Pressure on my feet woke me. I glanced at the clock, it was late afternoon. I looked down at my feet and saw that Brooklyn was setting up camp there. I reached down to scoop her up and snuggled her into me. I guessed she had got in when Brian disappeared to wherever he had got to.
After a few minutes, he still hadn't returned so I decided to go and look for him. I grabbed his t-shirt from the floor and put it on before padding down the hallway. I heard a tinkling behind me and laughed as Brooklyn followed. I'd definitely made a new furry friend.
I heard Brian's voice as he walked down the stairs. At first I thought he was talking to the other cats, but I realised he was on the phone. "Yeah she's sleeping. I don't know yet. I've got training tomorrow. It will probably be at the show. Yes I promise. Ok, see you Monday."
I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Hey you."
He spun and kissed me. "Hey yourself. You sleep ok?"
I nodded. "You hungry?" He asked.
"When am I not?" I sat down at his breakfast bar. He pulled some food out of the fridge and started making an omelette. I looked at the clock, it was 4pm. "Breakfast for dinner? How decadent!" I teased. I can't believe I'd slept half the day away. "So what's the plan for today then?" I asked.
Brian explained that he had already spoken to Sal and that they were just waiting for the ok from us to come over. "I thought you'd want to chill the first night, plus we all have to be up to train tomorrow."
Every time Brian walked past me, he would plant a kiss on my cheek, my forehead, the top of my head. He was being incredibly sweet and I loved seeing him behave this way.
Brian caught me up on everything that was going on with the guys and how everything was shaping up for the live punishment. They were all really nervous about it. "I think I'm gonna need some shots just to get me up there!" He said as he cleared the plates.
I jumped up to help him, "Nah you'll be fine. Although I think Murr might just take it..."
He splashed soapy water at me, I screamed and ran away. He chased me through the house, the only other room I knew was the bedroom so I headed there. He caught me as I reached the door way and swung me round. "Seriously? What are you, like 10?" He laughed. I stuck my tongue out at him and wriggled out of his grasp. Brian rugby tackled me onto the bed and covered me in kisses as I squirmed; his beard was tickling me.
"Ok, ok. I give up!" I acquiesced. "You'll win, you'll walk the furthest." Brian finally let me up. He stood and pulled me off the bed.
"I need a shower," he started. I gestured to him to lead the way. Brian grinned. "Come on then..."
We were curled up on the sofa with the cats, watching Netflix, when the doorbell rang. The guys all piled in, followed by Oli. "Nice place you've got here Quinn." She remarked.
Joe dumped 3 bags onto the coffee table, it looked like it was full of snacks.
"They just for you, Joey?" I teased.
We'd decided on a pizza and movie night, everyone had to be up at a decent hour so nobody wanted a super late one.
My only request was that Oli and I got to pick the movies. Brian knew we would pick films we could nerd out on, but the others assumed we would pick chick flicks. Oli picked first - Ghostbusters. Which was met with a cheer from the others. The pair of us could quote the movie almost line for line, much to the amusement of the guys.
We took a break for pizza after Ghostbusters. I ended up chatting to Sal about the live punishment. He showed me a massive red welt along his leg where he had slipped off the training wire. I told him that it couldn't really be that hard, he countered that if they were struggling after all the training, then I wouldn't be able to do it at all now. I was determined to prove him wrong. Sal yelled to Brian to bring his training wire into the den.
I picked my converse up from the floor and shoved my feet into them. "You don't have to do this," Brian muttered to me as he put the training wire down in front of me.
I kissed his forehead as he stood up. "I know, but it could be fun." I smiled. "Plus proving Sal wrong will be awesome!"
I stood on the post at the end of the training wire, one foot on the wire. I spread my arms out and took a second to get my footing right before putting my weight on my front foot and stepping forward. I tentatively lifted my back foot, aware that everyone was silent and watching. I didn't dare look at Brian or Oli. This was about as far as I expected to get, but I wasn't going to let on. I stepped forward and suddenly everything clicked into place. I took a couple more steps before inevitably losing my balance and slipping.
I felt myself fall and as I tried to to catch myself before I fell on the floor, the cats ran past. I twisted to avoid them and ended up banging my back of head on the corner of the coffee table.
"Ow." I rubbed my head as I sat up. I could already feel a bump forming.
Brian all but jumped over his sofa to get to me. "Fuck Shae, are you ok?" He ran his hands gently over my head, apologising when I winced as he hit the bump.
"I'm fine. The table got in the way." I scowled at the coffee table, like it was to blame. "Help me up?" I held my hands out for him to lift me off the floor.
As I plonked myself back in the sofa, I was suddenly aware of the hysterical laughing coming from behind it. "You fall down too Sal?" I asked, leaning my head back and ignoring the throbbing that accompanied it.
Sal clambered up, using the sofa as support. "That was hilarious! But you did walk further than me before you fell." He conceded.
I jumped up onto the sofa and started cheering and celebrating. "Ha! In your face, Vulcano! I told you I'd be better than you!" I only stopped when Brian told me to stop jumping on his furniture, dragged me into a sitting position and wrapped his arms around me to keep me still.
When we had finally calmed down, we stuck the second film on. I had picked Gremlins. I loved that film. I made myself comfy by snuggling into Brian. He covered me with a blanket that was on the back on the sofa and I curled up beside him. Every time I felt myself drifting off, he would wake me up. To make sure I didn't have concussion, he said. Eventually he let me be and I napped.
When I woke, the house was silent. I sat up and looked around. "What time is it?" I mumbled to Brian, who was playing video games with the sound off.
"Don't worry, it's not too late. It's a little before 1am. I'll finish up and we can go to bed." He leaned over and kissed my temple, while shooting zombies...or whatever it was he was doing.
"Ok, no rush." I said smiling. I curled back into his side and watched him play his game. I could get used to this. I thought to myself.
