"Paul, if you don't back the fuck up, I'm going to roundhouse kick you into the fucking ocean, dude!"

I turned at the sound of Marko's yelling, though I could tell that the sentence was spoken with a smile on his face. Paul had snaked his hands around Marko's neck and jumped on him piggyback style. Marko had quite a few bags in his hands as we were in the process of shopping for our new place, but he had dropped a few things from Paul's mini attack.

Paul giggled drunkenly and placed his chin on top of Marko's head, a lazy smile stuck on his face. "Nah, I'm good."

I picked up the bags Paul had dropped as I heard David's footsteps approaching. I had been with them so long, I knew who was approaching by their steps. David was heavy-footed, and his boots clunked loudly, but even without them, he was loud. Dwayne's steps were quiet when he wasn't wearing boots, but with them, he walked like a marcher, a heel to toe roll that stuck out. Marko always had his spurs, but without, he had a heavier left foot that made a strange sound when he walked. Lastly, Paul had a weird gait; he rarely took even steps, rather preferring something that almost sounded like a dance.

"Do you need help," David asked, his voice quiet against the boardwalk.

I lifted myself and gave him a smile and a kiss. "I'm good. Have you got it all boarded up?"

He nodded, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "Dwayne is double-checking. I figured I would come and get you guys."

"Alright, let's head over then."

Marko huffed as Paul kicked at his sides like a horse, but he walked with us.

We had bought a house right by the coast. Though the boys loved the cave, they had told me they were looking for a reason to ditch it ever since Max had died. "It's nice and all, but we need a home. Also, who knows if there are any other lost left over. They would know where we lived. We have enough money saved up,-" though they wouldn't tell me where it came from "-so we can just leave. Find somewhere nice. A home." So we bought a real house, one with five bedrooms and a working kitchen. We wouldn't sleep in the rooms, it had a basement that got cold enough for comfort at night, and we had sealed any little cracks or windows that would have let light in. So, we would sleep in there, and at night, we each had a room if we wanted to be alone, or we could all pile in whichever we wanted.

Everyone rather enjoyed being able to be by themselves every now and then. It was rare, but it was needed at moments. Tonight was the night we moved in completely.

The walk from the boardwalk wasn't very long, but it was enough for the noise of it to become a low hum in the back of our minds. We didn't want to be too far away. After all, the boardwalk was filled with quick and easy meals. But, we also didn't want to be too close. The house was practically sent from the gods, where it was placed. It was also nowhere near the woods. I didn't like being near them much anymore. I still enjoyed fire, loved the feeling of it biting at my fingertips, but my dead heart practically jumped out of my chest anytime I was too near a forest. But with a town like Santa Carla, it was easy to stay away from them.

As I felt the sand under my feet, I felt myself relaxing more and more. Marko ended up taking off in a sprint while Paul laughed louder than I thought he could, but David and I kept a steady pace.

Dwayne was leaning against the door when we reached the house, a small smile on his face. He led us inside, using the link to talk to us. 'It's not all decorated yet, but the basement is sealed, and everything is cleaned.'

I looked around. It looked completely different than when we had first looked at it. With the lights on and everything dusted, it was almost beautiful, but it was missing something, so I opened the bags we had and got to work. The living room was decorated with Marko's art. We went behind his back and got a ton of it framed. So, we hung those in empty spots. We hung new curtains; one window had little bats that I thought were funny, and the other had cowboy hats. The chair had a large throw blanket with David Bowie's face plastered across it, a throwback to when David got plastered and cried about how beautiful David Bowie was. We would never let him live that down.

The bedrooms were each decorated for each person. Paul's was covered in band posters and dog pictures. Clothes were thrown half-hazardly on hooks, and his rainbow of blankets covered any other open space. Marko's was strangely neat. He had organized all of his art supplies in a variety of drawers, and his bed was barren except for a huge teddy bear that could cover him. Dwayne had won it for him on the boardwalk a while back, apparently. I wasn't there for that.

David's room was organized the best out of everyone's. His walls were lined with all the forms of music we had bought, and he was the only one with a TV. He had never liked the quiet, so it made sense that his room would be louder than the rest. Dwayne had originally only wanted his bed with no decorations, but after a while, we convinced him to put a few things in his room. His large collection of books lined the walls, long stretches of vine plants fell from hanging pots, and his bed had the most blankets out of everyone.

Mine was comfortable. I had pictures of the boys that they had taken long before we met, and I had a few from a photobooth we had ended up in a few nights ago. Matches, lighters, candles, and incense were all around the room along with fairy lights that kept the room at a soft glow. My bed was the biggest, with enough to fit all of us comfortably because I knew my space would most likely be invaded the most out of everyone's.

Once we were finished and done admiring our work, we found ourselves back in the living room. The TV was on, the only other one in the house besides David's, and Marko and Paul were watching a cartoon movie, smiles on their faces and arms thrown around each other. I was sitting in David's lap, watching Dwayne's hands in front of me as he tried to teach me more sign language. I was slowly getting the hang of it, though I tended to mix a few things up.

"I love you," David mumbled into my neck, his voice groggy from sleepiness.

"I love you, too."

I loved them all, and I was safe.

For now, at least.