Smiley and Sunshine

54.

Warning: long-awaited, extra-long chapter below.

🤗

Keep on Lovin' Me
Just Keep on Lovin' Me
~~~~

"Franny."

"Shut up."

"You cannot be serious, dude."

"Shut up."

Glen snickered, insistent in his pestering. "We're gonna be gone for not even 2 days. You're packing for like a week."

"I can't help it," Francis complained as he continued to rifle through his dresser, more specifically the t-shirt drawer. "I have to be prepared for all situations."

"You're being ridiculous," Glen stated, crawling onto his own bed and laying on his side to watch the Francis Show. It was quite entertaining in his opinion, especially because he was thinking of what situations Francis had to be prepare for.

Glen apparently wasn't in the creative mood. He came up with nothing. Other than his brother was being ridiculous.

Glen shared these thoughts aloud. "Ridiculous... redonkulous... if you look it up on google, there would be a picture of you."

He was debating whether to have Francis chuck a shirt in his direction as he hadn't bothered to put on anything besides gym shorts yet, having just gotten out of the shower a couple minutes ago.

"Screw you. I am not," Francis refuted, tossing yet another shirt over his shoulder in the direction of his bed.

"You're being so ridiculous that you have officially buried Hayes under all your clothes." Glen jabbed his pointer finger at said burial.

Francis' response got caught in his throat as he paused his version of packing. He glanced over his shoulder, a sheepish expression flitting across his face at the sight. Maybe he was going a little overboard.

He turned his head the other way, to where Glen had lazily kicked his all-ready-to-go duffle bag against the wooden leg of the bed, a smirk on his little brother's face.

"Sorry, Sissy," Francis begrudgingly shut the drawer. Glen was right, he had enough shirts, though Francis would never give Glen the satisfaction of gloating.

They both stared at the blob of t-shirts, waiting for their sister's witty response. As bad as it sounds, he actually kind of forgotten she was even in the room, as now that he thought about it, Hayes had been quiet for a while now. Which was odd, considering she had ice cream for dessert and hadn't had her second wind of energy yet.

She just sort of crashed for the evening.

"Uh, is Hayes alive?" Francis quirked an eyebrow, sharing a confused look with Glen. They confirmed she was laying there, their eyes darting to where her colorful, mismatched sock-covered feet were on display, peeking out beneath all the clothes.

Fran got lucky. It could have been worse. Hayes could have been laying underneath all his clean clothes while still in her dirty uniform jersey. But luckily Francis struck gold, as she was scrubbed clean of the sweat and grime from her basketball game that was earlier that Friday evening.

"Boy, I hope not..."

The brothers snapped their gazes to the open doorway, where Colton stood in the threshold, his arms crossed against his chest. A playful smirk lined his lips, something the siblings hadn't really seen the past week. Saying he had been acting a little stressed would be an understatement.

"... Because that would mean you're next, Francis." Colton finished his statement with a tilt of his chin.

"Did you just threaten me?" Francis spluttered, holding a hand to his chest. "Dear brother, that is not okay. Just wait until Austin hears about this."