A regrettably big part of me hoped Grandma Tawny wouldn't be able to catch her flight or something. But that bitch will never stop and showed up right on time with a suitcase and critical smile.

I think I love my grandma, she's a handful but always is there to support my parents when we move or need some money to keep us afloat. I definitely love her more from a couple states away, her incredibly critical point of view becomes annoying after the first thing is pointed out. I definitely call her Grawny Tawny behind her back too.

"Oh Barkley, there you are!" I bite my lip to not noticeably cringe and turn around to face Grandma with a smile.

"Grandma! You made it!" I bend down and hug her fragile frame.

"Of course I made it, my eldest is turning 50, can you believe it?" I pull away when she turns to look at Mom who smiles.

"I know it's crazy," I wish Sheppard wasn't at fucking football practice so Grandma can focus her efforts on him.

I pull out my phone and pretend to read something like a text, even though I only have one notification and it's a snapchat from Kendra.

"Oh," Here comes my acting skills, "Reagan just asked me to come over and help her with her history assignment. I'll be back before five thirty."

Mom reluctantly lets me go, so I give a small wave to Grandma, and pray Reagan or Riley is at their house. I shot Reagan a quick text as I walk over. There's only one car in the driveway, but I've learned the triplets share two cars.

I knock and cross my fingers. When no one answers I panic and knock again. Please, please, please-

"Oh," It's Rey who answers the door.

His hair is sticking up in places and his eyes are barely open. He looks like he just woke up, but school only got done less than half an hour ago. 

"Shit, I'm sorry. It looks like I woke you up from a nap. I'm sorry," I give him an apologetic smile and he doesn't react, "Well, uh, is Reagan or Riley home? I kind of need to escape a very critical grandmother if you catch my drift."

Rey licks his lips, I nearly swoon, but he moves out the doorway to let me in. I give a sheepish grin and slip past him and into the living room. 

But before I can go upstairs and see one of the sisters, Rey speaks, "Riley's at school for tumbling or something. And Reagan doesn't get off work till eight."

I groan, throwing my head back very dramatically, "Damn. Well, thank you anyway. Grawny Tawny may you rip my soul to pieces."

I go to make my way to the door when Rey's words stop me, "You can stay here if you want. We can watch a movie or something."

My eyes widen as I slowly turn around to face Rey. He leans slightly on the back of the sectional, his arms crossed over his chest. He's in his uniform tight dark jeans, but today he's lost the hoodie to just a gray t-shirt. It's tight and makes me want to run a hand over his chest-

Focus. Rub the hem of my shirt between my fingers, "It's okay, I should let you do whatever you were doing."

"Come on, let's choose a movie," Then he picks up a remote and lays down on the L of the sectional. 

I stand still, not moving but watching as he adjusts a pillow under his head and loads Netflix on the large flatscreen. Did he actually want me to stay? Does he actually want to hang out with me?

"Sit down. What should we watch?" Rey points to the other end of the couch and goes back to scrolling through movies and shows.

"I uh," But I don't know what to say so I sit down at the complete other corner of the couch. 

After about five minutes of indecisiveness (him saying 'what about this?' and me shrugging and responding with 'i don't care. Whatever you want') we click on a random movie and settle in. 

"Thanks, you know," I glance at him but his eyes are trained on the T.V. "My grandmother just likes to find whats wrong with everything. I doubt even the most perfect thing in the world would be satisfactory."

Rey hmms in agreement, "Yeah. I've got a Grandpa like that. I think this means I get to hide at your house during Christmas."

I grin, and he glances at me before turning away, "Of course, it's only fair. I ironically have the biggest closet in the house."

And then the unthinkable happens; Rey let's out a deep chuckle. My lips part in shock, as I stare at him. His focus is still on the awful movie we started. But I don't even think about that anymore. Rey laughed. That's the biggest sign he's ever given to be happy. I'm paralyzed. 

But I loved it. I love the satisfaction of getting a response out of him. I love the idea that I made him laugh, even a little. I love the deep, throaty sound that weirdly matches his personality.

While thinking, I don't realize his eyes have closed. Oh, right. I had woken him up. I try not to move while laying down a little more. I wonder if he's sleeping because he'll be going out late again tonight.

I watch his chest slowly rise and fall along with his steady breaths. His eyelashes are long are dark, fluttering lightly against his cheekbone. Dark brown hair falls on his forehead, fingers laced together on his stomach. He looks so peaceful.

So peaceful that I close my eyes and let myself fall asleep to the sound of the terrible movie and the idea of being close to Rey.

~~~

I stir awake to the sound of a door closing, but I don't open my eyes till I hear a soft voice, careful not to scare us.

"Guys?" It's Riley, "Are you guys okay?"

I grunt and rub my eyes, trying to get the sleep out of my vision. I carefully blink, letting my eyes adjust to the brightness. The first thing I see is Rey, also blinking awake.

"Huh?" My brain isn't awake yet as I push myself into a sitting position. 

My neck hurts slightly from the position I was sleeping in. I cringe, rolling my head on my shoulders to get the stiffness out. Riley leans on the back of the couch, her eyebrows furrowed together at me.

"What are you doing here, Barkley? is everything okay?" I smile slightly at her concern.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I just have a crazy Grandmother at my house, so I came over here to hide. But neither of the female Dykes were home. Rey let me stay, though, and I guess we fell asleep watching a movie," I find my phone and check the time and notifications. 6:03, my eyes widen and I scramble off the couch, "Thanks for letting me stay, Rey, I gotta blast. Catch you guys later."

I jog over to my house, cringing at how I just left and Dad's car in the driveway. I cautiously push the front door open, checking the living for any signs of life. Dad's in the lazy boy, flipping through some woodworking magazine. I can hear Grandma and Mom in the kitchen.

At the sound of the door opening, Dad's head turns towards me and is immediately adorn in a scowl, "Where have you been? Your mother has been calling you for the past half an hour."

Shit. 

Mom and Grandma come out too, neither of them look any happier to see me than Dad does, "Yeah, why weren't you answering your phone? You said you'd be home at 5:30."

And then Grandma had to add, "You know when I was your age, if I didn't come home on time my dad would whip me with his belt," Astonishing, Grandma. But don't put idea's in my Dad's head.

"I'm sorry. I was helping Reagan put her board together for her history project. Then their brother, Rey, wanted to use us to practice a speech he has to give in one of his class, and I guess I just lost track of time. And we were playing music most of the time so I didn't hear my phone. I'm sorry," I give Mom the shitty lie with my best pleading smile so hopefully she'll just make me do the dishes an extra night or something.

Sheppard comes down the stairs while Mom's still doing some silent arguing with Dad. He looks at me, I give a small, barely noticeable shrug and Sheppard's lip tugs up a little bit.

"What are we having for dinner again?" Sweet Jesus give this boy a Nobel peace prize.

Mom sighs and finally looks at me, "Don't do that again. I thought you could have been hurt or doing something bad," I can't help but wonder what she means, "We're having chicken pot pie. I should be ready," And turns back to the kitchen.

Both Grandma and Dad give me a look as they get up and go to the kitchen. But I don't really care, I'm too relieved to care what they think.

"Thanks," I turn to Sheppard who shrugs.

"Sure, I'm starving," He almost walks away but adds," Oh, and also, I'll be driving the car all next week. And you need to work on your lies dumbass."

"Alright well, how would you make up for falling asleep for two hours on our neighbor's couch?"

Sheppard chuckles, "I'm not about to tell you so you can sneak my escuse. But I'd never be that dumb to not set up an alarm to leave or something," hen walks away to the kitchen and I flip the finger behind his back.