Dissolving

Chapter 34 - Adventurous

It is way too early for my liking.

I can barely keep my eyes open and I have already fallen back asleep twice while sitting at the kitchen island. Somebody has placed a plate with a piece of buttered toast in front of me but I am not interested. My mind keeps drifting back to my warm, comfy bed. If my bones weren't so dead tired, I would probably attempt to go back upstairs. But the mere thought of having to move my heavy limbs is tiring me out even more.

"Eat."

Jordan's voice right next to my ear startles me and if it weren't for his quick reflexes, I would have most likely fallen off the bar stool from shock.

"Dmmhhmd...," I mutter incoherently, unable to form proper words.

My brother's arms are still wrapped around me from his successfully saving me and I take the opportunity to snuggle against his warm body. A shiver runs down my spine and goosebumps cover my exposed arms.

"What's with her?" Noah asks from somewhere beside me.

My eyes are closed so I can only assume that he has taken a seat next to me.

"She's still in dreamland," Jordan chuckles. "Hey, kiddo, time to wake up and eat your breakfast."

He tightens his hold on me and gently rocks our bodies from side to side, probably thinking that this will do the trick. Despite my fuzzy, still half-asleep brain, I smile inwardly at Jordan being so clueless. One would think that he knows by now that it is almost impossible to wake me up at such an ungodly hour.

I haven't done much this morning yet, but I did manage to check the time when he came to drag me out of bed. It was enough to almost cause me to faint when I realized that he had indeed woken me up at 5:45am, as he had announced the night before. I had honestly thought that he was pulling my leg when Josh had explained that he and Sam would be here at 6:15am sharp to load up the truck that one of Sam's friends is letting us borrow for our trip.

Apparently, waking me up so early was neither an empty threat nor a joke.

"Lils, wake up, we're going to the desert!" Noah exclaims, way too loudly.

He also starts to poke my upper arm and it is only then that I notice that Jordan is gone, leaving my limbs exposed and me at my youngest brother's mercy.

"Don't," I whine, trying to wriggle away from Noah's irritating, intrusive fingers.

In doing so, I slide my right arm along the marble countertop until it is fully stretched out in front of me and then I rest my head on top of it. My other arm automatically wants to curl around my head to drown out the brightness of the kitchen light but it lands right on top of the buttery toast.

Noah lets out an amused snort which quickly turns into laughter when I unsuccessfully attempt to shake the piece of bread off without actually sitting up, opening my eyes or using my other hand to help me get rid of the sticky mess stuck to my forearm.

"What's she doing?" a new voice joins.

I think it is Jack but that can't be right.

Why on earth would he voluntarily be up at the crack of dawn?

We may be going away for a few days, but he isn't the kind of person to get all emotional about being separated from his siblings. It would be rather odd if he came to say goodbye to us in person.

"She's obviously got something against that poor, innocent piece of toast," Noah cackles.

I am just about to smack my arm back onto the island in annoyance, although not really sure what that would do to help me get rid of the food hanging off it, when a hand grabs my wrist and stops it mid-movement. I feel the toast being ripped away from my arm and when I open one eye – because curiosity is now getting the better of me but opening both eyes is asking a bit too much – I find Jack wiping the remaining butter off my arm with a paper towel.