I will fight you over this!" Jem said, raising her pillow defiantly.
Simon raised his eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"
"You bet your pale Irish arse it's a challenge!" Jem said, grinning as Simon glowered at the affront and scrambled to his knees, grabbing a nearby pillow and brandishing it like a mace.
"Play nice, children!" Amy giggled as the pair launched into a spirited showdown.
"Fiver says Jem wins," Philip murmured in her ear.
"You're on," she whispered, kissing his ink-covered cheek as they settled back to watch the battle unfold.
"What a night, eh?" Kieren whispered, smiling.
"Yep- what a night!" Amy agreed, grinning down at her sleeping boyfriend's head in her lap.
Kieren leaned snugly back into his pillow mound, glancing down to his other side and smiling.
Simon was fast asleep, stretched out on his front, his face burrowed into the pillows by Kieren's hand. Jem snored quietly beside him, her head resting on his sweater-padded back and her arm draped limply across him, her skirts scattered and tangled around her legs and her attack pillow still clutched in her hand. Kieren reached out and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, carefully removing Amy's flower clip and setting it to the side out of harm's way.
"Guess all they needed was to spar it out," he chuckled, pulling a nearby blanket over his sister's exposed legs so they wouldn't get cold in the night. "You know who won the battle?"
"Dead heat," Amy smiled. "They can always have another go when they're less drunk and tired."
"That'll be quite the sight to wake up to," Kieren said, his hand moving up to Simon's head to comb through his dishevelled hair.
Amy smiled, stroking the back of Philip's head. "So, Kieren Walker- what did you want to talk to me about?"
Kieren kept his eyes fixed on Simon's serene face, finger-combing his dark hair slowly as he considered his words. "When you were…changing," he said tentatively, glancing at her pink cheeks and dark eyes. "What was it like? What happened to you?"
Amy shrugged, turning her eyes down to Philip. "Loads of stuff. Shaky hands, nosebleeds. I forgot stuff a lot- tried to make myself breakfast one morning, just completely forgot that I couldn't eat it anymore. Thought I was going mad- or worse," she said glancing up at him meaningfully.
He nodded, tilting his head back to look at the lamp they'd hung from the uppermost point of their blanket tent. "How long did it take for you to start realising it was…more than that?"
"A few weeks," she said, watching his face carefully. "Didn't even realise it until one rainy night. Felt the water on my face- so cold, so wet, I'd forgotten what it felt like to have the rain on your skin…"
Her smile spread, an ear-to-ear grin forming. "Less than twenty-four hours later, and the old ticker was tick-tocking once more," she said, her free hand lifting to rest on her chest. "Almost didn't get the chance to appreciate it…" she said thoughtfully, thinking back to those rusty scissors that had been aimed at her newly beating heart.
Kieren smiled, glancing down at Philip and the scar that was visible where his shirt had ridden up. "Can't thank him enough," he said, reaching out to take Amy's hand. "Don't know what I'd do without my BDFF."
Amy beamed, squeezing his hand. "Well, I couldn't leave you to it, could I? God only knows what you'd do if I wasn't around to help you cross the road!"
"Oh, I'd definitely have been run over by now," he joked. "You know me, I'd just charge into the traffic without a thought. Bit useless, me."
"Nah, you're not useless," Amy said, winking at him. "Just clumsy."
He laughed quietly, raising her hand to his lips and kissing her fingertips lightly. "Thank you. For everything."
"For what?" she asked teasingly. "For the delightful wit? For brightening your gloomy Roarton days with my radiant beauty? For the tall, dark and handsome Irish boyfriend I so considerately brought back from my travels for you?"
"All of the above and more," he grinned.
"You're welcome, Dumb-Dumb," she said affectionately, snuggling back into her pillows and letting her eyes flutter closed.
He leaned back too, gazing up at the rippling ceiling with a smile on his face. He felt the smile falter as an unusual feeling hit him. In his torso, deep in the pit of his stomach. Small, insistent, nagging. It was vaguely familiar…
A slow grin tugged at the corners of his lips. "Amy?"
"Mm-hmmm?" she mumbled, her eyes still closed.
"You have any of those crisps left?"
She frowned. "Yeah. Why?"
He smiled a smile that could have lit up the tent all on its own.
"I'm fuckin' starving."
Hope y'all had fun with that! :D I'd better get back to writing the angst now xD Gonna go see HTTYD 2 first, though, so I'm gonna have a fun day!
Until next time! x