feel

11

MÖTLEY CRÜE was playing loudly as Carter moved about the kitchen, placing the last of the scrambled eggs she had made on the growing pile on the middle of the dining table. Her band tee hung low to her thighs as she danced, readying the finishing touches on the large amount of food she was preparing.

Just as she took the kettle off of the heater and began pouring it into a jug filled with coffee grounds she heard the usual clamor of boys arguing.

She placed a hand on her hip and chuckled as five boys poured from the guest room door, falling over each other and stumbling blindly through the hallway towards the kitchen.
A chorus of excited yells accompanied the realization that a full greasy breakfast was ready buffet-style for each of them.

"Goooood morning boys!" Carter singsonged, returning to the coffee pot to begin pouring the liquid into mugs for each of them, "breakfast is on the table, headache meds are in the top cupboard above the sink."

Carter finally finished filling each cup to the brim before the last of the boys stumbled out of the room. She lifted her eyes to meet Billy's, who she smiled at with a smug grin as the boys began to fight over the bacon.

"Good morning Billy. Rough night?"

His bleary eyes squinted back at her as he held up his middle finger. She laughed in response, and for a moment he smiled back at her.

And then Steve moved in between them, back to Billy as he spoke to Carter.

For some reason the interaction angered Billy. She wasn't his in any sense of the word. No one had ever been his. But the haunting familiarity he found in her eyes that he somehow knew mirrored his own demons made him feel as though they were connected. That somehow through shared happenstance the two needed each other.

But Billy shook off his twinge of needy jealously and his hangover as he reached the kitchen.
Carter watched with amusement as the boys dug into the food she'd made with as much vigor as as she'd ever seen any boy have with anything.

Billy battled over the coffee pot and won it almost immediately, pouring a cup before setting it back into the mess of arms and breakfast foods.

Billy sidled up alongside Carter, nearly choking on the coffee as he realized how little she was wearing. But she didn't care, so he wouldn't either. Or at least that's what he told himself as he stared down Tommy H, who'd been watching her for a little too long in Billy's opinion.
After a few moments of watching the boys Billy had finally become awake enough to talk.
"So you're CCJ?" He asked, not turning his head to look at her yet.

In his peripheral he noticed her nod. He took a sip of coffee and eyed her from the side. She was still watching the boys, arms holding most of her weight as she leaned against the counter. Soft, uncontrolled baby hairs framed her face and the sunlight caught in them in such a way that made Billy's heart speed up. He didn't want to deny himself the simple pleasure of looking at her legs in the shirt she was wearing but a sense of respect for the woman next to him made his eyes not wish to wander.

"Didn't think you'd be here," she said softly.
Billy's eyes stayed fixated on the boys as they scrambled for more food.
"Tommy said he and the boys usually crashed at CCJ's. Didn't make the connection. Figured why not, since I wasn't about to go home so late."

"Feel free to stick around as long as you want. The boys usually leave as soon as they're done eating. Some stay a few hours." she said, head rolling over casually to make eye contact with him.

His eyes searched back and forth between hers for a moment before he nodded and both turned once again to watch the boys, who had since stopped speaking for preference of eating.