"Black Roses" by Charli XCX

Connor didn't come home after St. Patrick's Day. I assumed it was to give Murphy and I some space to work things out. It was nice though. We spent the night in Murphy's bed together (he had been sharing with Connor most of the time). I woke up to Murphy stroking my arm.

"Mornin'," he said, kissing my forehead as I woke up. I looked up at him with a smile. Before I was able to say anything, Connor came in the room. Seeing us both in one bed, he immediately covered his eyes.

"Ye aren't naked, are ye?"

"Shut up, Connor," Murphy threw a pillow at him while I laughed. Connor caught it, eyeing us suspiciously.

"We worked it out," I told Connor. He grinned.

"Good!" He came and flopped backwards on his bed. He glanced at us. "Ye look cozy. Couple-y."

"That's the idea," Murphy said casually. Connor sat up and looked at us.

"No shit? 'Bout time." The phone rang, interrupting whatever he was about to say. When neither of us made an attempt to move, Connor rolled his eyes and answered it. He dragged the phone over to me, handing it to me, mouthing 'Tyler.'

"Hey Tyler," I greeted as I sat up. Murphy kissed my shoulder affectionately before wandering into the kitchen to start some coffee. He doesn't really drink much of it, but I drink far more than is probably healthy for any one human so I was touched by the gesture.

"You sound happy, so I'm going to guess that Murphy coming home was a good thing," he greeted. Connor immediately started trying to pick on Murphy, which just evolved into the boys having one of their little sibling squabbles that involved wrestling for dominance. I tried not to laugh.

"Yeah, it did actually."

"Good, I really don't want to have to deal with Caleb's whining about how he's always right. You cool if I drop off your gear from the show?"

"Yeah, that's no problem. We're just now getting up. Well, Connor just got home."

Connor looked over from the headlock Murphy had him in. "I heard that!"

"You were supposed to!"

"Alright, cool, I'll swing by in like an hour?" Tyler questioned.

"We'll be here."

"Clothed?"

"Bye Tyler."

I stretched as I got out of bed, wandering over to where the boys had been previously fighting. They were now just bickering, which amused me. I got myself a cup of coffee, watching the scene before me play out.

"That's a stupid idea," Murphy grumbled.

"Yer a stupid idea," Connor quipped back.

"We're twins, that makes ye a stupid idea, too."

"We're both stupid ideas then. But yer more stupid." Murphy stopped buttering his toast, turned to Connor, and smeared a fingertip full of butter on the older twin's face. Connor made a noise of indignation before immediately just rubbing his face on Murphy's face. And now they're fighting again. I took one of the buttered pieces of toast and stood a little further away as I ate the stolen toast and drank my coffee. Today didn't look like it would be a calm or productive day. After finishing my toast, I went and retrieved the notebook I had thrown against the wall. I flipped to the page I had written last night.

I laid on the couch and stared at it, picking apart each line. I began making some corrections here and there. It could be a decent song. I'd hand it off to Tyler so he could look it over. He might have some ideas for it.

As if reading my thoughts, there was a knock on the door.

"Who the fuck is that?" Murphy called as I answered the door. Tyler was standing there with my keyboard, vocal pedal, and tambourine.

"It's Tyler, you twat," he replied without missing a beat as I stood to the side. He put the stuff where I normally kept it all.

"Tyler!" Connor said cheerfully, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. "You want a beer or a cigarette?"

"I'll take one of each," he grinned. I'm glad they're getting along so well. Murphy looked a bit awkward, probably not very sure how to react around Tyler after last night. I don't really know what happened after I left. It was hard to imagine that Tyler wouldn't have gone and said something. He's my best friend and he's very protective of me, even if he makes it sound like Caleb is the over-reactive one. "You joining us or what, Murphy?"

He relaxed a bit, accepting that Tyler wasn't pissed at him. I'm sure Tyler's not pleased with yesterday, but I'd hope he knows me well enough that I wouldn't just brush away shitty behavior like that again. At least I hope that I'm not just brushing it away. Murphy said nothing happened and I believe him. I have to believe him or I'm going to spend my entire life going insane and making other people pay for Aidan's mistakes.

Murphy handed a beer to me, interrupting my thoughts. He stood closer to me so that Connor and Tyler couldn't hear us. "Are ye alright?"

I smiled, kissing him gently. "Yeah, I was just thinking," I replied half-truthfully. He looked a bit suspicious but nodded. I don't think he entirely believed me but he wasn't going to press me any further than that to respect that I didn't want to talk about it. It wasn't that he didn't care like Aidan had, I can at least tell that he does care.

He kissed my temple, not bothering to move away from me when Tyler and Connor turned their attention to us. "Am I gonna have te see this all the time now?" Connor teased. "I came home and they were cuddlin'!"

"Ye shut yer mouth, ye dumb ape," Murphy scowled, moving closer to me. "We'll cuddle anywhere we damn well please."

"Connor's bed looks kind of comfortable," I eyed it teasingly.

"Anywhere," Murphy affirmed.

Connor looked horrified before running across the room and throwing himself onto the bed so that it was protected. I laughed, feeling a bit more at ease, and wrapped my free arm around Murphy. He leaned down and kissed me, ignoring the overly dramatic twin on the mattress.