ocd || knj

chapter twenty-one: chelsey pov

"Hey, Jake... Jake!" Tara shoves him off of her, effectively shocking him awake from where he was sleeping on her shoulder. His much bigger form flails, nearly hitting her in the face before he falls off the couch from her shrieking and shoving him again. Ryan shakes his head and I just raise my eyebrows and laugh a little behind my hand as he shoots himself up on his feet,

"Wha- Ahhh- Tara! What the heck was that!" She covers her mouth, looking up at him as she clearly tries not to laugh before locking eyes with me. I raise my eyebrows and Bobby clears his throat, nodding his head towards the door. Tara quickly shakes her head as if she's clearing it, holding her hand out at her boyfriend,

"I'm sorry, okay, I'm sorry, but they're almost back, okay? Like about to walk through the door," She holds out her arms with her palms facing Jake, "What was I supposed to do?! You were dead freaking asleep on top of me," Jake shakes his head, walking away from the door,

"Am I staying awake or are we gonna actually go home and go to bed now that it's... seven o'clock in the morning?" He ignores everything that just happend, pausing in the doorway to the kitchen and tilting his head backwards. Tara looks at me but I raise my hands in surrender and try not to laugh as her expression turns exasperated. She just shakes her head and sighs,

"Just let me say hi to Dani when they get here, you better do it too, and then we can leave to give everyone some space," Jake nods, staying still for a minute before asking,

"So no coffee then?" Tara closes her eyes and doesn't respond, so Ryan speaks up, whispering,

"No man, I don't think any of us want to stay awake that much longer," Jake nods and walks into the kitchen. Ryan turns back towards us, his eyes resting tiredly on me, "I also think I'm gonna head out once she's here too, I gotta thank my neighbor for taking care of my dog and y'know... sleep," Bobby, Tara and I chuckle, Bobby waving his hands,

"You have no idea man, today has worn me out: big time. And I didn't even get drunk last night... or... two nights again... or... whatever. You get my point," Bobby scoffs shaking his head and waving his hand at me vaguely. I just respond with a shrug before hearing voices outside of the door, feeling myself breathe in sharply. I swallow, pushing myself off the couch to stand as Jake walks back from the kitchen to the door frame, leaning on it, all of us keep our eyes locked on the door, no one making a noise. The voices and footsteps get louder before we hear them stop and watch the handle move down until it stops.

The first things I see through the opening door is Will, who quickly shoved the door open and walks in, turning to hold it there, "Ooo baby, we're back, with a fantastic addition to the group!" He has a grin on his face, a contagious one, and I give him a weak smile as Crawford walks in with Nezza in two, her head in his shoulder and his arm around hers. Brain follows him in, bags in his hands as he makes his way to the couch dropping them before dropping himself down next to Tara with a groan,

"I. Am. Exhausted!" He covers his eyes as Tara laughs, falling in his shoulder and laying next to him. I barely glance at the two though, even when Ryan laughs loudly and says something about Bryan's dark circles, keeping my eyes on the next duo entering.

"Hi Chels," JC sings, his arm held tightly around... a very tired and very... weak looking Dani's shoulder, who holds her phone tightly between her fingers and a case of AirPods. I carefully take a few steps forward, smiling as my eyes flit between the siblings. Dani looks up at JC before walking towards me and wrapping her thing arms tightly around my waist. She's only a few inches shorter than me but she turns her chin down and buries her face into my shoulder as she clings onto me. I stand stunned for a minute before hugging her back, squeezing as tightly as I feel comfortable, keeping my eyes on JC's face for a moment. He watches us analytically before it looks like something clicks as he meets my eyes, a smile forming on his lips even though it barely follows to his eyes.