Prove To Be

25

Jay awoke with a groan, cringing against the light peeking through her curtains that so unabashedly assaulted her eyes. If she could fistfight the sun right there and then, she would. The pounding in her head grew with a multitude that demanded her attention as Jay sat upright in bed. As she glanced around her room with a scowl, her eyes landed on a glass of water on her bedside table. Greedily and without hesitation, Jay chugged the glass of water, happily welcoming the feeling of a well-needed downpour on the desert that resided within her mouth.

Jay removed the blankets from her clammy body and sluggishly walked toward the bathroom just outside her room, where she proceeded to turn on the shower and brush her teeth. After viewing herself in the mirror, Jay concluded her appearance to be a disaster. Once the water was warm enough, Jay pulled back the shower curtain and climbed into the steamy water.

Sighing a breath of relief, Jay finished her ten-minute shower, already hearing her dad's words in her head about taking too long. Her parent's house had an underground well that supplied them with water, but it operated differently than a system in the city. All Jay knew was that if she took longer than ten minutes to shower, her dad would be pounding on her door to get out. Once, he turned the water off completely, leaving Jay with soapy hair and a scowl for the entire day.

Dressing in a pair of sweats and a tank top, Jay pulled on fuzzy socks before she made her way downstairs, where she was greeted with the smells of breakfast. Expecting to see her parents in the kitchen, Jay withheld her disappointment when she saw Brennan cooking eggs over the stove.

"Good morning, sleepy head." Kieran's overly cheerful voice caused Jay to groan with disdain. She proceeded to grab a mug from the cabinet, making a cup of tea for herself.

"How is it possible for a supernatural being, such as myself, to have this terrible of a hangover?" Jay mumbled grumpily. "I haven't had it this bad since the first time I went out drinking my freshman year of high school."

Brennan snickered as he placed a couple of eggs on a plate. "The amount of alcohol you consumed last night could've killed off an entire ship of sailors."

Jay only had the energy to glare at Brennan.

A scratch at the door alerted Jay to one of the dogs wanting inside. She approached the door, letting Alaska inside, who peered around at the unfamiliar house guests in her home. She sniffed Kieran's hand first, who read the newspaper, seemingly uninterested in the dog below him. She then went to Brennan, sniffing his pant leg before deciding they were not a threat and went to her food bowl.

Sipping her tea, which now had cream and sugar stirred into it, she enjoyed the soft background noises of her home.

After breakfast, Jay flopped onto the couch, burrowing her head into a soft blanket. Her moment of peace was disturbed by someone poking her nose. Scrunching her face, she slapped the hand away with a groan. "I'll do the dishes later," She grumbled from beneath the blanket.

She heard Kieran's soft laugh above her as he ripped the blanket away from her head. She returned his smirk with a glare, clearly annoyed by his shenanigans. "You've slept nearly the whole day," Kieran says as he sits on Jay's legs. "Besides, Brennan wants to train you in dealing with a two-on-one attacker situation."

"Today?" Jay cried in exasperation, not feeling up for the challenge when she felt as hungover as she did.

Kieran nodded. Jay rolled her eyes to the back of her head, feeling a dull strain as she did. She decided she would participate, but she would not be happy while doing so.

Jay got up from the couch, wandering outside to her backyard where Brennan was standing in the sun's rays, soaking up their warmth on his skin. Forgetting about the pain pounding in her head, Jay smiled as she watched him enjoy something he hadn't been able to feel for a long time.