look after you ( andrew bazzi )

VI

"rosalia!" a familiar voice yelled causing the child to start laughing uncontrollably.

"uncle j!" rosalia screamed, jumping out of the parked car and running into the boys arms.

andrew shook his head at his daughter, a smile lingering on his lips. she was always a social butterfly around his friends and was usually the entertainment wherever he took her.

"i missed you, rose." johnson spoke to the child in his arms. a smile was evident on his face, the girl in his arms making him want a kid just like her when he did have one.

"i missed you more, uncle j." she said, playing with the boys dog tags that hung around his neck. "is uncle g and uncle sammy inside?"

  "yeah, they're in the studio, but i'm sure they'll stop just for you."

  "i'm going to go say hey to them." she smiled, giving johnson a kiss on the cheek before jumping out of his arms and making her way inside the house.

  rosalia made her way around the house, opening the studio door when she reached it. she could hear the music blaring from outside the door. when she made her way into the room, she saw jack in the mic room, singing a song she didn't recognize and sammy sitting in a chair while messing with some buttons she had seen her dad mess with. nate was sitting on the couch, blowing out smoke and staring at the ceiling.

  "uncle sammy" she whispered, trying to get his attention.

  sammy heard the familiar voice, turning to look over by the door— a huge grin subconsciously going onto his lips at the sight of the child. "lil rose!"

  the boy cut the music, jack looking up in confusion until he saw sammy pick up the child. a smile found its way onto his along with nates face.

  "hey, rose" nate spoke, putting out the joint he was smoking and sending a grin to the child.

  "hey, uncle nate." rosalia said, turning to look at jack who had walked out of the other room, "hey, uncle g."

  "hey, ladybug." jack replied, putting his hands out as a sign that he wanted to hold her.

  sammy quickly turned the two "no, she just got here. give me time to hold my niece."

  rosalia let out a giggle which made all three boys smile along. "where's aunt stass?"

  the smile on sammy's face fell, making the child give him a confused look. nate let out a cough which turned into a soft laugh.

  "she's busy. i'll let her know you asked about her." sammy sent nate a glare which rosalia didn't miss.

  "i wasn't asking about her. i was making sure she wasn't here, uncle sammy." rosalias smile fell as well, the child becoming serious. "you act different when she's around and you don't pay attention to me. uncle nate does the same thing when ana is around, but i like ana. she's very nice and does my hair for me sometimes. aunt stass just wanted to take pictures with me all the time." rosalia rolled her eyes which made both nate and jack let out a laugh. "uncle g acted different when he was with madison too, so it's okay."

  "hey, no i didn't!" jack defended, his hands thrown up.

  rosalia gave him a dumbfounded look causing nate to let out another laugh and for sammy to grin at the child in his arms. "you never called me ladybug or tried to hold me. you were always kissing madison and cuddling with madison. uncle nate knows how to pick the right women in this family." rosalia shook her head, letting out a sigh and jumping out of sammy's arms.

  she made her way to nate, climbing into his lap and playing with the bracelets that rested around his wrist. the child's concentration on the bracelets was broken when andrew and johnson came through the door, both laughing.

  "rosalia, howd you like the song jack was singing when you walked in?" sammy asked the child, rosalia looking up and seeing all the guys eyes on her.

  "daddy sounds better, but it was okay." she shrugged her shoulders. nate and sammy once again let out laughs at the child.

  "she spends too much time with me, jesus." nate said through his laugh.

  andrew looked at his daughter, moving to sit on the other side of the couch that nate and her occupied. rosalia saw her dad sit down, the child getting off of nate's lap and sitting with her father instead.

  the jacks had went back into the studio, sammy starting the music and jack singing once again. nate had lit up his joint again, grabbing his phone and scrolling through it. the child laid her head against her dads shoulder, andrew leaning his head against hers. andrew played with his daughter hair, rosalia playing with his rings and bracelets on his other hand— the child listening to her father's heartbeat and the music playing throughout the room.

"cause every step i take it feels a little deeper, it feels a little weaker inside of me and every time i look into your eyes i'm los—"

brandon stopped singing when his eye caught onto adeline standing in the door frame of his best friends room.

"adeline, hey."

"hey, brandon." the woman started, walking into the room and sitting on the edge of her brothers bed. "that was good— really good."

brandon scratched the back of his neck in a nervous matter, pushing his glasses up slightly. "thank you. it means a lot."

adeline nodded her head "where's caleb?"

"oh— he went to the store. something about needing to get popcorn— i wasn't really listening."

the woman let out a light laugh. it was silent between the two for a moment before adeline broke it. "are you staying here tonight again?"

"y—yeah, if you don't mind of course."

adeline stood up from the bed, moving closer to brandon. "b, you've been staying here for a while. if i did mind, you would've been gone a long time ago. you know you're always welcomed here. you keep my brother grounded and— and you're like my third brother that i never had. i almost love you more than elom." she grinned to the boy.

brandon felt his heart drop at the words, knowing she was friend-zoning him. he wanted to say something about his feelings for her. he wanted to saying something— anything, but all he could do was nod and give his thanks.

"yo, i'm home!"

adeline looked away from brandon, looking towards the door. she sent brandon one more reassuring smile, giving his arm a squeeze and walking out to greet her brother.

brandon felt his arm, biting the side of his mouth. he felt stupid for having feelings for his best friends sister who's older than him, but he couldn't help it. she was beautiful and kind and cared for him when everyone— excluding zion— had abandoned him. he loved her, but could never act on it and would never act on it for the sake of keeping the siblings around.

authors note:
ok so zion and brandon and everyone else in this chapter will be frequently in the book from now on. the jacks and sammy and nate will definitely be in the storyline more because andrew doesn't really get help from anyone else?? so it'll go deeper into rosalia's relationship with all of them. if you guys want to see zion and brandon and maybe another one of the pm boys, i'll bring them in frequently. i do know i will make zion and brandon be in it a lot bc zion is adeline's brother and brandon has a part in the storyline as zion's best friend, ya know?? this is a long ass authors note but i needed to say this! hope i didn't kill too many brain cells 😤😘